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For Keiki and Community

For Keiki and Community 6 March 2019

For Keiki and Community

FCS is hiring two junior Extension agents, full time and temporary, to work with intergenerational and youth programs in Lihu‘e and Kona. The new agents should develop, deliver, and evaluate integrated and intergenerational education programs, including 4-H, that meet community needs and enhance the quality of life for stakeholders across the lifespan.

Familiar Faces in New Places: Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite

Familiar Faces in New Places: Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite 22 February 2019

Familiar Faces in New Places: Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite

Welcome to Rosemary Gutierrez-Coarite (TPSS), who began her new career as the Maui County Edible Crops agent on Friday, February 15! Rosemary is right at home in the college, having previously worked as a junior researcher with Mark Wright (PEPS), primarily on integrated pest management of the macadamia felted coccid.

Buy Local Fish, It Matters

Buy Local Fish, It Matters 22 February 2019

Buy Local Fish, It Matters

Fish and other seafoods are integral to the Island diet, but sourcing that fish can be problematic. Aurora Saulo (TPSS) was recently interviewed for Hawaii News Now’s story on how imported frozen seafood can be contaminated with unwanted chemicals, where she explained that antibiotics and other violative drugs are often used.

Man on Fire

Man on Fire 22 February 2019

Man on Fire

Wildfires are a serious concern, in the Islands as well as on the Mainland. Wildland fire expert Clay Trauernicht (NREM) recently gave a presentation on this timely subject on Maui, in which he explained that since 72 percent of wildfires with known causes are accidental, that means they can be prevented, and the time for prevention is now!  

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success

Fifty Years of Nutrition Success 22 February 2019

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. 

Make Every Day Ag Day

Make Every Day Ag Day 22 February 2019

Make Every Day Ag Day

O‘ahu Cooperative Extension joined with other CTAHR programs and statewide agricultural agencies to support the Hawaii Farm Bureau’s Ag Day at the Capitol. This educational event allows ag producers, organizations, and educators get to demonstrate just how crucial their work is to community, quality of life, and the economy and the environment of the Islands.

Awareness and Great Taste

Awareness and Great Taste 22 February 2019

Awareness and Great Taste

Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day shines a light on Hawaiʻi’s agricultural industry and shows keiki how local food production connects communities and the environment. It not only lets kids see where their food comes from; it opens their eyes to possible careers in ag and environmental management, showing them how they can contribute to this important work.

Familiar Faces in New Places: Amjad Ahmad

Familiar Faces in New Places: Amjad Ahmad 14 February 2019

Familiar Faces in New Places: Amjad Ahmad

Welcome to a new role to Amjad Ahmad, who joins O‘ahu Cooperative Extension as an assistant Extension agent in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture. Amjad, a CTAHR PhD alumnus, previously worked for the college as a junior researcher in TPSS. Amjad’s educational background is the area of agronomy, field crops, legume crops production, organic amendments, and nitrogen applications.

Familiar Faces in New Places: Jennifer Hawkins

Familiar Faces in New Places: Jennifer Hawkins 14 February 2019

Familiar Faces in New Places: Jennifer Hawkins

Welcome to a new role to Jennifer Hawkins, who has started her new position within CTAHR as the Edible Crops agent on Moloka‘i! Jennifer used to be the Moloka‘i Hawaiian Home Lands Agriculture junior Extension agent, where she inaugurated a successful program teaching farmers to keep bees as pollinators.

Lettuce Help You

Lettuce Help You 14 February 2019

Lettuce Help You

There have been lots of problems associated with lettuce in the news, from the E. coli outbreaks traced to mainland romaine to local concerns about leafy greens and rat lungworm disease. But O‘ahu Cooperative Extension offered a great way to eat your greens and feel safe about them, too, at the Hydroponic Field Day at the Waimanalo Research Station.

A Fine Day for Swine

A Fine Day for Swine 14 February 2019

A Fine Day for Swine

With their omnivorous appetites and modest housing needs, pigs are an important part of food security in the Islands, and CTAHR Extension is getting swine producers the help they need to keep local pork production safe and sustainable. Livestock Extension agent Savannah Katulski hosted a Kaua‘i Swine Day this month at the Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Station.

New Faces: Raquel Stephenson

New Faces: Raquel Stephenson 7 February 2019

New Faces: Raquel Stephenson

Every office needs someone to keep it running smoothly, which is why the Kamuela Cooperative Extension office is so glad that Raquel Stephenson has joined as the new office assistant IV. Raquel is originally from O‘ahu, but she and her family moved to agricultural land in Waimea on Hawai‘i Island several years ago. She is excited about learning more about the Big Island as well as agriculture on the island.

