News and Events


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Not Root-Knot

Not Root-Knot 2 February 2018

Not Root-Knot

Coffee farmers got the low-down on a root-knot nematode at a Kona research plot that's amassed 11 years of research data on the pest.

Forestry Find

Forestry Find 2 February 2018

Forestry Find

Check out the great new website for Hawai‘i Forestry Extension!

Aquaponics and Health

Aquaponics and Health 21 December 2017

Aquaponics and Health

CTAHR Community Coordinator Ilima Ho-Lastimosa is part of a multidisciplinary effort to address health disparities thorough backyard aquaponics.

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Awardees 21 December 2017

Maui County Awardees

Maui County Extension celebrated its 2017 award winners — Secretary Clarisse Baisa, to left in lei, for service to faculty and staff, and Research Technician Edwin Perez, at right in cap, winner of the Administrator’s Award.

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Congratulations Shirley Han! 21 December 2017

Congratulations Shirley Han!

Office Assistant Shirley Han, left, was recognized for her service to the Molokai Cooperative Extension staff at a December 2017 lunch hosted by Maui County Administrator Cynthia Reeves (in red).

Bee on Screen

Bee on Screen 14 November 2017

Bee on Screen

Videos on the life cycle of bees and apian role in the rise of flowering plants captured national entomology awards for a CTAHR-led team.

Good Breeding

Good Breeding 14 November 2017

Good Breeding

Bred under the direction of the Mealani Research Station staff, CTAHR bulls rank among the top 5% of Angus in the country and are free of a common genetic disorder.

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks 14 November 2017

GoFarm’s Weigert Rocks

Agritourism expert and one of “five women rocking” the Hawai‘i food scene Pomai Weigert has joined GoFarm as an agbusiness consultant.

Elder Affairs Advisor

Elder Affairs Advisor 14 November 2017

Elder Affairs Advisor

Center on the Family Assistant Specialist Sarah Yuan has been re-appointed to the State’s Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs for a second four-year term.

New Kaua‘i Agent

New Kaua‘i Agent 26 October 2017

New Kaua‘i Agent

Emilie Kirk has joined the Kaua‘i County Cooperative Extension team as junior Extension agent and Master Gardener coordinator with a focus on edible crops, food safety and security, ag education and production, and leadership development.

Virus Free is Sweet

Virus Free is Sweet 23 October 2017

Virus Free is Sweet

CTAHR organized a sweetpotato growers meeting featuring mainland experts and yield-boosting virus-tested ‘Okinawan’ planting materials.

Ruminating on Peas

Ruminating on Peas 23 October 2017

Ruminating on Peas

Low-water, nitrogen-fixing, tasty cowpeas are a potential niche crop for Hawai‘i producers, as Junior Extension Agent Jensen Uyeda recently demonstrated.

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

Delegates to National 4-H Congress 28 September 2017

Delegates to National 4-H Congress

The State committee reviewed the senior portfolios, interviewed the 4-H’ers and have come up with a list of 10 delegates qualified to represent Hawaii at this year’s National 4-H Congress in late November.

Giant Success

Giant Success 28 September 2017

Giant Success

East Hawai‘i 4-H had a huge presence at the Hawai‘i County Fair—both as volunteers and producers. In fact, they set four state records for produce—including a 20+ pound kalo and 137+ and 2+ pound tomato.

Samoa Swine Survey

Samoa Swine Survey 20 September 2017

Samoa Swine Survey

CTAHR Specialist Halina Zaleski assists in American Samoa’s first swine disease survey in two decades.

Irrigation Covered

Irrigation Covered 13 September 2017

Irrigation Covered

Choosing, funding, and using irrigation systems and conservation groundcovers was the focus of a Cooperative Extension workshop for orchardists at the Kona Extension Office and Research Station.

Documents to download

  • irrigate(.jpg, 90.61 KB) - 1994 download(s)

Myanmar Mission

Myanmar Mission 13 September 2017

Myanmar Mission

Glen Fukumoto and Jonathan Deenik teamed up to teach poultry waste composting and soil fertility to Myanmar farmers and officials through a USAID–funded Farmer-to-Farmer workshop series.

Digest this…

Digest this… 13 September 2017

Digest this…

Anerobic biodigester technology has improved the quality of life for Cambodian farmers, turning animal waste to fuel and fertilizer, thanks in part to MBBE researcher Samir Khanal.

‘Ulu Day on Maui

‘Ulu Day on Maui 12 September 2017

‘Ulu Day on Maui

Maui Master Gardeners helped homeowners select appropriate trees and TPSS’s Noa Lincoln described his research on the staple food crop during the Valley Isle’s first La ‘Ulu (Breadfruit Day).

New 4-H Horse Pen

New 4-H Horse Pen 12 September 2017

New 4-H Horse Pen

Na Lima A Me Na Pu‘uwai O Kohala 4-H Club families and community sponsors celebrated their new riding pen with a horse show, barbecue and other activities.

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3 March 2021

The Show Must GROW On

Extensionʻs Master Gardener program is adjusting well to the new normal

The Show Must GROW On

by Russell Galanti

Teaching practical horticulture during COVID is no walk in the garden … or is it?

Across our state, coordinators of CTAHR’s Master Gardener program are addressing the issue of developing an MG training curricula and schedule for 2021 – specifically for these unprecedented times when travel and in-person meetings are still difficult.

The Master Gardener coordinators, which include Extension’s Dr. James Keach, Kalani Matsumura, Ty McDonald, Eric Demaria, and me, decided it was time to work together across the state to develop a unified training program, a historical achievement for the Hawaiʻi Master Gardeners. We’re confident we can make it work, because this same teamwork and coordination has already solved multiple problems this year related to developing the training program.

Lecturer travel was the first obstacle to overcome. By offering the class online, guest lecturers do not need to travel to every island individually to present. Offering the course as a statewide class also reduces the need for lecturers to present multiple times on the same subject.

Developing a synchronous program has allowed the Master Gardener coordinators to maximize their resources and offer an improved program through collaborative decision making. The statewide class allows all of the master gardener associations to interact with each other and create a sense of unity.

Most of the class remains online, with all participants meeting for online lectures, and splitting off into individual groups for hand-on activities. Some coordinators have decided to keep larger class sizes and remain completely socially distanced. This is the case for Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi. Hawaiʻi island is experimenting with reduced class size and the ability to still hold hands-on activities.

The details may differ, but one thing is for sure: statewide coordinators agree this has been an excellent team-building effort, and everyone appreciates working together to meet our goals. The training program began on February 12th – and so far, all participants are very happy with the statewide online format.

For more information on each master gardener program, you can visit the Master Gardener webpage. Each page contains contact information for the individual coordinators.

Photo Caption: A class limited to 10 students sits in the conference room of Komohana Research and Extension Center, ready to connect online with 85 other Master Gardener students from across the state.