The Hub is celebrating Earth Day by working the lo'i at Kualua Ranch.

Saturday April 22

8 am - 11 am

Where: Kualoa Ranch Education Center:

49-560 Kamehameha Highway Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744

What to bring:

- Clothes you don't mind getting muddy! - The Lo'i is a muddy affair so wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty! Or an extra change of clothes if you're feelin' nasty.

- Slippers/water shoes - Like I said, it is a MUDDY affair!

- water bottles - We'll be out in the field so please bring water to stay hydrated!

- towel

- bug spray

- sunscreen

- hat

Some Background: http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/botany/taro/key/HawaiianKalo/Media/Html/history.html

In early Hawai‘i, taro was a highly-prized food staple and was often used as medicine and in ritual. Hawaiian myth holds that taro was the elder brother of man and therefore had a very sacred role in the culture. The cultivation of kalo was at the very core of Hawaiian culture and identity. Hawaiians have been called "true experimental horticulturalists", developing hundreds of varieties of kalo. It was pulled up, cooked, and mashed almost every day in old Hawai‘i (CTAHR, 2002)

The early Polynesian immigrants to Hawai‘i probably planted taro along streams, beside springs and in semi-marshy areas with a supply of fresh flowing water. Taro lo‘i, or flooded fields, probably were developed much later. Certain taro varieties were cultivated by the “dry-land” method: under mulch in rain-watered land and in wet lower-forest areas.

In present-day Hawai‘i, although taro no longer is the main staple food, it is still consumed in quantity, and in a variety of ways: cooked and mashed corms become poi or kūlolo, a pudding-like dessert flavored with coconut cream; sliced and fried corms become taro chips; and taro flour is made into a variety of baked goods, such as muffins, buns and breads.