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Next Gen Agents?

Next Gen Agents? 10 August 2023

Next Gen Agents?

Extension holds a popular field day at Waimānalo R.S.

A throng of landscapers, farmers, and residents showed up for Sterile Landscape Tree Field Day at the Waimānalo Research Station, hosted by Ken Leonhardt and Alberto Ricordi of the Dept. of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences. Since then, CTAHR has fielded multiple requests for an encore performance.

Smart Tech

Smart Tech 10 August 2023

Smart Tech

Extension shows growers how to leverage devices and apps

Technology is impacting industries big and small, and agriculture is no exception. But it don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing. With many growers reporting they don’t own a computer or smart phone, while others report they have such devices but don’t know how to use them, Extension’s Amjad Ahmad organized an educational workshop for local growers on harnessing the latest technologies that impact ag. 

Carrots for Hawaiʻi

Carrots for Hawaiʻi 10 August 2023

Carrots for Hawaiʻi

Extension’s field day sows plenty of public interest

With more than 50 varieties of carrots out there, choosing the right one to grow successfully in Hawaiʻi can be a daunting task. The need for hands-on guidance – and the public’s interest for learning more – was apparent Aug. 5 as Extension’s Jensen Uyeda and Koon-Hui Wang of the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences held a Field Day at the Poamoho Experiment Station.

Island Hopping

Island Hopping 6 July 2023

Island Hopping

New Extension dean visits Ag Fests on Maui and Kauaʻi

Jeremy Elliott-Engel, CTAHR’s new Associate Dean & Associate Director for Cooperative Extension, hit the ground running with flights to Maui for the Maui Ag Fest & 4-H Livestock Show and Kauaʻi for the Kauaʻi County Farm Bureau Agricultural Festival.

Building an Ag Workforce

Building an Ag Workforce 6 July 2023

Building an Ag Workforce

UGC partners with Waipahu H.S. on workforce development

In line with CTAHR’s grand challenge to advance workforce and economic development, Extensionʻs Urban Garden Center is proud to partner with Waipahu High School and its ʻOhana of Excellence Academy (OEA), a pilot program funded by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR). 

Language-Appropriate Outreach

Language-Appropriate Outreach 6 July 2023

Language-Appropriate Outreach

Extension will use USDA grant to help immigrant farmers

Immigrant farmers in Hawaiʻi whose native tongues include Thai, Lao, Ilocano, Chinese and other languages often find it difficult to access new safety guidelines and other important agricultural information.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward 12 May 2023

Fast Forward

Youths aren’t forgotten in Urban Garden Center’s many interactions with the public

As more than 250 students from 24 high schools across the state gathered to participate in this year’s Future Farmers of America convention on Oʻahu, the Urban Garden Center proved a key resource in the event. The youths visited UGC and took part in fast-paced educational activities around the facility. With their teachers, the students got their hands dirty restarting a static hydroponic system, harvesting locally grown fruits and veggies in raised beds, and transplanting succulents.

What’s All the Buzz About?

What’s All the Buzz About? 12 May 2023

What’s All the Buzz About?

Maui 4-H bee house reopens after pandemic

The Bee House at the CTAHR Maui Extension Office is making a triumphant return after a three-year-long hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Led by 4-H Youth Development Agent Nancy Ooki and Master Gardener Coordinator and Beekeeper Eric Demaria, the project seeks to teach youths about the importance of bees to Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems. 

The Potential for Sweet Onions

The Potential for Sweet Onions 21 April 2023

The Potential for Sweet Onions

Extension’s field day draws a large, interested crowd

The length of the day plays a large role in the development of sweet onion bulbs, thus farmers in Hawaiʻi have historically been limited to growing only “short-day” onions, especially during the winter when days are shorter. However, there are options for growing intermediate-day varieties in the summer months, and this potential opportunity drew more than 30 growers and community members to Extension’s recent field day at Poamoho Experiment Station.

CTAHR & City Mill

CTAHR & City Mill 21 April 2023

CTAHR & City Mill

Extension’s garden education is a hit with the community

“Basic Planting Guidelines” was anything but academic for the packed house of community members at City Mill’s recent garden education program. Led by Extension’s Tina Lau and the Master Gardeners, it encouraged home gardeners to be plant detectives, able to observe and diagnose their plant problems and to introduce the Oahu Master Gardener Helpline as a resource online, via the telephone, or in-person. It was the latest example of CTAHR and City Mill working together to promote more food production in the state, as well as raise awareness and heighten the availability of garden products locally. 

