#mves

Another successful workshop with Mrs. Kiyan's first graders :) we talked about compost and showed off Malik's vermicompost bin! The kids were super excited to hold the worms

Shoutout to us for pulling a workshop together kinda last minute too :') it's been raining for a few days and we weren't sure the class would wanna walk through all of the mud and water on campus. But Mrs. Kiyan shared with us that the kids were absolute about getting outside! Shoutout to them too <3

After the class with the 1st graders and before the start of the workday, Malik and Mago filled the back of the truck with leaves from the banana patch so that we could chop them up and use them for mulching.

Today was another relatively small workgroup but we got a lot of PLANTING done! Shoutout to Gary, Jamal, Ryan, Jaime, Cody, and Astreyah & Prince for supporting today's work. We harvested more of the lemongrass divisions, as well as coleus, basil, and Tongan spinach cuttings to plant those within the beds and around some of the fruit trees.

This task was an expansion on Gary's idea from last meeting. We like to create "microguilds" around the trees that function as more diverse mini-ecosystems. The plants all support each other and improve the health and business of the soil (supplying nutrients to all the mycelium and microorganisms, which in a feedback loop, further feed and take care of the plants!). We strive for diversity for this reason :)

Our workday during the week of Thankstaking was a beautiful one. We were joined by Gary, Jayvan, U'ilani, Nai'a, Cody, Astreyah, Prince, Jahmal, Mana, Jamal, & Rich. Thank you to them for spending their holiday week with us on the land <3

Our first task was to prep a bunch of donated cardboard by removing all of the tape and plastic so that we could use them for sheet mulching. We laid down the cardboard on the new kalo patch we're prepping and then mulched with wild ginger and banana stalks/leaves that we cut.

Afterwards, we circled up and discussed the history of Thankstaking, specifically referencing the Green Corn Massacre (< click link to learn more). Three handed out a few emerald green corn kernels to each person and we planted them all in small pots to germinate. We also planted gourds and cleaned up/weeded some of the Tongan spinach propagations.

We met with the school staff and admin to discuss ongoing projects and potential new projects. We discussed the co-designing of an 'ohana night where we will focus on topics strictly related to regenerative farming, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. Stay tuned for updates regarding that! And a big thank you to the faculty for being so supportive of our work on campus.

Today we planned to mulch the remaining trees and weed the kalo patch, as well as meet with some of the school staff to share ideas and goals for the garden. We didn't end up getting to do any land work today (maybe tomorrow), but we did get to meet with the folks at the school and talk story.

We were able to divvy up our future work load into 2 phases.

Phase 1 will require some donations from the students' families and the surrounding community of mulch, cardboard, and starts that we can start using immediately. We'll continue sheet mulching the trees. We'll also start to mulch between the trees, creating rows in which we'll be able to plant companion plants like lemongrass.

Phase 2 will be the introduction of the pineapple patch, planting more banana trees, and clearing land for more workable space. Hopefully we'll have a system in place for volunteers to help us prepare more spaces and get more plants into the ground.

Shoutout to Jamal, Ryan, Gary, Josh, Albert, and, new hands, Saeed for pulling up and putting in that work! We spent today clearing out a lot of the wild ginger growing around the banana patch. We used all of that to mulch around the mature kalo patch (to make those areas more walkable) and mulch in between the kalo in the new patch.

Easy 😘

Today was an extra special day because we had family visiting from Virginia and California! My grandmother (on my dad's side), her sister (my Aunt Anita), and her daughter (my Auntie Terry, celebrating her birthday,) came from the East Coast to come and see what we've been up to in Hawai'i. My mom came with them from her home in the Bay Area to spend some time with us and finally check out the workday. We got to tour them around the space and introduce them to our MVES family :)

It was also special because, before today's workday, Mago (joined by Malik, Jamal, and Ryan) led a small class of 1st graders in the garden space for the first time. Mrs. Kiyan has agreed to bring out her class of SERIOUSLY EXCITED students every Wednesday before they get out for school to learn about various garden-related things and to just have the opportunity to BE outside.

Shoutout to Jamal and Ryan for assisting with the 1st grade class and to Gary, Jamal, and Ryan for putting in additional work afterwards. And shoutout to Cody, Astreyah & Prince, and their guests today from Oregon for joining us in the discussion portion and contributing their thoughts and ideas.

For today's work portion, we transplanted the green corn that germinated over the Thankstaking holiday :)

We put some work in the kalo patch, mostly weeding and mulching. And I processed some huli to be planted in the second patch.

Needless to say, the fam was enchanted by everyone! And so impressed with the work we've done. We are so absolutely grateful for the opportunity to show them what we've been up to and also introduce the crew to our family elders :)

Thank you thank you thank you!

We had a small group on the land today. Shoutout to Gary, Jamal, and Ryan for coming through and putting in the work. Cody joined us a little later in the workday and helped us with planting.

Today's tasks were focused on re-planting some of the banana keiki. First thing was to cut through the wild ginger and dig out the keiki. Then, we had to haul them over to the other side of the campus where the orchard is. We dug holes in between the fruit trees and sheet mulched after getting the banana trees in the ground.

Afterwards, we pulled out a bunch of lemongrass bushes from the garden beds (which takes much more power than it seems), divided them (being careful of the fire ants living in the roots), and then re-planted them around the fruit trees closest to the pick-up loop. We love love using lemongrass as a companion plant for fruit trees because it grows super quickly and can be chopped and dropped as mulch. It also smells amazing and acts as a pest-repellent.

We then planted hella strawberries that were donated to us by a community member of Mountain View :-) thank you Dorothea Fendentz! We are so grateful for your contribution to the garden and hope that the kids will get to enjoy the fruits of your donation soon. We planted those in garden boxes and also throughout the orchard as companion plants.

Gary noticed that one of the mountain apple trees was being devoured by insects. Just looking at the leaves, one could tell it was losing that battle. He suggested that we plant some strawberries and more plants around it, to diversify the community and bring some life back to the surrounding soil. And so we did...