LISA MILLER & VERONICA GIBSON – PLOT 103

Veronica (left) and Lisa by their delightful garden plot

Yesterday I had the great pleasure to meet Lisa Miller and her daughter Veronica Gibson at their intriguing garden plot.  Lisa has been nominated for secretary of the DHCG Board of Directors and Veronica is the person responsible for setting up the Facebook site for Diamond Head Community Garden. 

If you have a Facebook account, go to Diamond Head Community Garden. Click the  "Like" icon.

Lisa and Veronica have worked their plot for 5 or 6 years and are presently growing a really impressive number of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and medicinal herbs, beginning with (hang on to your garden seat!)…  apple bananas, red roses, loofah (yeah, really, like for scrubbing, but you can eat it too if you harvest it before it dries), fancy shamrock, rosemary, shampoo ginger, mamaki tea plant, carrots, lettuces, radishes, mustard greens, patchouli, hapuu fern…. 

Take a breath.  There’s more. 

…  oregano, asparagus, ipu bottle gourds, vanilla orchid (never flowers..), habanero pepper, puakala (Hawaiian prickly poppy), laukahi (plantain), popolo berries, ma'o and native white hibiscuses, basil, cherry tomatoes, ....   

If I didn’t have the excuse of being just a lowly beginner gardener, I would be feeling an acute inferiority complex coming up right now. 

By the way, since Veronica took a Medicinal Herbs class, she would have been the one to add the interesting medicinal herbs, like mamaki tea, which is a sleepy-time tea, as well as, an antidepressant.

Read on and enjoy Lisa’s answers to the questions I emailed her.

How did you get into gardening?  Did someone teach you?

I come from a family of florists. My great-grandmother started Flowers by Adelaide in La Jolla, CA (really expensive area north of San Diego) in the 1930's. My parents (Veronica's grandparents) own Motu Nui Landscaping on the Big Island. We both have worked for them many times in the past.

Why do you garden?  What do you get from it?

I like the connection to nature and the Earth. It is a great stress reliever.

How often do you come to the garden?

Daily.

What is the best or most interesting thing you’ve ever grown?

Well, the loofahs are pretty interesting but someone has been stealing them :-(  Our best crop has always been Lima beans. They were growing when we got our plot and we just save some to reseed every year. We also had tremendous success growing the native puakala poppy, we thought they'd be hard and delicate but they got huge and didn't die at the end of the season! 

Do you actually cook and eat what you harvest?

Yes, though many things we grow aren't actually food crops. We use the loofah scrubbers, put awapuhi on our hair, etc.

If you could have it your way, how would you improve the garden?

Bigger plots!

Do you know of any interesting, funny, inspiring or curious things that have happened in the garden?

We have a catnip plant and have to put a wire cage all the way around and over it or the cats destroy it. Tux, the black and white cat, knows to come beg some from us when we are there.

My goodness, that would be like telling me, “Don’t eat that cookie!”

Thank you, Lisa, for taking the time to answer my questions.  It’s so exciting to know about the wonderful contributions you and Veronica add to the garden.  More Green Thumb Power to you!

And DHCG members, go vote for Lisa Miller next month!

Lisa holding up the loofah

LLOYD MCFARLAND - PLOT 97

Loyd McFarland has been gardening in DHCG for 16 years.  He presently grows lettuces and wild arugula in his plot.  The photo shows him standing by his profusely-growing, barely-containable Suriname cherry bush.  Many of us have been the recipient of Lloyd's generosity and green thumb.  His latest gifts are the beautiful lettuce seedlings, some of which may still be available in the potting shed.

JESSICA & TACHING TANG - PLOT #65

 Jessica harvesting a hand-full of chives

Jessica and Taching beside their taro plant

Jessica and Taching came to Hawaii from Taiwan.  They have gardened their plot for five years and, besides the chives and taro, they are also growing sweet potatoes, eggplant, red beans, bitter melon, and papaya.  The huge papaya tree in their plot started off as just a tiny little thing when they planted it two years ago.  They were in a hurry to go home, so this is all could learn about them and they don't have access to the internet.

BLOGGING ABOUT THE GARDEN

when out of curiosity, my husband and I walked into the Diamond Head Community Garden last March, we were instantly greeted by the friendliest bunch of people on earth.  We got to taste Suriname cherries and left with an armful of collard greens, basil, and Spanish moss.  Such sweet aloha!  Thank you for creating a garden oasis in the city for all to enjoy! 

To add to the delicious sense of community and warm friendships that pervade the garden, I’ve started this blog of photos, stories and interviews.  Read the first interview  below with newest members Sunny and Bob Robello (plot 71).  Say hello when you see them.   You can post your comments once you’re registered.

Would you like to add to the fun and help us all learn about you and your garden?  Just let me know your answers to some or all of the following questions:

• ·        How did you get into gardening?  Did someone teach you?
• ·        Why do you garden?  What do you get from it?
• ·        What is the best or most interesting thing you’ve ever grown?
• ·        Do you actually cook and eat what you harvest?
• ·        If you could have it your way, how would you improve the garden?
• ·        Do you know of any interesting, funny, inspiring or curious things that have happened in the garden?

I

 I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Feel free to leave a note in my mailbox (plot 34) with your name & email address. Or better still, email me directly at: ez@hawaii.rr.com

A WARM WELCOME TO BOB & SUNNY ROBELLO!

Bob and Sunny Robello at plot #71

Last Sunday, November 28, 2010, our newest garden members, Bob and Sunny Robello, were busy preparing their plot for planting.  I took the opportunity to ask Sunny a few questions and she graciously accommodated. 

Sunny, I'm curious about why people garden.  Why do you garden and what do you get out of it?

Bob and I garden because it is something we can do together, it provides us with a sense of accomplishment and working the soil seems to soothe the soul.   

What are you planning to grow?

Our intention is to plant vegetables that we enjoy and that have a chance of flourishing in our area.  We recently planted eggplant, tomatoes, spinach, manoa and mesculin lettuce.  We intend to add brussel sprouts, green beans, swiss chard, snow peas, green onions, zucchini, taro, and herbs.  

There is a long wait list of people wanting to get a plot.  After putting in your application, how long did you have to wait and what did you have to do?

It took about seven months on the wait list to get a plot, and I attended every meeting and work day during that period.   

I hear that that's about the average time.  What's your background?  Do you have a history of gardening?

My husband is local and our family lived in Honolulu until 1990 when we moved to the mainland to pursue career opportunities.  While living in Oregon, my husband and I planted a one acre Pinot Noir Vineyard on our rural property near Salem.  We sold our grapes to amateur winemakers, but we really enjoyed developing and maintaining that vineyard as well as a large garden plot and several marionberry vines.  

How fascinating.  I'm sure that it gave you lots of gardening experience and made you a lot of friends to boot.  Now that you're back in Hawaii, what's next?

We moved back to Honolulu a little over a year ago, and live at the Diamond Head Ambassador Apartments just across Kapiolani Park from the community garden.  Our goal with our garden is to time our planting so that we have some continuity with our harvestable produce.   

I wish you both lots of success and happiness.  And I'll be keeping an eye on your plot every time I'll walk past the compost area.  Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.  

Thank you so much for your interest.

Check out their newly-planted eggplant, tomatoes, spinach, manoa and mesculin lettuce