Donna remembers her family growing tomatoes in her backyard in New Jersey as a little girl. She always wanted to learn to garden better. It wasn’t until she was in her 20s that she was motivated to become a real gardener. Her love of cooking and preference for plant-based meals got her planting herbs and a few greens.
“I found herbs were easy to grow and added lots of interesting flavors to my recipes,” Donna declared.
This launched her into a continuing study of gardening and years of practice. In 2007, she and her husband decided to move to Kona with their two toddlers. They were ready to escape the East Coast rat race and raise their family in beautiful surroundings with great weather.
This meant Donna could expand on her summer gardening experiments and start growing year round. Shortly after arriving in Kona, Donna’s husband, Rob, gave her a surprise birthday gift. He had built her a 10-foot-by-4-foot raised garden bed. The bed frame and its soil, as well as her lanai containers of rosemary, thyme and white pineapple proceeded to move with her family three times before they bought a house in Kona in 2014 and were able to install the plants and the bed in their new yard.
Within a few years, Donna realized that her gardening hobby had become a passion. Today, Donna is a very successful gardener with lots of growing beds, some fruit trees, a small nursery for her seedlings and a large composting area. These days she is delighted to report frequent bountiful harvests to feed her family
She managed all this while practicing law. When I asked how she juggled her gardening passion with her law practice, she reported it was a good match.
“Being my own boss affords me the flexibility to work at home occasionally and get in some time in the garden during a workday,” she said.
Being able to check all her plants several times a week, spotting and treating problems early, is definitely a key to her gardening success.
Her office also provides an endless supply of shredded paper for her composting system. She has a three-part wooden system constructed of lumber and hardware cloth. She puts fresh garden and kitchen waste matter in the first bin, turns that into the second bin in a few months and finally into the third bin where it is finished compost ready for sifting and incorporating into her beds.
I did a gardening consult for Donna about four years prior to my recent visit. Wow, what a difference. She definitely applied some of my advice while doing lots of research and studying. In addition, she’s been taking gardening classes at OLLI Hawaii and connecting with other gardeners to share ideas and experiences. Donna mentioned that a group of gardening families get together regularly at each other’s gardens to put in a day of work.
“It’s amazing how much work can get done in a few hours with six or eight of us working together. We also learn so much from each other,” she reported.
These days her harvests are plentiful. She is growing many varieties of greens and beans as well as carrots and tomatoes and lots of herbs. She is especially happy with her success growing hot cherry peppers. These are not readily available in Kona and she remembers enjoying the pickled peppers as a kid. Now she grows and pickles them herself … yum!
Recently she added dragon fruit plants to her garden and with the help of her husband built a farmer-style trellis to support them. She’s looking forward to the fruit and the many recipe ideas she has for them.
Meals at Donna’s house always center on her garden produce. Her salads might include greens, carrots, tomatoes, beans, avocados, winter squash and peppers. Her cowpea and lima bean salad is a family favorite. Everyone loves it when she harvests the popping corn. Once dry, the kernels are easy to pop and definitely make a flavorful snack.
Another popular dish in the Payesko household is Donna’s beet and fennel salad, garnished with shiso leaves and nasturtium flowers. Pretty to look and as well as tasty. Wanting eye appeal as well as taste in her meals, Donna’s herb bed serves double duty. The variety of herbs offer unusual flavors to many dishes and colorful decoration for most.
Donna utilizes many of the techniques she’s studied over the years to make her garden successful. Food security has become a key word for her. She favors high yielding edibles like kabocha and chayote squashes, lima beans, sweet potatoes and greens to keep lots of delicious food on the table.
Sustainability is also important to Donna. Though most of her garden waste goes into her compost bin, she also chops and drops some of it and uses it as mulch. Along with the composting lesson, she also got the mulching one. Knowing that healthy soil means healthy plants, she maintains soil health by amending her soil with compost and topping it with all kinds of mulch. The compost keeps her soil alive and the mulch helps keep the root zones cool, moist and relatively weed-free.
Donna learned from experience that different plants prefer different growing conditions. Her heat-loving plants are planted where they get full sun while those who like a cooler growing bed get the benefit of partial shade and more water.
Since she grows most of her plants from seed, she has dedicated part of her lanai to a shaded nursery table. Shopping online for seeds, she seeks sources that carry unusual varieties. She relies on The Hawaii Seed Growers Network, which offers seeds from plants that have been grown successfully here. Bakers Creek seed catalog offers her a wonderful assortment of rare and hard to find varieties.
She waxes poetic when she describes her experience growing a moringa tree.
“I got one seed at a seed exchange. I planted it and in a year it has grown higher than my 12-foot roof, is covered in tiny white flowers and will soon produce pods full of nutritious seeds. It is easy to grow, drought tolerant and a stellar super food. Every yard should have a moringa tree,” Donna said.
Donna reports she is still learning about pests and diseases. She has learned that early identification is the key to finding solutions. She does admit to occasional gardening mistakes and failures. She tries to see them as learning experiences. She views her garden as a never-ending classroom.
Donna’s delight in her garden is obvious when she talks about the pleasure it brings her.
“When I see a seedling breaking through the soil, find the first fruits forming on the stalk, and later serve a plate of food that I grew, I feel bits of joy in the midst of the everyday mundane,” she said.
Diana Duff is a plant adviser, educator and consultant living part time in Kailua-Kona.
Gardening Events
Every Saturday: “Work Day at Amy Greenwell Garden” from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at the Garden Visitor Center across from the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook. Come with a mask and be prepared to practice social distancing. Volunteers can help with garden maintenance and are invited to bring a brown bag lunch. Water and snacks provided. Call Peter at (808) 323-3318 for more information.
Farmer Direct Markets (check websites for the latest hours and online markets)
Wednesday: “Ho’oulu Farmers Market” at Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay
Saturday: “Keauhou Farmers Market” 8 a.m. to noon at Keauhou Shopping Center
Information on their online market at keauhoufarmersmThursarket.com/onlinemarket
“Kamuela Farmer’s Market” 7:30 a.m. to noon at Pukalani Stables
“Waimea Town Market” 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Parker School in central Waimea
“Waimea Homestead Farmers Market” from 7:30 a.m. to noon at the Waimea middle and elementary school playground Sunday: “Pure Kona Green Market” 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Amy Greenwell Garden in Captain Cook
“Hamakua Harvest” 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Highway 19 and Mamane Street in Honoka’a
Plant Advice Lines
Anytime: konamg@ctahr.hawaii.edu; Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon at UH-CES in Kainaliu at (808) 322-4893.