North Shore Country Market

Sponsored by: North Shore Country Market, State of Hawaii DBEDT, Hawaii Health Guide, and Patagonia

“Dancing With The Mother”

A weekend of Island growing methods, practices and sharing.
Demystifying organic gardening with hands on simple concepts

Saturday May 27th & Sunday May 28th 2006 
Location: North Shore, O'ahu
Cost for two days: $45.00 
Includes classroom materials and three meals. 
Special rates for students and seniors 
Deadline for registration is May 15th
For persons and families wishing to increase their knowledge of natural food systems in Hawaii, Polynesian food/medicine plants, and whole system design strategies (Permaculture) for homes and settlements.

Instructors: 
- Jon Biloon - Hawaii Island organic farmer / teacher Over thirty years of experience 
- Kimberly Clark Phd - Hawaii Organic Grower Social , Economic, and cultural perspectives 
- Bill Howes - North Shore organic grower, Gardening Teacher, Eighteen years organic growing experience on the North Shore

Workshop includes: outdoor class room instruction, technical materials as well as hands on demonstrations at existing organic gardens, plant and seed sharing. Local plant and fertilizer resources.

Upon completion of the workshop, qualified participants can be referred to organic farm apprenticeships in Hawaii.

Workshop Location & Schedule:

Workshop will be held at 59-480 Pupukea Rd.

From Honolulu: Take H2 to North Shore.
Take bypass at Haleiwa, pass Waimea Valley,
Take a right at Pupukea Foodland, go approx. 1.5 miles up hill, four houses past Aukauka Pl. on the left.
Please bring insect repellant, Hat and sunscreen, bags for seeds cuttings

Saturday Schedule: 
8:00a - 9:30a - Check In - Registration , self guided garden tour 
9:30a - 10:30a - Introductions - Lecture: Why Organic? Traditional Organic Systems - John Biloon 
10:45a - 11:30a - Kimberly Clark - Cultural, social, economics of organic practices in Hawaii 
12:00 - 1:00pm - Lunch - provided by Paradise Found Cafe 
1:15p - 2:30p - John Biloon , soils in Hawaii, common garden / pest strategies, companion planting, planting with natural cycle etc 
2:30p - 3:00p - Break 
3:00p - 4:00p - Propagation demo, sheet mulching, composting, seed saving, cutting/ huli sprouting Local Garden tools and resources - Bill Howes 
4:00p - 5:30p -Pau Hana Play time: Beach, Waimea Valley, Pupukea trail or whatever! 
5:30p - 8:30p - Dinner (by Paradise Found) and movies

Sunday Schedule: 
8:00aa - 9:00 - Check in 
9:15a - 10:45 - Field trip : Pupukea Permaculture Homestead tour - Corbin residence 
10:15a - Regroup at workshop site 
10:15a - 10:45 Local plant and soil enhancement manufacturer - Organa Agriculture Hawaii Inc - Mr Harry Arakaki - overview of products and services 
10:45a - 11:00 - Break 
11:00a - 12:00 - Jon Biloon, Kimberly Clark, Harry Arakaki - Panel Discussion, Future of Hawaii Agriculture - How does Hawaii insure abundant, safe and healthy food for its people? 
12:00p - 1:30 - Lunch - Waimea Catering Chef - Ms Brigitt Moss 
1:30p - 2:15 - Guided garden tour, Introduction to Permaculture Design Principles - Bill Howes 
2:15p 2:45 - Break 
2:30p - 3:30 - Introduction to worm raising, plant and seed sharing, workshop evaluation

email: Uncle Bill for more info
phone: 808-638-7172
web: http://www.northshorecountrymarket.com

Continue reading "Organic Gardening Class: "Dancing with the Mother"" »

Posted by Cynthia at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mindy Jaffe from Waikiki Worm taught 2 workshops at Sunset Beach Elementary School about composting with WORMS!

This is a new thing in Hawaii using a special Composting Worm called Perioyx Excavatus.

Waikiki Worm's Mission is

• To divert waste from Oahu's landfill by promoting on-site vermicomposting

• To restore nutrients to Hawaii's soil and reduce pollution

• To encourage "reduce, reuse, and recycle" as an adventure in learning, enterprise, and another great pleasure of island life.

