Hua Ka Hua–Restore Our Seed A Public Seed Symposium

Hua Ka Hua–Restore Our Seed
A Public Seed Symposium

Photo: Beautiful fava beans. Photo by Nancy Redfeather.

Open-pollinated seed is being lost at a rapid rate. In the United States, 95% of seed varieties that were grown in 1900 are no longer available. These varieties were the backbone of the home garden and the market farm for centuries. The Kohala Center has received a grant through the USDA/OREI (Organic Research and Education Initiative) to hold a public Seed Symposium on April 17 and 18 at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort in Kona. Farmers and gardeners from around the state will be sharing ways to grow, select, and save high quality seeds, as well as planning for a future public seed initiative to support research and an open-pollinated organic seed industry in the state.

The symposium features presentations by statewide and national seed experts, including:

* Hector R. Valenzuela, Ph.D., Crop Extension Specialist, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa;
* Theodore J.K. Radovich, Ph.D., Sustainable Farming Systems Laboratory, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, UH Mānoa;
* Alvin Yoshinaga, Restoration Ecologist, Center for Conservation Research and Training, UH Mānoa;
* Matthew Dillon, Founder and Director of Advocacy, Organic Seed Alliance (OSA);
* Micaela Colley, Director of Research and Education, OSA;
* Frank Morton, Wild Garden Seeds in Philomath, Oregon;
* Jerry Konanui, expert in Hawaiian food plant varieties, their propagation, cultivation, harvesting, processing, and use throughout the islands.

Photo: Jerry Konanui says, "Maui lehua Kalo....so ono!" Photo by Gladys Konanui.

A free public lecture will precede the symposium from 5:30–7 p.m. Friday, April 16, at the resort. “The Story of Seed: Wild, Domesticated, Bred, and Engineered–Where Did We Begin and Where Might We Go?” will be presented by Dillon and Morton.

We feel that it will be of great "benefit" for university researchers AND farmers/gardeners to be ‘together’ in the same room, something which seldom occurs. We hope that both groups will be illuminated by hearing each others mana‘o (wisdom). It is our greatest hope that statewide and island-wide seed working groups will emerge from this Symposium, as well as further workshops to gather knowledge, conduct variety trials, and coordinate field days to share seed and information on-farm, leading to production of high quality seed for both the home and market. —Nancy Redfeather, Coordinator of Hua ka Hua Seed Symposium and the Hawai‘i Island Seed Exchange

Learn more and register for the Symposium at http://www.kohalacenter.org/seedsymposium/about.html.

Take the Hua Ka Hua Hawai‘i Seed Initiative Survey. This Seed Assessment is intended for potential participants, to gather basic information about their interest in and knowledge of seed growing and saving. Information from the surveys will be used to assist us in planning a meaningful program for the Symposium.