Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 2, 1 February 1999 — NATIVE niche [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NATIVE niche

By Jayson Harper NESTLED IN a small pocket of Lā'ie, shielded from the noise of Kamehameha Highway, is Ho'oulu Mea Kanu native plant nursery. The creation of Office of Hawaiian Affairs native plant enthusiasts Roxanne Adams and Winston Ka'uhane Morton, Ho'oulu Mea Kanu specializes in the propagation and sale of native

plants. Funded with a $630,000 grant ffom the Administration for Native Americans partly matched by OHA, the nursery has leased land and built several structures on its 5-acre Lā'ie site. On Jan. 14, Ho'oulu Mea Kanu opened the doors of its small office and vast, openair green house to a crowd of well wishers, OHA staff and trustees. Horticulturahsts, Roxanne Adams and Winston Ka'uhane Morton direct this enterprise. Both defy the stereotype of a white-jacketed individual in a sterile, cramped laboratory. A graduate of Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Adams hoids a Bachelor of Science degree in tropical agriculture and has been working in the horticulture industry for more than twenty years, both as a landscaper and an

ethno-botanist. Like Adams, Ka'uhane Morton is a native plant fanatic. He sees plants as a living history of the islands and a connection to his kūpuna. Both Morton and Adams previously worked at Waimea Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. However, when management changed, Morton decided to open his own nursery in Hale'iwa. He has eoneentrated on growing natives, hoping to steer people away from collecting in the wild

such endangered flowers and plants as 'ōhai, ko'oloa 'ula and maile. Although not the primary purpose of Ho'oulu Mea Kanu, this is also a goal of the project. "This process reheves some of the pressure from the wild, so people won't eollect native plants and possibly damage their fragile environment," Adams said. OHA and ANA grants cover the lease on the land, salaries, offi.ee supplies and

training workshops. "With these funds we ean provide training in the propagation of native plants to 60 Hawaiian famihes on three different islands; 25 on O'ahu, 25 on Moloka'i and 20 on Hawai'i. Our success will determine whether or not we will be able to provide this training opportunity to the islands of Maui and Kaua'i," Adams said. Training has aheady begun on Moloka'i, however, the selection process is just starting on

O'ahu. "We get into particular native plants that we will be growing as well as smah business management, finance and estimating cost," Adams continued, enumerating some of the essential areas of knowledge for those interested in starting a small nursery. The workshop also covers Hawahan protocol and the importance of preserving eco-systems and plant gene pools.

" 'Ohana and individuals who take part in the workshops are given the opportunity to observe nahve plants in their natural habitats. Though there is no training in marketing, every participant in the workshops receives three kits, eaeh with 400 plant seedlings and root cuttings along with pots for the seedhngs. "The idea behind the workshops is to foster a smah business to create an atmosphere where a family ean be successful and build ffom there," said Adams.

She beheves that most people who get into farming, do so because they love growing things and not necessarily because of an interest in the marketing aspect of the business. "We don't want them to get stuck with plants that they don't have the abihty to sell," said Adams. Onee the plants grow to a certain size, to be determined by the nursery, farmers are allowed to seh their plants to the nursery whieh concentrates on retailing them to the public. The security of having a wholesale customer and retail market for their products allows the farmers to concentrate on propagating their plant. Through this process Adams and Morton hope to establish an identity for native plants with consumers and for a market niehe for future Hawahan growers. ■

aThe idea behind the workshops is to foster a small business to create an atmosphere where a family ean be successful and build from there." — Roxanne Adams

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PHOTOS: JAYSON HARPER