Backyard gardeners always have more fruits and vegetables than they could possibly eat or an excess of ornamental clippings and seedlings to fill another yard. And like plant lovers everywhere, they hate seeing anything go to waste.
About a dozen gardeners around Oahu found a way to share the bounty of their labor without any hassle by setting up an informal “Free Store” in front of their homes. The stores are located from Ewa Beach to Hawaii Kai, focused mainly on plants and seed sharing, though a few offer books and miscellaneous items.
They get a lot back in return when people bring their own extras to share, so it’s become more like a swap meet with no money exchanged.
Gaye Chan, a dedicated gardener in Kaneohe when she’s not busy as an art professor, said her Free Store idea originated in 2003 under the umbrella label of “Eating in Public.” The idea was just one of many civics/art projects with an anti-capitalism theme started by Chan and University of Hawaii sociology professor Nandita Sharma.
The Free Store mantra is: “TAKE = act without shame; LEAVE = share without condition; WHATEVAS = trust without apology,” explained on the website nomoola.com. (No moola is slang for “no money,” got it?)
Chan started a Free Store in front of her house with the advent of COVID-19. Because of no-contact restrictions, people had a lot of free time and could no longer couldn’t swap plants with friends, she said. Offering plants for anyone to take was safe because it was outdoors and required no monitoring since everything was free. “It was completely embraced with so much enthusiasm,” said Chan, that she suggested that others start their own stores.
She doesn’t know how many people visit her Kaneohe site, “but every time I go out, things have changed. It’s either emptier or fuller, because people bring stuff. Sometimes there’s a mountain of stuff out front.”
It’s also spurred a productive element because many people will plant the seeds they take from her store and bring the seedlings back for others to cultivate. “What’s beautiful about it is it gives them an outlet to continue what brings them joy and to share with people!” she said.
Chan asks that people label what they bring, don’t leave diseased plants, and don’t ask her to hold anything for them — she will get cranky! She and other store operators post their latest inventory on Facebook’s 808GreenThumbs page, a private group open to membership requests.
“It’s super fun!” said Mary Babcock, who runs a Kailua store with Kate Werner and their daughter Zoey Babcock-Werner. “So many people are so grateful, and we’re not doing anything but allowing free interchange in front of my house.”
When the pandemic started, they started growing more fruits and vegetables, as she’s always wanted to grow more food. Babcock also likes being able to reconnect with her community, which she missed during the lockdowns.
“If I don’t want to interact with anyone, I don’t have to; but if I want to, I can,” she said. “It’s not any invasion of space in any way. It’s more that it’s bringing life to my space.”
They haven’t had any trouble with people leaving a mess, and occasionally they have to remove dead plants. “We keep it neat, but it really runs itself. … (Free Stores)really work on their own as people contribute.”
Grace Sky started her store in Hawaii Kai as a home-school project for her three daughters. They grow lots of edibles that sprout easily from seed, like tomatoes and papaya, and popular flowers like plumeria and crown flower from clippings.
“I always had a lot of extra cuttings and felt really bad to dispose of them,” she said.
Sky also opened a free library that helps to attract people with whom they’ve missed interacting, and many bring their own books to exchange. She notices the book and plant inventories change daily.
“It’s exciting, especially for the girls, to see what new things there are every day,” she said. “It’s a wonderful community project. We’ve got a lot of feedback from the neighbors.”
The older neighbors make it their purpose to see what’s at the Free Store on their daily walks. “That’s been very motivating for us to keep everything going and keep it nice and tidy and stocked for everyone,” she said.
Beatriz Capati is not connected with Chan’s network of Free Stores but started one in Ewa Beach to give her mother a sense of purpose and more social interaction, since she became depressed during lockdown restrictions. Capati posts frequently about what plants, seeds and miscellaneous items are available on Oahu Garden Hub’s Facebook page.
Her mother, Norma Capati, said she’s been growing vegetables and flowers since she was a fourth grader in the Philippines. She’s filled her entire yard, even the sidewalk planting strips, with edibles and ornamentals since her family moved to the house in 1973.
Norma Capati started many of them from clippings and seedlings — “If they grow, I say thank you.” A tall chico (sapodilla) tree, which puts out fruit that tastes like a cross between an apple and a Korean pear, was grown from seed. It stands next to a hefty pomelo (similar to grapefruit) tree in the front yard, while avocado, calamansi and soursop trees are scattered about.
While they have a little plant stand in front of their gate that is available 24/7 to passersby, they welcome people into their yard to get plants when they are home.
“People keep saying they can’t believe everything is free,” Beatriz Capati said. “We just want to share, share, share! We believe in passing the blessing and giving to someone who really needs it.”
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Free Stores
To find the locations and guidelines of the Free Stores on Oahu, visit nomoola.com.
Is there a gardening topic you’d like to read about in the Garden Variety column? Email Pat Gee at pgee@staradvertiser.com with your request.
