permaculture

[John Schinnerer <eco_living@yahoo.com>]

Aloha,

>  Yes, it's in lower Puna - right between Lava Tree and Green Lake
> (Kapoho Crater) - just north of Halekamahina crater, if you're
> familiar.  It's where the red cross is here.  

Yeah, I went looking at some land in there when I was looking - or
tried to, anyhow.  Started up papaya farm rd. and got to a three-way
junction of two-track "roads" fading into nothing...didn't have good
directions, so gave up - didn't want to have to buy an SUV to get to my
'sustainable' homestead... ;-).

There is soil in there a lot of places, some soil at least, and used to
be cane a lot of places. 
  
>  It's to the north of PGV, and while I'm aware of it, I think I can
> tolerate it.

It's fairly well away from PGV for explosion hazards, uphill of PGV for
eruption hazards, and more important for their 'minor' mishaps it's
almost directly *upwind*, as long as the trades are blowing...

> It's right on the East Rift, but life is short.

Yeah, all of Puna is at least flow zone 3 (and according to some
theories the whole section may be the next to break off and slide, like
what used to be attached to Hamakua coast did 10K years or so
ago...luckily it's a geological timeframe, could be today *or* in 1000
years...way safer statistically than driving a few miles on a
freeway... ;-).  I have a flow zone map somewhere that would indicate
if this piece is in 2 or 1 (1 is highest risk) - any competent realtor,
probably insurance agents too, can get you such a map if you don't have
already.  Listing might even have that info.

There has undoubtedly been lots and lots of roundup sprayed there -
It's a lawnmower/weed-whacker substitute in Hawai'i...plus commercial
herbicides of various sorts depending on what all's been grown there.  

If there was cane grown there, good chance some pretty nasty residues
in the soil - carcinogens, etc.  

OTOH, with the high rainfall and generally fast-leaching soil the
various stuffs may wash away pretty fast.

Stats do show high cancer and other health issues incidences in cane
worker/plantation population over the years, especially back in DDT
days, and then came diazon (diazinon?  something like that), apparently
quite nasty and persistent, and I don't know what else.  The previously
mentioned Jim Albertini might - Malu 'Aina is on old cane land, but it
'rested' for something like 10-20 years before they started working
with it.  Ag Extension might have records too.

I personally wouldn't want to stir up the kind of soil that might be
there any more than absolutely necessary - not at all if possible.  I'd
second the suggestions that involve burying what's there under
fungus-friendly organic matter and plant systems - e.g. multi-layer
forest ecosystem of locally appropriate stuffs.  Build your own soil -
the stuff usually sold as 'soil' or 'topsoil' on the Island is most
often 'cane wash', soil taken from old (or not so old) cane fields,
with attendant risks of importing more toxicity *and* a whole pile of
invasive plant matter.  

If you want small to medium amounts of relatively clean stuff (mulch,
compost, mac husk, mixed media) get it from Renew Hawai'i, down past
the Hilo Transfer Station ('dump'), 8-4:30 daily, 961-2100, article
here:
http://www.hiedb.org/showtxt.asp?category=articles&artid=43

Could be quite a worthy project...best wishes!

John S.


=====
John Schinnerer, MA
-------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Food - Water - Shelter - Community - Technology
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net

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