Our Mānoa Heritage Center Education Team—and Verma the worm!—made the voyage down to Voyager Public Charter School last Wednesday to teach keiki about vermicomposting and to share some of MHC’s educational programs with them, such as a Hawaiian plant memory game and more. While MHC’s educational staff doesn’t normally conduct off site school visits, a special outing was made to accommodate Voyager’s kindergarten through 2nd grade classes, as they couldn’t make it down to Mānoa Heritage Center when their older classmates—Grades 3-6—visited last month.

Discover and learn more about the complex world of Hawaiian bird songs with Dr. Patrick Hart, professor of biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Conducted over Zoom and free of charge on Thursday, April 18, from 6pm to 7:15pm HST, this 75-minute talk will discuss the incredible diversity found in Hawaiian birdsong, as well as some of the impacts of habitat fragmentation and population decline on song-learning and repertoire. Register for the talk with the link in our bio!

Kupukupu (Nephrolepis cordifolia) is an indigenous sword fern widespread throughout the Pacific and beyond. Its native range reaches from the lower Himalayas—where its tubers (enlarged, underground sections of the stem) were consumed as an antibacterial medicine—all the way down under to Australia. In ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, kupu means to sprout, or grow, the manaʻo of which is represented in the placement of these natives at Mānoa Heritage Center’s Visitor Education Hale, where students of all ages come to cultivate and grow their aloha ʻāina!

Last Saturday, April 6, Dianne Ige led a class of six through the process of turning palm husks—what many would consider yard debris or trash—into works of art. And it’s safe to say that all of her students did just that. From cleaning the husk, molding it with their own hands, stitching it together and adding subtle design choices to their pieces, everyone left with a unique palm husk vase or bag that proved one person’s trash can be another’s treasure. Dianne Ige will be hosting a kokedama (moss ball) workshop at Mānoa Heritage Center on May 11, click the link in our bio to find out more.

Standing on the balcony of our historic home, Kūaliʻi, we welcome our new Archives Division to Mānoa Heritage Center. Jill Sommer (back), director of collections, and John Barker (right), curator of archives, joins veteran MHC staffer Kelsey Hara (front), collection specialist, to form Mānoa Heritage Center’s newest division. Jenny Leung (left), former cultural site manager, welcomes the new crew to the home where they’ll be helping to preserve and archive the site and its collection. Please give them a warm aloha as they join our MHC ʻohana.

ʻŌhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) is an endemic Hawaiian tree that makes up the majority of our remaining native forests, and is the first tree to grow out of the newest lava flows that created our islands. These incredible traits make it the perfect candidate for the first post of our Native Plant Month plant series! At Mānoa Heritage Center, you can find both the mamo, known for its brilliant yellow blooms, and the classic red lehua. A new seedling grows very slowly at first—and in these slides you can see the stages a seedling goes through in our nursery! From left to right; a 15 year old, 5 year old, 3 year old and under a year old tree. In mo’olelo, ‘Ōhi‘a was a strong, handsome warrior who was sought after by the goddess Pele. He scorned her to be loyal to his lover, Lehua, and was punished by Pele for his disrespect by spending eternity as an ugly, twisted tree. Lehua was transformed into the bloom that emerges from the tree, in some versions of the story Pele does this because she feels sorry, in others, it is an angry act.

Join Dianne Ige this Saturday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the @manoaheritagecenter to learn how you can turn palm husks into aesthetically pleasing vases and baskets. Once a student of this practice herself, Dianne Ige was enchanted by the idea of turning something that is considered garden debris into an object that one can proudly use as decorative home decor. In this class, students will learn how to not only craft a palm husk basket or vase, but will also be taught how to decorate and personalize their piece by utilizing concentric layers and subtle design principles. Find more information and register for the workshop with the link in our bio!

🌺 Happy Aloha Friday! 🌺 ʻOhana Māla is back for spring break! We will be working in our māla kalo (dryland taro patch) to huki (harvest) what we planted last July! Participants are encouraged to bring snacks, water, and sun protection. Families may also bring brown bag lunch to enjoy a picnic on site after the session. This is a FREE event! Families are encouraged to participate together and adults must accompany keiki under 12 years of age 🌱Register at the link in our bio! #ManoaHeritageCenter #ManoaValley #OhanaMālaSaturdays #MālamaĀina #FamilyTime #KaloHarvest

Aloha Friends! We are still looking for a full-time groundskeeper. Resumes can be sent to Facilities Manager Kevin Prior at contact@manoaheritagecenter.org. A full job description can be found at the link in our bio. #ManoaHeritageCenter #WeAreHiring #NowHiring #WereHiring #FullTimeJob #JoinOurOhana #JobOpening #Groundskeeper #GardenJobs #HawaiiJobs #JobsInHonolulu #HonoluluJobs #Employment #JobSearch #OahuJobs