Keahi Maumauma

I would take 3k of the sum and find the most permaculture-enthusiastic, young [perhaps between 25-35 yrs of age] aboriginal, culturally connected person i could find, sit down and outline a project with them. Help them create a replicable, scalable planting system incorporating their community's needs to gain social investment so that when you step away, it is sustained by the community. Spend 1k promoting their community project, perhaps a kickstarter or something could be part of that budget so theirs a little bit more startup cash. The last 1k connecting your groups: digital infrastructure, education resources, updates about activities, etc. Had to reply on the fly, so these thoughts could probably use some refinement, but thats what i got down in the 10 mins i got. Just one opinion of course. A hui hou kakou =] Have a great day all!

@Timothy - if i was you, i would love to have sand as my base as mine is compacted, leeched volcanic ash lol

Aloha hugelkultur peeps!

I wanna hear about what species of tree is best used in the swales and why as well as when would be the best time of the year/best conditions to make a hugelkultur swale. Perhaps a little bit on what sucessive plantings, maybe intercropping works best in the system as far as what Paul has come across in his site visits. All that good stuff.

Mahalo e na hoa [with adoration friends],
Keahi.

Mahalo nui ia 'oe e Seth! I want to thank you for your well written response about the trip to Hawaii. I would like to share that I was one of the original 31 arrests on Mauna a Wakea and am closely tied to the cause of equality. It has been the call of aboriginal peoples everywhere that we be given a voice at the table when it comes to natural resouce management and relationship to 'aina [land to which your heart is connected. That which produces you, by form of 'ai, or food, for the body, mind and spirit]. Everything in Hawai'i is about relationship. Come to Hawai'i as a spiritual being, experience what the tour guides can't show you because they don't live it, only sell it. What will change this world and inspire our collective purposes is what we in Hawai'i strive everyday to bring back and live again. When i was a boy, i would arrive home from school to a bag of fruit or vegetables on our porch. My Dad would cook it, and we would share it with the neighbors. Hawai'i has changed since that short time to a point where our communities no longer so that. We have been flooded with so many people looking for reprieve from the psycho babble of the United States, hoping to find solace here, only to learn that it's been and currently being destroyed by the same monsters that destroyed the tribes of the Americas.

I unfortunately don't have time to write my wgole thought out at this time, but i will be watching this thread, and would like to help make things happen in the right way that will heal wounds, rather then open up old ones. One tidbit here is that between 1849 and 1865, Hawai'i supplied hundreds of tons of food the to mercenaries in San Francisco, and we definately know how to produce, if given a fair turn.

Mahalo kakou,
Keahi.

Aloha Claire,

I'm not sure if you made it to Hawai'i yet, but if you end up on Moku o Keawe [Big Island], i have a small garden/farm that could host you for a little while. It may be an interesting perspective as I am very active in my community and am in transition from local diet to garden diet and helping my community get there as well. I integrate many Hawaiian cultural aspects into the experience so yiu get a much deeper look into Hawai'i life from a native point of view. If this is something you might find interesting, let me know and we'll see what we can do =D
Mahalo nui,
Keahi.
Keahi@kahalekakoo.com.

Aloha nō kekahi,

Just wanted to do a follow up on if you were coming this way or not. I would support Su Ba in saying that Kāʻū usually gets the short end of the stick, mostly because of their location in relation to "major businesses", which has become the model for modern society. Su Ba, where are you from originally? I would ask the same of those that also spoke of Hawaiʻi. Where are you originally from?

Oh, and if you're coming this way, stay at somebodyʻs house, if you go to a hotel or hostel, you'll miss most of what Hawaiʻi is about. And you save those precious dollar bills =P

Mahalo,
Keahi.

Any Hawaiians on the forum but me? i ko'u mana'o, e hana 'oe i kou ha'awina. Do your homework. I am a Native Hawaiian, practicing my culture passed down to me from generation to generation. Understand that when Geoff Lawton talks about Hawai'i having one of 5/6 completely sustainable agricultural practices he is referring to our native Hawaiian culture (Clip with Geoff Lawton in Hawaiʻi. The 'ahapua'a system is not "permaculture" as you see it practiced here, when others use methods from somewhere else, that s NOT the legacy of my ancestors. Lo'i , mala 'ai, loko 'ia, kuahiwi, wao akua, konohiki systems are all a part of Native HAWAIIAN sustainability, not just taking techniques from a book and applying it in our landscape. Three sisters, swales, hugelkultur, Korean Natural Farming etc., are all good and I wouldn't see anything wrong with integrating them as well, but we have a system already that works and very well I might add. For some reason, people decide to move here and try to teach methods of agriculture that just take people further from true sustainability. If you want to learn, I can show you. If you coming to tell us how we aren't doing it right, I have nothing to share.

Something else from on the ground that you should review before making your arrangements. You should watch the first video it in it's entirety, but if it becomes too much at one time, take it step by step:
1) Keanu Sai - Keauhou
2) Noho Hewa Trailer

Paul, I love what you do and the message you share, I just advise you to be aware of things that may be unseen, and as we have seen in the last few years, someone may be able to do it better. If you'd like to get together at some point or if you would like to see this ancient system still working, let me know. I also grow white pineapple, but don't know if I share the same enthusiasm for a fruit that devastated native peoples and the soil on Maui and North Shore, 'O'ahu =P.

Mahalo nui ia kakou,
Keahi.

I see. As the GMO battle continues it's always nice to get some clarity. Mahalo nui kākou (thanks everyone) =)

Aloha from Hawaiʻi! So I was perusing through my local feed supply place and noticed a peculiar bottle on the shelf. It had the label "Monterey B.T.", "for organic gardening". It says that this product will control worms and caterpillars on fruits...etc. This sounds very much like what GMO plants are doing isn't it? How can this product be approved "for organic gardening"? It says that the active ingredient is Bacillus Thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki strain SA-12 solids, spores and Lepidopteran active toxins. Can anyone please help shed some light on this? For I am but a humble mahi ʻai (farmer). =)

Mahalo,
Keahi.