New Volunteer Work Area Completed

Those of you who contributed to the annual appeal last year helped us reach a milestone: we now have a new, sheltered volunteer work area. This will be the huina ke‘a (intersection) of our new nursery and our equipment baseyard, and it begins with this massive improvement your donations helped us complete.

After adding the finishing touch of a compacted gravel work surface, we will be ready to start moving in the equipment our volunteers will need for comfort and efficiency. The storage areas are now being used for our garden tools and equipment. Mahalo to Matson shipping for their generous donation of a 40-foot container that was worked into the design. We are indebted to the expertise of our project manager, Bill Keele, designer Kim Harter, and Torsten Ericson of MauiScapes. Mahalo as well to Jeff Gray for tree trimming, Sniffen and Sons for container placement, the Weed and Pot Club for painting and weeding, and Force Builders. This project was supported by a grant from the Strong Family Foundation.

The second phase will complete the area by moving the current nursery. To this end, we must now raise money to remove additional weedy trees, assemble volunteer worktables, construct bench space, and build out irrigation that improves nursery water conservation.

Our plan for the volunteer shelter includes allowing for different table heights to prevent stooping, better structures for handling of media, cart pathways to give access to less mobile volunteers, and ergonomic and enabling tools. The new nursery will have pathways that allow for mechanical rather than manual movement of plants, flooding rather than jet type irrigation, and better sanitation measures to ensure plants are free of pests and diseases. This means planning and the build out of new irrigation that utilizes a new water source that will reduce our use of potable water.

We are all excited for this improvement and invite everyone to come take a look next time you are in town.

by Tamara Sherrill, Executive Director
From the Summer 2022 MNBG Newsletter

Location
The Garden is located at 150 Kanaloa Avenue in Kahului, Maui, right across from the War Memorial Stadium.
(808) 249-2798

Hours of Operation
Tuesday through Saturday,
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Closed occasionally for inclement weather and Hawaii State Holidays.

Admission
Members:   Free
General:   $10
Keiki Under 12:   Free
Kama'aina:   Free
(with Hawai'i ID)

Please Consider
Making a Donation
Every dollar contributed to Maui Nui Botanical Gardens goes directly towards the preservation of Native Hawaiian Plants and the upkeep of our collection that includes some of the rarest specimens in whole world!

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