Honorary Outstanding Alumnus

Honorary Outstanding Alumnus 29 March 2023

Honorary Outstanding Alumnus

The Dean’s Award goes to Fred Lau

After graduating from Kalani High School in 1972 and matriculating to CTAHR, Fred Lau couldn’t wait to start his own business. So in his last year of college, he and a friend left UH to start their own business. Their plan was to look through the Yellow Pages for a nursery-related business with the least amount of competition. The plant rental section had only two businesses listed, so the partners walked into hotels and businesses in Waikiki offering these services to any manager who would meet with them. 

Gone to the Birds

Gone to the Birds 29 March 2023

Gone to the Birds

Extension on the Ground focuses on rose-ringed parakeets

Commercial and backyard gardeners alike will tell you the same thing: fruit is on the tree one day, and gone the next. The culprit? In addition to the local bulbul, doves, cardinals, and myna birds, the rose-ringed parakeet is now a known culprit. These beautiful but voracious invasive pests have been on Oʻahu since the 1930’s, but are quickly growing in population numbers. 

Excellence in Extension

Excellence in Extension 17 March 2023

Excellence in Extension

The Dean’s Award goes to the Banana Bunchy Top Virus Team

The Dean’s Award for Excellence in Extension distinguishes an exceptional Extension faculty member or team whose work has demonstrated outstanding performance and significant results. This year, the award goes to the team who have worked to revitalize the Hawaiʻi banana industry with clean, virus-free planting materials in a statewide Extension outreach program.

Outstanding Volunteer

Outstanding Volunteer 17 March 2023

Outstanding Volunteer

The Dean’s Award goes to Beatrice Sailer

Volunteers are the lifeblood for Extension programs such as 4-H and Master Gardener. The recipient of the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Extension Volunteer goes to Beatrice Sailer, Master Gardener volunteer.

CTAHR Represents

CTAHR Represents 17 March 2023

CTAHR Represents

Grow Hawaiian Festival at Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden makes a return

On the misty morning of Saturday, February 25th, hundreds of people gathered at the Amy B.H Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden to celebrate Hawaiian culture and natural history at the 2023 Grow Hawaiian Festival. Hosted by the Friends of Amy B.H Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, the festival was the garden’s first event in over 3 years.

On the Air

On the Air 28 February 2023

On the Air

Extension’s Amjad Ahmad is interviewed on Hawai'i Public Radio

Rotting and leafless avocado trees are spreading nationwide due to lace bugs. With the trees in jeopardy, Extension agents in the Dept. Of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences are doing extensive research to determine the most effective courses of action to get rid of these pests. Their research thus far has determined some strategies that could help avocado tree owners decrease their chances of attaining lace bugs and even exterminating them.

Taking on Atlanta

Taking on Atlanta 28 February 2023

Taking on Atlanta

12 Maui 4-H youths attended the national 4-H congress

For many 4-H youths, the National 4-H Congress is a highly anticipated annual event that celebrates the culmination of a year’s worth of personal growth, hard work, and service-learning. Hundreds of 4-H delegates gather every year in Atlanta, Georgia to network with other 4-H peers from around the nation, participate in community service events, and attend workshops about leadership, volunteering, global awareness, and inclusion.

Irrigation Systems

Irrigation Systems 28 February 2023

Irrigation Systems

Extension hosts a workshop for the community

With seasonal rains coming down seemingly nonstop, the topic of irrigation was front and center as Oʻahu County Extension hosted a workshop for backyard and Master Gardeners. Guests welcomed the opportunity to get out of the rains to attend the educational workshop as Extension agents explained measures that CTAHR has taken to reduce potable water use at the Urban Garden Center, and the role of Cooperative Extension in fulfilling CTAHR’s land grant college mission.

Horsin’ Around

Horsin’ Around 10 February 2023

Horsin’ Around

Oʻahu County 4-H shines at National Western Stock Show

Every year, nearly 700,000 ranchers, farmers, and rodeo enthusiasts from around the country make the pilgrimage to Denver to watch and participate in the world’s largest stock show and celebration of Old Western culture and heritage. The National Western Stock Show is a 16-day-long fair featuring rodeo shows, hundreds of food and livestock vendors, barbeque competitions, fiddling contests –  and everything in between.

