Agriculture

Agriculture: Career & Tech Ed

Thursday, July 3rd, 2014

UHMCM News Release

The Agriculture and Natural Resource program at University of Hawaii Maui College, Molokai (UHMCM) provides instruction for those in need of training, retraining, or skills upgrading in the field of agriculture, and those wishing to transfer to a four-year college or university.

Diverse learning activities are provided right here on Molokai.  The Molokai farm includes a 5,000 square foot greenhouse, orchards, and vegetable field on 28 acres of land.  Projections point to a continued need for well-trained people in all aspects of the green industry.  Farms and agriculturally related businesses need informed individuals to implement new technologies and sustainable agriculture techniques.…

Molokai Resident New Crop Assc. President

Friday, June 27th, 2014

HCIA News Release

Recent Molokai resident Kirby Kester is the new president of the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), as well as Dow AgroSciences’ Hawaii R&D Leader.

With nearly 20 years’ experience in the seed industry on Kauai, Kester now resides on Molokai and serves as site Leader for Dow AgroSciences’ R&D Station on Molokai, as well as provides oversight for Kauai’s Seeds and Traits R&D program.

Kirby holds a M.S. of Agriculture degree from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Agronomy from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  He has been a member of HCIA since 1995, and will serve a two-year term as president.…

Black Twig Borers

Friday, June 20th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR

One of the obvious long-term impacts of drought on plants and trees is stress that can lead to death of branches or even the entire tree. Older trees are especially susceptible since they’re weaker due to age, and they lack vigor or juvenility. Insects will zero in on them and attack stems and eventually heartwood. Older wood is harder and dryer, and are especially attractive to insects, especially beetles. When you see symptoms such as dead branches, the damage had already occurred months earlier. One cue of this problem on Molokai is dying branches of Eucalyptus trees in the mountains.…

Molokai Energy Assessment  

Thursday, June 19th, 2014

Sust`aina ble Molokai News Release

Sust` aina ble Molokai has published the second piece in our Molokai-pedia project the Molokai Energy assessment. This assessment follows Agricultural Needs Assessment that helped to inform the needs in the community for food security and farmer economic security.

Due to  the information gathered, we are able  to pursue the development  of a Molokai Food hub  that will be able to help local farmers gain access to  local markets on island,  help our students  by gaining access  to local food through the cafeteria and eventually establishing off island markets for our farmers  long term economic security.…

PALS Offers Free Meals

Thursday, June 12th, 2014

County of Maui News Release

The County of Maui Department of Parks and Recreation announces that free meals for children will be available at all County PALS sites on Maui and Molokai through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Children do not have to be enrolled in the PALS program to take advantage of the free and nutritious meals this summer.

Free meals for children will be available at all county PALS sites on Maui and Molokai. The program, offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service, is made available to eligible areas to ensure that children receive nutritious meals.…

Summer Salads

Wednesday, June 11th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR

Lettuce is one of the oldest garden plants and is always the essence of a summer salad, but finding high quality lettuce during our hot Molokai summers can be a challenge due to less than ideal growing conditions. There are between 50 and 75 lettuce species, and was first cultivated by the Egyptians for oil from its seeds.  There are several lettuce types, but the three most common include leaf, crisphead and romaine. These can be crossed with each other to create an array of leaf types, shapes, and textures.…

Facing Climate Change, Part III

Wednesday, June 11th, 2014

Community Contributed

By Emillia Noordhoek

Editor’s Note: Emillia Noordhoek, executive director of Sust`ainable Molokai, traveled to Europe to attend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year. This is the third in a three-part series about the Panel’s conclusions and how global climate change will affect Molokai and the world.

Samso is an island off the coast of Denmark in the Baltic Sea that is 16 miles long by four miles wide, with a total area of 44 square miles.  The island’s electricity is powered 100 percent by renewable energy and they are connected to the mainland by a cable to sell the over-production to the rest of the grid.…

From Garden to Pizza

Thursday, June 5th, 2014

From Garden to Pizza

At Sust`ainable Molokai’s permaculture farm in Ho`olehua, there’s a time to sow and there’s a time to reap the harvest.

There’s also a time to craft and eat homemade, baked and garden-fresh pizza fresh out of a traditional pizza oven. For pizza Greensboro call Cedar’s Restaurant & Pizzeria. Their delicious, freshly made pizzas will satisfy your cravings with every bite.

“This is really how to get kids and others to enjoy eating what they grow,” said Emillia Noordhoek, executive director of Sust`ainable Molokai, a local nonprofit that works with the community to find modern strategies for sustainability while respecting cultural traditions.…

Feeding Molokai Sustainably

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

Feeding Molokai Sustainably

Molokai used to be known as “Molokai `Aina Momona,” or the abundant land, for its plentiful food supply that fed a population many times its current size. Like much of the state, Molokai now imports most of the food found in its stores and restaurants — 98 percent, in fact.

But the food served on Molokai’s dinner tables is a different story. About 40 percent of food consumed comes from subsistence sources such as hunting, fishing, gathering and home grown fruits and vegetables, according to a 2012 study conducted by Sust `aina ble Molokai.

“[The high level of subsistence] means that if disaster hits, Molokai is actually better off than other islands even though food production is less [than other islands],” said Emillia Noordhoek, executive director of Sust `aina ble Molokai.…

Everything Ulu

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Everything Ulu

Community Contributed

By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent, UH CTAHR

Breadfruit is an important part of an agroforestry system and essential food plants in many Pacific islands. On May 17, a breadfruit workshop held at the UH Maui, Molokai Farm was attended by 46 residents and covered all aspects of ulu from history to growing to tasting.

Dr. Diane Ragone shared decades of work with ulu, starting as a graduate student at UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources studying ulu, and the last 25 years at the Pacific Tropical Botanical Gardens Breadfruit Institute on Kauai. She travelled throughout the Pacific documenting and collecting breadfruit, and with root cuttings of more than 300 varieties, she was able to propagate and grow to maturity over 170 of them established at Kahanu Gardens in Hana.…