Maui Chapter Expands Ocean Friendly Garden Partnership with Grow Some Good

The Surfrider Maui Chapter is thrilled to announce an ongoing Ocean Friendly Garden (OFG) partnership with Grow Some Good, a local nonprofit dedicated to cultivating a healthy community through local agriculture, education, and improved access to nutritious, affordable food.

In the heart of Kahului’s urban landscape thrives Nā Māla Kaiāulu at the YMCA- a four-acre community garden that stands as a grassroots response to the challenges of sustainable food production and climate resilience. Once a dry, fire-prone lot, this space has been transformed into a thriving ecosystem filled with native plants and a tropical food forest.

Hawaiʻi faces some of the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation, with an estimated 85–90% of our food imported. Nā Māla Kaiāulu demonstrates what local, circular food systems can look like- producing and distributing 500–600 pounds of fresh produce each month to the surrounding community.

This Ocean Friendly Garden follows all OFG best practices and showcases how nature-based solutions can reduce stormwater pollution and runoff while providing multiple community and environmental benefits. Deeply rooted endemic and climate-adapted plants support healthy soils and water infiltration, organic pest management fosters biodiversity, and invasive species are continually removed and replaced as the garden expands.

Located in a hot, windy, dry, and salty region, the site’s restoration follows a phased approach. Native species are introduced first to rebuild soil health, add organic matter, and retain moisture. Once conditions improve, more delicate food crops are woven into the matrix. The long-term goal is a syntropic system- a dense, multi-layered forest where overstory, midstory, and understory plants create a self-sustaining microclimate that minimizes the need for external inputs.

In addition to monthly volunteer workdays, Grow Some Good hosts a weekly harvest workshop every Wednesday from 9–11 a.m. Individuals are welcome to drop in anytime to join the hands-on harvest and learn about farm-to-table practices. While harvests are generally limited to this time, the farm remains open to the public- just check in at the YMCA front desk. Farm staff are typically on-site Monday through Thursday. 

1 Director Will Sands gives education tour at November 11 workday 

The garden started three years ago in this initial area next to the YMCA.

4 Volunteers learning about tropical food crops. 

The garden is continually expanding outwards with some recently initiated plots with coastal native species.

Soil building is the most important work they do at the garden. Here volunteers are sheet-mulching to build soil in new plot.

Check our events page and sign up for the next community workday!