Wai Yi transfers her plants from pots to a planter.
She grows a bunch of herbs and veggies. This is mojito mint.
Wai Yi Ng at the Moiliili Community Garden. Honolulu, Hawaii.
We’re at the Moiliili Community Garden.
Moiliili (pronounced moe-eelee-eelee) is a district of Honolulu that’s close to the University of Hawaii Manoa. Wai Yi, a geologist and friend from the rock climbing gym, lives there and recently became part of the community garden.
The garden is in a small plot of land between a strip of homes and apartments. The land is divided up into several 10 by 10 plots. If you live in Moiliili you can put your name on a waiting list and when a plot opens up you can use it for a fee of $75 a year.
If you live in a house, this might not seem all that interesting, but I live in a sea of apartments and high-rise condo buildings in Ala Moana. No one around me has a backyard. So, when I heard there was a community garden right down the street from me, I wanted to check it out and see what people were growing.
The garden is not exactly easy to spot since it’s so small. But there’s a good landmark. It’s in the plot of land just left of the Honolulu Church of God. Which is probably the hippest looking church in Hawaii.
This path runs down the center of the garden and there are plots on either side. So, there’s maybe 18 or 20 plots available. And when you get a plot, you’re supposed to build a fence around it.
Wai Yi gloves up.
Her task for this day’s visit to the garden was to transfer plants she had grown from seeds in a pot, to a larger planter. You’re not allowed to use any chemicals or fertilizers here.
This one is Thai basil.
She explained that you have to loosen up the roots first.
The spinach in her other planter was looking really good.
One of her habeneros.
I walked around and looked at some of the other plots. You can tell this person has had theirs for a while.
This, I believe, is Tuscan kale.
And this person has a lot of it. This would probably be my dream plot as I drink a kale smoothy almost every day (kale, banana, orange juice and ice).
This corner unit is supposedly known as one of the more successful gardens.
The community has also provided a bunch of tools you can use if you have a plot.
They do composting on site here. You shred and dump your old plants and weeds here and then it gets covered up, probably wetted and turned here and there and left to sit and decompose. Then it gets moved to that brown pile to the left and you can mix it in with your soil.
And then there’s this guy. The garden cat. He’s feral but super friendly.
How to get a plot: Wai Yi explained that you can start by attending the monthly community meetings and then put your name on a list. That’s about it. Monthly meetings are on the second Monday of the month at 5:30 pm in front of the Honolulu Church of God at 822 Coolidge Street in Mo’ili’ili.
See also:
- The web page for the Moiliili Community Garden.
- Story about the Moiliili Community Garden on the Hawaii Independent.
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Amy Ng says,
Good job, Wai Yi. Keep up the good work.
Dan says,
David, picture #5 is unreal! Nice work!
DavidChat says,
Thanks Dan!
Kate says,
I am one of the officers of this garden and would like to make a few corrections and additions: Because the garden has taken over a few plots, like the one for mulch and the one fronting the bulletin board, there are less than the recorded 72 plots, somewhere between 60 and 68, quite a few more than the reported 20. The dues are presently $20 (not $75) a year, the dues being higher at some gardens because their water consumption larger plots. Also, a gardener does not need to erect a fence, but perimeter fences are an added feature because one can grow climbing plants, like beans and cucumbers.
Our center aisle was an improvement over 40 years of laid down pieces of carpet that were a safety hazard and very unattractive. Thanks to Mark Arazi and a team of other gardeners that center aisle—plot perimeter aisles are being done piecemeal—has become a focal part of the garden and a lovely path to walk down by gardeners and visitors.
We appreciate our visitors, but at the same time look not to promote our location, because, to date, we do not suffer the theft that other more conspicuous gardens do.
DavidChat says,
thanks kate!