Over 60 volunteers from CTAHR and the local community came together on December 10 to plant kupuna kalo back into the ‘āina at the Waimānalo Research Station (WRS). This workday, part of ongoing efforts to build stronger relationships between CTAHR and the Waimānalo community, supports Dean Grewal’s new statewide CARES (CTAHR Agricultural Research and Extension Stations) initiative.
Due to increased requests for field support during the COVID pandemic (faculty unable to travel, students needing to graduate, etc.), the College moved the collection into pots in 2020. Many varieties were housed in the Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Program’s aquaponic benches.
Ke Kula Nui O Waimānalo, a grassroots community-based non-profit, purchased all kalo grown on the station and distributed plants through their food distribution program during the pandemic. The money from the purchase was saved by the county and recently used to prepare a new field in which a small kalo planting was re-established. With bare hands and full hearts, volunteers helped to place kalo from eight groups—Mana, Piko, Kāī, Manini, Lauloa, ʻEleʻele, ʻUlaʻula, and Lehua—back into the ‘āina.
The varieties planted during the workday will be used as a huli bank to expand into surrounding fields and provide a place for ʻāina-based education for generations to come.
Waimānalo Neighborhood Board chair Kimeona Kane explained, “This is an opportunity to reconnect back to ʻāina for us all. It holds the institution accountable to its service to community, and it holds us accountable as community to show up.”
Mahalo to all the volunteers who showed up to support this initiative. CTAHR hopes this initial planting at the CARES Waimānalo Research Station will serve as a safe and welcoming place for community and cultural practitioners to gather, explore, share, and just connect with each other, ʻike kupuna, and ʻāina.
View photos from the workday on CTAHR's Flickr.