Hawai‘i Island Workshop Presentations
November 3-4, 2012
The last of our two-day, five-island workshop series, “Seed Basics Workshop for Farmers and Gardeners,” was held at the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. The Hawai‘i Island workshop was preceded by the 10th Annual Westside Seed Exchange on Friday, November 2nd. Children from the Hawai‘i School Garden Network were invited to attend the Seed Exchange and bring their saved seeds. Once again we enjoyed delicious lunches prepared with local farm fresh foods prepared by Jonathan and Chelsea Rosario.
These workshop series were designed to create a practical working knowledge of seed growing, botany and biology, selection, harvesting, cleaning, and saving of various types of seed and to create a seed network throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
Click here for a full agenda.
The Hawai‘i Public Seed Initiative by Nancy Redfeather, Coordinator HPSI
• Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?
• Public Seed Commons: A Brief History of the Seed Industry
History of Seed Production and Crop Breeding in Hawai‘i by Hector Valenzuela
• Brief Summary of Statewide Seed Assessment from the 2010 Seed Symposium
Seed Basics: Botany and Biology by Russell Nagata
• Monocot and Dicot Plant Differences
• Open-Pollinated/Hybrid/Heirloom
• Inbreeding/outbreeding: Know Your Crops Mating preferences
• Selfing/Cross Pollination Pollen Transfer (wind, insect, human)
• Reproductive Cycles: Annuals, Biennials, Perennials
• Different Strategies – population numbers, isolation distances, roughing and selection to maintain seed purity
Growing Tomato for Seed in the Garden by Glenn Teves
Overview of what conventional tomato breeders might consider:
• Selecting for cultivars with characteristics that address the special needs of Island propagation
Seed Networks and Initiatives Happening Around the Country by Lyn Howe
Update on Kaua‘i Seed Projects by Paul Massey
Seed Saving and Storage: Basic Techniques and Ideas by Paul Massey
Growing Requirements for Producing Lettuce for Seed by Russell Nagata
• Cleaning Techniques for Dry Seeded Crops.
• Pollination, Isolation, Optimum Number of Plants
• Seed Purity, Improving Lettuce Varieties, Roguing and Selection
• Seed Storage, Viability Testing
Mahalo to Our Workshop Presenters!
- Hector Valenzuela, Ph.D., CTAHR Extension – Vegetable specialist.
- Russell Nagata, Ph.D., CTAHR County of Hawai‘i Extension Administrator- Lettuce propagation and seed production specialist.
- Glenn Teves, CTAHR Moloka‘i Extension Office – Taro And Tomato Propagation Specialist.
- Nancy Redfeather, Program Director, Hawai‘i Public Seed Initiative; Program Director, The Hawai‘i Island School Garden Network; Co-Owner, Kawanui Farm, Hawai‘i Island.
- Paul Massey – President/Director, Regenerations Botanical Garden, Kaua‘i. Manages The Kaua‘i Community Seed Bank.
- Lyn Howe, Workshop coordinator
Special Mahalo to:
- Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden for opening their space and sharing their gardens with us.
- Jerry Konanui for joining us to share his mana‘o on taro and sweet potato.