Continuing a Tradition

Our tradition of inviting Lanakila Mangauil to share parts of the Hawaiian creation story and the mo`olelo of Hāloa with students continued this year. This year Lanakila joined us in the garden for two days in a row. On the first day he shared parts of the Kumulipo with the students as well as the story of Hāloa. On the second day the same students from the day before, then got the chance to harvest kalo, prep a huli, and plant a new bed. From one 6th grade class to the next over and over for the last 16 years. We have started our own huli here in the garden and its impactful to see how this lesson effects our students and their relationship to their garden.

Our students harvested over 50lbs of Kalo (taro corm), lau (taro leaf) and hā (taro stem). We’ve planted 16 huli so far and have more to plant. The students got to sample the kalo in its raw cooked form, just plain. They also go to try it in luau stew, with onions, coconut milk, chunks of kalo and cooked lau (taro leaf).