Kanu hou, Ulu hou

Early this morning, 1/16/11, our ʻohana gathered together to plant the seeds of this great work.

It was a beautiful morning.

The area we were planting today was already cleared and prepared.

Along with Koaiʻa, there was nanea and mamaki to be planted.

After a pule and some instructions from Kualiʻi, we got to work!

 We dug each hole and planted each mea kanu with love in our hearts.

 

 Everyone, from our Puna Lei, to our kamaliʻi were there to kōkua and kākoʻo.

Even our muli hope.

"ʻAʻohe hana nui ke alu ʻia." - No task is too big when done together by all.

With happy hearts we say, "Out with the old...

 

...and in with the new!"

To our brother Kualiʻi, we are so incredibly proud of you - for your vision of a better future and your dedication to the work that is needed to achieve it.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to hoʻoulu hou in this beautiful place.

- Kuʻulani Muise
                                                                                                                                                                     

Ke Kanu Mua

Thank you Ku'ulani for the beautiful pictures and mana'o.  You have a wonderful gift of capturing special moments and sharing them with everyone.

Today's outplanting was a great opportunity for the family to come together on the 'aina and plant the first of many trees.  I hope that the children will forerver feel connected to this land.  I also hope that through watching the koaia grow they will be inspired to do positive things for the 'aina and understand that with proper guidance great things can come from tiny seeds.  

The more I walk and work this land the clearer the picture gets, and I hope that it will have the same effect on everyone.  Everyone there today is a vital part of the success of this land and I hope that we all will feel free to share our mana'o with each other on what is important to each person and how it can be incorporated into our land management plan.

Today we planted

85 koai'a

~85 nanea

17 mamaki

2 loulu(p. affinis, p. forbesiana)

2 'iliahi

1 holei

It took 13 of us about 2 hours of light work to accomplish this

Yesterday Kekua and I used a laser level to layout and pin down the weed mat for the planting rows.

Doing this small section has shown me what it will take in terms of materials and work hours needed to complete the entire koai'a forested area. When the bulldozer is done with the land clearing we will use this experience to efficiently lay out and plant the rest of the rows.  In between working(about 6 combined work hours) we talked story about how to incorporate kalo into the koai'a section.

This coming week I will be camping for work and will probably not be there when the bulldozing is done.  Danny(the operator) and I have talked about what needs to be done and I feel that he will leave the land in a satisfactory condition.  If not, I will need to follow up with him and Bob Shumacker.

Mahalo to everyone who help today and everyone who worked to get us to this point.  We send our love and Mahalo to Aunty Liz, may we continue with her blessing.  Today's planting symbolized a new start for this 'aina, a time for uluhou, new growth.  May we find the strength to do the work that is needed to bring our vision for this 'aina into fruition.