LIVING OFF GRID IN HAWAII
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Gardening
“Gardening gave me time to bond with my family and learn what it meant to live off the land and be connected to it.”
Growing a garden doesn’t need to be one of your biggest projects when going off grid, but it should be one of them. You should take the time to at least grow a small garden and teach your family the responsibility of loving it. When I say loving it, I mean tending to the garden, taking care of it, watering it, removing the weeds, trimming the leaves and branches.
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You’ll need to decide which type of garden is best for you. Your surroundings and weather will play a major factor in these decisions, even if you build a GREENHOUSE. You need to consider all these questions because we do have Wild Boar, Goats, Chickens and other animals that could get into your garden here in Hawaii.
"In just ONE NIGHT or just several hours, a group of wild boars could eat and destroy your entire garden and all the work you put into it for months. You DON'T want that happening. So take the time to figure out what kind of garden you want, how big and what you plan on growing inside of it."
You need to decide how involved you will be with your garden. It’s your choice to make it as small or as big as it relates to your desire of living off grid.
If your intention is to get away from not only the grid, but from being dependent on grocery stores, you may want to truly consider building a garden within a reasonably sized GREENHOUSE.
Why do I suggest a GREENHOUSE? For many reasons. Your garden is protected from the elements and the wild life outside. You can also use the roof to catch water that will run directly into your irrigation system within the greenhouse. When it rains, just open your small water catchment tank and irrigate your greenhouse with direct water or overhead sprinklers.
Although I honestly recommend a large greenhouse garden ( and you will get there), you should start off small so you can get a grip on gardening in general. Maybe a 4x8 foot space. You’ll need 6-8 hours of sunlight for the outdoor garden. When you get to your greenhouse, you can choose how and when your garden gets sunlight by installing growing lamps or using natural sunlight.
Let’s keep your garden in an open space away from too much tree shade as well as the roots of the trees. You’ll need a form of irrigation for your garden. Either have a hose system close by or put in a semi-permanent solution around your garden bed.
You’re going to need healthy rich soil so make sure to do a soil test. You may still need to add in compost and fertilizer depending on your soil test results. Next, you need to prep the soil by tilling it, or uplifting the soil from its compact state.
Build your soil beds and grade it. The soil beds that you raise up is where you will be planting your crops to give it some height, and for the roots to grow and spread out. In between the soil beds, put down some plastic or vinyl, then cover it lightly with soil to stop weed growth. These will be your passageways through the garden. Water and let the garden sit for a week…
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