31 January 2021
Thank you very much for following the journey of Nourish All! It has been a very full, exciting first year of operations, and we have grand plans for 2022 ahead. We are deeply grateful for your interest, encouragement, and support.
What happened in 2021?
IDEATION People care, earth care, fair share. These three principles of permaculture have long been values of mine. Around March of 2021, these values started to swirl into ideas, ideas into visions, visions into a structure. Launching a nonprofit became more real by the day, inspired by the sacred Hawai'ian land that I now call home and by special new connections who encouraged me to follow my creative pursuits. In time, a name, a theme, a goal, a company was seeded - Nourish All. September 10th was a momentous day, as we officially incorporated as Nourish All. We also proudly launched our website full with beautiful photography captured by a local photographer, Virginia Chavez Smith. We are also a pending 501c3 organization, meaning we can accept tax-deductible donations.
OUR FIRST EVENT
In June, I jumped on the opportunity to host a workshop with a local permaculture educator visiting from Maui, Jenny Pell. In a matter of days, I went from dream (quite literally, a dream) to hosting our very first event - a Backyard Food Forest workshop. We held a two-hour workshop at a 'tiny house' property located on the southern end of the Big Island of Hawai'i, owned by a young family who had lost their prior home in the 2018 volcanic eruption. Jenny led the 20-person group through a lesson on permaculture tree guilds, followed by hands-on planting of fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs. It was educational, fun, and received great feedback from attendees!
PILOT LAUNCH
We identified our core programming and launched our first project to serve as a pilot -- installing edible gardens at an affordable housing property. Nourish All identified an ideal host site: a 48-unit condo complex with ample unused outdoor space and residents interested in having their own gardens to steward. Nourish All is providing three main services: garden design, procurement of materials (seeds, soil, tools, etc.), and construction of the garden.
Since kickoff in October, we have created design sketches for the space based on the conditions of the land and preferences of the residents. The vision includes several raised beds to grow vegetables; a spiral garden for herbs, flowers, and medicinal plants; and various fruit trees. We have already prepared and cleared the land of trash, weeds, and rocks; built a windbreak fence; improved access paths; planted fruit trees and root vegetables; and started seedlings to plant in the garden beds. We are now preparing for our biggest task yet - a volunteer build day with high school students from Hawai'i Preparatory Academy and help from a local landscaping company - this Friday February 4th!
Looking ahead to 2022
OUR THREE GOALS
#1: Finish pilot garden at Ke Kumu Ekahi. We aim to complete the garden build out by April, and equip two residents to maintain it over the long-term. #2: Establish partnership with affordable housing property developer. Our goal is to design larger community gardens into low-income / affordable housing properties on a repeatable, scalable basis. #3: Go global. We plan to support a school in Kenya with gardens and tree planting, and explore possibilities to improve food security in a UNHCR refugee camp in Mali.
How you can help
Share with friends, family, colleagues, strangers. We'd love to get our name and mission out there. Please feel free to share this post, our website (nourishall.org), and social media (@samantha.koches) with anyone in your life who may be interested.
Affordable Housing Sites. Do you know a potential location for our next host site? We are seeking low income / affordable housing properties in warm or temperate climates that have ground-level space for a garden.
Contribute. We are now accepting donations! We would greatly appreciate your financial support. Any amount is welcomed, and your contributions will go directly towards enabling food access.