Permaculture

Practical Agriculture Workshops
Hāmākua Harvest
NOTES from April 5, 2019 by Jim Crum

Tracy Matfin is an educator turned gardener, mother, permaculture instructor and lover of life. She is a founding member of La’akea Community (permaculture-hawaii.com) where she has been living and experimenting with sustainability for more than ten years.
Site Specific Crop Production On island 17 years Commune for 12 years Tracy@permaculture-hawaii.com
Every day is a learning experience. 

Permaculture principal- Mollison coined the phrase and it means permanent agriculture- developing sustainable systems – connection- elements: climate, desires, landforms, water supply, infrastructure, microclimates (you can create your own) – zones: where is the human energy and how does it move on the land. What does that system need? Zone 1 is chicken feed with starter plants with herbs so you can grab them all at once. Things in zone 2 are things that need less attention and don’t need daily attention. like pineapple and zone 3 are things that need even less attention like bees and orchard trees. Zone 4 would be timber. – Step 1 is observations: the 5 senses and “the vibe”, patterns, species, zones, sectors (how energy and matter move thru the site like water, sun, pigs)- block unwanted energy or invite it in. Banana berm (anywhere it’s wet and soggy), windbreak, bamboo hedge, etc. – step 2 is interpret: what pleases and doesn’t please, use intuition, thoughts, – step 3 is vision/dream: no constraints. What is wanted now. In the future. “In respectful harmony with the ‘aina, I grow a combination of starches (taro and sweet potato), fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, figs, banana, papaya, avocado), and vegetables (peppers, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage), and perhaps a few happy animals (chickens and goats) in sufficient quantities to sustain 2 people for the next 15 years, and l my children and their families’ needs in the future if they want to be there.”- step 4 applies analysis and investigation to know how to achieve the goals. – every element supports many functions. Nitrogen fixing (gliricidia, pidgeon pea, pirrenial peanut, clovers) that you can chop and drop.- Hügelkultur: sticks at the base with soil on top of that – it’s a cycle. Learn by trial and error and what you like, then make change based upon what works. Robinziroli@gmail.com
In Hawaii:Annual differences- 11-13 hours- 6 degrees temp difference during the day- 8-20 degrees difference at nights- so altitude acts as if it were 
Permicopia books (some of the original books)

**banana in wet spots **gonna need a greenhouse to limit the rainl eaching nutrients from the soil. ** grow indigenous micro organisms (Korean natural farming) to use in plant health

Posted on by Tinyville Farm.

Agroforestry

Practical Agriculture Workshops
Hāmākua Harvest
NOTES from January 6, 2019 by Jim Crum

M. Kalani Souza and Craig Elevitch have worked throughout the Pacific Islands over the past decade teaching about indigenous and modern methods of growing crops together in agroforestry.

The benefits of agroforestry include revitalization of soil health, higher total production, better resilience to weather extremes, and local food security. This is a unique opportunity to learn about integrating crops together in ways that have profound short- and long-term benefits for both small and large growers.

We have become addicted to the Walmart teat. Focus should be on the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit
Priorities should be:
1. Feed the children
2. Make sure the elders are comfortable
3. Make sure women in the society are not afraid

Hawaii homegrown food network on YouTube
-air layering 
Agroforestry.org 
– books can be downloaded
– Breadfruit Production and Agroforestry both good ones. 

Breadfruit issue been worked in for 10 years with Micronesians. 
Our planet no longer has sustainable ag because of monocrop philosophy Rice, wheat, corn and oats are starting to fail. Need to move to breadfruit as the next great staple worldwide. 
Plantation ag has turned fertile soil into deserts. 
Plan is to give back more than we take as we encourage breadfruit production.
Need to revitalize breadfruit (ulu) 
Grow 10x the amount of food you need because expect no relief from a disaster for at least 72 hours 
This is also happening in the Caribbean 
Need to dispel the old plantation model and avoid monocultures. 
Triple bottom line=Social, economic, environmental. Don’t buy into it as a way to justify 
Hawaii can be a Noah’s ark model for the world. 

