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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.

Preparing for Wildfire

Preparing for Wildfire 8 April 2020

Preparing for Wildfire

Join a national online conference on natural resource management

Join the third installment in a series of nine webinars of the Renewable Resources Extension Act, “Engaging Local Communities to Restore Fire-Adapted Ecosystems,” on Thursday, April 23, 7:00 a.m. Hawai‘i time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time). It will discuss how to help forest and rangeland managers maintain ecologically resilient landscapes and fire-safe communities.

Selecting a Garden Site

Selecting a Garden Site 6 April 2020

Selecting a Garden Site

The rewards are definitely worth the effort

Hawai‘i has an array of soils and climates, with no one-size-fits-all answer for selecting a garden site. The first consideration is access to water, especially in a fairly dry area. The site should also be free from large rocks and tree stumps, with good sun exposure, not be shaded by large trees or structures. Read on for some more tips for giving your garden a good home!

Facilities Staff Needs Masks

Facilities Staff Needs Masks 4 April 2020

Facilities Staff Needs Masks

Help sew a mask to keep Facilities workers safe!

UH Mānoa Facilities is asking for donations of masks for its 300 employees, all of whom are still at work on campus keeping the buildings and grounds safe, sanitary, and operational. They include the janitors, the groundskeepers, the repair people, those who pick up the trash, all those who do the often-unnoticed but utterly crucial work that allows the rest of the University to do theirs.

Video in the Kitchen

Video in the Kitchen 3 April 2020

Video in the Kitchen

Hey, kids! 4-H announces a cooking contest

Hawai‘i 4-H is challenging all 12- to 18-year-olds in Hawai‘i to participate in a county-to-statewide cooking competition! Contestants will prepare their favorite dish in a 5- to 7-minute video highlighting a local commodity. They should demonstrate how to create a healthful recipe and include some kitchen and food safety tips. County winners will be selected to compete in a state competition.

Micro-Hydroponics in Your Apartment

Micro-Hydroponics in Your Apartment 2 April 2020

Micro-Hydroponics in Your Apartment

The first article in CTAHR’s “How to Start Your Own Home Garden” series

Did you ever want to grow your own food? Indoors and without soil? You can…with micro-hydroponics! Micro-hydroponics allows you to grow miniature vegetable plants hydroponically (without soil) in your house, apartment, garage, or lanai. Read on for more information in this guest post by Dr. Kent Kobayashi!

Resources for the Crisis

Resources for the Crisis 31 March 2020

Resources for the Crisis

CTAHR’s Emergency Response Extension page offers links and tips

If you haven’t checked out the COVID-19 Resources for Hawai‘i page at the CTAHR website, now’s the time to do it! You’ll find lots there that you can use yourself and even more that you can share with your stakeholders, from Food Safety and Sourcing to Mental Health and what to do At Home for the duration. And please contribute anything you have to add as well!

 

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22 February 2019

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success

EFNEP, a successful nationwide community nutrition education program, is celebrating its 50th year in Hawai‘i! The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) helps limited-resource families acquire knowledge and skills and change attitudes and behavior to improve the nutritional well-being of the whole family. Begun as a pilot project in a handful of states between 1962 and 1967, today EFNEP is active in all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Micronesia, and American Samoa. 

The program focuses on limited-resource families, with an emphasis on parents and other adult caregivers who have primary responsibilities for feeding young children. It also offers specialized programs for moms-to-be and new parents and includes a youth component for children and teens ages 5–19. 

Learning occurs through a series of free, hands-on nutrition education lessons. Taught by a peer educator, these lessons aim to increase the number of healthy children, youth, and families. EFNEP follows a holistic approach which includes four core areas: diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and food security, in a setting convenient to participants. At the end of the series, participants receive a certificate of completion from UHM, a food skills cookbook, and other aids to healthy living. During 2017–2018, EFNEP peer educators in Hawai‘i provided nutrition education to 867 participants (adult and youth) and 784 family members.

EFNEP graduates show significant improvement in terms of the total family diet, nutritional well-being, and physical activity behavior. Among adult participants, more than 74% percent showed improvement in food resource-management practices, such as planning meals, comparing food prices, and sticking to a food budget; and more than 93% improved in nutrition practices, such as making healthy food choices, reading nutrition labels, and eating breakfast. Approximately 88% of children and youth improved their abilities to choose foods according to Federal Dietary Recommendations.

Here’s to another 50 years of helping Hawai‘i’s families eat right and live healthily!