One Health Hawai‘i

One Health Hawai‘i 30 January 2023

One Health Hawai‘i

CTAHR supports Gov. Green’s proclamation

Did you know that 75% of new human pathogens over the past three decades have originated from animals? What’s more, many common causes of human infection, such as E. coli and Salmonella, are shared with animals and readily found within the environment.

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17 April 2020

Put Your Garden to Bed

Raised-bed gardening gives you more options

Put Your Garden to Bed

What if your back yard has an ideal spot for growing vegetables—open space, sunlight, protection from excessive winds, and a source of water—but the soil isnʻt ideal, or maybe the ground is covered by concrete or another hardscape?

Creating a raised bed over the surface is a great solution. In comparison with in-ground planting and pots, beds can be the best of both worlds. You can fill the bed with the specific soil of your choice, which might have better consistency and fewer weeds than the existing soil in your back yard. The high walls help deter outside grasses from creeping in. Some people even build their beds higher up on legs so they don’t have to bend or squat.

Materials

The options for constructing a raised bed are limited only by your imagination. Think outside the box! Find and reuse items around your yard. Iʻve used banana stumps, which aren’t very long lasting, but have an attractive tropical look—and finding a use for extra banana stems is a good way to practice sustainability.

You can also purchase boards, bricks, and many other materials. Personally, I find it easiest to use 2”x6” borate-treated lumber, which can be cut to the desired length at the store. Many people make 4’ wide beds, but I like 3’ because it's easier for me to reach the middle. If you have access from only one side, you might consider making them only 2’ wide.

The deeper your bed, the better, so the roots can have space. For most vegetables, 6” clearance over existing soil or 12” on top of concrete or hardscape is adequate. You’ll need more depth for daikon, carrots, gobo, and other vegetables with long roots.

A note on safety: Borate-treated lumber is considered safe for use in the garden. But please be careful of older materials, which may have been treated with chromium, arsenic, creosote, lead paint, or other toxic contaminants. Or you could go with untreated lumber, which will still last for some time but may host termites.

Irrigation

Raised beds may require less frequent watering than containerized plants, since there’s more soil volume. They also provide a structure where you can conveniently set up a simple irrigation system.

You can use an irrigation timer to reduce the amount of time you spend watering. An easy way is to add a hose-end timer connected to your hose bib, then with compression fittings connect to ½” flexible black plastic tubing. You then add spray or drip emitters, or drip tubing off the ½” line, with ¼” tubing to connect them all. As I write this, City Mill has all of those necessary supplies. A timer is especially helpful as we get into summer, since some plants (such as kale) might like a twice-daily watering to deal with the heat.

Soil

For raised beds, I prefer a mixture of clay topsoil and compost. Both are local products. Some gardeners have a prejudice against using clay, but it has excellent moisture- and nutrient-retaining qualities. Compost helps to improve drainage, aeration, and the physical qualities of the soil, while also improving its biological and chemical properties.

Topsoil and locally-produced compost can be purchased in bags from a garden shop. If you want greater quantities at excellent prices, try going directly to producers such as Hawaiian Earth Recycling or Island Topsoil. Look for a garden blend, which may be roughly 40% topsoil and 60% compost. This mix is ready to plant in. Over the months, the soil blend will shrink as the compost decomposes, so youʻll periodically need to dig in more compost (I like to do this before new plantings).

Of course, you could fill the raised bed entirely with potting mix instead, but I feel that if you’re going to use that many cubic yards’ worth, it’s more sustainable to use locally sourced clay topsoil and compost.

To add nutrients, I prefer to add a bag of composted chicken manure, up to 5% of the raised bed’s total volume. If you don’t want to deal with manure, simply add your preferred fertilizer, and you’re ready to plant.

Protecting our environment

When growing over a hardscape, make sure the drainage is directed straight toward your yard’s existing soil and landscape plants, rather than off your property and into the storm drain. Water leaching from your soil will carry plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which pollute streams and the ocean by encouraging algae growth.

Happy gardening! I’m sure you’ll have some successes and failures, but learn from them and don’t give up.

Kalani Matsumura, Cooperative Extension Service and Master Gardener Program, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources