Home gardeners went home with packets of free seeds for their gardens after attending the Grow Smart Seed Sharing Workshop in October. Held at the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City, the workshop taught people how to harvest, save and share seeds.
This event is part of how the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR) is advancing community food self-sufficiency through home gardening workshops.
“One key lesson was to regularly change the types of fruits and vegetables growing in their home gardens,” said CTAHR extension agent Julia Avila. “This keeps garden soil healthy, so people will always have a fresh crop growing.”
Seeds developed by CTAHR, such as Komohana grape tomato, UH sweet basil and Poamoho pole bean, are easier to care for because they were bred to resist several plant diseases. Other crops, such as the Mānoa lettuce, can thrive in hotter climates.
“Around 1,000 seeds were shared across the eight CTAHR crops at the workshop,” said CTAHR extension agent Jensen Uyeda.
The Bok Choy Open House drew more than 50 people, eager to learn how to grow bok choy. The event organizers shared valuable advice on growing the nutritious leafy green, covering topics from exploring best-adapted varieties and effective fertilization to pest control and hydroponics.
This effort expands local knowledge and enthusiasm for making healthy food choices, a key step toward increasing community food security and self-sufficiency. It’s the latest in a series of workshops from CTAHR to help families grow their own food to become more food secure. The next event is a community kalo (taro) work day and harvest on December 10 at CTAHR’s Waimānalo station.
