“Wild rice is culturally significant to Aniishinabe people here in Minnesota. It’s our connection to the land, water and our ancestors…I had a friend say that Aniishinabeg people, if we were to lose this plant, we would lose a huge chunk of ourselves,” Goose says.

“My sister and I this past fall were finishing our rice, and I had so much respect for my ancestors and how hard that work is —to dry the rice, parch it, and winnow it—is a whole process from start to finish.”

Goose is also passing the sacred traditions on to future generations – as much as she can. Wild rice is under threat from climate impacts, unchecked pollution and overdevelopment, causing contamination, sea level rise, disruptions of freshwater wetlands and more.

But Native people have been the stewards of the waters in their territories for tens of thousands of years, just as we have been stewards of the land. In this second part of our two-part series, we dive deeper into some challenges of water stewardship and how Indigenous voices in regions across the continental U.S. rise to the call of Mother Àwęˀkęhaˀnęˀ (Water, Skarure) to protect her and all life dependent on water. 

Saying no to pipelines

In the Great Lakes Region and Midwest, Enbridge, a Canadian-based pipeline operator in the Great Lakes, has faced controversy for decades.  

Their 1960s Line 3 pipeline through the Great Lakes region caused one of the biggest inland oil  spills in US history in 1991. Occurring in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, it spilled 1.7 million gallons into Prairie River – a tributary of the Mississippi.

The line weakened over time. The Minnesota Dept of Commerce reports 15 failures since 1990, resulting in more than 50 barrels of oil per incident. Corrosion and cracking prompted over 950 excavations since 2000 alone, and 10 times as many “anomalies” per mile than any other pipeline in the Mainline corridor. All told, Enbridge has since paid more than $11 million to address environmental damage from Line 3. 

In 2010, they had the second largest inland oil spill, estimated at 843,000 gallons at Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River, a tributary to Lake Michigan.

Ogimaa Giniw Ikwe is a citizen of Miskwaagamiiwi-Zaagaiganing (Red Lake Nation),  where she’s been “deeply involved with the work of water protection and conservation and those types of things throughout Minnesota for probably the last dozen years.” 

She’s not convinced that Enbridge is doing all they can to preserve wetlands, like those in Minnesota where their Line 3 pipeline runs. “In places with shifty ground, they took steel panels and drove them in so the pipeline was stabilized, and fractured a number of underground aquifers, including artesian aquifers that are not easily replaceable,” Giniw Ikwe says.

An estimated 280 million gallons of groundwater spilled from the ruptures, largely tracked and reported by environmental and Indigenous groups. Thermal imaging showing 45 spots along the pipeline where warmer groundwater appeared to surface. There were four major sites in or near tribal lands, treaty territories or wild rice lakes, from 2021 to 2023. 

The water losses occurred while climate change is rapidly shifting weather patterns. Minnesota endured multi-year drought, even severe drought conditions, increasing risk of wildfires.

But the officials did not lay blame on these massive industrial leaks. There was controversy raised as officials primarily blamed farmers, claiming over-pumping of aquifer water to crops. Giniw Ikwe disagrees.

“I think that aquifer damage had a much stronger play in what’s happening,” says Giniw Ikwe.

“Then this stuff (contaminants) sinks to the bottom, damaging delicate wetlands areas, which filters out clean water and ensures water in Minnesota can trickle down into aquifer systems, and that’s where they laid this pipeline. So it’s been really contentious.”

She refers to the resulting pooling mix of breached aquifer water, drilling fluid and grout used to patch the breaches as a potential hazard to the wetlands and groundwater, even after so-called repairs.

Looking to the future

Many people across the region were deeply opposed to the installation of a new/reparative pipeline, questioning its need. And states like Michigan are still fighting in court over a cease and desist issued years prior to stop the flow entirely.

But groups are pumping out solutions as well.

Leanna Goose works as a co-facilitator and organizer for Rise and Repair, an alliance of organizations advancing legislative climate justice in Minnesota. She does research in the Protecting Manoomin for the Next Seven Generations project, which studies wildlife and addresses challenges proactively. 

There are more than 17 species of wild rice indigenous to her research area listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. They are essential to biodiversity and support a thriving ecosystem, clean water, and human life. It’s particularly sensitive during the “floating leaf” stage, and water fluctuations can disrupt an entire rice bed. 

“This past ricing season was a tough one for manoomin. A lot of the rice beds were washed out in the spring. There was a lot of precipitation, and then a drought the last part of summer,” Goose says. With Rise and Repair, Goose is advancing legislation to hopefully make future ricing seasons easier.

“We’re trying to recognize the inherent right of wild rice to exist and thrive – that all living beings have a right to be here just like we do. This legislation brings that culture of respect to all of Minnesota and creates systemic change, where we don’t just view the world around us as natural resources, but as living beings we share this earth with – as relatives.”

Beth Roach is a Nottoway tribal leader, seedkeeper, entrepreneur, and Water Protector. She’s also national campaign manager for the Sierra Club, one of the most historic grassroots environmental organizations in the country. 

“For the last two years, I’ve been building a new national water conservation campaign for the Sierra Club that advances water protection under the Clean Water Act,” Roach says.

