Even though we are still dealing with COVID-19 isolation, 2021 is definitely giving us hope for a better future. We still have to be careful about wearing protective masks and keeping a safe distance from crowds, but there are many reasons to be optimistic. It is a great time to do something fun. What better way to get out of the house and experience nature than to visit public parks and gardens.
We are blessed with natural beauty wherever we look around our island, but it is easy to take it for granted. We often forget the efforts of folks today and years gone by. A visit to Lili‘uokalani Gardens in Hilo reminds us of all the work that KT Cannon-Eger and many volunteers put forth to keep this valuable community resource alive.
There are many other examples of horticultural contributions to enjoy like the palm, tropical rhododendron and bamboo gardens at the Panaewa Zoo.
Then there is a unique educational garden almost lost to our island community until recently. It is one that represents Hawaiian agriculture before Captain Cook’s arrival. Hawaiian gardens today are very different than before European contact in the late 17th century. When the first Polynesians migrated here, they brought with them a form of agriculture that was as close to sustainable as possible. That method of farming is alive today because many kupuna of the Hawaiian community have worked to keep it so.
A fine example of these efforts is the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in mauka South Kona. Thanks to Amy Greenwell, Bishop Museum, Peter Van Dyke and a host of island volunteers, this ethnobotanical garden was able to teach these techniques to thousands of school children and adults over the years. Not only was sustainable Hawaiian agriculture taught, but the cultural and spiritual components were incorporated as well. For sources of native plants like loulu palms and Polynesian introductions, you may call Peter at 323-3318.
This almost came to an abrupt end when Bishop Museum announced it would be selling this valuable educational farm center. The good news according to Janet Britt is that the Friends of Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden has received a major financial grant to help save this unique resource. More money must still be raised to succeed.
According to Maile Melrose, president of the Friends of the garden, there is now a drive to save this special place. The garden is just mauka of Manago Hotel where you can have a meal of their famous pork chops. It is now open to visit along with your shopping at the adjacent farmers market on Sundays. Jim Miller gives educational tours at 10:30 a.m. as well. For further information on how you can help, call Maile at 323-3378.
When you visit the many islands of the South Pacific like the Marquesas, Society, Cook, Samoa and Tonga, you will see how similar the agriculture practices are to Hawaiians of the past. What must it have been like for the first Polynesian pioneers who found Hawaii and developed these Islands we call home. The forests in those earliest days of human activity were very different than when Captain Cook arrived. What is now pasture used to be forests. Trees like loulu palms flourished in abundance, but it wasn’t long before the introduction of pigs and rats radically changed things. We have no real clear records of that time, but throughout Polynesia, it is obvious that humans and their activities have had a tremendous impact on the species that evolved on the many isolated islands of Pacifica. Today, erosion is a big problem on most high islands due to damage being done by feral grazing animals like goats. The rising ocean is swallowing the low atolls that have been the homes of islanders for thousands of years.
The moral of this story is that we had better learn to adapt to change but keep as many of the good qualities of past sustainable systems that we can. We can do this by supporting education utilizing the vision of Amy Greenwell and the Hawaiian community.
As individuals, we can then be conservationists right in our own gardens. We can grow native and canoe plants. We can also plant species to encourage desirable wildlife like our native birds if we live in an upland forest area. In the lowlands, we can protect our shorebirds and even enjoy non native wildlife like mynahs, doves, tropical finches, and cardinals.
We have a wide variety of plants both native and introduced by the Polynesians and other cultures to follow. Therefore, we have a tremendous array for beauty and as a food source. There are a number of trees that can help accomplish this purpose. Among the best are natives like the loulu palms, ohia, koa, wiliwili, hoawa, alahe‘e and alali‘i. Other plants, such as the beach and mountain naupaka, are attractive and make good ornamentals for a garden.
So when you find yourself mourning the loss of days gone by, remember our today will hopefully be remembered as the good old days to future islanders. We need to think about how we can insure that the future will include the best part of the past. This is what Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden has done for our island. We pray with community support, it will continue long into the future.