Photo courtesy Janice Crowl

Mayumi Oda says pumpkins, such as this Russian variety, are easy to grow in her garden in Kealakekua, located in Kona's "green belt"

Photo courtesy Janice Crowl

Eggplant and parsley, planted together in front of the Baldwin home, are tough plants that provide food for a long time

Photo courtesy Janice Crowl

Aromatic herbs such as basil attract pollinators and repel chewing insects

Photo courtesy Janice Crowl

Oda's organic garden features mature fruit trees, such as lychee

Photo courtesy Janice Crowl

On the windy makai side of the house, the Baldwins planted sweet potatoes, yams and cassava with native plants such as pa'u o hii'iaka, ilima and ohai, and aromatic herbs such as artemisia.

Hawaii gardeners share how they grow fresh and flavorful foods at home

For most people in Hawaii, it’s easy to drive to the market to buy food. But the freshest, tastiest produce can be right at your doorstep

if organic edibles are included in your landscaping, as it is at the Big Island home of Tom Baldwin and Shannon Casey.

“We wanted food around the house and scent – aromatic herbs. We didn’t want to walk out more than 15 steps from the kitchen, because you’re more likely to use herbs if they’re close by,” says Baldwin, owner of Uluwehi Farm and Nursery, a permaculture farm and education center in Hawi. “If you can see the food growing, you’re generally growing healthier. If you can grow food outside your door, you can lessen your impact on fossil fuels while providing more food for yourself.”

Baldwin, who grew up on Maui, met his wife, who hails from Seattle, when they were both permaculture farming in Washington. Their success in designing natural systems comes as no surprise: Baldwin’s background is in art and design, Casey’s in genetics. Although the couple has been farming 15 acres in North Kohala for the past six years, they began transforming the area around their home only a year ago. Formerly on dusty, windswept ranchland, the Baldwin home is now surrounded on all sides by a productive, sustainable, edible garden.

Sloping mauka from the home’s entrance are lava rock terraces brimming with herbs, fruits, vegetables and native Hawaiian plants. As he walks through the garden, Baldwin plucks off the pods and broadcasts the seed of weedy nitrogen-fixing legumes such as Crotalaria. Spreading weed seed might seem counterproductive, but in permaculture gardens, the practice makes good ecological sense. Fast-growing, nitrogen-fixing, biomass-producing plants restore vitality to the land, explains Baldwin. “We stage everything, so everything cycles through, and in the end there are long-term benefits in the landscape,” he says. His gardening strategy includes plants that are short-term with fast yields, such as herbs and bush beans, which help build organic matter and fertility in the soil. Over time, the soil will improve and be able to sustain plants such as fruit trees and edible palms, which are slower-growing and produce medium yields.

On the gustier makai side of the house, Baldwin has planted low-growing edibles such as sweet potatoes and yams among coastal natives such as ilima, pa’u o hi’iaka and ohai. Cassava also stands tough in the harsh conditions.

“You peel the root first, then steam it or boil it. Or you can grate it into hash browns cooked with coconut,” says Casey of the versatility of cassava.

Growing a variety of edibles challenges her to combine the diverse flavors of the garden. Creative culinary and nutritional possibilities are endless: Coconut and lime trees grow next to a dryland taro patch with pineapples, asparagus and herbaceous plants such as Brazilian spinach tucked in between. Moringa trees provide immature pods that the Baldwin children like chopped up and added to lentils; the edible leaf shoots are highly nutritious.

Artist Mayumi Oda takes similar care and pride in her mandala-shaped edible garden at Ginger Hill Farm in Kealakekua. Oda, who conducts wellness retreats at her home and uses the garden for meditation and walking, says the mandala’s circular form represents wholeness. The garden is divided into sections representing the four cardinal directions, and each section has seven beds for a total of 28 beds. In the center is a bodhi tree, a descendent of the one that the Buddha sat beneath when he attained enlightenment.

“Growing your own food is a discipline that makes you very grounded,” says Oda. “It’s a mental discipline to tend something every day. Try to get your own callouses – it’s so beautiful.”

Pumpkins are easy to grow in her soil. “They’re everywhere. But taro is difficult,” she says. Nevertheless, like many seasoned gardeners – she’s been gardening for almost 30 years and is in her eighth year of gardening in Kona – she did eventually claim success even with taro and can proudly show you photos of the enormous plants she grew a couple of years ago.

If you’re thinking of starting an edible garden, Oda and the Baldwins offer these tips: * Start small * Grow deep-green vegetables like kale and collards first

* Grow herbs, which repel chewing insects, attract pollinators and add organic matter

* Grow foods next to your house in a place you pass by every day. That way you are more likely to use them and tend to them regularly.

Contact Baldwin about sustainable edible garden design through his Web site, www.uluwehifarm.com. To learn more about Oda’s mandala garden and retreats, see www.gingerhillfarm.com.