The work she does is a personal imperative as much as a professional one. She talked about the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Protest  slogan “Water is Life”, and how that moment of championing clean water rights lifted many tribal voices protecting our waters throughout Turtle Island (The Americas).

“We often see our ancestors, ourselves, and future generations of the earth itself, therefore we are instructed to nurture and steward these gifts as if all life depends on them,” says Roach.

“When I’m cleaning trash off shorelines and pulling tires out of the river, I have an embodied feeling that those items will not be doing harm to my waters anymore. When I’m advocating for stronger policies, I know that I’m demanding a future that we need to see. When I’m planting seeds and tending to the soil, I know that I’m doing my part to pass on this knowledge to the next generation. When I’m learning about climate adaptation strategies, I know that I’m giving the next generation a fighting chance.” 

The post How Native Water Protectors Champion Water Quality appeared first on Modern Farmer.

“A resilient garden is one that’s ready to adapt and recover, no matter what comes its way,” says Manny Barra, a master gardener at TeachMe.To and the community garden coordinator for the City of Oakland in California.

So how does one build a resilient garden and care for flowers and plants when the weather is unusual? Read on for expert tips.

Know Your Microclimate

Think of your microclimate as your garden’s unique personality: it determines how everything grows. Knowing your microclimate lets you understand the sun, shade, wind, and moisture patterns that make your space special. 

“Understanding the zone in which you grow is an ideal starting point to understand sowing and planting dates, what will be needed to protect plants in colder months, and what will not be possible if temperatures are too warm,” says Daniel Pettus,  farm manager at Olivette Riverside Community & Farm, an agrihood in Asheville, North Carolina. “ Knowing your proximity to North, South, East, West should determine how you plan your farm or garden, where you build structures. If there are existing structures in place, where these are in position to the movement of the sun throughout the season and your farm or garden are key to growing successfully.”

It’s like unlocking the cheat codes to gardening success, so you can work with nature instead of constantly struggling against it. Plus, it helps you pick the right plants for the right spots, which is a gamechanger.

Mix it Up

Diversity is key to a resilient garden. Barra suggests using a variety of plants in your garden, including native plants that naturally thrive in your area.  “If you notice certain plants struggling, don’t be afraid to swap them out for something better suited to your conditions.”

Keep Friends Together

When designing a new garden or adding new plants, consider grouping those with similar water needs to save resources and avoid waste. For instance, ferns, azaleas, and hydrangeas all have similiar water, soil and shade needs. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage all need extra water once they sprout while eggplant, artichoke, zucchini, and summer squash don’t require much water.

Research And Note

Stay aware of changing weather patterns and take notes on what works and what doesn’t. 

“When starting a new farm or garden, think about the best and worst possible scenarios in your area,” says Pettus. “Research weather patterns for the past 100 years or more; design your garden to withstand the worst possible scenario, while thriving in the best.”

He suggests starting small and taking notes. You’ll want to track which varieties you’re planting and how they do, especially as you learn more about your own microclimate. 

“Some varieties of green beans or tomatoes are a little bit heartier than others. So even if you really love heirlooms, and you want to do an all heirloom garden, heirlooms are generally a bit fussier and less resilient,” adds Lara Hermanson, co-founder of California-based Farmscape which specializes in designing, installing, and maintaining sustainable gardens. Picking a heartier variety of crop can help ensure it will withstand weather changes.

Build Soil Health

Healthy soil is the foundation of a healthy garden. In addition to using mulch to prevent soil erosion, Barra suggests adding compost to build up soil health, and keep the soil draining well if heavy rains do hit your garden. 

“Make sure your soil drains well by incorporating organic matter and digging shallow trenches to direct excess water away from roots. 

For areas that frequently flood, consider adding rain gardens or planting water-tolerant species. 

Lift Them Up

Raised beds are such a lovely way to garden. It’s a better experience for the gardner–often kinder on knees and backs–and can even reduce insect damage on produce. Plus, when a cold or heat wave hits, raised beds can provide a structural base for cold frames and shade cloth.

When Inclement Weather Hits

Hermanson is a big fan of using a cold frame when drastic weather happens such as a hailstorm or freezing temperatures in the spring. “It’s important for home gardeners to get comfortable with a wide variety of quick and easy structures that you can put up when it’s really cold or really hot to help your plants transition,” Hermanson says. There are pre-fabricated cold frame options available, or you can construct your own. And don’t forget shade cloth from an online vendor like Gardeners Supply to help cover your vegetables in case of a heat wave.

Heavy rain is a bit trickier. When heavy rain hits, your garden can quickly turn into a soggy mess, but the good news is that many plants can withstand even a high amount of rain, says Hermanson. However, she suggests fertilizing the garden after a heavy rain.

“Add back in any nitrogen that may have been leached out, especially in a spring garden that needs a lot of nitrogen.”

You May Have To Start Over

If you get bad weather in the infancy of a produce plant and it’s damaged, Hermanson says it’s likely best to start over. “The right move is to be ready to assess and know when to stop rather than try to coax things back to life that have been damaged. Especially in their infancy, don’t commit to it.”

Don’t Forget The Mulch

Mulch helps keep soil moist, regulates temperatures and protects roots. You can make your own, or pick some up at a local plant nursery.

