Saturday, March 23, 2013

Samoan Food Gardens


I was getting prepared to write a new post for this blog when I suddenly had to go to Samoa for a week.  So instead of talking about a plant this month I will put up a few more travel pictures.  I thought you would like to see a few views of food gardens near where I stayed in Samoa.  In the Samoan traditional way of growing, crops are mixed up together in a much more natural way .....you know, like we gardeners in western countries are just learning about in permaculture.  Being a hot, rainy, tropical island in the South Pacific, Samoa has very lush green gardens.  Of course the weeds and diseases can grow really well too.  So do the invasive African snails who love those lush green leafy vegetables.

I love walking around Samoan plantations and food gardens.  To me it has the awe and peace of a sacred place as I walk along dirt paths through all the tropical growth.  Maybe you will get a feel for the place too as you look at these photos.  The plants shown include:  Taro, Sugar Cane,  Pineapple, Eggplant, Lemon Grass, Lau Pele (an edible hibiscus leaf) as well as the fruit trees......Papaya (Paw Paw) Breadfruit, Citrus and Bananas.









 Aloha




12 comments:

  1. Talofa!, I've been introduced to your blog by your sister-in-law. I love it! My kind of thing as I share many of your thoughts and feelings about growing easy and cheap food on your own. Please, contact me and we, my husband and I, will be very happy to welcome you at our little Garden of Eden as Celine calls it. We call it our little Paradise. I know you will love it!!!
    Manuia le Eseta!!!

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  2. Talofa Main. Thanks for visiting my blog. I will look forward to coming up to see your Garden of Eden when I am next in Samoa.

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  3. You won't believe it if I tell you that this is soo similar to my regional landscape around my place.
    Its all banana, heliconia, taro, green.. green.. green.. jungle.
    Somehow it does feel at home, doesn't it?

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  4. Yes....it is rather like the countryside in Malaysia. I used to feel like it looked like Samoa especially when I saw the breadfruit trees. And the rusty tin roof is the same too. :0)

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  5. Talofa! I was just introduced to your blog by Lani Wendt-Young. Very interesting and would also be of interest to readers/followers of my FB page Mafaufauga (facebook.com/Mafaufauga) started mid-2013. Malo lava!

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    1. Hi Malcolm. Just had a look at your facebook site....wonderful. Something that it really helpful for farmers and gardeners in Samoa as well as the tropical Pacific. I will be following it with much interest. aloha

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  6. Talofa Stella! Having visited Mafaufauga, please feel free to share with our readers. My wife and I are looking forward to visiting Honolulu soon. Am eager also to visit the Breadfruit Institute on Kauai. Any recommendations of gardens, especially mixed food and ornamental small to medium size gardens, to visit on Oahu? Fa'afetai!

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  7. Hi Malcolm. If you have time, I would recommend that you visit Frankie's nursery in the back right corner of Waimanalo Valley. He has introduced so many tropical fruit trees to Hawaii that you have never heard of before and is a wealth of info. Then right next door to him is a nursery that specializes in new introductions of tropical flowers for the flower selling industry...Olomana nursery I think is the name. The Breadfruit Institute on Kaui is in beautiful gardens although I think they keep their ulu tree collection on Maui. I am attending one of their Breadfruit...Tree to Table events here on Oahu on Friday. Manuia le malaga.

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    1. Talofa Stella! Just to indicate we had a great time on Oahu and Kauai which included an excellent visit with Diane Ragone. We missed visiting the Waimanalo Valley places you had recommended but will keep those for a future visit. We also had a fantastic time in Miami and a Carribbean cruise. Best regards.

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  8. Fa'afetai Stella for the leads for Waimanalo Valley. I used to go to the UH Waimanalo Farm/Station during my student days at UH Manoa. I have already made contact with Dr. Diane Ragone of the Breadfruit Institute whom I know from when she was undertaking her PhD field work in Samoa. Looking forward to being in Hawaii again from Thursday next week.

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  9. Hi Stella, fantastic photos of Samoan food gardens! I'm wondering if you could get in contact - we'd like to see if it's possible to use one or two in a university report about Samoa that we are producing...Kathryn

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