Who Cares? GRANDCares Cares!

Who Cares? GRANDCares Cares! 7 February 2019

Who Cares? GRANDCares Cares!

Grandparents who are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren face some unique challenges as well as the potential for special joys. Here to help them is the GRANDCares Project, which offers grandparents a variety of useful tools to cope with their unique family situation and added responsibilities. It also provides grandchildren with positive youth-development experiences through its Youth Club. 

What an Impact!

What an Impact! 7 February 2019

What an Impact!

The latest CTAHR Impact Report, focusing on positive community impacts on the island of Kaua‘i, is now up on the college’s website. This issue pays tribute to outstanding faculty, staff, volunteers, and projects on the Garden Isle. Find out about how these initiatives are making life better for Kaua‘i and the whole state!

All Things Coffee

All Things Coffee 31 January 2019

All Things Coffee

Coffee production education is getting into full swing with the start of another coffee-growing season. The Kona Cooperative Extension Service and Kona Research Station are welcoming farmers to attend upcoming coffee events. Coffee berry borer (CBB) 101 workshops will be conducted in Kona on February 5 and 8.

Pop In for Hydroponics

Pop In for Hydroponics 31 January 2019

Pop In for Hydroponics

Hydroponics and other soilless growing systems are the wave of the future: they’re compact, water efficient, and prevent many pest problems. Find out more about them at the Hydroponics Open House in Waimanalo, hosted by O‘ahu County Extension agents and CTAHR researchers. It’s a pop-in event, which means that participants can come by anytime during it for lots of helpful information.

New Faces: Melelani Oshiro

New Faces: Melelani Oshiro 31 January 2019

New Faces: Melelani Oshiro

MS alumna Melelani Oshiro will be the new assistant Livestock agent on the Big Island, based at the Kona CES office. Mele has a wide range of experience, having worked for Mark Thorne (HNFAS) as a research assistant on pasture and cattle production; at a horse stud farm in New Zealand; and as a veterinarian technician. Please welcome Mele when she starts on March 1!

New Faces: Shannon Sand

New Faces: Shannon Sand 31 January 2019

New Faces: Shannon Sand

Shannon Sand (NREM) will be the new assistant Extension agent in Agricultural Finance. Based out of the Komohana Agriculture Research & Extension Center in Hilo, she will have state-wide responsibilities. Shannon has earned master’s degrees in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, and Food and Resource Economics. Please welcome her when she starts work in June!

Unwilted

Unwilted 24 January 2019

Unwilted

Dig in and add some spice to your life! The Pearl City Urban Garden Center is hosting a Cooperative Extension workshop on “Multiplying Organic Bacterial Wilt-Free Ginger.” Pathogen-free planting material is essential when growing ginger, but there’s been limited access to organic seed pieces. Now you can find out how to grow your own!

Go Bananas

Go Bananas 24 January 2019

Go Bananas

Who doesn’t want more bananas? Learn how to propagate healthy, disease-free banana plants using macropropagation techniques at the Banana Macropropagation Workshop Part 2 offered by Cooperative Extension faculty and staff on five islands! The workshop will show participants how to multiply banana corms using materials generated from Part 1 of the Workshop.

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31 January 2024

Kicking Off 2024

UGC starts new plumeria collection and partnership

Kicking Off 2024

by Alberto Ricordi

Ninety percent of flowers used for lei-making are imported to Hawaiʻi, and the decreasing supply of local flowers is having a drastic impact on the lei industry statewide.

To address the growing chorus of lament from lei-flower growers, lei makers, and lei vendors, Extension has kicked off 2024 with a new plumeria collection at the Urban Garden Center. On January 6th, students from Kalani High School helped clean up the plot, amend the soil, and plant the first rooted cuttings. The work day was organized through a collaboration between CTAHR and the Lei Poinaʻole Project of BEHawaii.

The collection features 30+ varieties! We selected varieties considered good for lei, with traits such as long-lasting flowers, thick petals suitable for handling, and attractive scent and color. 

CTAHR receives frequent requests from plumeria growers, landscapers seeking new varieties, and lei groups. This new collection at UGC will be very important for the industry because the current supply cannot meet the demand, and because access to flowers and foliage to make lei is very important for the community.

The Lei Poina’ole Project was created by BEHawaii in response to concerns about the decreasing supply of local flowers. The partnership with CTAHR is meant to close that gap in the next five to six years. Collaborations like this will be key for the success of this project. 

More community work days and workshops will be offered in the near future. Want to be notified of upcoming activities and events? Sign up for the UGC Plumeria and Lei list. For questions, you can contact me directly at albertoh@hawaii.edu. Mahalo