Stay Flexible

Gardening is a bit of luck and chance but as climate change continues to make the weather unpredictable, flexibility is more important than ever. Don’t be afraid to experiment and realize that not everything is going to be a success.

“Gardening in a changing climate is all about staying creative and resourceful. Gardening is always a work in progress, and even the most seasoned garden can benefit from a little TLC and creativity,” Barra says.

The post How to Care for Your Garden in Unpredictable Weather appeared first on Modern Farmer.

The pod’s dense and waxy exterior gives way to seeds coated in white pulp – sweet, bitter and nutty to the taste. They are destined for greatness in the form of chocolate bars, dried beans and tea at Lavaloha Chocolate Farm in Hilo.

“Bringing the Hawaiian cacao to light for the rest of the world – I really want to be at the forefront of that,” Lavaloha’s president Bencomo says. 

Although most of the world’s chocolate is grown in West Africa, those sweet treats aren’t guilt-free: Industry problems include slavery, child labor, poverty among farmers and more. But in recent years, small-scale producers have raised the ethical bar, and a nascent sector has formed on Hawaiian soil under American labor standards. Here, growers are making fresh kokoleka, or chocolate in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language), through mindful agricultural practices: creating their own soil and compost, contracting with locals, and using organic fertilizer.

“For all of us in Hawai‘i, it’s integrity,” says Puna Chocolate Company owner Adam Potter. “It’s gonna be Hawaiian grown, and it’s gonna be quality beans.”

Also operating on the island, Puna Chocolate Company works with independent farmers to grow cacao, which accounts for 40 percent of its cocoa bean production. One, who is based in Hakalau, identifies as Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian). The other 60 percent is produced across seven farms – four owned and three managed by Puna Chocolate Co.

To Potter, his top-selling caramel macadamia turtles are worlds away from mass-produced chocolate by major global players, such as Hershey. Imported commodities take time to reach American consumers, Potter said, which can mean slightly-rancid cocoa butter and absent flavor profiles.

“Why Hawaiian (chocolate) tastes so different is that you’re in the U.S.,” says Potter. “You’re getting fresh, from-origin chocolate.”

He and his co-owner Benjamin Vanegtern opt against aging their beans, in order to transform them into chocolate more quickly. 

“We’re probably the freshest chocolate bars you can get in the country,” Potter adds.

Still, he wants to keep prices low for the local market. In Kona, where most of the island’s resorts are located, tourists make up 80 percent of Puna Chocolate Co.’s market. But in Hilo, that percentage is flip-flopped, with residents accounting for 80 percent of business.

“We don’t need to charge that much because we do grow our own beans,” Potter says. “And we grow a lot.”

Since joining Lavaloha in 2019, Bencomo has spent most of his days farming on the property made up of almost 1,000 acres – 25 of which are dedicated to cacao. With around 10,000 trees, it’s Lavaloha’s main commodity. 

From seed to orchard, the cacao growing process can take up to two years. Once the pods turn vibrant colors – orange, red, maroon and yellow – they’re ready to be harvested with clippers and sickles. Harvesting is done by hand because appropriate equipment isn’t available on the market. Each bean is hand sorted and graded, with the lowest turned to compost. Bencomo chooses to sort the old-fashioned way because optical sorting machines are expensive and primarily used for coffee beans.

Tourists are the largest market for Lavaloha’s products, but Bencomo would eventually like to serve as a bulk bean seller. He wants to start a collective system where he buys cacao from farmers for a fair price, then resells the beans to chocolate makers and confectioners.

He manages almost a dozen employees – around 25 percent of whom are Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian). The Indigenous people of Hawai‘i are increasingly being priced out of the islands due to the tourism industry, the affordable housing crisis and the skyrocketing cost of living, but a viable job market can help them continue to live in the lands of their ancestors. 

Bencomo took the reins of the business in 2022, and it’s grown steadily since then.

In Hawai‘i, “I definitely think it’s gonna be bigger,” he said. “Look out for Hawaiian cacao in the grocery stores in the next couple years, I hope.”

Across the island chain, on the east side of Kaua‘i, Will Lydgate is determined to elevate Hawai‘i’s reputation as a global leader in the chocolate industry. He estimates the state produces about 1/10,000th of the world’s cocoa supply.

“We’ll never compete on quantity, but we don’t want to,” says Lydgate, owner of Lydgate Farms. “We want to be the place where the best chocolate in the world is.”

And he believes that operating in the U.S. offers advantages beyond its agricultural resources.

Compared to other cacao-growing nations, “we also have better roads. We have FedEx,” says Lydgate. “We have scientists, universities, an electricity grid that doesn’t go on and off, stable currency – things that a lot of other tropical nations don’t have.”

But Hawaiian cacao farms do deal with their own local challenges, like high expenses and a dearth of affordable worker housing.

“In the Hawaiian islands, we’re completely separated from the global commodity cacao,” he says. “We do not touch it. It does not really influence us or change anything, other than the price of cocoa butter.”

Lydgate, his sister and his father started their foray into cacao after planting a small grove in 2002, although the family ties to Hawai‘i extend back to 1865 when Lydate’s great-great grandfather first immigrated to the then-monarchy.

