Visitors and residents are invited “to tangle” with the beautiful, aggressive Banana Poka vine Saturday, July 20, as Koke’e Natural History Museum sponsors its third summer Basket-making Workshop in the cool uplands of Koke’e State Park. Set to begin at
Visitors and residents are invited “to tangle” with the beautiful, aggressive Banana Poka vine Saturday, July 20, as Koke’e Natural History Museum sponsors its third summer Basket-making Workshop in the cool uplands of Koke’e State Park. Set to begin at 10 a.m., the day-long workshop takes participants through the process of this “conservation craft,” which uses a forest week to make a useful and beautiful basket.
Pulling and invasive Banana Poka vine is a natural way to get rid of the pesky vine. Instructors Linda Oshiro and Ron Peyton, both Museum trustees, will take participants into the forest and teach them how to pull the Banana Poka vines, and entertaining way to spend the morning in the woods that also helps to rid Koke’e of yet another invasive pest plant. When enough of the ropy vines have been collected and coiled, everyone will return to the historic CCC Camp to enjoy lunch. Everyone is asked to bring a bag lunch or bento. After lunch, the basket weaving begins.
Each participant will bring home a natural functional basket and help rid the forests of Koke’e of a vine that chokes the native forest. The $15 fee makes each participant a member of Hui o Laka Koke’e Natural History Museum, Kaua’i’s oldest museum. For those who are already members, the $15 charge may be assigned as a gift membership for a friend or as a contribution to the Museum’s campaign to finish the CCC Camp renovations.
Children 12 and under may join the workshop with their parents for a fee of $5.
Long pants and covered shoes are recommended, and participants are asked to bring along clippers, garden gloves, and water and a lunch. To register for this forest craft workshop, call the Koke’e Museum at 335-9975.
