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More Livestock Marketing Online

More Livestock Marketing Online 1 June 2020

More Livestock Marketing Online

Learn about selling and marketing animal products using online tools and platforms

Join livestock Extension agents Savannah Katulski and Melelani Oshiro and ag finance Extension agent Shannon Sand for the remaining three parts of the Online Livestock Marketing Series: Part 2, Using Online Sales Platforms; Part 3, Marketing Using Social Media; and Part 4, General Marketing & Branding.

‘Olena Online

‘Olena Online 27 May 2020

‘Olena Online

Virtual turmeric webinar and drive-up cultivar distribution

Cooperative Extension is offering an online informational session exclusively for producers TOMORROW, Thursday, May 28. Participants will learn about research trials and innovative production practices being conducted around Hawai‘i. They’ll also take home organically grown ginger, turmeric, and other goodies.

ADSC: Closed for Remodeling

ADSC: Closed for Remodeling 22 May 2020

ADSC: Closed for Remodeling

Last day to receive samples is June 10. Komohana will continue offering HI Island service

The Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center (ADSC) will be closed from Wednesday, June 10, through Monday, July 13. The ADSC, located in Sherman Laboratory, is entering a major phase of HVAC construction work. Currently the entire second floor is sealed off with a ventilation system, along with a chute and dumpster for construction debris.

Helping Hands

Helping Hands 22 May 2020

Helping Hands

4-H sews a thousand-plus masks

“Hands” is one of the four “H’s” of 4-H, and O‘ahu 4-H youth and volunteers have been putting their hands to good use in this time of high need! Over the past month, they’ve sewn more than 1,000 masks and donated them to health care workers, military personnel, postal workers, Extension agents and staff, houseless individuals, and more!

Congratulations to the “Screenhouses” Team

Congratulations to the “Screenhouses” Team 14 May 2020

Congratulations to the “Screenhouses” Team

Winners of the 2020 Dean’s Award for Extension

Normally celebrated at the CTAHR Annual Banquet, this year’s Dean’s Award recipients will be honored here, on your laptops and tablets, and with their names carved into the plaques that adorn Gilmore Hall. Prize monies will also be distributed, per the usual means. The 2020 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Extension goes to Koon-Hui Wang, Jari Sugano, Jensen Uyeda, Kylie Tavares, Theodore Radovich, Joshua Silva, and Amjad Ahmad.

Help Fund Koa Haole Research

Help Fund Koa Haole Research 14 May 2020

Help Fund Koa Haole Research

Your survey input may lead to new forage varieties

Leucaena is a versatile, adaptable, nitrogen-fixing tree widely grown in the tropics as cattle forage. It’s high in protein, and cattle eat it readily. But most people in Hawai‘i know it as the weedy shrub koa haole, covered in rattling brown pods full of seeds. Over the decades, CTAHR has developed a few seedless, and therefore sterile, hybrids of Leucaena that won’t become weedy.

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 13 May 2020

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program

USDA webinar (TOMORROW morning!) will guide the direct payment process

The USDA Farm Service Agency will soon begin accepting applications for its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This program will provide direct payments to farmers and ranchers to offset losses resulting from price volatility and market supply-chain reductions from COVID-19. More details about CFAP direct payments will be announced soon.

Direct-to-Consumer Livestock Sales

Direct-to-Consumer Livestock Sales 12 May 2020

Direct-to-Consumer Livestock Sales

Learn how to e-market your animal products online

Know about livestock, but not about social media? If you’re interested in diversifying your business by marketing meat and other animal products direct-to-consumer, then RSVP for a new “Online Livestock Marketing Webinar Series,” starting Tuesday, May 19, at 6:00 p.m.

Go Ahead, Brighten My Day

Go Ahead, Brighten My Day 11 May 2020

Go Ahead, Brighten My Day

CTAHR donates 400+ sunflowers to local hospitals

Happy hues of orange and yellow radiate in the sunshine as Russell Galanti prepares to harvest his latest crop. The Extension agent in ornamental crops has a big afternoon ahead. The sunʻs glare will soon ease into a soft, warm glow, making it less harsh on freshly cut sunflowers. That’s Russell’s cue to begin cutting, trimming, washing, and bundling the 400+ stalks he has tended to lovingly at the Oʻahu Urban Garden Center.

 

Mahalo, UHM!