Now, Lydgate Farms is made up of 46 acres, and its team of 30 includes about five people of Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) ancestry. The land gets between 50 to 70 inches of rain annually, which keeps its 3,200 thirsty cacao trees watered, and organic fertilizer is used to boost soil health. The farm relies on regenerative farming practices.

“If you’re buying from us, we’re the people that grew it,” Lydgate says. “There’s no step in between you and the farm.”

Author Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton identifies as Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian).

The post In Hawai‘i, American Farmers Believe They Do Cacao Better appeared first on Modern Farmer.

That’s where we come in.

These guides are some of our most popular pieces, walking you through everything from rotating your crops to incubating chicken eggs. If you want to start a garden from scratch, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s get gardening.

The post Ready to Garden? Start Here appeared first on Modern Farmer.

When Michael Kotutwa Johnson goes out to the acreage behind his stone house to harvest his corn, his fields look vastly different from the endless rows of corn you see in much of rural North America. Bundled in groups of five or six, his corn stalks shoot out of the sandy desert in bunches, resembling bushels rather than tightly spaced rows. “We don’t do your typical 14-inch spaced rows,” he says.

Instead, Kotutwa Johnson, an enrolled member of the Hopi tribe, practices the Hopi tradition he learned from his grandfather on the Little Colorado River Plateau near Kykotsmovi Village in northeastern Arizona, a 90-minute drive from Flagstaff: “In spring, we plant eight to 10 corn kernels and beans per hole, further apart, so the clusters all stand together against the elements and preserve the soil moisture.” For instance, high winds often blow sand across the barren plateau. “This year was a pretty hot and dry year, but still, some of the crops I raised did pretty well,” he says with a satisfied smile. “It’s a good year for squash, melons and beans. I’ll be able to propagate these.”

Dry farming has been a Hopi tradition for several millennia. Kotutwa Johnson might build some protection for his crops with desert brush or cans to shield them from the wind, but his plants thrive without any fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, mulch or irrigation. This is all the more impressive since his area usually gets less than 10 inches of rain per year.

In the era of climate change, the practice of dry farming is met with growing interest from scientists and researchers as farmers grapple with droughts and unpredictable weather patterns. For instance, the Dry Farming Institute in Oregon lists a dozen farms it partners with, growing anything from tomatoes to zucchini. However, Oregon has wet winters, with an annual rainfall of over 30 inches, whereas on the plateau in Arizona, Johnson’s crops get less than a third of that. Farmers in Mexico, the Middle East, Argentina, Southern Russia and Ukraine all have experimented with dry farming, relying on natural rainfall, though conditions and practices vary in each region.

For Kotutwa Johnson, it’s a matter of faith and experience. Between April and June, he checks the soil moisture to determine which crops to plant and how deep. He uses the traditional wooden Hopi planting stick like his ancestors, because preserving the top soil by not tilling is part of the practice. “We don’t need moisture meters or anything like that,” he explains. “We plant everything deep, for instance, the corn goes 18 inches deep, depending on where the seeds will find moisture,” relying on the humidity from the melted winter snow and annual monsoon rains in June.

His harvest looks unique, too. “We know 24 varieties of indigenous corn,” he says, showing off kernels in indigo blue, purple red, snow white, and yellow. His various kinds of lima and pinto beans shimmer in white, brown, merlot red and mustard yellow. Studies have shown that indigenous maize is more nutritious, richer in protein and minerals than conventional corn, and he hopes to confirm similar results with his own crops in his role as professor at the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona, and as a core faculty member with the fledgling Indigenous Resilience Center, which focuses on researching resilient solutions for Indigenous water, food and energy independence. He earned a PhD in natural resources, focusing on Indigenous agricultural resilience, not least to “have a seat at the table and level the playing field, so mainstream stakeholders can really hear me,” he says. “I’m not here to be the token Native; I’m here to help.” For instance, he attended COP 28, the 2023 United Nations climate change conference in Dubai, to share his knowledge about “the reciprocal relationship with our environment.”

“I’m not here to be the token Native; I’m here to help.”

Kotutwa Johnson was born in Germany because his dad was in the military, but he spent the summers with his grandfather planting corn, squash, beans and melons the Indigenous way in the same fields he’s farming now, where he eventually built an off-grid stone house with his own hands. “As a kid, I hated farming because it’s hard work,” he admits with disarming honesty, followed by a quick laugh. “But later I saw the wisdom in it. We’ve done this for well over 2,000 or 3,000 years. I’m a 250th-generation Hopi farmer.”

Unlike many other Indigenous tribes, the Hopi weren’t driven off their land by European settlers. “We’re very fortunate that we were never relocated,” Kotutwa Johnson says. “We chose this land, and we’ve learned to adapt to our harsh environment. The culture is tied into our agricultural system, and that’s what makes it so resilient.”

However, the Hopi tribe doesn’t own the land. Legally, the United States holds the title to the 1.5 million acres of reservation the Hopi occupy in Northwestern Arizona, a fraction of their original territory. Kotutwa Johnson estimates that only 15 percent of his community still farms, down from 85 percent in the 1930s, and some Hopi quote the lack of land ownership as an obstacle.

