News and Updates

Hawaii News

Author: Jonathan Spoliansky

From April 1st to April 12th, I had the honor and privilege of spending time at theHaiku Permaculture Initiativeon the island of Maui, Hawaii, where, in addition to meeting new friends and re-encountering old ones, I got to learn about the importance of agroforestry and soil science.In my time there, I developed a newfound love and respect for working harmoniously with Nature.

Agroforestry is the practice of combining trees and shrubs with different crops to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use systems. By observing the spirit of any particular area of forest, we are able to see the different layers of trees and bushes that exist naturally (what agroforestry calls the different layers of succession). In order to have a successful food forest, we want to select plants from all life cycles-plants that will live only 1 year, 3 years, 15 years, 50 years, and 100+ years. By planting all the different species that fall into these categories together, we are able to create a dense forest that will always be yeilding food for consumption or useful wood to help fertilize the soil. The important benefit that this philosophy of planting creates is that land can be restored to its natural state of balance. By using these methods, we can take a piece of land devasted by cattle grazing and toxic chemicals, and in 10-20 years, transform the land into a thriving food source. We can also teach these methods to poorer communities to help them create jobs and grow food. For more information about projects that implement this philosophy and to see the work of Ernst Götsch, the mentor of one of the Hawaii course leaders, and a man who has transformed his land, his family, and his community with these techniques .

Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource. This resource is the reason that trees don’t fall down or wash away during a rainstorm. Having good soil is as important in growing food as the plants selected to grow. Different types of soils help different types of plants grow. For example, soil rich in bacteria helps plants and bushes grow, whereas fungal dominated soils is good for large trees. Unfortunately, modern commercial farming and livestock operations are destroying the soil and all the beneficial nutrients, making it very difficult to grow strong and healthy plants, bushes and trees. Learning how to diversify crops through the methods taught in agroforestry, and by building up the soil through the methods taught during the workshop, we are able to reclaim wasted land and create bountiful and lush forests that can produce food, wood, and a variety of diverse life.

In Hawaii, in addition to learning what was taught in the classroom, we did a lot of hands on activities such as:

• Making bacteria rich compost using mulch, grass and plant clippings, water, and manure.
• Planting a large food forest filled with fruit trees, vegetables, large native trees, and other plants in a once empty clearing.
• Brewing compost tea using worm castings, hydrolisized fish, and kelp (which we later fed to the newly planted food forest).
• Planting a chacronal with chacrona, and various food producing trees and bushes.

The final three days of the course were spent learning about what mariri and chacrona need to thrive inside of the concepts of healthy soil and bio-diversity of species that were discussed the previous 8 days. We saw various examples of chacronals created using a monoculture (just planted with chacrona) versus chacronals created using the concepts of agroforestry (where a diverse array of plants were planted along with mariri and chacrona). What became evident was that the more control humans tried to have over the environments, the less successful the growth and production of mariri and chacrona. When humans were able to learn from the plants what was needed for optimal growing conditions (in terms of shade and nutrients and other things), the plantations were more successful. This is the key to being successful here in Florida. We must learn from Nature, both in the North and in the South, what is needed to give the mariri and chacrona the type of environment that they need. Both locations will be different. The flora and fauna of both areas require different things. We cannot expect to just plant a lot of chacrona and mariri and have success. We must work with the plants that we are planting and with the areas that we are planting to reach a balance for what is needed. Utilizing the lessons learned from Hawaii about agroforestry and soil science will save us a lot of trial and error, and will allow us to realize this great work given to us by Mestre Gabriel and the Uniao do Vegetal.

“All the problems began when we started wanting to dominate Nature instead of cooperating with Her. Each species has its function, with its own physiological mechanisms to cooperate and to create more abundance, more life, and more complexity for its surroundings. Our principal biological role is to spread the seeds. Our whole Universe is a tool for creating resources, and this is all made possible by the law of cooperation and unconditional love.” -Ernst Götsch