Pearl City, found in the Mānana ahupuaʻa, is now home to several new food-growing systems after Oʻahu County Extension wrapped up its third annual summer workday series at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Urban Garden Center (UGC). Community members and mahiʻai (farmers) joined College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) ag technicians, faculty, staff, students and volunteers to complete the projects.
Native, endemic and Polynesian-introduced crops are being returned to the area. Grounded in UH Mānoa’s strategic plan to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning, the new gardens were designed to boost production of food and culturally important crops while offering in-field training opportunities.
“This summer at UGC was fun and very productive,” said Pono Chung, a student transferring from Leeward Community College to UH Mānoa. “We were able to open our work days to the community and other student volunteers. It’s nice to see the community, especially students working together as a team.”
Eight raised beds built by Honolulu Community College were painted, filled, planted, irrigated and put into production. New orchards were lined with weed mats and planted with 60+ ʻulu (breadfruit). Crops planted, including taro and ʻulu, could potentially provide food for the community.
Workdays were paired with educational talks by CTAHR faculty and staff, featuring presentations on compost, coconut rhinoceros beetle management, weed suppression, screen technology, air layering, irrigation installation and more. High school students spent their summer break assisting the college in installing new garden areas and taking on new leadership roles.
“Normally it would be two or three of us working on projects, but with the extra hands, we were able to knock out our large projects in a short amount of time,” Chung said. “Something that would have taken us two to three months took us one Wednesday work day morning. I highly recommend this program to everyone because you learn so much about agriculture and many other life skills such as teamwork.”
