"Why are we going home?" Stevo Klopping would ask when he was a kid out camping with his family. "We have everything we need right here." He was satisfied with the basics wrapped in the extraordinary luxury of nature's beauty, stillness and clarity.
Twenty nine years of living on Maui have offered Klopping a place to combine his carpentry, artistry and vision in a home that serves his soul, body and mind as well as his family, friends, and community. He recalls how every camping trip, venturing from their home in Ohio to Michigan's wilderness with his mom, dad and six siblings, provided inspiration that has guided him here.
Haiku, Maui is heaven on earth, naturally. Klopping proves that adding humans to this setting can be harmonious. He provides a place for mutually beneficial interactions. Klopping gratefully acknowledges years of contributions from many volunteers that have worked on improving the land. Each human, tree, plant, bee and soil microorganism, every element and component, supports many functions that are integrated into the success of the whole system.
Enter his co-creation.
Stroll barefoot on the velvet carpet of yellow-blossoming peanut ground cover. What began as 12 shoots seven years ago is now five acres of plush comfort blanketing the land. The temptation to walk on and on is exhilarating, passing circles of comfrey, through a fragrant food forest with multi-levels of pineapples, taro, asparagus, oranges, limes, lemons, kava, avocadoes, bananas, papayas, purple star apples, and orange "pumpkin-pie-tasting" eggfruits. Over 400 fruit trees and exotics enjoy living here. Along the trail, towering coconut palms are embraced by climbing vanilla bean vines. A lush garden brimming with kale, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, basil, zinnias, borage, and much more, serves as the green centerpiece of bounty. Hibiscus burst in perfect pink blossoms over the flowering pond and the welcoming entrance lanai of his sweet "Hobbit house."
"This is a ferro cement building," Klopping says, one of many styles of dwellings on Maui he built, a showpiece of efficiency and sensitivity. This comfortable space offers a kitchen, storage, sleeping and dining space built with exquisite details in warm wood counters and closets, slate stone floors and very special windows. Life-size round windows blur boundaries, acting as "portals," as Klopping describes them, carrying one's spirit out on the breeze, over the jungle cliffs through the rain, floating safely above the rushing creek below and back to the soothing shelter. Peace reigns here.
"It takes 25 minutes to clean my house." Klopping says. The exquisite simple space inside retains the sense of connection with the jungle's moods outside- this oasis is a great example of permaculture.
Penny Livingston-Stark, co-founder of The Permaculture Institute of Northern California and The Regenerative Design Institute defines permaculture and explains its origins.
"Permaculture is a design method for creating sustainable homes and entire human settlements, with the resiliency and stability of a natural eco-system."
"Bill Mollison of Tasmania and David Holmgren of Australia developed permaculture in the 1970s. As there was no term for sustainable culture they coined the term "permaculture," to embody "permanent" and "agriculture." It evolved into the notion of "permanent culture" as culture and agriculture reflect each other. Creating a permaculture environment is a gradual and long-range process."
Klopping's land is testimony to the rewards of such a commitment.
Full Story: http://www.haleakalatimes.com/2006/05/23/mana_thriving_
in_haiku_through_permaculture_design/
