Edible landscaping
Environment / “The experience of growing food for one’s self and one’s family can profoundly alter the way one sees his environment and his place in it,” says Fran Butera, gardener-in-chief of Foodscapes Hawaii, an edible-landscaping company. “He is no longer just a consumer. He can partner with the earth to sustain life. Nothing you can buy at any store imparts that kind of heartfelt wisdom.”
Whether it’s container gardens on the lanai, raised beds in the yard, or in-ground plots, Butera helps clients get growing. Breaking ground can be daunting for those new to gardening, so Foodscapes can assess your space and set up a garden and come for site visits throughout the month for weeding, general maintenance and troubleshooting if there are any problems. For the more advanced growers, or people who want to do it all themselves, Butera offers quick consultations–she’s a garden doctor of sorts.
Foodscapes’ most popular garden is a 4-foot-by-8-foot raised bed, which costs $650 and includes materials, assembly, a soil/compost/manure/seaweed mixture, an irrigation plan and planning out the garden (preferably with the client). They also sell organically-grown and heirloom seedlings like Amish Deer Tongue lettuce and Christmas Lima beans, as well as seed collections like “The Garden of Europe,” with Black Hungarian Peppers, Chiogga Beets, Melitopolski Watermelon and Red Stalk Celery; and “The Garden of the Americas,” including a variety of beans with unique markings and flavors, like the Cherokee Trail of Tears, Painted Pony, and Pawnee Shell.
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