The first raised bed is planted! -by Jill

One thing I knew when I moved to the farm last year was that I would eventually be adding raised beds to the landscape. 

We are located on the east side of Hawai’i, in an area known as Puna. According to Google AI, Puna was mostly covered with lava about 600 years ago, in the ‘Ailā'au eruption. The 'Ailā'au eruption was the largest subaerial (above sea level) lava flow from Kīlauea. It began in the early 15th century and lasted for about 60 years. This eruption covered much of the Puna District with pahoehoe lava, created extensive lava tubes, and was followed by the collapse of Kīlauea's present-day caldera. The name 'Ailā'au means "forest-eater" in Hawaiian, potentially inspiring the ancient Hawaiian myth of 'Ailā'au, an elemental force associated with volcanic activity before the arrival of Pele.
This means we lack a key element most farms have copious amounts of-soil. Don’t get me wrong, there are pockets of soil here and there where Peter has successfully planted many fruit trees. That said, trying to create 100 foot rows of beautifully manicured crops in our rocky “soil’ would be a fool’s errand. Raised beds seemed like a logical solution to our lack of dirt. 

I scoured Amazon for raised garden beds, researched constructing our own with various lumber, and started piling up large lava rocks around the property with the intention of forming beds with what we have here in the ground already. 
I have built up several beds over the last year with those lava rocks I collected, but, I ultimately decided things needed to happen a little more quickly and last month I took the plunge, ordering 13 galvanized metal raised beds off Amazon. 

They arrived quickly, and I was ready! We already had a load of soil delivered that week in anticipation, and I had plants looking like they were ready for a more permanent location. 

The beds have so far been relatively simple to put together. To fill, I started with cardboard on the bottom, which I then topped with a layer of finely chopped sticks. I then rotated topsoil, and lawn clippings, over and over, and lastly topped with bio char (from our last cooking/camp fire). 

The final product looks great! I planted some of the flowers we are trialing for cut flowers- cosmos, gomphrena, cornflower, and ammi ‘Green Mist’. The flower starts are interplanted with sprouting broccoli, dandelion greens, vegetable amaranth, flat leaf parsley, and shisho. 

It was a monumental moment in my mind, marking the beginning of many great things to come here at Mountain Sol Farm. We are looking forward to sharing them all with you!