Like on many reservations, the Hopi live in a food desert, where tribal members have to drive one or two hours to find a major supermarket in Flagstaff or Winslow. High rates of diabetes and obesity are a consequence of lacking easy access to fresh produce. “If you’re born here you have a 50 percent chance of getting diabetes,” Kotutwa Johnson says. “To me, this is the original harm: the disruption of our traditional foods. By bringing back the food, you also bring back the culture.”

Traditionally, Hopi women are the seed keepers, and the art of dry farming starts with the right seeds. “These seeds adapted to having no irrigation, and so they are very valuable,” Kotutwa Johnson says. He is fiercely protective of the seeds he propagates and only exchanges them with other tribal members within the community.

In that spirit, he was overjoyed to receive 800-year-old corn ears from a man who recently found them in a cave in Glen Canyon. Kotutwa Johnson planted the corn, and about a fifth actually sprouted. He raves about the little white corn ears he was able to harvest: “It’s so amazing we got to bring these seeds home. It was like opening up an early Christmas present.”

From a traditional perspective, “we were given things to survive,” he says. “In our faith, we believe the first three worlds were destroyed, and when we came up to this world, we were given a planting stick, some seeds and water by a caretaker who was here before us.”

He doesn’t believe that climate change can be stopped. “But we can adapt to it, and our seeds can adapt.” This is a crucial tenet of Hopi farming: Instead of manipulating the environment, they raise crops and cultivate seeds that adjust to their surroundings. His crops grow deep roots that stretch much farther down into the ground than conventional plants.

“Our faith tells us that we need to plant every single year no matter what we see,” even in drought years, he explains. “Some years, we might not plant much, but we still plant regardless because those plants are like us, they need to adapt.”

Dry farming is “not very economically efficient,” he admits. “Everything is driven towards convenience nowadays. We’re not trying to make a big buck out here; we’re here to maintain our culture and practice things we’ve always done to be able to survive.”

Kotutwa Johnson does not sell his produce. He keeps a percentage of the seeds to propagate and gives the rest to relatives and his community or trades it for other produce.

But his vision far surpasses his nine acres. He wants to pass on his dry farming methods to the next generation, just as he learned them from his grandfather, and he often invites youth to participate in farming workshops and communal planting. That’s why he recently started the Fred Aptvi Foundation, named after his grandfather, to focus on establishing a seed bank and a Hopi youth agricultural program that incorporates the Hopi language. Aptvi means “one who plants besides another,” Kotutwa Johnson explains. “It’s about revitalizing what’s there, not reinventing it.”

The post Growing Corn in the Desert, No Irrigation Required appeared first on Modern Farmer.

Some farmers are looking at succession plans, trying to figure out who will take over the family business. Others are looking to transition away from factory farming, and still others are looking at bringing on new technology or systems to help them be more efficient.

This year, we explored what farming means to people across the US and the world, and brought you stories of truly modern farmers.

Here, we’ve collected our top 10 most read, shared, and commented on Farming Redefined stories for you to revisit. Let us know which stories you connected with the most in the comments.

The post Top 10 Farming Redefined Stories of 2024 appeared first on Modern Farmer.

From looking at the true cost of eating meat, to reckoning with just how much plastic we use even in our home gardens, we explored how we consume and participate in our food system.

Here, we’ve collected our top 10 most read, shared, and commented on Conscious Consumption stories for you to revisit. Let us know which stories you connected with the most in the comments.

The post Top 10 Conscious Consumption Stories of 2024 appeared first on Modern Farmer.

The apiary they are building will produce honey for their secret recipe plans for the statewide Kalo Challenge, which is the culmination of their nine-month program that centers the ancestral practice of cultivating the Hawaiian staple crop kalo (taro), and serves as a competition where they do presentations on their cultural education, as well as present innovative recipes for competition. 

Naʻau ʻŌiwi, which means “native gut,” is in its third year at Kohala High School, as part of the Hawai’i Department of Education’s Alternative Learning Programs, which partners with 33 schools across the islands and trades the conventional classroom for ʻāina (land)-based cultural education, where students can earn the same credits for graduation.

The students of Naʻau ʻŌiwi like to call this AlterNATIVE Learning and follow the ‘ōlelo no’eau, or Hawai’ian proverb “A’ohe pau ka ‘ike ka hālau ho’okahi,” meaning not all knowledge is taught in one school.  

Three years ago, the program started with only two students; now there are 12. They spend each day at a different farm, ranch, or cultural learning program area throughout rural Kohala with various organizations. At each location, they have plots with different varieties of kalo.

The first year, they won with kalo pizza. Last year, they presented them with “kalo-min”—which was a creative take on saimin—a side dish of hō’i’o (fiddle-head fern) salad, and deep-fried panko-breaded kulolo, a kalo-based dessert, that was accompanied by coconut ice cream and a haupia drizzle.

Even more impressive is that through their partnership with Hawai’i Land Trust, they harvested a kiawe tree log at Mãhukona and made stunning trays on which to serve the food, and chopsticks for the judge’s utensils. 

