The Hawai‘i Public Seed Initiative held it's first "Seed Basics Workshop for Farmers and Gardeners" on Kaua‘i, November 6-7, 2011. The 2-day Workshop was designed to create a practical working knowledge of seed growing, botany and biology, selection, harvesting, cleaning, and saving of various types of seed. Click here to read more about the Kaua‘i workshop.

Our next workshop will be held on O‘ahu at the Lyons Arboretum on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday March 25 with an optional farm tour on Monday March 26. The cost of the workshop is $50 for both days which includes lunch. Five youth Scholarships will be offered to K11 through college level students who are interested in Agriculture. Click here to read more or register online.

The two-day workshops, funded by a Ceres Trust grant awarded to The Kohala Center, are designed to create a practical working knowledge of seed growing, botany and biology, plant selection, seed harvesting, cleaning, and saving. Each workshop will include hands-on fieldwork with a focus on growing lettuce and tomato to seed as well as taro propagation. The O‘ahu workshop will include both lecture presentations and hands-on fieldwork so participants can practice harvesting, selecting, cleaning, and storing fresh seed. Strategies to account for differences in elevation, weather patterns, and rainfall will be discussed.

The Workshops cover:
• History of Seed in Hawai‘i and the Global Perspective on Seed
• Seed Production Basics - Botany and Biology
• Maintaining Crop Genetics: Cultivation, Selection, Harvesting, and Storage of Seed
• Strategies to account for differences in elevation, weather patterns, and rainfall will be discussed.
• Kalo Propagation and Production
• Variety Trials and Trial Log
• Presentations and Hands-on Field Work

The Hawai‘i Public Seed Initiative Workshops are made possible through the support of the CERES Trust.