KILAUEA — Community agriculture business Common Ground is inviting locals and visitors to attend its 2021 Summer Event Series.
Programming includes farm tours, public and private dinners, weekly documentary film screenings and live music. The Common Ground campus is otherwise closed to the public, due to ongoing renovations.
Organizers say the events offer a taste of what’s to come when the campus fully reopens in 2022.
“It’s to introduce people to what Common Ground is, what our mission is, the team here and then things that people could expect to see in the future after development here,” Adam Watten, a director and manager at Common Ground, said.
That mission is the promotion of local food entrepreneurs and sustainable agricultural practices. The completed campus will feature a physical version of Common Ground’s online shop, which sells locally-made products, and a reopened restaurant serving cuisine tied to Kaua‘i.
Walking tours of the farm began last week. It boasts a wide variety of crops planted in dense rows, like cross sections of a forest floor.
The semblance is intentional, according to Watten. Like a forest untouched by human hands, the “agroforest” is set to become independent of outside inputs, like fertilizers. Nearby trees and livestock waste will provide the nutrients the soil needs.
“We’re trying to be really flexible in coming out of COVID,” Watten said. “We want these events to come off well, so I think we’re going to take our time and do them right, rather than try to just do them.”
Unreleased details include ticket prices, but Watten said Common Ground wants to make events accessible to the Kaua‘i community.
Each tour concludes with a lunch made with locally-sourced ingredients. Tickets can be purchased online at CommonGroundKauai.com/experiences. Kaua‘i residents with local ID receive a discount. Dates for other summer events are to be determined. Information will be published on Common Ground’s website and Instagram page (@kauaicommonground) as details are finalized.
The Summer Event Series runs until September.
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Scott Yunker, general assignment reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
