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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

For years, a dedicated group of volunteers called the Fruit Hui has maintained the research orchard at CTAHR’s Urban Garden Center in Pearl City. Harvesting over 200 pounds of fresh tropical fruit a week, the volunteers donate all excess fruit to the Hawaii Foodbank. The group of certified Master Gardener volunteers plans to continue to harvest weekly now that access to fresh food has become even more critical during the COVID-19 crisis.

Nancy Ooki, Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) point of contact for the state of Hawai‘i, is creating a COVID-19 webpage for the Extension Emergency Response section of the CTAHR website. The goal is to add as many CTAHR- and UH-created resources as possible. Please submit resources to Nancy Ooki at ooki@hawaii.edu.

CTAHR’s Cooperative Extension Offices and Research Stations across the state remain open—virtually. All sites are closed to the public, but you may continue your work with Extension agents contacting them via email or phone. Established CTAHR volunteers are permitted to continue their ongoing efforts at Extension facilities by working individually and practicing social distancing along CDC guidelines.

In light of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Hawai‘i Island Cooperative Extension offices and research stations will be closed to the public, except for employees and current students, in the same way that the 10 UH campuses are. Stakeholders may continue to work with their Extension agents through email and telephone, and they can continue to access information via the CTAHR website, which will continue to be updated. 

The Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center on UHM campus is temporarily unable to accept new samples, though offices will be open on Monday, March 23. This is due to ongoing needed repairs to the office that are more extensive than originally thought, rather than the COVID-19 epidemic, but the epidemic may end up affecting the construction work. Updates will be given as needed.

Retired faculty Julia Zee joined The Food Basket, Hawai‘i Island’s food bank, in distributing emergency food boxes island wide. She also printed 500 copies of a “Safe Food Handling” handout (atached) to include in each box. The farm food safety education team has also sent out information to farmers and agricultural stakeholders about farm food safety strategies and to support the continued supply of locally grown foods.

The college is advertising for an associate dean for Cooperative Extension. The successful candidate will provide leadership and establish goals for a relevant and effective agricultural and human resources Cooperative Extension program. 

Symphony of the Hawaiian Birds continued to wow audience members as it was performed by the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Wind Ensemble at Kaua‘i Community College. This was the first time the symphony was performed on the island of Kaua‘i, home to many of the native birds highlighted in the production. Many of the audience members were moved to tears by the realization of all that has been lost and is at risk.The performance, which arose from a project spearheaded by NREM’s Melissa Price, brings together music, art, and science to raise awareness of endangered native bird populations. 

Extension agents Jennifer Hawkins (TPSS) and Jari Sugano (PEPS) helped to get the residents of Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i, growing, in response to a request by Na Pu‘u Wai, a Native Hawaiian healthcare program. They provided ground support in collaboration with the Department of Health and the U.S. National Parks Service. 

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) is advertising for an Extension specialist in wildfire science and management and climate change adaptation for Hawai‘i and the American-affiliated Pacific Islands. The successful candidate will develop an Extension program focused on wildfires and climate change with a broad range of constituents, including other Extension and research faculty, agency professionals, land-management agencies, and the general public. 

CTAHR will be contributing to the annual Grow Hawaiian Festival at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden on the Big Island, held on Saturday, February 29. The festival, which is returning after a hiatus of five years, brings together lovers of plants, natural history, and Hawaiian culture.

The Urban Garden Center is hosting a Produce Safety Alliance Food Safety grower-training event that will teach participants all they need to know about growing safely, healthily, and in compliance with regulations. It’s being offered on Friday, March 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority presented educational specialist Corie Yanger (NREM), William Stormont (DLNR/DOFAW), and William Buckley (Big Island Invasive Species Committee) with the 2019 Tourism Legacy Award, Ho‘ohanohano Ho‘oilina Ho‘okipa, for their hard work and accomplishments in protecting Hawaii’s ‘ōhi‘a forests from Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death.

Welcome back to Kristen Jamieson, the new Wai‘anae Farm to School coordinator! While her position is housed in HNFAS, Kristen is a CTAHR alumna with a B.S. in NREM and a minor in TPSS. But her previous experience working at UH as the student sustainability coordinator and at Kahumana Organic Farms makes her the perfect person to educate keiki about healthy local foods.

Volunteer Master Gardeners and the CTAHR agents who coordinate and guide them are encouraging local residents to grow their own food! They contributed to an article in Honolulu magazine’s Family section that helps those with little to no gardening experience start their own gardens.