Honor’s Haven Highlights: What Is the Kiva Garden?

When fully planted and cultivated, Kiva Food Forest Garden at Honor’s Haven will be a diverse and resilient fruit and nut tree orchard. It’s most recognizable feature, the Kiva, is a circular, above-ground gathering space with a central fire pit.

Traditionally, Kivas are sacred chambers built completely or partly underground by Pueblo Native Americans for ceremonies and political meetings. Modern variations of the Kiva are often gathering spaces built on top of or partly in the Earth with seating for social or ceremonial gatherings around a central fire. Kiva-like structures are found on nearly every continent. Some have roofs and others are open to the sky. Though Kivas have different designs and purposes, they all share the same distinctive circular or semi-circular shapes.

Our Kiva was built by hand out of stone and repurposed and recycled materials.

The Kiva Food Forest Garden will include dozens of edible and medicinal plants, including vegetables, flowers, berries, shrubs, herbs, tubers, vines, mushrooms, and ground covers — in addition to the fruit and nut trees.

The plants that are not edible or directly useful for humans will serve other purposes, such as attracting beneficial insects, building healthy soil, fixing nitrogen, repelling pests, accumulating nutrients, or acting as natural barriers. The plants will all work together to create a regenerative and balanced natural food ecosystem.