Remediating Kauai’s Soils for a Healthy Future
Tuesday, April 22 at Kauai Community College Electronics Room 114, free
Panel Discussion: 4-6pm
Film and Discussion: 6:30-8:30pm
In celebration of Earth Day 2014, Regenerations Botanical Garden, KKCR, and Kauai Community College present a panel discussion and film focused on remediating contaminated and depleted soils on Kauai. Soil is the foundation of life on Earth and essential to food production on the backyard to commercial scale. Kauai soils have been negatively impacted by decades of management practices that have left the ground polluted and stripped of essential minerals and biological diversity. More than ever, Kauaians are seeking ways to transition to sustainable land management focused on healthy local food production. The panel will identify the challenges and opportunities in restoring the vitality and fertility to our soil so that we can reach our food security and environmental and community health goals. The panel discussion will be broadcast live on KKCR Kauai Community Radio, and will be followed by a screening of the film “Neal Kinsey’s Hands-on Agronomy”, a soil fertility management system already in practice on Kauai.
Topics include:
- Soil remediation
- The state of Kauai’s soils on residential, agricultural, and commercial land, and how they got that way
- Leading toxins that contaminate Kauai soils and groundwater
- Can we afford to stop poisoning our soil; can we afford not to
- Best opportunities moving forward, transitional strategies to “wean off” of toxic products and poor soil fertility practices
- Bioremediation, ecological agriculture focus
- Green small business opportunities for soil remediators.
Panel Members
- Dave Gerow, Kauai Environmental
- Sun Hadley, One Song Farm
- Ray Maki, Permaculture Kauai/Regenerations Botanical Garden/Hawaii Farmers Union United, Kauai Chapter
- Paul Massey, Regenerations Botanical Garden/Kauai Community Seed Bank
- Dr. Hector Valenzuela, University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture
Moderated by Felicia Cowden. The panel discussion will be broadcast LIVE on Feliciaʻs “Kauai Soapbox” radio program on KKCR – Kauai Community Radio 91.9FM island wide/90.9FM Hanalei/92.7FM Moloaa/104.7 FM Haleiwa, Oahu/95.1 cable/Streaming at kkcr.org
Film: “Neal Kinsey’s Hands-on Agronomy”
This fascinating documentary details Neal Kinsey’s most important lessons. He teaches a sophisticated, easy-to-live-with system of fertility management that focuses on balance, not merely quantity of fertility elements. It works in a variety of soils and crops, both conventional and organic. In sharp contrast to the current methods only using N-P-K and pH and viewing soil only as a physical support media for plants, the basis of all his teachings are to feed the soil, and let the soil feed the plant. The Albrecht system of soils is covered, along with how to properly test your soil and interpret the results. The video teach you the major principles of Kinsey’s system that will take the viewer a long way down the road to improving the productivity of their soil. A discussion will follow the film.
For more information, call 652-4118.