Tyler Alani

Mr. Kriener

Eat local Eat local

2/22/12

WC: 251

Taro grows in many places, they have a range of southern Asia to Hawaii. The taro likes to grow in cold Clements, so it lives at high elevations. There are a lot of cultures that used this plants for different things. One of the things that taro ( Kalo) is able to be made into is poi. It is pounded taro, it turns into a purple color and it is really healthy, Poi helped the Hawaiians survive. There were over 300 types of taro on the world and know there are 87 types that are recognized today. The taro is able to grow a couple feet tall.

The way that people grow the taro today is that they plant them at high elevations and they water them every so often. The way that they used to grow it is that the Hawaiians had a water fall that went down the whole mountain, they used the water to make patches of water for the taro to grow.

The taro was also used for medicine and they would trade the taro for other things that they needed. The taro was very resource full because every part of the taro you are able to use. Even till this day we are using the taro in different ways to help us. The taro is healthy for you and it gives you protein and energy. The smell of the taro was able to keep insects away, and it was used to heal insects bite and stings.

taro planting

      Taro is finicky plant that requires lots of preparation and care to grow. The Hawaiian's had their special way of doing it. In the following paragraphs there will be instructions on how to grow it and ways that it was done.
      There are two kinds of taro, wetland taro, and dry land taro. Wet land taro takes a lot of work to grow and requires specific conditions. You need a water source such as a stream or pond that can be diverted into a pond that you are going to build. First you have to choose an area to grow in, you will have to weed that are and remove all trees. Then spread the old leaves on the ground and let the ground absorb the nutrients of the leaves. Then flood this area by diverting the stream. Plant the taro cuttings in that pond at let them grow until about two leaves have grown from the taro, once this has happened drain the pond and wait for two weeks. Once the two weeks are up refill the pond and let it sit until the taro is ready for harvest, after just harvst it and enjoy.
      Dry land taro is a little easier to grow. Find a spot high in the mountains or in the forest. Plant the taro cutting about 9 inches in the ground. Leave the hole open until the taro seed makes roots then cover the hole. Fertilize the ground with old leaves and wait. once the taro is ready for harvest pick and enjoy.
      I hope you learned something about how to grow taro, i did. For taro only eat the root.

Blood

Blood meal is a natural fertilizer made from the blood of animals. They take the blood from processing plants and put it through a agitator to prevent coagulation. After that they send it to a sorting plant were they put it through a high speed centrifuge to sort out foreign material. Blood meal is a natural fertilizer that works very well and I encourage you to buy it.

eat local photo journal #3