Have you ever taken the time to recall where or how you acquired all of your gardening knowledge? Was it through a parent or grandparent who enjoyed gardening and the learning process was just working alongside these individuals? Could it be that you watched the home gardening channel or Martha Stewart? In my case, all of the above, plus years of college, professional meetings, seminars and a lot of trials. Each of us has a unique story on how we learned and accumulated our gardening skills and each of us is continuing to learn. It’s also important to share that information.
A century ago, gardening was learned by doing and learning was very hands-on and through word-of-mouth. Gardeners selected plants from which to collect seeds for planting the next season. Lessons included the art of preserving the crop in root cellars and in canning jars, and how to maintain good soil fertility by composting, addition of manure and planting a diversity of crops. At around this time, the Cooperative Extension Service agents were starting to assist farmers and gardeners in demonstrating better methods to grow crops.
A half-century ago, one-on-one learning experiences were still the mainstay of garden learning, however, university degrees in agriculture were on the rise, and magazines and books on gardening were becoming common.
In the past quarter-century, numerous cable and television stations devoted to gardening were created, leading to more information being readily available. It was no longer learning by working side-by-side with a knowledgeable gardener, but gathering information and then going out to practice what you just viewed.
The Internet has become the primary source of knowledge for many gardeners and this has opened up a whole new world for information. A quick search on any gardening keyword can result in tens of thousands of possible responses, if not millions of choices.
With so many choices, how do you decide what to view? A good approach is to view what is available from the closest college or university. For Hawaii, this would be the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources website at ctahr.hawaii.edu. Other universities and government research labs located in similar climates can also be great sources of information. Select your search words carefully and use defining characteristics to zero in on your subject matter. If you need information on growing sweet corn, for example, search for “growing sweet corn in Hawaii.”
There are many great and interesting sites to be found on the Internet and only experience will help you to select the sites that provide the best and most reliable answers to your needs. Personal blogs on gardening can be helpful. YouTube is also an important source of information for demonstrating how to do specific garden tasks.
Presently, many households do not practice the joys of gardening as a family activity. Many of our children obtain knowledge of gardening through school-based gardens. These lessons support the advancement of science and math skills through the activities of gardening.
Nancy Redfeather of The Kohala Center and project director of the Hawaii Island School Garden Network is looking for volunteers to help with school gardens in their communities. Send her an email for more information at nredfeather@kohalacenter.org.
Russell Nagata is the Hawaii County administrator of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. He can be reached at russelln@hawaii.edu.
