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students standing around their crop

Kauaʻi Community College is offering an exciting opportunity to cultivate food. GoFarm Hawaiʻii@Kauaʻi CC offers those with an interest in agriculture a combination of knowledge, experience and support designed to assist them in becoming viable food production growers.

Emphasis on practical skills and knowledge

A non-credit program, GoFarm Hawaiʻi@Kauaʻi CC is for those who want to support sustainability on Kauaʻi, grow good food, minimize dependency on food importation and learn what is needed for an island to be more self-sufficient. The program emphasizes the practical skills and knowledge needed to become a successful agricultural entrepreneur.

The curriculum integrates hands-on fundamentals of farm production with business management. Students learn the realities of farming directly from well-seasoned mainstream farmers, agricultural specialists, experienced educators and those involved directly in the marketing and sales of agricultural commodities.

The program consists of two phases. Once a week for a month (September 19–October 10, 2015) tours of farms across the island are conducted. The second phase (October 17–February 6, 2016) is where the real hands-on learning takes place. On Thursday nights, lectures and talk story sessions about science and business elements of farming are also presented by special guest speakers who are directly involved in Hawaiʻi’s agriculture. Saturdays are farm days, where each student applies the knowledge gained to the field on their own 1000 square foot farm plot.

Flourishing success

This past spring GoFarm Hawaiʻi@Kauaʻi CC met with flourishing success—more than 1,200 pounds of produce was grown and harvested. Crops included cabbage, taro, ginger, bok choi, daikon, mustard greens, lettuce, baby greens, green beans, cucumber, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, okra, kale, beets, swiss chard, cilantro, corn, carrots and even a variety of flowers.

For more information, call Kauaʻi CC’s Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) at (808) 245-8318. Stop by OCET to sign up in person or register online at www.kauai.hawaii.edu.

students posing in crop field

A Kauaʻi Community College news release

—By Camilla Matsumoto

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