Growing Gardeners

CTAHR News Release
Funded through a grant from the County of Maui, CTAHR recently completed the first cohort of our Seed 2 Harvest gardening program — a hands-on, workforce development course focused on small-scale annual food production.
Designed for beginning gardeners, the program provided both technical skills and real-life growing experience that students can take into home gardens, community efforts, or future farm ventures.
Participants were guided through the full growing cycle, from seeding and transplanting to harvest. Crops included tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, arugula, cilantro, radishes, lettuce, and Swiss chard — offering students a diverse set of planting, care, and harvesting experiences. We touched on topics like composting and soil health, while also exploring pest management and plant nutrition through a local lens.
Each student was given a 10-foot-by-3-foot in-ground plot and a 4-foot-by-4-foot raised bed, with the option to use a wicking bed for water conservation or easier access. Weekly hands-on classes covered garden bed orientation, seasonal timing, irrigation design, nursery care, and post-harvest handling — especially useful for those looking to scale up to market production.
Throughout the program, students showed strong engagement and pride in their gardens. The final weeks focused mainly on harvesting and reflecting on what worked well in their systems. Several students shared produce with family and cooked meals using what they grew, bringing the learning full circle. Some brought recipes back to share with the group.
To keep the momentum going, our second cohort overlapped with the first during the final weeks. This gave new students a chance to walk through mature garden plots, ask questions, and see soil-building practices in action after harvest — bridging learning between cohorts in a meaningful way. We’re excited to reopen the program this coming late September for a third round. If you’d like to receive the announcement, feel free to email us at kefranks@hawaii.edu and ask to be added to the list.
A special mahalo to our first cohort students: Lailani Frericks, James Rarick, Desirae Hopwood, Pomaika‘i Ah Mook Sang, Patrick Rogers, Deja Florendo, Tess and Misty Mollena, Amber Kaholoa‘a, Noa Haliniak, Kanoelani Dudoit, and Sarah and David Kalani.