WOW- Lauhala Weaving Workshop

This month, on September 10, 2011, we were so fortunate to have Kumu Umi Kai present a hands-on workshop about the basics of weaving lauhala. We had a great time learning about hala; what a hala tree looks like, how and when to collect the lau, and then we got weaving!

Mahalo Umi for the knowledge to create simple lauhala  pieces of art, stars bracelets and even a rose.  Also, mahalo to our volunteers Asia, Natalie, and Chelsey, who are always such a great help.

WOW- Natural Dye Workshop

Ms. Bernice Akamine presented a hands-on workshop on August 6, 2011 about the Hawaiian plants and naturalized plant species that may be used in making beautiful dye colors.  We made beautiful purples from java berry and haha and yellow from ma'o hau hele. Bernice even taught us about using indigo from the plant to beautiful blue dye!

  

Mahalo Bernice for sharing your mana'o.

WOW- Limu Identification and Uses and Dry Box Food Prepration Workshop

Uncle Henry Chang Wo, co-founder of the Ewa Limu Project, and Wally Ito came to share their passion and knowledge of Limu with us for our July WOW Workshop presented on July 2, 2011.

We learned about the importance of limu within the food chain, in the traditional Hawaiian diet and culture and in our daily nutrition. We got to sample some different types of limu and observe a variety of delicious tastes and textures!

We were also joined by Eric Enos from Ka'ala Farm who brought dried fish to taste and taught us how to prepare food to be dried in a dry box. Many of the participants built dry boxes in our WOW Workshop in April.

July's WOW Workshop offered new "old ways" to appreciate and enjoy our ocean foods.
Mahalo to all the presenters and participants for making this workshop a success!

WOW- Bucket Painting Workshop

 Na Pualani Learning Ohana held a workshop on June 25, 2011 for families to come together and create gardens in beautiful decorated buckets. These bucket gardens can be used for growing kale, chard, bush beans, tomatoes, eggplant or even large herbs like basil or rosemary.

Using recycled buckets and recycled paint, participants decorated their own bucket gardens to take home with them.  These portable gardens are are a fun and creative way to decorate any home and grow your own food.

Mahalo Educator Pualani Ramos for sharing your bucket gardens, your experience in both working with children and training other educators,  in addition to making this a fun, family experience!

WOW- Vermicomposting Workshop

Wai'anae High School presented a Vermicomposting workshop on May 7, 2011 for families to learn about worms and create worms bins. Worms help us by eating our kitchen food scraps, diverting waste from our landfills while making "black gold" fertilizer for our garden vegetables. Win-Win!!