Building the Kahua
Published: June 3rd, 2026
By Amelia Styan, ʻĀina Program Support
Aloha kākou,
Mahalo nui for all of your kōkua yesterday. As always there was such a great turn out and all of you got so much work done so quickly. If we had a wa'a we'd be half way to Hawai'i in no time. E lauhoe mai nā wa'a, i ke kā, i ka hoe, I ka hoe, I ke kā, paeaku i ka 'āina. <3 ;) (Everybody paddles the canoe, bail and paddle, paddle and bail and the shore is reached)
Together we harvested 20 huge heads of Mānoa lettuce, the biggest one was 1.5 pounds!! Mahalo Aunty Anita for leading the group in harvesting those, getting them washed, and transplanting the new lettuce that was donated by Xotchile the manager of Unity Farms. I hope everyone got to take some home and make something 'ono.
Shoutout to Isabel and Celyn who let me know that you can harvest Mānoa lettuce by slicing off the head, leaving the bottom portion in the soil so new leaves can grow back. I have some new Mānoa lettuce seeds getting started in the greenhouse so we will have to try that next time. I also saved some of the heads that had roots, put them in water, and will repot them to see if they will come back.
We also harvested some lau from the kalo that has been growing rapidly in the greenhouse. It seems like the kalo growing in water in the tsa bins do not grow as fast as the ones in soil so I will work on getting more of those potted up.
The most noticeable difference to our māla is how defined the walkways in and around the māla are. Mahalo to all the weeders, cardboard grabbers, cutters, and layers. Mahalo to everyone who grabbed endless wheel barrows of dirt and mulch and helped to spread that out so we have a pa'a foundation for Kupuna and Keiki. It should also help with weed suppression so we can hopefully spend less time doing that at future māla days.
Community Māla Day Recap
Together we harvested 20 huge heads of Mānoa lettuce, the biggest one was 1.5 pounds!! Mahalo Aunty Anita for leading the group in harvesting those, getting them washed, and transplanting the new lettuce that was donated by Xotchile the manager of Unity Farms. I hope everyone got to take some home and make something 'ono.
Shoutout to Isabel and Celyn who let me know that you can harvest Mānoa lettuce by slicing off the head, leaving the bottom portion in the soil so new leaves can grow back. I have some new Mānoa lettuce seeds getting started in the greenhouse so we will have to try that next time. I also saved some of the heads that had roots, put them in water, and will repot them to see if they will come back.
We also harvested some lau from the kalo that has been growing rapidly in the greenhouse. It seems like the kalo growing in water in the tsa bins do not grow as fast as the ones in soil so I will work on getting more of those potted up.Together we harvested 20 huge heads of Mānoa lettuce, the biggest one was 1.5 pounds!! Mahalo Aunty Anita for leading the group in harvesting those, getting them washed, and transplanting the new lettuce that was donated by Xotchile the manager of Unity Farms. I hope everyone got to take some home and make something 'ono.
Shoutout to Isabel and Celyn who let me know that you can harvest Mānoa lettuce by slicing off the head, leaving the bottom portion in the soil so new leaves can grow back. I have some new Mānoa lettuce seeds getting started in the greenhouse so we will have to try that next time. I also saved some of the heads that had roots, put them in water, and will repot them to see if they will come back.
We also harvested some lau from the kalo that has been growing rapidly in the greenhouse. It seems like the kalo growing in water in the tsa bins do not grow as fast as the ones in soil so I will work on getting more of those potted up.
Māla Shoutout
Mahalo to ʻAnake Nana for helping us organize the walkways and delegate kuleana for mulching. Everything went so smooth because of your kākoʻo!
Māla Observations
Kalo (Taro)
the māla kalo looks vibrant and the keiki kalo are now teenagers. In this point in time, Hāloa is about 8 inches high and the lau are about the size of baby hands. The kalo are growing about 2 inches a week due to the warm weather, sunshine, and lots of wai (water). Since it is hotter weather, Iʻve been watering the garden twice a day in the morning and afternoon. If the kalo is facing west, it means it will produce more keiki. Donʻt forget that Hāloa loves their own space, ensure they are shaka sizes away from eachother.
Mānoa Lettuce
We just planted more lettuce gifted from Xochitl! We also harvested 20 heads of Mānoa lettuce. Our Niʻoi are flourishing, we have about 20+ peppers almost ready to harvest. We are currently seeding carrots in the greenhouse along with some garlic.
Other seedlings
We just planted more lettuce gifted from Xochitl! We also harvested 20 heads of Mānoa lettuce. Our Niʻoi are flourishing, we have about 20+ peppers almost ready to harvest. We are currently seeding carrots in the greenhouse along with some garlic.
Mahalo again for all of your hard work this month. There are so many people that pop into my mind as we were working together during māla day and I want to thank you all and talk specifically about the hana I saw you doing but I worry my email will get too long. So just want to say I am very grateful for all of you. Looking forward to seeing you in June!!
Our next Māla workday is June 14th from 9am-12pm. Here is the link to sign up for that if you are interested.
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