***************

Let worms eat your garbage...

There is a better way to manage your household kitchen waste than flushing it into the sewer system, or having it tranported to burn up at H-Power or stink up the neighborhood at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill.

By practicing VERMICOMPOSTING, you can harness the power of earthworms to decompose food scraps, newspaper, cardboard, and yes... even junk mail!

In exchange for your garbage, your worms will produce vermicast (worm poop), a dark, nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in your garden, on your houseplants, landscaping or lawn. In this way, essential plant nutrients are recycled back to the soil as nature intended. Your organic waste becomes a valuable resource.

Composting worms are "litter" worms. In their natural habitat, they make their living eating decaying organic material on the surface and just below the surface of the soil. Unlike the tillers, earthworkers such as garden worms or nightcrawlers, compost worms do not burrow into the soil and make tunnels.

Also unlike the more solitary earthworms, compost worms live in dense colonies, making them ideal habitats for a dark, cozy worm bin. Their demands are few: they need only air, water, and decaying organic material to thrive. Your kitchen scraps and shredded newspaper will suit them just fine.

Mindy shared so many interesting things about these special worms. She told us about other schools around the country, where they recycle most all of their carbon based wastes using WORMS, and even have a valuable product, the vermicast, to sell at the end of the process.

Mahalo Mindy for all your inspiration!

Check out the pictures of the Teacher Workshop here:

WORM-WORKSHOP

www.waikikiworm.com

Posted by Cynthia at 06:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is Composting?

NSCM having a workshop with Mindy of Waikiki Worms, on Wed. Dec 14,2-3pm. This workshop is being CO-sponsered by the Kokua Foundation and will accommodate the garden students, NSCM and A+ teachers.  This workshop will be an exploratory worm experience where Mindy will help the participants in small groups to create 3 small worm bins and give some basic facts about worms.  This can take place in the garden area on the benches next to the hale. We will post what we learn about composting with worms.

Composting is the transformation of organic material (plant matter) through decomposition into a soil-like material called compost. Invertebrates (insects and earthworms), and microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) help in transforming the material into compost. Composting is a natural form of recycling, which continually occurs in nature.

An ancient practice, composting is mentioned in the Bible several times and can be traced to Marcus Cato, a farmer and scientist who lived in Rome 2,000 years ago, (although people have been composting for as long as they have been growing food). Cato viewed compost as the fundamental soil enhancer, essential for maintaining fertile and productive agricultural land. He stated that all food and animal wastes should be composted before being added to the soil. By the 19th century in America, most farmers and agricultural writers knew about composting.

Today there are several different reasons why composting remains an invaluable practice. Yard and food wastes make up approximately 30% of the waste stream in the United States. Composting most of these waste streams would reduce the amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) requiring disposal by almost one fourth, while at the same time provide a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Compost added to gardens improves soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control, soil fertility, proper pH balance, and healthy root development in plants.

The standard means of disposal for most yard and food waste include landfilling and incineration. These practices are not as environmentally or economically sound as composting. Yard waste which is landfilled breaks down very slowly due to the lack of oxygen. As it decomposes, it produces methane gas and acidic leachate, which are both environmental problems

Landfilling organic wastes also takes up landfill space needed for other wastes. Incinerating moist organic waste is inefficient and results in poor combustion, which disrupts the energy generation of the facility and increases the pollutants that need to be removed by the pollution-control devices. Composting these wastes is a more effective and usually less expensive means of managing organic wastes. It can be done successfully on either a large or small scale, but the technique and equipment used differ.

Compost is the heart and soul of organic gardening. You don't have to be a farmer or an earth worm to reap the benefits of composting.

You can compost your own garden and kitchen waste at home with very little effort. Adding organic matter to your garden will improve the structure, water holding capacity, and aeration of soils containing too much clay or too much sand. Compost is the most often recommended source of organic material. It is easy to make, easy to use, and contains a storehouse of nutrients. NSCM will be posting a variety of methods to make compost, and encourage you to do it at home.

Posted by Cynthia at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)