In Māhukona, they built beehives under the tutelage of instructors from Ho’ōla Honey, a Native Hawai’ian-owned beekeeping business and rescue. There, their partner organization is Hawai’i Land Trust (HILT), which recently acquired the coastal lands to protect and conserve the area, that much like the rest of Hawai’i, has deep cultural significance to many generational families, and is also a historic training area for traditional Hawai’ian navigators who traveled by wa’a, or canoe.

According to Keone Emiliano, the land steward and educator for Māhukona with HILT, when the students aren’t building beehive boxes, they have been planting native plants, like the kukui nut tree, along with tending their kalo patch.

“It’s not just about what they tell us to do [with planting], it’s learning about the place, about its history, the people that used to be there, what they did, the way they lived and what they used it for, the tools and canoes, and cultivating the land,” says Alex Faisca, who is in his second year with Naʻau ʻŌiwi.

Faisca adds that his parents say he is very lucky that he and the other students have this program, because they never had anything like it growing up. 

In fact, when their lead teacher Aoloa Patao was growing up, the only thing he learned about being Native Hawai’ian was what he saw in the Adam Sandler film 50 First Dates, and he wouldn’t learn more until college. He then had to learn on his own afterwards. 

Many were in this boat. Due to colonial influences in the late 1800s, Hawai’ian cultural education in public schools was suppressed for many years, until the cultural renaissance of the 1970s, when there was more demand for the reinstitution of this kind of education in schools and colleges. Despite the state’s constitution being amended to mandate it, instruction was limited; however, more initiatives started happening over the years, particularly after the establishment of the Office of Hawai’ian Education in 2015 alongside the development of the Nā Hopena A’o framework. 

Nā Hopena A’o is a department-wide framework to help guide the public education system based on Hawaiian values, culture, history, and language, as well as aiming to develop skills and behaviors that honor the qualities and values of the indigenous language and culture of Hawaiʻi.​ 

Patao is happy to be part of remedying that issue for the students. “It makes me feel good about their potential and the future of our community, and that they are in a better position to know who they are and not have to try to figure it out on their own,” says Patao.

Other partner organizations are the voyaging nonprofit Nā Kālai Wa`a—where the students learn to connect the relationships between traditional sailing and kalo—LT Ranch, which prioritizes cultural learning for Native Hawai’ian youth, and ‘Iole Hawai’i, a new Indigenous learning lab on 2,400 acres, that combines ancient wisdom and modern technology for sustainability solutions. 

“All this stuff, it helps in life. It’s not about what you are doing, but how you are doing it, with patience, perseverance, and problem-solving skills.”

“All this stuff, it helps in life. It’s not about what you are doing, but how you are doing it, with patience, perseverance, and problem-solving skills,” says fellow senior Daylan Kaitoku, adding that it’s almost like a college setting, because he gets to learn about weather stations, pH testers and soil testers. “And on top of that, there’s a cultural aspect to it,” he says. 

Each year, the students have also created an educational component for the area’s elementary kids.

In the first year, the first two students had never heard the origin story of kalo until they were juniors in high school, so to make sure the younger generation didn’t have to go as long as they did to connect to it, they made a children’s book about the backstory, which is the Native Hawai’ian mo`olelo (story) of Hāloa, which involves the birth of the Hawai’ian people and the connection Hawai’ians have to kalo, not just as a food source but as an ancestor. 

They passed the book on to the elementary school children, with the Department of Education backing them by printing 200 copies. The following year, the students developed a card game called Go Kalo, inspired by the classic game Go Fish, featuring all 22 parts of the kalo plant.

“It was a good idea, because instead of just matching the cards [like in Go Fish], you can learn,” says student Ihilani Leong, who did a lot of the design. Each card tells what part it is, its location on the plant, and what it looks like. 

Much like the plans for this year’s Kalo Challenge, what they are doing for the youth is still being formulated. However, out of all the things they are doing with the program, Kaitoku hopes “that the seed that’s planted grows into wisdom, knowledge, and hope for the next generation.”

The post Spotlight On the Students Growing Kalo in Hawai’i appeared first on Modern Farmer.

Twice a growing season, a big yellow truck with the license plate “P4FARMS” pulls into Jesse Kayan’s farm in Brattleboro, Vermont, loaded with a thousand gallons of pasteurized human urine sloshing around in IBC totes.

For more than 10 years, Kayan has been applying human urine to his hayfields through a partnership with the Brattleboro-based Rich Earth Institute, a non-profit engaging in research, education and technological innovation to advance the use of human waste as a resource. In August, Rich Earth released a Farmer Guide to Fertilizing with Urine, available for free on their website. The guide compiles a wealth of information and best practices based on working with farm partners like Kayan and a growing body of scientific research from around the world.

“Our hay yields have gone way up as a result [of the urine],” said Kayan. “We have really hungry land and sandy soil. It’s brought it up to a new level and provided some resiliency in the soil health.”

Kayan, whose business relies on the organic vegetables he grows for his farmstand and CSA, said he’d be happy to use urine on other crops if the practice was more widely accepted by consumers.

“I personally, if it were my garden, I would not think twice about it,“ he said. ”I really don’t think there’s actually any food safety concerns. It’s a matter of perception.”

