Mauna Kea Farms, LLC (Pa’auilo, Hawai’i)
The clients were seeking a farm system that yields a healthy diversity of organic, nutrient dense food and medicine, while also improving the ecological integrity of the parcel as a whole.
Following are some of the clients’ other aims:
- We cultivate economically viable agricultural commodities that thrive at our site, but that cannot easily be grown elsewhere on Hawai’i Island. Importantly, we help increase the food self-reliance of Hawaii, by catering our food crops to the nutritional needs of Hawai’i’s resident population.
- The maturing farmscape is increasingly resilient to the effects of climate chaos.
- We increase farm self-reliance as much as possible.
- The farmscape serves as an inspiration and benchmark for encouraging current and future residents in the subdivision to be ‘āina minded land stewards.
- Our home is a beautiful sanctuary for relaxation and enjoyment to share with family and friends.
Project Components
- Food + Medicinal Garden
- Biological Orchard
- Home-scale Nursery
- Riparian Habitat Restoration
- Shiitake Mushroom Log System
Design Deliverables
- Initial Site Assessment (PDF)
- Goals Summary Statement
- Site Analysis Summary
- Slopes Analysis Summary
- Design Concepts (2ct)
- Final Master Plan
- Farm Implementation Timeline
- Multipurpose Plant Palette
Related Projects
Farmer to Farmer: Permaculture Design in Armenia
Over the spring, I had the pleasure of visiting Armenia for the first time through the Partners of the Americas Farmer to Farmer Program. My assignment was to offer recommendations and draw up a full-scale permaculture design for a small, family-owned poultry farm to...
How to Select Plants for Slope Stabilization
Much of Hawaiʻi’s soil was once covered by native plants that did an excellent job of stabilizing slopes. Due to human impacts, exotic plants have overtaken much of this native flora. This, combined with overgrazing, has led to exposed soils susceptible to runoff and...
Food from Wood: Growing Edible & Medicinal Mushrooms
The Mushroom Kingdom Mushrooms are a part of the kingdom of fungi which is known to include more than 2 million species of organisms (scientists estimate upwards of 23 million species of fungi have yet to be discovered!). Of those, some 600,000 species of fungi...
How to Create Pollinator Habitats
Crucial to Our Ecosystems Pollinator habitats are an indispensable part of our ecosystems and their importance in any farm design cannot be overstated. Eighty percent of the food we eat requires pollinators (and theyʻre requisite habitats) to grow and produce fruit,...