Mahalo, UHM! 8 May 2020

Mahalo, UHM!

CTAHR brightens the day for Tripler nurses

The ICU ward at Tripler Army Medical Center overflowed with smiles this week, thanks to a delivery of sunflowers by Extension agent Russell Galanti. Originally meant for CTAHR’s Annual Banquet, the 400+ sunflowers grown at the Urban Garden Center were donated to hospitals across O‘ahu to thank our healthcare workers for braving COVID-19.

What Do Your Family and Community Need?

What Do Your Family and Community Need? 8 May 2020

What Do Your Family and Community Need?

You can help guide FCS Extension programming

What social programs would best serve the community? To gain a better understanding, Extension agents Marielle Hampton, Heather Greenwood, and Hallie Cristobal have put together a “Hawai‘i Needs Assessment of Intergenerational and Youth Development Programs.” The survey will gather important feedback on educational and social programs.

Thanks for the Memories

Thanks for the Memories 7 May 2020

Thanks for the Memories

O‘ahu Cooperative Extension says Aloha! to two esteemed colleagues

Two longtime members of the CTAHR ‘ohana are leaving for fresh adventures. Naomi Kanehiro, an Extension agent in Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences; and Nestor Dela Cruz, an agricultural technician at the Urban Garden Center, have dedicated their careers to CTAHR and will be missed.

The Case for Collard Greens

The Case for Collard Greens 6 May 2020

The Case for Collard Greens

These perennials are a constant food source and love the summer sun

As summer approaches, you might consider adding collard greens to your backyard garden. Whereas the intense heat can overwhelm many local greens that grow well during the cooler months, collards will thrive throughout the year. 

Circle of Giving

Circle of Giving 4 May 2020

Circle of Giving

Hand sanitizer donation supports fruit donation

MBBE’s Fermentation Biochemistry class, and their mock company 3Rewery, have donated more than 6 liters of hand sanitizer to the volunteers at the Urban Garden Center. Four liters went to the UGC’s Fruit Hui, a dedicated group of six volunteers who continue to meet every week to maintain the tropical fruit orchard and harvest fruit—which is entirely donated to the Hawaii Foodbank.

Fast Green Food

Fast Green Food 1 May 2020

Fast Green Food

Grow a salad bowl in your back yard

You may be eating less salad these days. Everyone’s making fewer trips to the supermarket, and lettuce and other tender greens are easily perishable. But growing your own lettuce is a great solution—now and going forward. Lettuce is fast growing and ideal for backyard gardens.

For Our Frontline Fighters

For Our Frontline Fighters 1 May 2020

For Our Frontline Fighters

CTAHR donates sunflowers to the nurses braving COVID-19

Extension agent Russell Galanti is harvesting, trimming, washing, and bundling 400+ sunflowers he planted months ago at the O‘ahu Urban Garden Center. The bright, morale-boosting blooms will be donated to local hospitals, to thank staff members who are keeping our community safe from the pandemic. More photos and video, coming soon!

Eating Local: How and How Much?

Eating Local: How and How Much? 30 April 2020

Eating Local: How and How Much?

Honolulu Magazine consults CTAHR on a critical issue

Any answer to the question “Can We Ever Eat All Local in Hawai‘i?,” the subject of a recent Honolulu Magazine article, depends significantly on CTAHR’s work in education, research, and community outreach. So it’s fitting that the article features several members of the CTAHR ‘ohana, including ag economist and assistant Extension agent Sarah Rehkamp, MS alumnus Gabe Sachter-Smith, and GoFarm Hawai‘i graduate Rob Barreca.

4-H Gives Aloha

4-H Gives Aloha 30 April 2020

4-H Gives Aloha

Kaua‘i youths create signs of hope

Kaua’i 4-H Federation created “Signs of Aloha” to show appreciation and support for the staff of the island’s three local hospitals. 4-H families hand-built and sanded the signs, and then 4-H participants designed and painted a theme for each aloha board to honor the heroic medical personnel working on the front lines.

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing 28 April 2020

Germination Is a Beautiful Thing

Understanding how seeds sprout will help your garden

Whether you’re a fuzzy neophyte or gnarled veteran of the backyard garden, we should never lose our fascination with the seed germination process. It is magical how such little things, buried in darkness, will quickly emerge from the surface, full of life and independence. If you’re growing vegetables for the very first time, it’s helpful to understand how plants propagate.

