Aloha,
We are looking for apprentices and/or potential permanent members with experience and passion for working and learning with the Aina and growing food. We are an established community and a mature permaculture farm. Our farm began in 2000 with a few old buildings, and now has seven acres of mature permaculture landscaping, buildings and infrastructure. It's located in a very isolated part of Maui – a 2 ½ hour drive from the main city, much of it on a winding one-lane road. It's off-grid, with a large photovoltaic system, solar hot water, a wood-fired sauna, a laundry facility, and two community kitchens. There are two large structures and fifteen smaller hales, providing living space for the fifteen residents and paying guests, in addition to a teepee and open air dome structure for community gatherings. We offer a weekly public Cafe and open mike, with food prepared primarily from our half-acre garden and on-site food forest. We have our own beautiful smooth black stone beach down steep cliff steps, with its continual sound of the waves.
There are several weekly community meetings and circles which everyone is expected to attend. We live according to the "four agreements", if you're familiar with that book. We share a common spirituality that recognizes our unity with one another and with our Mother Earth. Some meetings are for logistics and some are for personal, community and spiritual growth. The learning available for apprentices includes diverse aspects of permaculture, gardening, Natural Korean Farming, poultry management (chickens and ducks) integrated into our ponds and gardens similar to the Vietnamese VAC ponds/gardens/livestock classic permaculture system, living in community, food preparation, sharing music, being mentored and engaging in personal spiritual growth. There is a core group of elders who live here permanently, with the rest of the community made up of younger temporary residents who may stay three months or longer. Everyone has work expectations – minimally four hours a day on average. Some days are free, when someone else is cooking and there aren't any community work projects or events. On Cafe day we all chip in and do what's necessary to provide a delicious meal for as many as 50-75 outsiders who come to eat, listen, and participate in the open mike event. Work here includes gardening, fruit tree planting, harvest and maintenance, harvesting and cooking vegetables for community meals, cleaning the guest cabins and the main house, coconut harvest and coconut products preparation, building projects, preparing for the Cafe and more.
Thanks for your interest -
Chuck
