{"id":129886,"date":"2020-11-02T12:55:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T22:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=129886"},"modified":"2020-11-02T13:35:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T23:35:23","slug":"4h-contest-gets-keiki-excited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/11\/02\/4h-contest-gets-keiki-excited\/","title":{"rendered":"4-H contest gets keiki excited about agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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The Yip family’s 111 pound bushel gourd took home first place in the bushel gourd family division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Charles Cross of Hilo won first place in the giant pumpkins\/squash youth division with his 270 pound pumpkin.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n
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Kawika Vera of Orchidland took home the top honor in the giant watermelon youth division with his 48 pound watermelon.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n

For eight years and running, the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> County 4-H program<\/a>, part of the Cooperative Extension Service housed in the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources<\/a> (CTAHR<\/abbr>), has found a special way to bring out big smiles from its smallest members: a contest of giant fruits and vegetables. <\/p>\n

Becky Settlage<\/strong>, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> County 4-H agent and state coordinator for the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Junior Master Gardener Program, was looking for a unique and fun way to get youth excited about agriculture. Her goal was for keiki to appreciate and love the outdoors, and learn to be self-sustainable.<\/p>\n

With the “stay at home” situation this year, the contest started earlier than normal as a way for keiki to do something while stuck at home.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s entries exceeded 2019 by 236%, and several state records were added. A total of 75 entries ranging from tomatoes, giant pumpkins, watermelons, bushel gourds, long gourds and sunflowers, were weighed and measured through the end of October. <\/p>\n

“Little do these children realize that, besides having fun trying to grow a giant pumpkin, giant watermelon, giant tomato or giant sunflower, we\u2019re also secretly teaching them a love of science, and skills such as problem solving, responsibility, teamwork, recordkeeping, and of course, getting outside and being active in a safe way,” Settlage said. <\/p>\n

Wendi Sasaki, a parent participant who has entered the contest the last two years, said “The opportunity to grow ‘giants’ with my children is a blessing. We were able to spend quality time together, learning and \u02bbgrowing.\u2019”<\/p>\n

The winners were presented their award during a virtual ceremony on Saturday, October 31. <\/p>\n

Visit the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> County 4H program\u2019s Facebook page to see a complete list of the winners and photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sisters Ava and Kira Morse of Hilo with their winning sunflower heads. Ava won first place in the youth division with her sunflower head measuring 15 inches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A total of 75 entries ranging from tomatoes, giant pumpkins, watermelons, bushel gourds, long gourds and sunflowers, were weighed and measured through the end of October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[142,212,265,9],"class_list":["post-129886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-award","tag-college-of-tropical-agriculture-and-human-resilience","tag-cooperative-extension-service","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t