How many O‘ahu commuters traveling west on the H1 have looked out the passenger window at CTAHR’s Pearl City Urban Garden Center and wished they were strolling through its orchards? The UGC’s tropical plant collections welcome more than 12,000 visitors each year, including 2,000 school children, but limited viewing hours have made it difficult for working people to enjoy this 30-acre oasis.
Bringing the UGC’s beauty and green-thumb expertise to a wider audience is the inspiration behind Second Saturday at the Garden. O‘ahu’s Master Gardeners, more than 50 volunteers trained to solve gardening problems and advise the public, urged extension agents Jayme Grzebik and Steven Nagano to open the UGC during hours when workers and their families could attend together. Ray Uchida, CTAHR’s county administrator for O‘ahu, embraced the idea. The garden center is now open on the second Saturday of each month, from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
From a single-digit head count in June 2008, Second Saturday at the Garden has blossomed. The August 2008 "Local Fruits & Veggies—Garden Fresh!" collaboration with Hawai‘i’s Departments of Agriculture and Health drew a Second Saturday crowd of 500, including Gov. Linda Lingle, who helped keiki plant vegetables and herbs in the UGC’s Idea Garden. More than 160 guests tried their hand at soil testing in September, and nearly 220 made scarecrows and learned about sunflowers in October. At November’s event, an Arbor Day tree giveaway attracted 570; Master Gardeners and UGC ‘Ohana Volunteers had spent months propagating the 3,000 free saplings handed out at Arbor Day 2008 events across O‘ahu.
While the activities and themes change with the month and season, each Second Saturday includes tours of the gardens, tropical gardening demonstrations, a chance to get plant questions answered and plant samples examined by Certified Master Gardeners, and an opportunity to buy small plants and CTAHR-bred seeds adapted to Hawai‘i conditions. For directions, go to www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/ougc or call 453-6050. Bring water, hat, and sunscreen. E komo mai!
