Fruitful endeavor

Michael Buck began clearing the backyard of his Wai­ma­nalo home a few decades ago and found one surprise after another.

After acquiring the 1.25-acre property in 1974, it took him nearly 10 years to realize he had a rock wall. "Everything was totally overgrown, and you couldn’t really see what was going on," he said.

But that was nothing compared with the day when Buck was hacking his way through the brush "and all of a sudden I disappeared underwater."

The water was from a spring once used by the Wai­ma­nalo Sugar Co. After Buck discovered it, his first project was to build ditches to carry the water to the far end of the property.

A former administrator of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Buck has been able to use his professional experience to transform his land by planting fruit trees, ti plants and flowers.

Before retiring in 2003, he played a role in developing Hawaii’s watershed partnership programs and management plans for the Natural Area Reserves System.Buck is also a leader in sustainable forest issues for the National Association of State Foresters.

"I planted my first tree just to get some shade so I could start working on stuff," he said.

"In Hawaii, things grow so quickly. I’ve worked on things little by little. I travel lots so everything needs to be sustainable."

He grows nitrogen-fixing trees that help restore nutrients to the soil, uses organic gardening practices and plants a variety of species to create a resilient ecosystem. To lessen use of herbicides, Buck employs an agroforestry approach of mixing trees with plantings of shrubs and crops.

"Shade is the best weed control," he said.

Buck says he enjoys spending time in the environment he created and jokes that a swing suspended from a tree serves as his "outdoor office."

"Having the aina beneath your nails, doing something with the land, provides instant gratification," he said.

BUCK, 60, lives on the property with his wife, Pamela Menter, a creative arts therapist at the Queen’s Medical Center. He planted everything there and says his "major crop" is ti leaves. He harvests about 6,000 ti leaves each month, selling them to someone who makes laulau. Buck says he doesn’t turn a profit and shares his harvest with family and friends.

Indonesian black bamboo and an array of flowers including orchids, night-blooming jasmine and five different heliconia varieties add color and a lively presence to the garden.

Buck tried growing taro but says the plants require a lot of work, and when the spring ran dry for almost three years, he stopped. "The spring just came back last year," he said.

Buck maintains more than a dozen different trees including mango, papaya, avocado, lemon, lime and soursop. More exotic trees dot the yard. A mamey sapote tree from Central America yields brown, oval-shaped fruit that can be eaten fresh or made into ice cream or smoothies. A matisia tree from the Amazon Basin has an orange-fleshed fruit that tastes like a cross between a cantaloupe and mango. Sapodilla, from Southeast Asia, has sweet fruit that tastes like pears.

The property also was planted with different varieties of bananas, but most were lost to the bunchy top virus, Buck said.

The fruit trees yield more food than his family needs, so he sells the surplus at the new Wai­ma­nalo Market Co-op. Buck serves as president of the co-op, which was established about four months ago.

"Once you take care of your own ohana, you reach out to the whole community. We all want to eat fresh fruit and know where it comes from.

"Waimanalo could be the fruit capital of Oahu."