The solutions:
– grow and buy local first
– avoid micro climates
– small scale community driven entrepreneurs for food, 
– Agroforestry using models from history on the islands. 
– local food security. 

Ulu/Breadfruit
– like gulches
– doesn’t like the wind
– up to 1500 feet
– Hawaiian variety is very good. Start there. Get them from gulches. Second small gulch in upper laupahoehoe. Cut rhizome on the tree side. 
– they grow big. Need to prune them regularly at 10 feet. to keep them producing. Side branches are encouraged so you can pick them at 10 feet. 
– trees 40 ft apart 
– early canoes were made from ulu
– ulu fiti
– cutting from roots and 
– Chinese plums and Mac nut to protect it. 
– Puna has some good stock, but need to have it in a pot the first year or two. 
-Kukaiau, paauilo Mauka 
– rock wall about 8-9 foot radius around, starts smaller and extends as the tree grows 

Posted on by jim.

Kalo – History and Care

Practical Agriculture Workshops
Hāmākua Harvest
NOTES from May 13, 2018 by Jim Crum

When King David Kalākaua wanted to document his and the Hawaiian lineage so the Kumulipo chant was created to tell the creation story.
(Note that King Kalākaua’s crown has kalo on it) 


Huli
– spiral energy that is the beginning of life
– beginning of duality. Mauka and Makai are interrelated and interdependent 
Life forms
– coral first in the sea
– then worms first on land
– then whales are key to the next level of evolution. 
Kalo
– was created from the body log the first child
– ha is the stem, also breath
– leaves (lau)
– kanaka’s (man’s) relationship and kalo is a sibling. Therefore, symbiotic relationship 
– the core is family and genealogies are traced. 
– makua is the main plant. 
– can eat the whole plant

Kalo care
– fish emulsion and composite tea to fight blight
– kohina is spot between plant and root. Be careful with this spot. Baby it
– Kanu: plant the baby plant. Make sure it is watched regularly after it has been planted for about a month
– plant the ha facing east and west so leaves can follow the sun
– after a few month it gets big, but korm takes about 6 months or more.
– No babies (oha) off the sides when they are young to not divert energy. 
– 7-8 months, once babies are there, the makua shrivels to have the oha do well.
– once leaves begin to die off, then it is ready to harvest 

It is a year long process to have a community kalo garden

Compost and manure
– Fish emulations
– Shells 
– Kukui trees are good for mulch

Varieties
– any can be grown on dry land
– makua is better on dry land
– lehua is purple and most popular
– Piko variety is heart shape
– pikokea has a whiteish leaf

To harvest
– cut where split on the ha stops. Can do this any time
cut about 1/2” below this and once they flower, probably can’t replant. This is the huli. Let them retire in the forest. Also keeps this as a safety/seed stock. 
– let hui scab over in the shade and then plant again

Amakua – ancestors that manifest to the family – like a family totem – and will often take the form of an animal

Know
– What water do you come from?
– What water do you drink?
– Who is your mom, your grandma?
However what matters is not where you are from, but what are you bringing to the table for the greater good?

Called hui because is cycles thru and regrows. 

Ulu (breadfruit) is the staple for Samoans, and kalo (taro) is for Hawaiians. 

How to eat it:
– poi (special for chiefs, it’s own Imu and protocols)
– men did cooking in imu. Imu represents the womb
– don’t eat raw! 
– high calcium. Hypoallergenic. 
– cook it down well. 
– cube it up, boil it in a 1 1/2 to 2 hours
– skin it after it’s cooked. Skin. Rolls off. Carve out rotten spots
– poi ponders: made by hand as a family commitment 90 hours to make.

Poi Pounder: pohaku kuʻi ʻai is the male
Poi Board: papa kuʻi ʻai is the female 
– umeki : poi bowl. Family heirloom. For poi only. 
– ferments and gets sour. 
– don’t refrigerate. 
– mix in the mold
– all eat from the one bowl but use fingers, not spoons
– two fingers to eat poi. Scoop from the middle and flip hand to catch it. 
– when eating, you are showing respect for your ancestor and being fed spiritually
– peanut butter consistency

O’o for planting and harvesting. 

Posted on by jim.