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Beefing Up Production

Beefing Up Production 24 April 2020

Beefing Up Production

HNFAS Extension agent improves pregnancy rates for Wagyu cattle

Wagyu, a Japanese breed of cattle, produces high-quality meat prized by chefs the world over. Unfortunately for steak lovers, Wagyu are also known for having poor reproductive rates. But Kyle Caires is on a mission to change that. He just took the next step forward in his long-term quest to improve the reproductive technologies of cattle with his latest paper.

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop 23 April 2020

Microgreens: The Perfect Indoor Crop

Seven simple steps for year-round vegetables

Microgreens are edible vegetables in miniature form. Because of their fast growth, they’re a concentrated source of nutrients, packed with beneficial enzymes. Microgreens are simple to grow on your own and indoors—you can have a year-round source of veggies right on your kitchen counter!

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen 23 April 2020

Pau Hana With the Cattlemen

Extension brings together livestock producers on coronavirus solutions

CTAHR Extension and the Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council are partnering on a series of informal virtual talks with local cattle producers about the impact of COVID-19 on their livestock operations. The goal of the Livestock Producers Pau Hana is to foster communication, increase collaboration, and strengthen the Hawai‘i livestock industry as farmers and ranchers endure and emerge from the economic crisis.

‘Ulu, Coming Through

‘Ulu, Coming Through 21 April 2020

‘Ulu, Coming Through

Extension delivers fruit to Maui Food Bank

CTAHR’s Extension agents are helping those in need on the Valley Isle. After harvesting 60 ‘ulu and seven bunches of bananas from an Extension planting on Maui, Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite of the Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences donated the entire harvest to the Maui Food Bank, even driving the truckload there herself.

CBB in the Age of COVID-19

CBB in the Age of COVID-19 20 April 2020

CBB in the Age of COVID-19

Online talk-story sessions can help growers

Coffee berry borers don’t practice social distancing! In fact, these invasive pests are massing in the coffee cherries of local growers all over the state. That’s why CTAHR’s coffee berry borer researchers and the Coffee Berry Borer Area-wide Program are hosting virtual talk-story sessions to provide help and information to coffee producers.

Put Your Garden to Bed

Put Your Garden to Bed 17 April 2020

Put Your Garden to Bed

Raised-bed gardening gives you more options

Creating a raised bed over your existing surface is a great gardening solution. In comparison with in-ground planting and pots, raised beds can be the best of both worlds.

Growers’ Needs Assessment

Growers’ Needs Assessment 17 April 2020

Growers’ Needs Assessment

Let Extension know your current situation

The past few weeks have brought significant changes in the agriculture industry in Hawai‘i. With that in mind, CTAHR Extension agents have created a short COVID-19 Agriculture Needs Assessment of the agriculture industry in the state. This information will be used to inform Extension agents throughout the state about the current needs of local producers.

Talk About Growing

Talk About Growing 17 April 2020

Talk About Growing

CTAHR and partners host a virtual talk-story for farmers

Join CTAHR for a virtual talk-story session with local producers, in collaboration with the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawai‘i Farmers Union, and Kohala Center. It will be held this Sunday, April 26, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. Please contact Nicole Milne at nmilne@kohalacenter.org for a link to the online video conference.

Edible Flowers? Yes!

Edible Flowers? Yes! 16 April 2020

Edible Flowers? Yes!

Home-grown herbs and flowers can add freshness, color, and flavor to your table

Growing an herb and edible flower garden at home is rewarding in many ways. It requires little effort and inputs. The sense of accomplishment I get from picking my own fresh herbs from my 2-foot by 5-foot garden bed is well worth the hour per week of attention I put into maintaining the plants. So why not grow your own?

Modes of Communication

Modes of Communication 15 April 2020

Modes of Communication

O‘ahu 4-H takes its Communication Fair online

The O‘ahu 4-H Communication Fair is an annual tradition that dates back more than a decade. So when the coronavirus pandemic cancelled many 4-H events, club meetings, and activities, O‘ahu 4-H adapted to the times and brought it online.

Keeping the Pigs Fed

Keeping the Pigs Fed 15 April 2020

Keeping the Pigs Fed

CTAHR is helping swine producers weather the crisis

Swine specialist Halina Zaleski of CTAHR’s Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences is spearheading the Hog Feed Relief Program to help hog farmers whose livelihoods are being disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis.

Keep Your Ginger Healthy

Keep Your Ginger Healthy 14 April 2020

Keep Your Ginger Healthy

Learn how in an April 23 webinar

Want to learn how to keep your ginger free of bacterial wilt? A new CTAHR webinar will describe how to multiply bacterial wilt-free ginger in pots: selecting, testing, and preparing planting material; cultural practices to prevent bacterial wilt; and fertilizer considerations.

Potting Mix, Fertilizer, and Irrigation

Potting Mix, Fertilizer, and Irrigation 13 April 2020

Potting Mix, Fertilizer, and Irrigation

The right combo will boost your container garden

Vegetables grow year-round in Hawai‘i, but sunshine and good weather aren’t enough to guarantee success. What happens under the ground, where the roots are developing, is critical to the success of your garden. In this article, we’ll cover how to “feed your food” with the right growing mediums, nutrients, and hydration.

Need Seeds?

Need Seeds? 10 April 2020

Need Seeds?

The UH Seed Laboratory can help jump-start your home garden

It’s not easy to find locally developed seeds that will grow into robust plants and perform well in Hawai‘i’s unique tropical conditions. Or vegetables that are resistant to local pests and plant diseases. Fortunately for professional growers and backyard enthusiasts, the UH Seed Laboratory has just the answer.

