LIHU‘E — A garden of native Hawaiian plants is greening up the arid Westside coast at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha. The garden was blessed on Earth Day, Thursday, with many Native Hawaiian
LIHU‘E — A garden of native Hawaiian plants is greening up the arid Westside coast at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands near Kekaha.
The garden was blessed on Earth Day, Thursday, with many Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners present, as well as representatives of the Kaua‘i Westside Watershed Council, National Tropical Botanical Garden and other interested participants.
Plants such as maka loa, a thin, long-bladed plant that looks like grass and is used for weaving and other purposes (“maka loa” means “very green” or “very raw”), is already growing to harvestable sizes, and many other plants are in the new garden, said those attending the blessing.
The gardens are a result of a partnership with Kaua‘i Westside Watershed Council, National Tropical Botanical Gardens, Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha and PMRF, said Tom Clements, base spokesman, in an e-mail.
