 Welcome to Healthy Planet, the show for people who care about their health and the health of our planet on the ThinkTech Livestreaming Network series. I'm your host, Dr. Grace O'Neill. Joining me today is Jeff Pang from the Grow Your Own Food Group. Today we're talking about growing your own food. So, Jeff, can you tell us about the Grow Your Own Food Gardening Group? Yes, I initiated the Grow Your Own Food Group back in October of 2018. My interest in gardening goes back through my family's lifestyle and also I learned a lot through the urban garden over the years and the second Saturdays which they just started up back in July of this year after two and a half years of silence. And gardening has been a fallback for everyone who had to stay at home and I did not feel the effects of the pandemic. I did not feel very isolated at all with my garden surrounding me. So what is the second Saturdays at the Urban Garden Center? Okay. The second Saturdays is an event that they provide to the public and it's put on by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and they have these master gardeners that volunteer and put on workshops and but with the virus you are required to sign up on the event bright. But if you Google like Oahu Urban Garden, you're able to find out what's available for the weekend. It's not as free and easy as it was prior to the pandemic. Is there a cost now? I believe so it depends on the workshops that they have. Can you give us an example of what kind of workshops they've had in the past? Well they had I believe they had one on pollinators. I thought it was in October and but I haven't been in touch. In fact I haven't been there for the past two years. And they've also had how to start a garden as well and they have a rose garden among other things. That's great. So let's go back to the gardening group and can you tell us what kind of people were at the gardening group when you had started it? Was it experienced gardeners, novices? What kind of people went to the meetings? Where were the meetings? We had a diverse very diverse group. Some were very experienced and some were novice. People who just wanted to learn. And that's what made it special it was the community. People in the area and it was in the evening so you could you know come after work. We had generally about 25 to 50 people attending and I would always encourage people to bring their plants, cuttings, seeds, fruits and vegetables to share with everyone who attended. And when people you know suppose people want to go again is there somewhere that you're going to have these gardening meetings again? Are you planning on doing anything? Yes I have to organize and align and coordinate the players because I had a speaker and I have to put together that rather than you know shooting from the hip but you know we've had some members who stepped forward and talked about you know what they do at home and that's the great part of it because we always got together at the end to share our stories you know with each other and a great way to interact with the community. Yeah can you give us an example of some of the people you had speak there because I remember some very nice meetings where people came and they made very useful lectures that there was one woman who talked about growing plants and pots for people who you know are containers container gardening for people who might not have a big yard another one who talked about dragon fruit and what other people did you have before the pandemic? Well the container gardening was given by a lecture was given by Amy Tevez she's a longtime master gardener and she is so knowledgeable she grows everything in pots because she lives in an HOA and homeowner association where you cannot grow anything in your front yard and even in your backyard from what I understand and what you call but it depends you know where you live what you can grow because and it will vary as to how successful you are some plants will grow in wet areas and and the temperatures might be too hot in you know like a place in where I live in Kameki or certain vegetables and yeah especially the summer so how about the other group that you also led before the pandemic the plant-based interest group? Yes that was essentially plant-based potluck and that was the outgrowth of another group that was from the vegan society called Imagine a Vegan World but I preferred the plant-based lifestyle and it introduced people to eating healthier and that was you know the thrust behind both of the groups it's really to promote health in the community and growing your own food was one way to do it because you know it's a way of sharing you know because you always have more than you can use and what you call that you could always meet others and exchange plants on top of that. So with the whole foods plant-based interest group are there any plans to start that up again and if so where are we gonna meet? It depends I was conducting these groups at Kiloware Rec Center and that you know the parks have opened up again but you know I think there are still some reservations about you know serving food and with each other. Yeah so you know hopefully we will be able to meet again as both the groups were a wonderful opportunity to get to know other people with similar interests so I really had a good time and I got some cuttings that I'm still using I'm trying to grow the dragon fruit right now but there's been so maybe this year I don't know let's go on to talk about how you did the master gardener course for people who are very interested in gardening. Tell us what kind of time commitment that is for the master gardener course and for people who don't know what is a master