Keep Farm Animals Fed

Keep Farm Animals Fed 10 April 2020

Keep Farm Animals Fed

Survey will support Maui County farmers

Maui County is working on a grant to support farms with farm (not domestic) animals, to make sure they have the feed they need in case there’s an interruption in the supply chain, loss of revenue, etc. The grant application needs data regarding farmers’ monthly needs. Please forward this information to stakeholders and partners who may be in need of assistance.

Container Gardening in Small Spaces

Container Gardening in Small Spaces 9 April 2020

Container Gardening in Small Spaces

Don’t have a pot for planting? Buckets, plastic jars, and carryout food containers work, too!

With more than half-a-million housing units packed into our tiny state, containerized vegetable gardening is ideal for small spaces: apartments, condominiums, patios, as well as areas with poor soil conditions. With sufficient growing space, soil drainage and aeration, sunlight, adequate nutrients, and irrigation, you can grow vegetables quickly—right at home.

4-H: Focus on Health

4-H: Focus on Health 9 April 2020

4-H: Focus on Health

Club participants give back to the community by making masks

Community support from volunteer club leaders and engaged parents is key to the survival of our Hawai‘i 4-H program. In return, during the COVID-19 pandemic, East Hawai‘i 4-H members from the Super Stars 4-H Club and Hawai‘i Island 4-H Shooting Sports Club are making the best of shelter-in-place orders by sewing face masks for community members who need them.

Feeding Moloka‘i

Feeding Moloka‘i 9 April 2020

Feeding Moloka‘i

Extension agent helps keep the Friendly Isle fed now and into the future

Cooperative Extension is pursuing a variety of ways to help communities and stakeholders hit hard by the pandemic. On Moloka‘i, food security is paramount. The largest grocery story on the island is under a 14-day quarantine, and students who depended on free or reduced-price school lunches are struggling. But Extension agent Glenn Teves is hard at work on short- and long-term solutions.

Pigs and Papaya

Pigs and Papaya 8 April 2020

Pigs and Papaya

CTAHR Extension is helping two industries save each other

The pig farmers had no feed for their pigs. The papaya farmers had no market for their papayas. But CTAHR brought them together. Extension livestock agent Mike DuPonte, a member of the Hawaii Island Pork Association, is coordinating with Hawaii Papaya Industry Association president Eric Weinert to feed surplus papayas to the pigs.

Drones and Gripper Claws

Drones and Gripper Claws 8 April 2020

Drones and Gripper Claws

J.B. Friday is quoted in Hana Hou magazine

UH Hilo professor Ryan Perroy attached a special pruning saw and gripper claw to a drone to collect samples of ROD-infected ‘ōhi‘a lehua. He won a $70,000 prize for the “Kūkūau,” as he has named the device, in the ‘Ōhi‘a Challenge to develop an innovation to help stop ROD.

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28 February 2024

The Manini Farm

UGC workforce development project takes root

The Manini Farm

With one student holding a wireless microphone and another a portable amplifier, the tour of The Manini Farm Project on the grounds of the Urban Garden Center had begun. As students took turns at the mic, presenting their projects and roles and walking participants through the rows of plants, it was apparent that these young adults felt an awful lot of pride in their participation.

“I like how the guests were so interested about the plants and the vegetables, and I like how I explained the Ti leaves,” said Karizzma, 2024 Department of Education (DOE) student intern.  

She and fellow DOE Waipahu and Pearl City District Complex students strengthened their communications skills while demonstrating skill development in the areas of landscape maintenance, facility sanitation, plant propagation techniques, and preparing the student-propagated plants for industry needs.

Students explained how school gardens, communities, and backyard gardeners can develop small-scale farming systems to contribute to local food production. Leading by example, last week more than 200 pounds of student-grown daikon and mustards were harvested for Kapiʻolani Community College's Culinary Program and shared with members in the community. 

Urban Garden Center’s Workforce Development Program represents a partnership between CTAHR, State of Hawaiʻi Dept. of Education’s Ike Loa program, and Kapiʻolani Community College's Culinary Program. UGC aims to become a research, education, and teaching facility for the college. Ike Loa seeks to teach work and job readiness skills such as time management, communication, completion of tasks, self-advocacy, and resiliency – in this case using agriculture as the growing media.

“We help students gain knowledge and working skills they will need when they enter the workforce,” says Merlinda Oania. “We do so by propagating plants from seeds to harvest (lettuce) and by cuttings (pōhinahina, ti plants, crown flowers). While growing the plants, the students pick up communication and other critical competencies.”

Program mentors, UGC volunteers – retired and current teachers in the DOE – target learning objectives that teach employability skills, she adds. They combine community worksite experience with work-based coaching, instruction, evaluation, and feedback tailored to each intern’s needs, in order to mirror up-to-date on-the-job training programs. Students learn in a natural work setting or environment, rather than classroom or training facility, performing actual work duties under the supervision of a job coach or experienced co-worker. Each intern has a student-centered learning outcome, which the mentors adjust using evidence-based learning strategies, to ensure the youths are ready for on-the-job internships. 

This week, student interns have transitioned to greeting and connecting visitors with our Master Gardeners who are equipped and trained to answer visitor’s gardening inquires. Others have found joy in making butterfly-rearing kits for school-based programs. Each student may grow in a different direction, but UGC takes pride in knowing all are CTAHR rooted.