When CTAHR serves the community, and the community helps the College, everybody wins.
The Mānana ahupuaʻa is home to several new food-growing systems after Oʻahu County Extension wrapped up its third annual summer workday series at the Urban Garden Center. Community members joined ag technicians, faculty, staff, students, and volunteers to complete the projects, with mahiʻai (farmers), teachers, students, neighbors, family, and friends all lending a hand as part of the summertime labor force behind the changes at UGC.
Grounded within a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning, the new gardens were strategically designed to boost production of food and culturally important crops while offering in-field training opportunities. Native, endemic, and Polynesian-introduced crops are being returned to the area.
Eight 4 ft. x 20 ft. raised beds built by Honolulu Community College were painted, filled, planted, irrigated, and put into production. Screen netting was pulled over the Conley 30 ft. x 60 ft. high tunnel to complete the unit, which will be used for faculty demonstrations. New orchards were lined with weed mats and planted with 60+ ʻulu (breadfruit). Crops planted, including taro and ulu, could potentially provide food for the community – for generations to come.
Workdays were paired with educational talks by CTAHR faculty and staff, featuring presentations on compost, coconut rhinoceros beetle management, weed suppression, screen technology, air layering, irrigation installation, and more. High school students spent their summer break assisting the college in installing new garden areas and taking on new leadership roles.
“This summer at UGC was fun and very productive,” reflected Pono Chung, a student transferring from Leeward Community College to UHM, on the season’s accomplishments. “We were able to open our work days to the community and other student volunteers. It's nice to see the community, especially students working together as a team. Normally it would be two or three of us working on projects, but with the extra hands, we were able to knock out our large projects in a short amount of time. Something that would have taken us two to three months took us one Wednesday work day morning. I highly recommend this program to everyone because you learn so much about agriculture and many other life skills such as teamwork.”
O'ahu Extension's summer series wrapped up with a garden picnic at UGC. Besides celebrating the fruits of this season's bounty, faculty welcomed an incoming student to CTAHR who had started as a volunteer at the garden. With ASAO’s help in transitioning the new student, the journey continues...