gardener can you tell us what is a master gardener. The master gardener group is put on by the College of Tropical Agriculture again and it's it runs from like the first week of February through May maybe the middle of May let's see but they are looking for students from October generally there where they interview you and seeing if it's you know in selecting the class there's usually about 20 to 25 individuals and I attended the class of 2020 which was where you know we had the pandemic at the time so basically it was you know we met in person for up until March and then it was on a zoom link which was kind of interesting because you also met with the people from the outer islands as well and but you have these experts from the university talking about their specialties such as soils and organic gardening as well as some ornamentals and fruits and vegetables. What's the time commitment for something like that? Well the time commitment is generally it runs on Fridays mornings from 9 to 11 30 and if it was on zoom that can be done right in your home. I'm not sure what they are doing this year since they're opening up the sometimes me that you know in Pearl City at Urban Garden Center or Wamanalo at the research station down there so it depends on you know I guess there's a Tina Lau who is in charge of it now. Are there when you had the COVID pandemic come in did you have any hands-on during the course where you were able to go and or no I mean I don't know what it's like now but I don't know if during your class because of the pandemic you weren't able to have hands-on do they usually have hands-on classes? Yes they had hands-on up through February but once the governor shut down the state that was and the university they were very strict about that. Is it an expensive course or what kind of cost are we looking at to enroll in such a thing? Back when I took it was $250. Oh my gosh it's a bargain. Yes it is. So you're talking about February about you know four months or less than four months. Yeah that's great and then what do you do after the course to become a master guard? Okay you have to give a volunteer 40 to 50 hours a year you know to some you know organization to you know promote you know gardening and learn like some people are working at farms and or you can go to nonprofits I I never kept track of my time you know I I'm a retired person and I thought okay I'm doing it because it's fun and I don't really care about the hours. Yeah I mean I guess so you would have to log your hours and then every year you would hand them in or how do they even keep track of that that people are doing what they're supposed to be doing. They have it on computer you know and basically I believe it's just an honor system. Yeah because I do see a lot of master gardeners like sometimes when I would go to the urban garden center when I was buying plants sometimes I would see them there just answering questions so I guess that's the kind of thing that they would do but I know that one of our common friends she works at a farm so I guess there's different options for people and I guess that's why it's so inexpensive they're hoping that people will give back to the community afterwards that makes sense. So let's see some pictures from your garden Jeff. Those two things are sweet potatoes I grew a number of years ago you know in my garden I dug down two to three feet deep just to loosen up the soil and somehow you know those things came out of it. How old were they how long does it take to grow a sweet potato that big that's my question. Well generally they say four to six months and I was surprised there were no worms in there I'm not sure how long I kept it in there like I told you previously I don't keep track of the timing of things I just grew it just for fun and I was surprised I dug it out like nine o'clock at night one evening I just kept digging and digging and it was the creamiest potato I ever ate. I can imagine I mean I I remember I had these cuttings from my mother and she told me they were sweet potato leaves but just ornamental and so I put them in the ground and they were just growing like weeds and then finally I was pulling them out and then I saw little tiny potatoes beneath them and maybe those that specific species doesn't grow as much below with the potato but more leaves but I mean it still was growing potatoes underneath so I was kind of surprised oh my gosh potatoes it's always a nice surprise right. This is New Zealand spinach that grows wild in my backyard after a heavy rain it just pops out because it's so hot over here the seeds are all embedded in the earth and apparently my soil you know as well with the spinach seeds these are Mexican oregano in the foreground and I got that plant from Mr. Terroca from the cactus garden at KCC. Oh wow it grows one day you gave me some and it's growing very well. Oh great and in the background there is some rosemary and some green onions on the bottom of the rosemary and that I started with the just a four inch spray and it's grown over the years. That's awesome. That I have in the background that tree is ganduli bean push and I use that to protect my garden from the sun that I have from the south and below that are lettuces that I've grown and some turnips six inch turnip. Those are Japanese cucumbers harvested. Those are big long ones too I like that. Okay and this is a picture of an agroforestry workshop that I attended in the Waimanalo Research Center back in December of 2018 and it was then we planted an assortment of things and people who are not familiar with that term agroforestry is where you develop a garden with various heights of trees and where you get low medium high and extremely