Kayan is one of nine Vermont farmers who’ve participated in Rich Earth’s field studies, funded by USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). In addition to hay, Rich Earth has conducted trials on sweet corn, hemp, figs, nursery trees, and cut flowers. The multi-year trials found that crops fertilized with human urine performed better than untreated control plots.

Kayan and other farm partners also observed higher yields and/or more robust growth and color in the urine-treated plots relative to those treated with conventional synthetic fertilizer; however, the trials found no statistically significant difference in total yields or relative feed value. That said, some international studies have shown improved yields and growth in certain urine-fertilized crops, such as cabbage, maize, and cucumber.

This is no surprise to Arthur Davis, who oversees farm partnerships for Rich Earth. He said human urine has a nutrient profile similar to many commercial fertilizers, with high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, as well as micronutrients like magnesium, sulfur, and calcium.

But the potential benefits of fertilizing with human urine reach far beyond the fields of Vermont. Most commercially available fertilizers rely on synthetic nitrogen produced through the Haber-Bosch process, which accounts for 1.4% of carbon dioxide emissions, and 1% of total global energy consumption, according to the journal Nature Catalyst.

Most of this energy comes from natural gas, which means that the price of fertilizer is closely tied to the price of natural gas, a cost that is passed down to farmers and consumers. But the carbon footprint of conventional fertilizer doesn’t stop there. Mining of phosphate and potash are depleting natural reserves. The Global Phosphorus Research Initiative predicts a shortage of rock phosphate within the next 40 years.

“Our hay yields have gone way up as a result [of the urine].”

Diverting urine from the wastewater stream for use as fertilizer would also address the two largest contributors of nutrient pollution in the U.S., agriculture and human waste, which are responsible for toxic algae blooms, aquatic dead zones, and a wide range of human health conditions. It could also reduce nitrous oxide emission by keeping urine out of uncovered waste lagoons, where it festers with methane-breeding solid waste. Not only that, but urine-diverting toilets — available through Rich Earth — require little or no water to flush, which by their estimates could save up to 900 billion gallons of water per year in the U.S. Some of this water can be recycled for use in irrigation.

Initially, there were concerns about trace levels of pharmaceuticals in urine, but a recently concluded study by Rich Earth in partnership University of Michigan, the University at Buffalo, and the Hampton Roads Sanitation District in Virginia, detected no significant buildup in crop tissues. Davis said they are now also testing for PFAS; so far their samples have tested negative or extremely low.

If human urine is a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional fertilizers, why hasn’t it already been adopted on a larger scale?

One fundamental challenge of fertilizing with human urine is ammonia volatilization, which can cause the nitrogen in urea to evaporate quickly during storage and application. To prevent this, urine is applied as close to the ground as possible, and incorporated into the soil immediately.

Davis has worked with farm partners to develop application methods that are both practical and effective. For Kayan’s hay fields, Rich Earth uses a custom-built, 500-gallon trailer tank attached to a 30-foot boom suspended about three feet above the ground. The urine drizzles out evenly through small holes spaced every six inches.

“It’s incredibly easy,” said Kayan. “It requires basically just one person on the farm and some sort of form of locomotion.” In his case, this means a team of Suffolk Punch draft horses, but the same apparatus can be hitched to a tractor. “It’s real fast and easy, you can fertilize a lot of land real real quick with it.”

“When you’re filling the bulk tanks to go out and spray it’s really really powerful, but when I’m applying it I don’t really smell it that much.”

John Janiszyn, who runs a multigenerational farm stand in Walpole, New Hampshire, has been using urine on sweet corn for several years, and this year is testing it on his pumpkins.

Davis helped him modify his tractor so that he could cultivate his fields and apply urine in one pass. The urine flows from a tank attached to the three point hitch down through a hose onto the ground, where it is immediately buried by his cultivator. For his pumpkins, they applied the urine under a layer of plastic mulch, trapping the nutrients in the ground.

For Janiszyn, one drawback of using urine is that it is highly diluted. “You need a lot of it to do an acre,” he said. “So you sidedress or whatever and then have to go back and refill and keep going.”

It takes about 1000 gallons of urine just to fertilize one acre of hay. Currently, Rich Earth is nowhere close to being able to meet that kind of demand.

Rich Earth sources its urine from about 250 donors in the Brattleboro area, the first and largest ever community-scale urine nutrient reclamation project in the United States. At their central treatment and storage facility, the urine — about 12,000 gallon a year — is sanitized using a computer-controlled pasteurizer.

“I think it’s a little bit of a chicken and the egg,” said Davis. “It requires farmers to really feel like it’s worth investing in new equipment. They want to feel like they have steady access to the material in the first place, which then requires, on the backend, systems in place for collection and treatment.”

In Vermont, Rich Earth has been working with lawmakers for over a decade to clear regulatory pathways, and are now beginning the process in Massachusetts and New York.

“It’s purely the optics that I would worry about, and I really think that that’s just a matter of time [until it becomes normalized].”

“We’re probably the most kind of far along group in this country in terms of having a whole ecosystem of collection, treatment, transport, application, all under one regulated program,” said Davis.

Rich Earth offers assistance to organizations across the U.S. to obtain approval for farm-scale urine application, including the Land Institute of Kansas, which launched its own urine reclamation project in 2023.

