“Kalihi has always been a land of abundance, since traditional times when kalo, ʻulu, and ʻuala filled the valley floor, supplying kanaka with the food they needed to live. Together we work to make these practices vibrant again.”
Our purpose
Our community gardens are a place for people of all cultures to reconnect with rich heritages of land stewardship, deep connection to others, cycles of reciprocity, and mindsets of abundance. These gardens, worked by many hands, endeavor to share knowledge and provide organic produce to the people.
We believe in the ongoing relationship between kanaka and ʻāina. We believe in the health of the whole, rather than only parts. We believe in the wisdom of those who have come before us. For these reasons, our gardening practices are sustainable, organic, and culturally-based.
Join us for our regular workdays, or for occasional special workshops, to learn our practices and share your own.
Hoʻoulu ʻĀina Community Garden
In 2008, an unusual work crew broke ground on the three-acre organic garden at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina. A group of Micronesian elders had been attending classes at the KKV health clinic to learn how to manage their diabetes – a frequent health complication of disrupted traditional foodways. Advised to “exercise,” this medical recommendation failed to resonate with the group of senior women. Finally, one woman spoke up: their language and culture lacked a concept for “exercise” – the practice of repeated physical gestures simply for the sake of motion. However, the medical staff learned how to do difficult gardening labor: clearing dense brushes, breaking soil, lifting. These elders cleared an acre of forest doing some of the hardest work possible, removing thick, choking bamboo and creating space on the land to cultivate food. food. In our work, we honor the legacy of these women in the food and medicinal plants we harvest
Since then, the garden has grown to three acres, and in its nearly ten years, thousands of hands have worked the soil, and thousands of pounds of food have been distributed to Kalihi residents.
Visit www.hoouluaina.org for more information
We offer workshops and different ways of expanding your knowledge through growing food.