Agriculture

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.…

Panel Speaks Against Pesticides

Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Agriculture in the United States uses millions of pounds of pesticides and herbicides per year. About 80,000,000 pounds of atrazine, a widely used herbicide found in many U.S. water sources, is sprayed on crops annually. At the same time, some male frogs are “feminizing” –producing eggs instead of sperm, and agricultural chemicals are the blame, according to Dr. Tyrone Hayes.

Hayes, University of California Berkeley Professor of Integrative Biology, presented a lecture to address the effects of agricultural chemicals on hormones as part of a five-island speaking tour on Molokai, May 16. Hayes was joined by food advocates Maui District Health Officer Dr.…

Collard Greens

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

Collard Greens

Community Contributed

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

On Molokai, the summer heat can overwhelm many of the vegetables that grow well in the winter. Collards or collard greens can grow at a time of the year when local greens struggle and are in short supply. A primitive member of the cabbage family, it belongs to the “Acephala” group meaning “cabbages without a head.”

Collard is a corrupted term from the word “colewort” meaning “wild cabbage plant.” Native to the southern Mediterranean in an area called Asia Minor, a part of Turkey, it was carried in all directions and is popular in Portugal and Spain to the west, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia and Serbia to the east, and African and India to the south.…

World-Renowned Biology Prof to Speak on Pesticides

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

Hawaii SEED News Release

A state-wide speaking tour of world-renowned University of California Berkeley Professor of Integrative Biology Dr. Tyrone Hayes will include Molokai on May 16. Paul Towers from Pesticide Action Network will be speaking as well, presenting an overview of pesticide use nationally and internationally and the significant role that Hawaii plays as ground zero for open-air pesticide experimentation.

The Molokai event will be held on Friday, May 16 at 6 p.m. at the Molokai Community Health Center. Other special guests will include Lorrin Pang, M.D. of the Hawaii Department of Health and Jeri Di Pietro, president of Hawaii SEED.…

Plant a Tree of Life, Grow Ulu

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

Community Contributed 

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

In commemoration of Love a Tree Day, May 16, we will hold a special workshop entitled Plant a Tree of Life, Grow Ulu. It will be held on Friday, May 16 from 3 to 6 p.m. at University of Hawaii Maui College – Molokai Farm in the Molokai Agricultural Park.

There will be three presentations on Breadfruit:

“All About Breadfruit” by Dr. Diane Ragone, Director of the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) at Kalaheo, Kauai “Caring for Your Tree,” Harvest & Post Harvest by Ian Cole, Breadfruit Institute Collection Manager, NTBG, Kahanu Gardens, Hana, Maui “Some Like It Sweet – Cooking Demonstration” by John Cadman, Pono Pies, Maui

This workshop is also in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Cooperative Extension Service this year.…

Green Guerillas Visit Food Forest and MMS

Thursday, May 1st, 2014

Molokai Seed Savers News Release

A hardy group of Green Guerillas (Seed Savers over age 65) braved the rain and winds for a tour of the Sustainable Molokai Food Forest under the direction of Fred Richardson. Fred explained the design of the forest, the water flow and catchment, terracing, plantings, composting and future goals. An area of land that had been left without management where the soil was running off onto a road at the bottom of the hill has been turned into a beautiful forest with hard wood trees, fruit trees, construction grade bamboo and vegetables. A community work day is held the fourth Saturday of every month and seeds, cuttings and plants are available as they are produced in the forest.…

Kawela Moku: Reviving the Aha Moku System

Thursday, May 1st, 2014

Community Contributed

Opinion by Kawika Duvauchelle, Kanoelani Davis, and Hawaiiloa Mowat

The Kawela Moku lies roughly between Kalamaula to Kamalo.  It is rich in natural resources, from stunning waterfalls in the mountains to countless loko ia along its shoreline and from the many culturally significant sites that are scared to Hawaiians to one of the largest fringing reefs in the state.  The Kawela Moku is the source of water for many families on Molokai and provides us with fish from the ocean and pig and deer from the mountains.  Our hope is that these gifts will last for many, many generations.…

Collard Greens

Monday, April 28th, 2014

Community Contributed

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

On Molokai, the summer heat can overwhelm many of the vegetables that grow well in the winter. Collards or collard greens can grow at a time of the year when local greens struggle and are in short supply. A primitive member of the cabbage family, it belongs to the “Acephala” group meaning “cabbages without a head.”

Collard is a corrupted term from the word “colewort” meaning “wild cabbage plant.” Native to the southern Mediterranean in an area called Asia Minor, a part of Turkey, it was carried in all directions and is popular in Portugal and Spain to the west, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia and Serbia to the east, and African and India to the south.…

Molokai Food Hub Project

Sunday, April 27th, 2014

Sust`ainable Molokai News Release

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and wished that more locally grown food was available? Here at Sust`ainable Molokai, we have, and we know that many of you have as well. Based on the Agricultural Needs Assessment survey that we conducted in 2012, 90 percent of those Molokai residents surveyed said that they prefer to buy local Molokai food products, and 98 percent answered, “Yes, I would eat more local food if it was available.”

In response to that demand, along with the input of our island farmers, which was also collected during our Agricultural Needs Assessment process, we are now working to establish a Molokai Food Hub.…

Advocating for the `Aina

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

Advocating for the `Aina

In celebration of Earth Day, hundreds of attendees, young and old, examined taxidermies of the endangered native Hawaiian duck, learned how to check plants for invasive fire ants using peanut butter, and pinpointed areas of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the most remote island archipelago in the world.

The community gathered at Molokai’s 22nd annual Earth Day festival at the Kaunakakai Ball Field last Friday evening to honor the values of aloha `aina and malama `aina. Kupuna Moses “Moke” Kim inspired island youth to malama `aina through the Hana Kupono program at Molokai High and Intermediate School. This year’s theme, “He Wa`a He Moku, He Moku He Wa`a; your canoe is like an island, an island is like your canoe,” is a testament to Kim’s mission to preserve Molokai’s natural and limited resources, according to event organizers.…