But the greatest obstacle to making peecycling mainstream may not be logistic or regulatory at all. It goes back to what Kayan said about public perception.

“It’s purely the optics that I would worry about, and I really think that that’s just a matter of time [until it becomes normalized].”

“I don’t really want to be the first one,” he added.

Janiszyn and his wife Teresa found out about Rich Earth when they participated in one of their focus groups examining public attitudes toward urine reclamation.

“It was funny how having us in that focus group sort of changed people,” he said. “We said we use cow manure and stuff and this [urine] doesn’t sound like it would be an issue. And I remember one guy was like, yeah, well, hearing from these guys, you know, I guess it’s not that bad.”

Janiszyn said that after his experience in the focus group he wasn’t too concerned about customer response. “I realized that if I’m positive about it people will just come along with it. You have to have some control over the narrative.”

The post Can Human Urine Fertilize Our Crops? appeared first on Modern Farmer.

Rather than gifting a tangible object this year—and wrapping it, shipping it, hoping it’s something someone wants to store in their home indefinitely—opt to adopt from a farm. 

Farmers around the world have launched adoption programs for everything from cacao trees to grape vines to dairy sheep. By adopting a piece of a farm, you can offer someone a way to connect with the land and our food system in a unique and meaningful way. You also help farmers continue their vital (and often financially challenging) work. 

Bee hives

With Bees & Co’s Adopt a Beehive program, you can make every day a little sweeter for someone special in your life, while also benefiting the winged and walking members of the Bees & Co farms in London and Lincolnshire, England. It is a carbon neutral honey farm, thanks to itscommitment to using renewable energy and recyclable packaging. Bees & Co is also a recipient of the Green Tourism Gold Award for the workshops and experiences that it hosts, including classes on beekeeping, mead making, and planting for pollinators. But you don’t need to purchase plane tickets to share its raw honey or support its work to increase populations of native bees; instead, you can simply adopt one of its working honeybee hives. This gift includes an adoption certificate, updates on the hive, and jars of their honey with personalized labels.

Cacao trees and equipment

The Nyack family has grown cocoa since 1944 at Belmont Estate, a 100-percent Grenadian-owned business producing single-source tree-to-bar chocolates from its organic farm on the Caribbean island. Belmont Estate began offering folks the chance to Adopt a Cocoa Tree in 2022, but the program has expanded and gained deeper meaning this year. On July 1, 2024, Hurricane Beryl struck Grenada, devastating the land at Belmont Estate and leaving the community in crisis. Through the Adopt a Cocoa Tree program, you can help plant and maintain 20 cocoa trees for a full year. Alternatively, you can Adopt a Field, thereby supporting the replanting of the farm’s other crops, which include nutmeg, pimento, and bananas. Belmont Estate is also seeking contributions to reconstruct greenhouses and farm buildings, as well as purchase new equipment for essential agricultural activities. In return, participants receive regular updates on the progress of the farm they are helping to restore. 

Coffee trees

The founders of Colombia coffee tree created its Adopt a coffee tree program as an invitation to coffee drinkers worldwide to better understand the process of cultivating these beloved beans (which are actually fruit). If you have a friend who can’t start the day without a cup of joe, this gift is for them. The trees’ adoptive “parents” receive seasonal updates, explaining the processes from flowering to harvesting through to the arrival of packaged coffee at their front door. As part of the company’s commitment to more transparent and ethical coffee production practices, the farm in Antioquia, Colombia is Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance Certified. 

Dairy sheep 

La Porta dei Parchi is an agritourism business located in Abruzzo, Italy, where farmers Nunzio Marcelli and Manuela Cozzi raise sheep, produce organic cheese, and run a hotel. Their Adopt a Sheep program is the perfect pick for the person in your life who is at their happiest in front of a cheese board. Participants receive a large gift box containing an adoption certificate, two award-winning sheep milk cheeses, a pair of woolen socks, assorted food products from the farm (such as pasta and honey), a tote bag, and a voucher for a discount on a future stay at the farm to meet the flock and sample more wheels of pecorino. 

Grape vines

Old World Winery produces natural wines in California’s Russian River Valley according to regenerative, organic, and biodynamic agricultural practices. This family-owned business has been growing rare varietals, such as Abouriou, on this land for over a century. If you’re seeking something special for a wine-loving loved one, sign them up for the Adopt-A-Vine program. Participants receive a bottle of the vine’s first vintage and can arrange a visit to the vineyards, where they will find their name hung on a tag among the leaves. 

Olive trees

Through the Adopt an olive tree program at Palazzo di Varignana in Emilia-Romagna, you can adopt one of three olive cultivars that are indigenous to the region: Nostrana di Brisighella, Correggiolo, and Ghiacciola. The rarity of finding and tasting these particular olives makes this the perfect option for any true olive oil aficionado. Upon adoption, a customized name plate is attached to the tree and participants receive updates about its growth, along with a three-liter container of Palazzo di Varignana’s award-winning extra virgin olive oil. The estate also has a restaurant and hotel overlooking its olives groves and welcomes anyone who wants to visit their adopted tree in person. 

The post This Holiday Season, Choose a Gift that Supports a Farmer appeared first on Modern Farmer.