Big Island

[John Schinnerer]

Aloha,

-----Original Message-----
From: EWerb at aol.com [mailto:EWerb at aol.com]
>i just got off the phone with client that wants some designs for three 
>oceanfront acres in pahoa - ! - ok, let's get busy

Hmm, was there a big quake recently?  That might make Pahoa
oceanfront...would put my land underwater... :-o

>question to the list - what are the perma sites you've seen over there and 
>can recommend for ideas?

It's not exactly a permaculture site, but the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical
Garden (just south of Captain Cook, south of Kailua-Kona) aims to represent
the main elements of the Hawaiian ahupua'a land use system, which was
pre-"permaculture" permaculture of a most excellent design.  It implicitly
recognized and aligned with the flow of water and nutrients from mauka
(upcountry, highlands, mountans) to makai (oceanwards, downhill side,
coast).  Ironically, the garden can't fully duplicate such systems because
it is restricted by "modern" land use patterns, which negate these flows by
cutting them horizontally with arbitrary property boundaries.  They do the
best they can, though!  There are interpretive tours once a month and a
self-guide brochure other times.  I recommend the interpreted tour if you
can fit it in.  URLs:

http://www.bishop.hawaii.org/bishop/greenwell/

http://www.mobot.org/CPC/amygreen.html  (has phone number and e-mail)

http://alaike.lcc.hawaii.edu/westop_pic/Environ_edu/greenwell.html  (has
tour info - second saturday of each month, it says).

For more on plants and their uses, see "Canoe Plants of Ancient Hawai'i" at:

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/canoe/

If you can get ahold of Andy of Andy's Organics (check at farmer's markets),
his site apparently shows the maturing results of careful plant stacking.

You going over sometime soon?

John Schinnerer