UH Hilo sustainable agriculture lab benefits students, campus landscape

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The outdoor lab spaces on campus with fruit trees and garden plots allow students to learn hands-on how to care for a garden or farm later on.

Fenced-in garden plot with a small covered shelter area surrounded by mature fruit trees.
Yes, this is a lab! A wide view of the main green space with established trees, fenced-in garden plots, covered compost heap, and shelter, all used by students for the lab portion of their Sustainable Agriculture class taught by Professor of Horticulture Norman Arancon. (Photos in this story by Samantha Dane/UH Hilo Stories)

Story and photos by Samantha Dane/UH Hilo Stories.

Editor’s note: Samantha Dane, a student writer for the Office of the Chancellor, is currently enrolled in this class.

Norman Arancon outdoor setting.
Norman Arancon (File photo)

Sustainable Agriculture (AG 230) is a perennial class here at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, offered every semester. It gives students the opportunity to put sustainable techniques into practice in their own garden plots. The class has been taught by Norman Arancon, professor of horticulture and director of the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management, since his second year at UH Hilo back in 2009.

In addition to a lecture by Prof. Arancon, another two-and-a-half hours each week are dedicated to lab time in campus garden plots. The class is divided into groups early on to design and take care of their own garden plot over the course of the semester.

It just so happens that I’m in this class, taking care of a plot alongside my group this semester. We’ve been working on one of the plots down by the Mookini Library lānai, so chances are if you’ve ever seen anyone lamenting about the chickens tearing up all the plants there, that’s probably us. Seriously though, I don’t remember chickens being a major problem in modern agriculture, but here we are. Welcome to Hilo, right?

The plots near the library, and others located at the lab’s main green space near the Hawaiian language college, are based on what each of the lab teams considers a sustainable garden “in terms of how you manage the soil, how you manage the soil nutrition, and how you manage pests and diseases,” says Prof. Arancon. It allows students to get a chance learning hands-on what it takes to care for a garden or a bigger farm later on. A number of demos put on by the professor teach students how to grow plants from seed, compost their waste, and maintain gardens.

The sustainable ag course with a hands-on lab

Prof. Arancon’s specialty is in horticulture and sustainable agriculture, and he’s a leading figure in developing vermiculture and vermicomposting research, which involves using earthworms to aid in plant decomposition. He’s published several books, 18 book chapters, more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, with more than 19,000 citations on the use of vermiculture (see Google Scholar), so if you’re looking for a good read this summer and want to know more about the beneficial effects of vermicomposting and its pest-suppressing capabilities, then I have some good recommendations for you.

Student with a rake stands atop a huge compost pile.
It starts with compost using plant scraps and cuttings and other sources of carbon waste. Professor Arancon does a lecture on the composting process beforehand, then students get to work.

Prof. Arancon’s devotion to researching alternative sustainable methods to traditional agriculture is reflected in the course content. The class focuses on the historical timeline of how agriculture has progressed alongside humanity, along with key figures and countries responsible for major developments. As the timeline progresses toward modern day, the focus shifts to modern agriculture and its more harmful effects on the environment. “Hopefully the class introduces some new ideas on how to move away from chemical fertilizers and pesticides,” Arancon says.

Large trees growing on lawn area.
Fruit trees were first planted in the main outdoor ag lab area by students in 2009. Here above, avocado.

These new ideas focus students’ attention on sustainable practices, especially with growing plants. “The main idea of the class is to know what sustainability is, as it applies to growing food and farming,” he says. Students learn sustainable techniques like intercropping, maintaining soil nutrition, and making compost from weeds. “In a microscale, the class is taught on how to grow their own food. But the hope is that we can look at things on the macroscale and see how food is grown across the country and the whole world.”

Since the class is available to all majors, Prof. Arancon infuses technical information little by little to make the class more accessible. “For those who are really into it, later on they can enroll in other horticultural classes to deepen their knowledge,” says Arancon.

This is the main green space with established trees and changing garden plots used by students as the lab in their Sustainable Agriculture class. The space is located on campus along the road leading up to Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, its curved red roof seen in the background.

The main green space itself can be found on campus along the road leading up to Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani. Like much of the area around it, the space used to be completely overgrown, but years of care and upkeep by students have transformed it into the inviting garden it is today.

Students apply learned techniques and theory behind growing plants, transplanting them, and caring for them. Students have even been able to harvest and sell extra fruit on campus during market days in past years. “It’s different every semester and every year,” Prof. Arancon says. “Every class and group has different notions on how they want to grow their own food.”

It has a mix of larger culturally significant trees and fruiting trees planted by students in 2009 as well as annual plants that get replaced by new groups every semester.

“Before, the campus never had any fruit trees, but I was able to convince them we’d take care of the trees,” says Arancon. Now, several trees, including mangoes, bananas, starfruit, citrus, and more, are fruiting around the main gardens and the secondary green space the class cares for by Mookini Library. “It’s part of a campus effort to give away fruits to students and faculty and staff,” he adds.

Branches of tree full of red and yellow fruit.
Various fruit trees have been planted in the gardens since 2009. This one above is a surinam cherry. Culturally significant trees like kukui and milo have been planted around the gardens as well.

I think the best part of the class is that it’s not just some abstract ideas you’re learning about in lecture; you go out and learn with your hands and through experience in your own garden what works best and how to care for the plants and the soil. As a gardening rookie, that kind of experience coupled with guidance from someone like Prof. Arancon is invaluable to getting your foot in the door… or soil, maybe.

Trees with roadway in background.
An avocado tree with new bananas.

The sentiment is shared by other students in the class as well. Students are taking it to get better at gardening, to build and watch something grow over the course of the semester, to be more sustainable and grounded outside, and a whole bunch of other reasons. With everything going on in the world and the fast-paced lives we navigate every day, getting to spend time outside caring for something as slow and personal as a garden can be a welcome relief.

With the course offered every semester, the gardens are well cared for. “Every semester someone will take care of it,” says Prof. Arancon. “I think it’s a nice thing for the area to be (managed) this way.”

The takeaways from this long-term commitment and his teachings live on.

“Past students often message me that they are gardening or managing their own farms based on what they’ve learned from the class,” he says.

Story by Samantha Dane, a biology major at UH Hilo.

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