high trees and then you plant other crops underneath to maximize the use of your space and these are just some banana apple banana trees I've grown over the years and what you call it's been flourishing but this summer heat is taking a toll on some of the trees. They don't do well in temperatures over like 85 degrees. You have to make sure they get enough water otherwise you know I've had some fruit just dry up on me a few years back. That's terrible so tell us about how much water they need for one apple banana. I believe it really depends on your location and your soil of course and the better structure your soil has which you know can retain water where you know perhaps if you mulch it and you put compost into your soil they'll enrich the soil so it'll retain the water and you know but you have to take a look at you know the soil itself and the trees itself to see how they're doing and like if I lived in Kainioa or deep in Manoa I probably would not have the water. So tell us how long does it take for a banana to get from my cakey to fruiting? Well I've read it depends. I think it depends on the type of banana but it may take anywhere from 12 months to 18 months depending on the you know the location as well you know and certain bananas will grow faster than others in the soil, the sun and the resources it has. And then how long does it take for the banana once it starts fruiting for you to be able to eat the bananas? Well once a flower comes out it takes anywhere from five to eight months perhaps from what I've read. And then if you cut the flower off you told me that it will give more energy to the bananas so once you cut the flowers off how long can you wait before the bananas are ready? Do you wait usually? It depends I guess on the variety but you know like I said I don't keep track of those things you know it's busy work. In my view it's just busy work you know I I just want to just grow things and what you call. Yeah okay let's go to the next slide. Those are regular chives that I have growing in the side of my yard and they take quite a bit of water I guess and not a lot of sun I'd say. This is my compost pile I use I generally don't use my green bin and since everything goes in here and you know I chop it up with my machete and move it from one side to the other. When I feel like it so it's not you know as often as I should. It looks like a lot of hard work. Do you keep track of the ratios? Well no I just throw in whatever I have and I rake leaves from across the street and even KCC sometimes. And somehow it all works out even though you don't keep track? Yes. Wow that's pretty good. I mean I thought about composting like that but I think it's much easier to do a worm factory so I always go for the worm factory. I mean you know eventually I think it does but I guess it works faster and it's more heated if like the ratios light I suppose but it's good that you're making use of all your waste so I'm just wondering if people want to get in touch and join the grow your own food group or the plant-based interest group, plant-based lifestyle group then how do they get in touch with you? Well sign up for the email list. They could email me at my address at jpang172 at gmail.com and let me know that they would like to join my group. Right now I have 500 names on my list that's been consolidated over the years but of course you know like I said earlier we have about 25 to 50 people who show up but like you know I have not initiated any thoughts on the group yet but you know if they email me they can get a head start and I plan to do something in the future. That sounds great. Are there any other resources that you'd recommend for people local resources if they're interested in gardening? Of course the first place I would go to is the Oahu Urban Garden and just to learn about you know what they're doing currently and in the future and those master gardeners are the ones I learned what I know today as well as you know actually I used to consult with the university professors back you know 40 years ago and so I learned a lot from them but that's another thing if they have the time to speak with you that's another resource as well as the gardens like the foster gardens some of the master gardeners go there and you know the botanical gardens they have workshops on gardening and even the land arboretum as well as I attended the trees for kind of key workshop and you know it's good to be involved with the community I think that's what it's all about and when you meet other people good things happen. Yes well we're out of time and we have to wrap it up on Dr. Grace O'Neill this is Healthy Planet on the ThinkTech Live Streaming Network series we've been talking with Jeff Peng from the Grow Your Own Food Group thanks to Michael our broadcast engineer and the rest of the crew at ThinkTech for hosting our show and thanks to you our listeners for listening I'll see you in two weeks for more of Healthy Planet on the ThinkTech the show for people who care about the health and the health of our planet my special guest will be Narayan Raja from the Wildbird Haven Wildbird Rehab Haven excuse me if you have ideas for the show or questions for my future guests please contact me at Healthy Planet ThinkTech at gmail.com check out my website at graceandhawai.com or Instagram at Graceful Living 365 for more information on my projects including future show guests I'm Dr. Grace O'Neill aloha everyone thank you so much for watching ThinkTech Hawaii if you like what we do please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo you can also follow us on Facebook Instagram Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at ThinkTechHawaii.com Mahalo