Living a sustainable life should be more than one of the so-called political correct catch-phrases for anyone, anywhere; but when it comes to living in Hawaii
You hear the words sustainability, sustainable gardening, edible gardens, edible landscapes, “ Victory Gardens
Some people are starting to see where big business farming is taking our country and where it is also becoming a big concern due to the recent scares in tainted produce, meats and canned goods.
These same people are ripping up their labor-intensive grass lawns and planting edibles even in their front yards. After all, if you have to work so hard to have a pretty lawn that just sits there, isn’t it smarter to work just as hard and be able to reap an edible harvest in the same space?
If you take the time and care to think about ‘landscaping’ with your herbs and other edibles, your yard can look as pretty as if it was planted in masses of flowering bushes or trees. Just make sure your flowering bushes are all growing edibles and your trees bear nuts or fruit.
If you don’t have much room to plant a big garden in your yard or you live in an apartment or condo, there is always a little balcony or small place to grow a few potted herbs, peppers or tomatoes… or you can always support your community by buying from local farmers and nearby farmer’s markets.
We live on islands in the middle of the ocean. We are far, far away from most market sources. In case of national or global emergencies we need to rely on our own resources. Where else better than on our own bountiful island?
Prices of food have escalated quite a bit lately. It used to be you could buy a butternut squash for a bit over $1 a pound…recently we noticed they were priced at $2.39 a pound. When you purchase a 3 pound squash for $7.17, I would say that is a bit much, no matter how much we like them.....and milk is now called "White Gold"!
In the past, I have written several articles for this publication (*) on growing food in your garden or supporting your local farms.
If you keep copies of back issues of The Hamakua Times you can go back to reread “ Victory Gardens Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii
If you have read some of my articles in other publications, you by now know that I am a firm believer in “Eating Local” and helping sustain the local farmers.
Last September, my son Anthony and I started working on a little garden in the yard on the side of the house. We live on a property that doesn’t have many level areas, and that was the ‘levelest’ place for one.
This summer, we added more to the garden after it lay unattended for a couple of months when I was visiting the mainland. It is now fully restored, producing and we are already planning on expanding it.
We are growing many herbs: sweet Italian basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, American blue basil, plain leaf and ruffled leaf purple basils, and a basil we can’t identify; Italian parsley, ruffled leaf parsley and Japanese Mitsuba parsley; 2 types of dill; spearmint, lemon mint, lemon balm, bay leaf, rosemaries, sage and pineapple sage; Mexican tarragon, 2 types of thyme, chives and garlic chives; lemon grass, mustard greens and mizuna greens; marjoram, stick oregano and Cuban or Caribbean oregano.
We have started growing a variety of peppers, some sweet and some hot. Three varieties of small tomatoes; 4 varieties of eggplants; three varieties of spinach: Malabar, Okinawan and Dawn Dewa; long beans and a few edible flowers for salads and garnishing.
There are papaya trees, apple bananas, dwarf Brazilian banana plants, Cuban red banana, four varieties of avocadoes, coconuts, Surinam
There are many books to be found that can help you start your own small garden. They will go a long way toward helping you supplement whatever you might have to buy at the grocery stores.
Start small. The concept of ‘square foot gardening’ teaches you how much you can grow in just one little 4 foot square space when you combine taller plants in the center and placing graduating sized plants towards the edges, ending with your mounding herbs along the borders.
Don’t forget the foods that grow wild and can be foraged, such as coconuts, berries, guavas, bread fruit, fiddlehead ferns and even bamboo shoots, seaweed for salads, kukui nuts to make inamona paste for seasoning and there is always sea salt.
Recently harvested from the yard: avocadoes, eggplants, cherry tomatoes and peppers.
You can read a bit more about our garden by visiting my blog site at www.soniatasteshawaii.com – if you look on the right hand side, you can click on “How Does My Garden Grow” or even on “Fruits From the Garden” and several pages will open up about the garden and some recipes using the harvest from our garden and yard.
(*) The Edible Garden by Sonia Martinez -Originally published in the Hamakua Times of Honoka'a - August 2007 issue.
Mahalo, Gardening Seeds..........glad you enjoyed it!
Posted by: Sonia | April 30, 2009 at 04:35 PM
wow.. i really like this post thanks!!!
Posted by: Gardening Seeds | April 30, 2009 at 04:15 PM
Mahalo, Deborah...just send me an e-mail and let's see how we can connect.
Posted by: Sonia | October 15, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Sonia
thanks for the great website
i am on maui teaching gardening classes to the masses (among other things)
i would love to connect with you
i am always looking for great garden/food shots if you have any to share . . .
i would be happy to reciprocate in any way . . .
aloha
deborah
Posted by: deborah | October 14, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Sonia
thanks for the great website
i am on maui teaching gardening classes to the masses (among other things)
i would love to connect with you
i am always looking for great garden/food shots if you have any to share . . .
i would be happy to reciprocate in any way . . .
aloha
deborah
Posted by: deborah | October 14, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Sonia
thanks for the great website
i am on maui teaching gardening classes to the masses (among other things)
i would love to connect with you
i am always looking for great garden/food shots if you have any to share . . .
i would be happy to reciprocate in any way . . .
aloha
deborah
Posted by: deborah | October 14, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Aloha William...it sounds like a chayote or mirliton to me. Do a google search for chayote and you can probably find photos of them. In my cookbook Tropical Taste, I have 4 pages of description and recipes using chayote
Posted by: Sonia | January 20, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Dear friends at The Edible Hawaii Garden:
Aloha. I have a public garden plot near Wahiawa. Surrounding the plot on both sides is a prolific vine which produces a strange looking, tear-drop shaped gourd that is light green in color, weighs about 2 Lbs and looks like a the curled up fingers of a fist on the bottom side. The locals call is (spelled phonetically) sigh-yuu-tea.
What is this thing? Can you provide me the proper spelling and perhaps give me a web site with some recipes telling me how I can prepare this thing. I could not understand the Filipino papa-san in the plot next door as he tries to explain to me how to prepare this thing. Is it supposed to be edible? Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John Williams
Mililani, HI
623-3333
Posted by: John Williams | January 20, 2008 at 06:52 PM
Mahalo, Richard!
We are having a lot of fun with our little garden and are already adding new beds and areas to expand it....after all...who wants to mow?
Posted by: Sonia | August 19, 2007 at 09:07 AM
Sonia
Excellent piece. I love the idea of planting something to eat in a part of the yard that one mows. It's work either way. But, one can eat the fruit of his/her labor from the garden. And, you are leading by example. Aloha. Richard
Posted by: Richard | August 19, 2007 at 08:50 AM