The Greenhouse

We have been gifted a beautiful Greenhouse space to use on Omaopio Rd in Kula by an amazing man named Raj Schoor and his son Ami.  Raj is a healer among other things, and has a line of medicinals as well as the infamous Kona Red- a super-antioxidant rich drink made from the coffee cherry.  Raj is a healer in the truest sense of the word, he opens his doors every Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm until dark...open to the public- all by donation and he sees dozens of clients daily.  He shares the same generous spirit when it comes to the gardens project.  He just wants to green this island.  He wants to make organic-locally-grown nutrient rich food available to everyone on the island, and wants to do so without charging a penny.   Just when we thought that there could not be another heart of gold so pure- we were contacted by a man named Paris Nabavi, owner of Cilantros in Lahaina, who heard about the School Garden Project, and wanted to offer to be the seed benefactor for all of our school gardens on the island so that we always had access to good-organic seed varieties.  We are so blessed to have had such kind-generous people come into this project.  And, in honor of paying their kindness forward we now give away 500 free food-starts every month to all of our volunteers.  Because of Paris Nabavi, Raj and Ami Schoor and all of our amazing volunteers we are able to literally start thousands of plant starts each week that will go out into the schools, low-income communities, and home gardens throughout this amazing island.  Mahalo nui loa for everyone who has made this possible.

Paris Nabavi from Cilantros - our angel seed benefactor for all of the school and low income gardens on the island- Mahalo nui loa Paris!!!

Giving a dose of BMW (Beneficial Mineral Water) to the plants

Our amazing volunteers: Amber, Heidi and Meghan at the propagation Station

Bruno from Eco Island Supply in Haiku surprised us with  a compost tea brewer, a sample of IMO's (Indigenous Microorganisms) and Humus at the greenhouse.  So grateful for the generosity of our neighbors.  

Steve and Lehua have been some of our most dedicated volunteers showing up week after week with knowledge, a smile, plant starts and cuttings to share, and an amazing willingness to help support this project.  I am so grateful for you both!  Mahalo for all of your dedication and love that you have so generously given to this project. 

Alex working hard at our pot cleaning station.  We use a lot of donated pots, and this is one station that I find to be really important in keeping everything clean and hygienic and not spreading disease or fungus to other plants through the pots.  We use a cleaning mix right now that has either 1 part bleach to 10 parts water, or a hydrogen peroxide mix.  We are testing out more natural methods of using IMO's and Lacto Bactilis and Grape Seed Extract as a cleaning agent.  Let me know if anyone has any success using a natural product. 

Waylon and Bruno starting our terracing out front.  The vision here is that we can get some root stock, and seeding plants started outside that we can consistantly be able to take cuttings of, while intermixing vegetables and herbs that can be used for our stone soup.  

The Beautiful Chrissy Kapoor helping to weed and plant up our walk-in to the greenhouse. It is so wonderful to have Chrissy's calm centering energy at the greenhouse.  She is a phenomenal yoga instructor at the Wailuku yoga studio- and we hope to begin doing a 20 minute yoga session with her after our workdsays each Wednesday at the Greenhouse. 

The terrace plantings begin....lemongrass, basil, beneficial flowers, comfrey, pidgeon pea,  papaya, rosemary and thyme go in first.

All of our greenhouse garden goddesses starting new seeds and starts

Working with a smile

Julia from the Ritz Carlton came to volunteer- and share her green-thumb with us this week

We found a group of kittens in the compost pile

In good hands

We are working with donated dirt- and unfortunately it is pretty bad quality material ...but beggars can't be choosers...so we started amending it by small loads today with the Kona Red Compost which is just teaming with mycorhizal and beneficial microorganisms.  We will also begin weekly sprays of compost tea and worm castings until we bring  life back into this soil. 

This week we are planting a garden at the homeless Resource Center, and the site needs a miracle.  Literally we are creating a garden in an old drainage ditch full of sand.  There is NO soil- and so I gathered together our amazing volunteers to hold intention and put some hope and love into our plants that will be planted into the grounds of the Resource Center.  Every little bit of love helps.