Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden

Summer 2007 Newsletter

We had a bounteous summer with tons of mangoes, pineapples, guava

Cultural Wellness Festival Kicked Off a Great Summer of Events and Classes

I was happy to participate in the first annual Pacific Cultural Wellness Festival on June 29-30 in Kona. I set up shop and spoke about how "Noni Needn't Taste Nasty," displaying and sampling my numerous products made from this healing fruit.

The Festival featured a LomiFest, PonoFest, ManaFest, and WellFest. It brought together healers, doctors, wellness providers, and the community to learn about the latest research and issues relating to the convergence of contemporary Western medicine and Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), including Polynesian medicine.

I was able to give the Garden great
exposure during the festivities.

Summer Intern Haley Was a Delight

It truly was a full and rewarding summer. My "Live and Learn at the Garden" student, Haley Saunders, from North Carolina, was in residence from July 1 through the 15th and we covered so much ground. One of the field trips we took was to the La'akea Permaculture Community near Pahoa. Mahalo to Tracy for leading us on an extended grand tour of their beautiful 26-acre farm and homestead to show us how they live off the land. An added bonus was that they allowed us to harvest a lot of 'awa leaves (kava kava), which I use in my herbal smoking blend, "Awa of the Goddess."

Haley harvests bags full

of kava kava leaves at La'akea.

Upcoming Classes and Events

A busy Fall is in store as I launch an expanded series of "Lava Flow Gardening" workshops, a spin-off on my successful June 23 workshop that contained so much material I decided to break it up into six sessions.

October 6: Let's Get Started. What kind of garden do you want? Work with the landscape instead of against it by letting your garden design itself. Grow what grows best in your microclimate: greenhouses not needed!

October 20: Compost Is Queen. Different methods and wonderful worms-save money on fertilizer.

November 17: Invasive Plants Are Rampant. What to take out? What to keep?

December 1: Seeds and Cuttings "How To." Prepare a potting mix, start seeds, make cuttings, transplanting

December 15: Raised Beds ROCK! Build a raised bed and plant something!

December 29: How About All Those Bugs? ID of common pests; organic solutions.

Classes run from 10 am until noon
$15 per person/$25 for two per class
Entire series: $80 per person; $130 for two

September 22: Open Garden Party to celebrate Fall and the start of my Lava Flow Gardening workshops.

November 3: Arbor Day Festivities at Amy Greenwell Garden in South Kona. I'll be promoting the garden and have my book and booklets for sale.

Whole Lotta Shakin'

We had a very quick, sharp 5.4 earthquake on August 13, just as hurricane Flossie was poised to strike the southern end of our island. Some folks (including me) believe that it was the volcano goddess, Pele, sending a warning to the hurricane to STAY AWAY! Well, it worked. Regardless, there is renewed volcanic activity since June 21, and it's closer to us than ever!

Current flow is in black; we're located at top center of this map from USGS.
See lavainfo.us for complete information.

Blessing Pele at the Garden

In light of the increased lava flow, we held a "ho'okupu," or offering, to the volcano goddess on September 16.

Guests gathered to place their offerings on our "ahu" platform in the garden.

Amy Greenwell Garden Hosts My "Noni" and "Essentials" Classes

Twice this summer I ventured to Captain Cook, in South Kona, to present workshops at their ethnobotanical garden.

On July 21 I led the "Noni Needn't Taste Nasty" workshop, a popular class that I am promoting around the island. If you can get fresh noni fruit, it's easy to make an herbal oil or vinegar from it and then include that ingredient in recipes. Here's one of my favorites:

Noni-Wasabi Asian Salad Dressing

For about 1 pint of dressing, combine the following in a glass jar:

* 1 cup sesame oil, in which you have previously infused Noni
* 1/4 cup Noni vinegar, made with rice wine vinegar
* 2 TB lime juice
* 1 TB chopped garlic
* 2 TB grated ginger
* 1 tsp. wasabi paste (or more, according to taste)
* 1/2 cup shoyu (soy sauce)

Cover tightly, then shake your dressing and let the flavors blend in the refrigerator for a few hours before using.

Then on August 11 I held a new class I'm calling "Essentials of Hawaiian Herbalism." It includes a discussion of what herbalism is and how Hawaiian herbalism differs from traditional herbalism; how the plants were prepared for use in the la'au lapa'au tradition of Hawaiian healing; a hands-on segment where students look at and experience actual plants I brought from the garden; and some modern-day uses of some of the plants, including how to make elixirs.

Lava Flow Gardening Class a Huge Success

Participants gather at the top of the garden.

June 23rd marked the start of my "Lava Flow Gardening" workshops. Along with Laramie Treviño (on left, above) from the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners, we team taught this 3-hour whirlwind of a class to about 20 students and had great feedback from them. As more and more mainlanders move to our island paradise, they want to know "what do I do with this huge piece of property I have just bought?" I feel very fortunate to be able to share my knowledge-and mistakes-with them and hope that I can convert them all to organic gardening and the concept of growing one's own food to make us even more sustainable in a place where 90-95% of our food is shipped in.

But there was so much material I don't know how we squeezed it all into 3 hours! I'm sure the students went home exhausted, so I am now offering it in smaller chunks. See our fall class schedule for details.

To order Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens, visit Amazon.com or www.authorhouse.com.

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