KAILUA-KONA — From an early age, the natural world provided a refuge for Terry Taube that he still accesses today.
KAILUA-KONA — From an early age, the natural world provided a refuge for Terry Taube that he still accesses today.
“I can get lost in a forest and come out feeling renewed, refreshed and energized,” he said.
Taube is right at home, literally and figuratively, installing and maintaining a 3-acre dryland forest of Hawaiian native plants on his Makalei property.
It’s a passion that started early for Taube, who is also an artist with several pieces displayed around the community.
When he was young, Taube’s family often visited his grandfather’s farm in Ontario, Canada. On these visits, he was delighted to learn to grow his own vegetables. He has carried this early gardening experience into many phases of his life. He returned to vegetable growing for a few years as an adult on a piece of land in Occidental, California. Later, in Hawaii, he expanded his cultivation skills into forestry. Maui was his first Hawaiian stop in 1974.
A year later, he found his way to the Big Island. Here, his love of trees was rekindled, allowing his creative spirit to soar. It was here Taube’s artistic journey, as well as his passion for native Hawaiian trees, was launched.
“The forest and the trees gave me back my hands,” Taube said. “I was finally able to relax and be creative.”
The two paths, art and forestry, have mingled throughout Taube’s life in Hawaii. His art is based on hand-casting paper into many natural forms including turtles, octopus, monstera leaves and even a lava canoe. His art has also included growing more than 100 gourds, carving and dyeing them with sandalwood bark in the ancient Niihau method. Some of his latest work can be seen at the Kona Art Gallery in Holualoa. Adding to his artistic bent, Taube’s years of plant knowledge and his obsession for Hawaii’s native trees have made him an inspired forester.
And dryland forests bring benefits.
At the recent Dryland Forest Symposium, several speakers emphasized the importance of planting trees, lots of them, to help sequester carbon and mitigate some of the issues causing climate change. Taube is doing his part, providing an excellent example to follow.
Never idle, Taube recently expanded his creative impulses into music. Armed with a harmonica, he is part of the newly formed band, “Overtime in Kona.” They’re spotted playing around town at parties as well as venues like the Brew Pub, Edible and Corner Pocket.
Taube is also a self-described “honu-ist.” In studying turtles, he has found inspiration and a reminder of the circle of life. These creatures, who have been on the planet for 230 million years, carry lessons that he expounds on in a long poem.
While touring his property I met the two honu residents. The large land turtles, named Moku and Ipu, are important parts of his forest. Both are Sulcata or African spurred tortoises that amble throughout the property as a reminder of the slow progression of life in all its forms.
When he purchased the steep, sloping lot in Makalei in 2001, Taube immediately began establishing a dryland forest, hoping to replace one of the many that had been lost to development over the last 50 years. Today, he has hundreds of plants in the ground in addition to a few old growth ohia, lama and alahee that were left by the developers.
The originals are now joined by many other native trees like the hardwood olupua and the difficult-to-grow uhiuhi. Both native Hawaiian kauila trees from the Rhamnaceae (Buckthorn) family are represented.
“An Hawaiian legend describes the kauila trees as half woman, half turtle,” Taube said. “That’s probably why I like them.”
He is also fond of the red-tipped leaves of the akoko shrub, a member of the Euphorbiaceae (Spurge) family that he grows as an understory plant along with the better known ulei and aalii, but he’s not shy sharing his favorite reforestation tree.
“Sandalwood: it’s one of the most valuable trees in the world,” he said.
He is now growing four different native sandalwood (iliahi) varieties that thrive at specific Hawaiian elevations and microclimates and said he found it interesting that some of his newer seedlings appear to be crosses from the distinct varieties. Koa and koaia, he added, are also excellent reforestation trees.
Most of the plants on Taube’s property were started from seed. He’s saved seeds from the many specimens he either finds in the wild or is offered by other native plant enthusiasts.
“It’s all about seed,” he said. “I’m a potentialist.”
His belief in the forested future was obvious as I toured his property and experienced his devotion to creating a tree-filled space.
He has incorporated numerous fruit trees in his forest. Lilikoi vines twine up several tall trees and a newly constructed trellis supports several dragon fruit varieties. Bananas, breadfruit, avocadoes and more than a dozen citrus as well as exotics like pomegranate, cherimoya, atemoya, grumichama, acerola, rollinia and sapote are all included.
Taube’s vegetable garden is a picturesque oasis in the forest. A walking circle featuring the turtle, his special aumakua, and another grassy spot close to his house are other cultivated spots that offer a respite from the forest’s wildness.
The lama trees bear fruit containing fresh seeds. His generous nature enhances his dedication, as he happily shares seeds and seedlings with others.
At the end of the tour, Taube took me to see two old trees that were on the property when he bought it. The old lama bark was covered in moss, a definite sign of its age. Next, we visited his favorite wiliwili. A true tree-hugger, Taube wrapped his arms around this prized specimen as we admired her beauty.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant living in a dryland forest north of Kailua-Kona.