From tiny gardens in eggshells, Noritake teacups or Spam cans, to larger gardens growing in wine bottles and old Chinese dishes, Matt Bowden and his wife, Lynn Leith-Bowden, have lots of "children" in their new Waimanalo nursery.
After sharing space with Geobunga’s Waimanalo facility, the Bowdens’ business, Once Again LLC, on Wednesday signed a new lease for a new plot of land within a longtime Waimanalo farm property, Matt said.
"We’re terribly excited," he said.
Bowden and his wife’s business creates small gardens of succulents or other easy-care plants in "re-purposed"vessels, some of which he buys from people.
Among his favorite items are hand-painted Chinese dishes from the 1960s through the 1980s that have lead in the glaze, making them unusable for serving food.
They are just fine for ornamental plants, he assures.
Once Again creates the miniature gardens specifically for inexperienced gardeners, hence the use of "un-thirsty" succulents. "They’re a brown-thumb plant. You don’t need a lot of skill to keep them alive," he said. The company was well received at the Board of Water Supply’s recent annual Unthirsty Plant Sale, he said.
"We want people to learn about plants,"he said. "A lot of people will come to me, petrified that they will buy a plant, take it home and kill it,"he said. "That’s why I chose succulents."
Because of the booming interest, even among millennials, in locally sourced, farm-to-fork food, "we are starting to do edibles,"such as herbs and small vegetables, that even condo-dwellers can grow on their lanai, he said.
Instruction on proper care for the plants will be happily provided, he said, adding that the No. 1 reason succulents die is overwatering.
His "microgardens" sell at prices ranging from $3 for an eggshell planted with so-called hens and chicks cactus, to $20 or $25 for a mixed garden in a horizontally displayed wine bottle, to $35 for larger gardens including a self-watering model.
That last item is a two-level container with a garden on top, and on the bottom, a water-filled chamber occupied by a colorful, often iridescent Siamese fighting fish, or betta. A wick pulls water up from the fish’s domain and into the plant "upstairs." The levels separate for easy fish-feeding and water replacement, he said.
Many people have been introduced to Once Again at the weekly farmers market at Pearlridge Center, while others might have seen the Bowdens’ creations at the Made in Hawaii Festival in August.
Additional holiday craft fair and future farmers market appearances have yet to be firmed up, but the Bowdens are working in that direction.
The couple plans a grand opening to which the public is invited, complete with prize giveaways and discounted plants, on Nov. 1 at 2 p.m.
Other plans about which they are certain are workshops, at least one a month, that will be hosted at their Waimanalo facility. Most of them will be free, Bowden said.
Once Again also will offer fundraising sales for groups by which the group will be able to keep half the sale price of the plants or microgardens sold, "and I would like to get in front of kids and talk about plants," Bowden said, adding that he welcomes queries from teachers.
"The first line of our mission statement is, ‘Teach people how to grow plants,’" he said.
Bowden and his wife have been "active gardeners for years," he said, asking forgiveness for comparing gardening with "growth" in both the literal and personal development senses.
Lynn Bowden for years grew award-winning roses, "but she didn’t like the amount of chemicals needed to keep the pests at bay," he said. She then got into water lilies and lotuses, and, in the process of shopping for large ceramic vessels at Geobunga, wound up getting herself hired there, Matt Bowden said.
The Bowdens joke that she works for pot.
WHERE TO BUY
>> Once Again LLC, 41-829 Kakaina St., Waimanalo. Phone: 389-6966; onceagainhawaii@gmail.com
>> Pearlridge Farmers’ Market, 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays
“Buy Local” runs on Aloha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
