Pāhoa Urban Food Forest (PUFF) grows on the 1/4 acre lot of the Living Planet Learning Center, in the heart of Pāhoa town in lower Puna, on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
The address is 15-2881 Pahoa Village Rd., between the county building (old police station) and Habitat Tattoo. Stop by any time to see the developing demonstration beds edging the front parking lot.
Events
We host an educational event the second Sunday of each month, exploring various aspects of permaculture and living sustainably with the land. Each event includes a discussion, a tour of our developing food forest & our perennial edibles, and free keiki of useful plants.
- 11 AM til noon: discussion on the theme of the month
- noon til 1 PM: tour, with time to chat or wander more afterwards
- 1 PM: plant keiki giveaway
Past themes have included staple crops, designing & implementing a food forest, an introduction to permaculture, and integrating chickens into your food system.
Email Norris at norris@aktivix.org to be added to the event email list (monthly emails) and/or to the hands-on learning volunteer list (weekly emails.)
Goals
- Demonstrate and educate about a truly sustainable, low maintenance way to grow large quantities of food: perennial polycultures in a permaculture design.
- Experiment with polycultures, species, varieties, strategies, and techniques to learn and share what works well and what doesn’t.
- Distribute keiki to get more perennial food growing around the island.
- Come as close as possible to growing the plant portion of a balanced diet for one person, as both a demonstration and material yield. We didn’t design to integrate livestock, since caretakers may or may not have interest and availability to care for them. The land is 1/4 acre, so realistically it can provide about 25% of one person’s calories. We’re growing enough greens and vegetables for abundant daily harvests, a few fruit species, and a balanced mix of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.