Permaculture in Hawai’i
By Claire Kellerman of www.klarity.org
Childhood family camping trips always ended with the same question. Stevo would ask himself,
“Why are we going home? We have everything we need right here.”
He was satisfied with the basics wrapped in the extraordinary luxury of nature’s beauty, stillness and clarity.
29 years of living on Maui have offered Stevo a place to combine his carpentry, artistry and vision in a home that serves his Soul, body and mind as well as his family, friends, and community. He recalls how every camping trip, venturing from their home in Ohio to Michigan’s wilderness with his mom, dad and six siblings, provided inspiration that has guided him here.
Haiku, Maui is heaven on earth, naturally. Stevo proves that adding humans to this setting can be harmonious. He provides a place for mutually beneficial interactions. Stevo gratefully acknowledges years of contributions from many volunteers that have worked on improving the land. Each human, tree, plant, bee, and soil microorganism, every element and component, supports many functions that are integrated into the success of the whole system.
Enter his co-creation.
Stroll barefoot on the velvet carpet of yellow-blossoming peanut ground cover. What began as 12 shoots 7 years ago is now 5 acres of plush comfort blanketing the land. The temptation to walk on and on is exhilarating, passing circles of comfrey, through a fragrant food forest with multi-levels of pineapples, taro, asparagus, oranges, limes, lemons, kava, avocadoes, bananas, papayas, purple star apples, and orange “pumpkin-pie-tasting” eggfruits. Over 400 fruit trees and exotics enjoy living here. Along the trail, towering coconut palms are embraced by climbing vanilla bean vines. A lush garden brimming with kale, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, basil, zinnias, borage, and much more, serves as the green centerpiece of bounty. Hibiscus burst in perfect pink blossoms over the flowering pond and the welcoming entrance lanai of his sweet “Hobbit house.”
“This is a ferro cement building,” Stevo says, one of many styles of dwellings on Maui built by Stevo, a showpiece of efficiency and sensitivity. This comfortable space offers a kitchen, storage, sleeping, and dining space built with exquisite details in warm wood counters and closets, slate stone floors, and very special windows. Life-size round windows blur boundaries, acting as “portals,” as Stevo describes them, carrying one’s Spirit out on the breeze, over the jungle cliffs through the rain, floating safely above the rushing creek below and back to the soothing shelter. Peace reigns here.
“It takes 25 minutes to clean my house.” Stevo happily shares this added benefit. The exquisite simple space inside retains the sense of connection with the jungle’s moods outside. This oasis is a great example of permaculture.
Penny Livingston-Stark, co-founder of The Permaculture Institute of Northern California and The Regenerative Design Institute defines permaculture and explains its origins,
“Permaculture is a design method for creating sustainable homes, and entire human settle