Medicine at Your Feet is a workshop program hosted by David Bruce Leonard – and a book he has authored – that help us identify and understand the medicinal uses for common plants, some often considered ‘useless weeds’. David took us on a walk around One Island’s farm and up to our Medicine Wheel – and shared stories about his life discoveries – in this wonderful workshop.
Cultivating earthworms for castings and compost tea is an excellent way to produce your own nutrient rich inputs for your garden. The Same Canoes project linked up with Recycle Hawaii and offered a vermiculture class where Earth Machine composters and worm bins were made available. See One Island’s Buying Club link for information on ordering a worm compost bin system in Hawaii.
Beyond Organics is a soil analysis program developed and operated by Dr. Jana Bogs. She came to One Island for a Same Canoe presentation and shared with us startling facts about the direct relationship between the decline in our soil quality and the corresponding decline in nutrients in our current food. An apple a day that had beneficial vitmans and minerals before 1920 would now require TWENTY apples a day to get that same level of nutrition. Her solution? Think beyond just organic growing – improve the quality of our soil.
Jana won the BEST in AGRICULTURE award during the Sustainability Innovation Challenge in 2012.
Permaculture princples look at natural patterns and help us deisgn smarter working systems – landscapes, gardens, farms – even human systems. One Isld is hosting a PErmaculture series adapted for the needs of local Hawaii gardens, backyards and farms. We also recommend this book’s helpful backyard and small farm look at permaculture practices. thanks to Honaunau Farm for hosting part of our class series.
One Island offers aquaponics trainings and tours. This is a promising new techology using ancient Hawaiian principles of having fish ponds that provide fertilizer for water based crops. Great for living on lava rock or coral sand where soil is hard to find.
Living Aquaponics, Coastview Aquaponics and Friendly Aquaponics have generously shared their time and resources with One Island and The Same Canoe project. A big thanks to Zach, Tim and Chris!
Gardening UP! was one of the most well attended workshops we’ve offered and preseted options for easy do-it-yourself solutions for growing food above ground – rased beds, ceramic containers, galvanized water troughs, bamboo trellis, recycled rain gutter, barrell and pallet gardens. Thanks to instructor Raven Bolas and the One Island Interns – Laura, Theo and Mandy – for helping us step up to the challenge!
Coffee bags are an abundant natural material resource in our Kona Coffee belt and make excellent vertical garden systems. Bags are suspended from a wired fence tower and plants are added through holes slit in the sides of the tower. Chicken wire core filled with rocks down the center create a perculation tube for watering and reducing volume of soil required for the grow system.
Pallet gardens made of recycled shiping pallets that divert waste from the landfill an doffer shallow planting beds for vertical and horizontal growing.
What a great day – Gerry Herbert, Bob Shaffer and Nancy Redfeather made presentations at Kawanui Farm for a Same Canoe Workshop. Gerry shared his knowledge about tools and composintg, Bob got deep into soil health, and Nancy updated the crew on the Hawaii Island School Garden Network project. Thanks everyone for making this such a well attended, thought provoking workshop.
One Island bought Josiah Hunt over from Hawaii Biochar to give us a full day workshop including hands-on creation of biochar from scrap branches on the farm. Funded in part by The Same Canoe Community Garden Project
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