Teachers Teaching Teachers Workshop #1: “‘Ai Pono – Making Teas and Condiments for the Wa‘a”

Mala‘ai: The Culinary Garden at Waimea Middle School

September 21, 2014—Teachers will learn how to grow, dry, and make herbal teas that can be sent along with the voyage or used with your own program. Also, we will be making various condiments that can be grown and prepared by students and will help to enhance the flavors of foods served on the Voyage or in your programs. We will also cover packaging and labeling.

Free

FoodCorps Hawai‘i State Service Member Training

Hoa ‘Aina O Mākaha 84-766 Lahaina Street, Waianae, HI, United States

September 23-October 2, 2014—FoodCorps Hawai‘i orientation that will introduce service members to their sites, communities, culture and history, and what their day-to-day service will look like.

Teachers Teaching Teachers Workshop #2: “Systems Thinking in School Gardens” – POSTPONED

Hawai‘i Academy of Arts & Science 15-1397 Homestead Road, Pāhoa, HI, United States

September 27, 2014—This workshop is for Class Teachers or Garden Educators Grades K-8. Participants will learn and practice “systems thinking” skills and acquire tools that will be applied to learning gardens and other curriculum designs. We will practice making the implicit connections within and between systems in the garden explicit, for authentic assessment and exciting learner outcomes. Please bring a water bottle, lunch (if you would like to stay and talk story), and a sketchbook (paper and pencils will be provided but you may want to bring your own). Please register with dmitts@kohalacenter.org.

Free

Keeping native plants safe: A day in the Koai‘a Tree Sanctuary

The Kohala Center 65-1291A Kawaihae Rd, Kamuela, HI, United States

September 27, 2014–As we work in the Koai'a Tree Sanctuary, the profound nature of our work becomes very real: by providing a refuge for native plants in the midst of "intensely-managed landscapes," we are preventing extinction. That's important stuff, people!

Join us on Saturday, 9/27 to care for this 13-acre refuge of native dryland forest, the last place on leeward Kohala where you can stand under a canopy of native trees that once made up a 40,000-acre forest. Our work will include invasive plant control, planting native species, collecting native seeds, clearing and stabilizing the trail, and upgrading some of the steps. Fun and varied work for everyone.

Meet at 8:30 at The Kohala Center office in Waimea: 64-1291A Kawaihae Rd. After a short orientation, we will carpool up to the Sanctuary. Our work will take us through lunch in the shade of Grandmother 'Ōhiʻa, then back home by 2:00 pm.

Wear sturdy shoes or boots and long pants, and bring a water bottle and sack lunch. We will provide tools, supplies, plants, gloves, drinking water, and snacks.

Click here to RSVP by September 25.

Free

Hawai‘i Farm to School Conference
“Re-Growing Community Food Systems”

Kamehameha Schools – Kapālama Campus, Ka‘iwakīloumoku Hawaiian Cultural Center 1887 Makuakane Street, Honolulu, HI, United States

October 3, 2014—Presented by the Hawai‘i Farm to School and School Garden Hui and The Kohala Center, this important gathering of food systems stakeholders will promote the knowledge and best practices needed to develop and sustain a statewide farm to school program to re-grow Hawai‘i’s agricultural economy, future farmers, and healthy schools and communities. For more information and to register, visit http://hif2sc.eventbrite.com or email Lydi Morgan Bernal at schoolgardenhui@kohalacenter.org.

$50

East Side Seed Exchange & Harvest Festival – POSTPONED

La'akea Permaculture Community Alaili Road, Pahoa, HI, United States

October 4, 2014—Join us for a Seed and Plant Exchange AND Local Foods Potluck! Bring seeds, plants, cuttings, or keiki - MUST BE FIRE ANT TESTED prior to transporting to La‘akea.

Bring your favorite dishes using only locally grown food for the Third Annual 100% LOCAL FOOD CONTEST AND POTLUCK!

Contact tracy@permaculture-hawaii.com for more information and directions.

UPDATE:

Aloha La'akea friends and family,

We have decided to postpone this year's seed exchange. We do not have a new date as of yet. Our date was October 4th and many people's energy (including our own) is being directed differently in preparation for the potential highway closing.

Once things have settled down a bit we will notify you about a gathering with more of a self-reliance focus.

Free

KWP Volunteer Day: Let’s Plant a Forest!

The Kohala Center 65-1291A Kawaihae Rd, Kamuela, HI, United States

October 11, 2014–KWP has been growing Kohala’s native trees and shrubs from seeds collected during workdays across the mountain since 2009. We just did the math and an amazing 600 people have planted trees on Kohala Mountain; the total number of trees from volunteers alone is 27,000 trees! That added to the more than 50,000 trees planted by the KWP partners and crew comes to a whopping total of 77,000 trees. WOWEE!

Free

Food Industry Fundamentals Workshops (Waimea)

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Kūhiō Hall 64-756 Mamalahoa Hwy, Kamuela, HI, United States

October 16, 2014–Get the edge on the local food marketplace! Join us for two in-depth workshops in Waimea:

Workshop #1: Food Product Development and Technology Essentials
This course will move from “farm to fork” to explore the many product development technologies that can be utilized for optimal quality and enhanced food safety. These include good agricultural practices (GAPs), cold chain management, product formulation options, thermal and non-thermal processing technologies, extended shelf-life packaging considerations, and best practices in distribution. Innovative technologies such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), sous vide, cook chill, and high pressure processing will be discussed as well. You’ll learn current best practices in product development, and how to optimize product quality.

Workshop #2: Quality Assurance and Food Safety Principles
Farmers, processors, retailers and food service operators must have an understanding of the principles of food safety in order to minimize risk to the public. In this course, you’ll learn how to create a holistic food safety and quality system—including management commitment, facility infrastructure requirements, sanitation, pest control, personnel practices, training, microbiological testing, traceability and crisis management, food security, and HACCP. An overview of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and third-party food safety and quality certification programs will be provided."

Register online at http://www.hawaii.hawaii.edu/ocet or click here to view the event flyer for more detail.

$39