The Pests Keep Coming

The Pests Keep Coming 28 April 2020

The Pests Keep Coming

So the work continues at Kona Research Station

Fighting plant pests is just one of the many ways Nick Yamauchi, Dylan Cunningham, Matt Miyahira, Andrea Kawabata, Elizabeth Whitney, Yoshiaki Higashide, Justin Yeh, and other CTAHR faculty and staff on Hawai‘i Island are working diligently to keep grant-funded projects moving forward, while maintaining social distancing and other precautions.

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2 April 2020

Micro-Hydroponics in Your Apartment

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

Micro-Hydroponics in Your Apartment

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 (less than 12 inches tall) hydroponically (without soil) in your house, apartment, garage, or lanai. The simplest setup involves a container, seeds, growing medium, nutrients, and light source—and if you don’t have the store-bought kind, you can substitute inexpensive household items.

Container

Got quart or half-gallon cardboard milk or juice cartons? They make excellent containers for growing mini vegetables. Make sure your cartons have a screw cap spout. This makes it easier to add nutrient solutions to the carton, which can be done with a funnel. Cut a hole in the carton large enough to support the cup that holds the growing medium. Make sure the hole is a little smaller than the rim of the cup, so it doesn’t fall in.

Growing Medium & Pots

As plants grow higher, their roots grow lower, and they need something to hold onto. That’s the growing medium.

Foam cubes, like Oasis Cubes, provide an ideal growing medium to germinate vegetable seeds and grow plants. If you can’t find them at a local store or online, alternative growing media include vermiculite, perlite, clay pellets, coconut fiber (coir), or pine wood shavings.

You’ll also need something to hold the growing medium inside the milk cartons and support the seedlings. Small plastic pots like Net Pots are excellent because they have vertical slits on the sides to allow the roots to grow through into the nutrient solution. An inexpensive alternative is small plastic cups with vertical slits cut into the sides.

Seeds

Vegetable seeds can start to grow directly in the growing medium and pots before they’re inserted into the containers. Fill the cubes or the pots partway with growing medium, place on a tray, and plant 1–2 seeds in each one. If you’re using cubes, just insert the seeds into the hole in the cube. Add enough water to thoroughly moisten the medium and pour off any excess. Cover the tray with a clear plastic lid or tent it with plastic wrap. Make sure to leave enough space above the cups or cubes for the plants to sprout.

Did you know? The University of Hawai‘i Seed Laboratory continues to operate during the COVID-19 crisis. High-quality seeds for Hawai‘i’s unique growing conditions can be ordered by mail, email, or phone—and delivered right to your door. Contact the UH Seed Lab at (808) 956-7890, (808) 956-2592 (fax), or seed@ctahr.hawaii.edu. Also check out the Hawai‘i Seed Growers Network, run by CTAHR’s GoFarm Hawai‘i farm coach Jay Bost, which offers great “local seeds for local needs.”

Nutrients

Special hydroponic fertilizers are available from local stores or by mail order. But any general-purpose, water-soluble fertilizer for vegetables is fine. Each one has a different strength, so closely follow the manufacturer’s directions when mixing the nutrient solution.

Light

Vegetables need a lot of light, so if you’re growing them indoors, they’ll do best with artificial lighting. The two best light sources are T5 high-output (HO) fluorescent lights and light-emitting diode (LED) lights.

T5 fluorescent lights are extremely bright compared to the typical T12 fluorescent lights used for room lights or shop lights. LED lights have come down in price quite a lot. They’re efficient in producing bright light, with less energy used and lower electric bills.

If you can’t get T5 fluorescent or LED lighting, place vegetable plants near a window that gets direct sunlight during the day, or try a bright household lamp.

By the way, my first experience growing vegetables indoors was lettuce grown on top of my office file cabinet. Because the room light wasn't bright enough, the lettuce started to change shape into a vine, and it grew down along the side of my file cabinet—all the way to the floor! That’s when I realized that lettuce and other vegetables need much brighter light.

Maintenance

Now sit back and relax, and let the vegetables do their thing. As they grow, periodically add nutrient solution to the milk cartons with a funnel so the cartons remain about ¼ to ½ full.

For more tips and how-to’s, please visit my Micro-Hydroponics website.

Stay safe out there!

Dr. Kent Kobayashi, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources