From George Hudler…

Please see this word document and note that I am asking homeowners and tree care professionals to start with submission of samples to your CCE offices.

Please screen and forward  appropriate samples to our  laboratory.  For the short run, we will do culturing here at no charge to consumers or you, but we can’t deal with every dying oak in NY.  So, proper selection of samples is essential, and those from the Capital District will receive highest priority.

Thanks
George Hudler
–
George W. Hudler
Professor and Chair
Department of Plant Pathology
and Plant-Microbe Biology
334 Plant Science Bldg.
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: (607) 255-7848
Fax: (607) 255-4471

You don’t need to live in the balmy zones or own a greenhouse to keep on growing through the winter. All you need to do is choose the right crops and varieties, time the planting right and employ a few smart techniques. All of which we have for you right here.

What to Plant
All of the brassicas—broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, collards, turnips, bok choy—are great candidates for overwintering. So are root crops, such as carrots, radishes, parsnips, beets, onions, potatoes and leeks. Many greens, including lettuce, spinach, mustard, mache (corn salad) and Swiss chard, like it cold, too. We name a hardy variety or two of each here—the descriptions in your favorite seed catalogs will help you find more.

the rest of the article is available here

From the GWA Foundation   Special Announcement   August 2008

Survey Measures Interest in Gardening Issues

The American gardening public is estimated at 84 million households representing a wide cross section of the social and economic fabric of our nation. Even as diverse as the gardening public is, the 2008 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report just released by the Garden Writers Association Foundation (GWAF) shows there are some surprising common interest topics in the gardening community.

In a national survey conducted in late June, the GWAF asked consumers who have a lawn or garden to rate their interest level (very high/high/low/very low) in several key topics. The combined totals for positive rankings (high and very high) consumers gave each item include:

·        Water conservation (72%): While almost a third of households have no plans for water conservation, the remaining population has a high (43%) and very high (28%) level of interest in conserving one of our most precious natural resources.

·        Native plants (52%): In what was a relatively unknown topic only a few years ago, a majority of the gardening public expressed positive interest (31% high and 21% very high) in the subject of native plants.

·        Organic gardening (45%): Though less than a majority (30% high, 15% very high), public interest in organic gardening has grown from an estimated single digits a decade ago to almost half of all households, today.

·        Sustainable gardening (38%): Still a relatively new concept that may suffer from a lack of uniform definition and public understanding, sustainable gardening has gained the attention (27% high and 11% very high) of almost 2 out of every 5 households.

·        Web-based gardening information (27%): With no prior measure of interest in web-based gardening information, it is difficult to evaluate consumer response in what appears to be a relatively low level of interest. Even among the tech savvy “under 25″ group, the positive response was 36%. Since the Web is clearly a tremendous information resource, the challenge is in making on-line gardening information interesting and useful to the public.

These are a few insights into the public’s interest in current gardening issues. Other findings from this newly released national survey include:

On average, consumers are planning to spend about $771 on their yards and gardens this year, where expenditures include making improvements and doing maintenance.

Almost half of American households (43%) grow vegetables in their gardens.

This year, about two out of five (39%) consumers say that they participate in container gardening. This is down from 47% last year.

The 2008 Summer Gardening Trends Research Report was conducted June 16-24 and covers consumer expectations and attitudes for activities and purchases planned for July through September. The survey was conducted by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence, a national consumer polling organization, and statistically represents the attitudes of over 100 million households with an accuracy of 95% (+/- 3.1 percentage points). It is now available online free to all GWA members.

Contact: Robert LaGasse
T: 703.257.1032
info@gardenwriters.org

Cornell Garden-Based Learning Institute

Brown Bag Lunch Series

Mark your calendars now:

September 11 * October 9 * November 13 * December 11

12:05 – 12:55, Rm. 22 Plant Science Building

Join us on September 11th for a lively discussion as we explore the garden – nutrition connection:

v     Integrating gardening with food, nutrition, and community food systems approaches.

v     Reaching diverse audiences.

v     How to connect community members from different cultures for idea exchanges.

v     Current projects offered by various departments and programs.

Who should attend?

v     Educators, volunteers, students and practitioners – anyone with an interest in the topic, willing to engage in dialogue.

v     Bring a brown bag lunch.  We’ll see you then.

For more information: Marcia Eames-Sheavly, ME14@cornell.edu or 255-1781

click here for flier

Bus ridership is on the rise and the Northeast IPM community IPM work group jumped on board to give riders something valuable to read. This bulkhead banner aims to raise awareness about best lawn care practices.

CCE educators would you be interested in getting these banners in public buses in your communities?

Let Lori (bushway@cornell.edu) .

NEWS RELEASE FOR:  IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:  Sandra Weigel, Master Gardener

Tues. August 21, 2008
phone: (315) 636-9511 or cell # (315) 420-2803
e-mail: sdweigel@dishmail.net <mailto:sdweigel@dishmail.net>

Travel to Maine with Master Gardeners, OCT 10-13, 2008

Travel by luxury motor coach through the Berkshire Mountains and view the spectacular display of fall foliage on your way to OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE.  Enjoy the afternoon traveling back in time and reliving daily life in the Colonial era, late 1700’s to early 1800’s, at the largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast. Dine at an historic inn before continuing to PORTLAND,ME.    On Sat. we start with the MAINE WILDLIFE PARK, where moose, mountain lion, bear and birds of prey that have been rehabilitated can be viewed.  Next is PINELAND FARMS, a 5,000 acre complex with hiking trails, gardens, a creamery where award-winning cheese if crafted from the milk produced by the prize-winning herd of herefords.  A country store offers their hand-crafted cheeses and other Maine products for sale.  We will lunch at COLE FARMS, a local eatery for 60 years and then visit a working SHAKER VILLAGE.  We will tour the Sisters’ Workshop, the Folk Art Museum and visit the Gift shop.    Sunday we will be on the coast, touring PORTLAND’S WATERFRONT historic district, SHOPPING IN FREEPORT, visiting PORTLAND HEAD LIGHT, a lighthouse in Fort Williams Park and topping off the day with a traditional LOBSTER BAKE.    Monday we will be traveling homeward, with a stop at TOWER HILL GARDENS, featuring several themed gardens to stroll through and a cafe.  Dinner will be in the Berkshires before the last leg home.  This trip is truly the ultimate New England Experience and will provide treasured memories.

$689 per person (dbl occupancy) includes luxury motor coach transportation, 3 nights accommodations, daily breakfast voucher, 3 dinners including the lobster bake and all entrance fees.  Reserve your space now , space is limited.  CALL (315-636-9511) or E-MAIL sdweigel@dishmail.net <mailto:sdweigel@dishmail.net>
or mail your check to Vistas Unlimited 13 East
Lake ST. Skaneateles, NY 13152

Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Master Gardener Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension Cayuga County.

The National Plant Diagnostic Network and the Regional IPM Centers have joined together to offer a distance education opportunity to teach individuals how to conduct first detector training.  The training will be offered as two sessions which will be conducted on October 14^th and October 16^th.  These sessions are being offered free of charge to the participants.

this pdf file provides additional information regarding the training and access to the on-line registration.

Susan T. Ratcliffe, Ph.D.

Director, North Central IPM Center

University of Illinois

Department of Crop Sciences

1102 S. Goodwin Avenue

S-316 Turner Hall

Urbana, Illinois 61801

(217) 333-9656 (O)

(217) 333-5245 (F)

sratclif@ad.uiuc.edu

These remarks are from Dr. Kathie T. Hodge
Director, Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium

The article below, in a Schenectady newspaper, suggests county extension agents as go-to people for mushroom identification.
http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/aug/15/0815_deadlyshrooms/

I know that some of you are experts. If you are not, don’t get drawn in to helping someone decide whether a mushroom is safe to eat.

Ordinary people CAN learn to identify mushrooms, but I’d suggest they spend some time hanging out with a club or an expert, and learn the poisonous ones before they start eating anything. Beginners often key in on the wrong characteristics, which can lead to bad mistakes like mistaking destroying angels for edible inky caps. But mushroom hunting is actually a pretty rewarding hobby, so long as one is careful and knows the limits of one’s skills.

There’s a decent list of NY mushroom clubs here:
http://www.mykoweb.com/na_mycos.html#NY

Cornell does not offer services for routine mushroom identifications.

In poisoning cases the Poison Control Center should be the first call (1-800-222-1222).

And by the way, the article also suggests plastic bags for storing mushrooms, but plastic is like kryptonite for mushrooms. It is better for them to dry out in a paper bag than to turn into mush in plastic. Dried mushrooms can still be identified–often more reliably than a photo alone.

regards,
Kathie

–
Dr. Kathie T. Hodge
Associate Professor of Mycology
Director, Cornell Plant Pathology Herbarium
334 Plant Science Bldg.
Dept. of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853

http://www.plantpath.cornell.edu/Labs/Hodge/index.html

Have you seen the Cornell Mushroom Blog?
http://blog.mycology.cornell.edu

The Northeastern IPM Center is offering three sustainable lawn care publications to Master Gardener Volunteer programs. This set of attractive, informative publications includes a tri-fold brochure, eco-scorecards, and a book of guidelines. Upon request, we will mail samples or bulk orders of these publications to you for distribution to master gardeners or other clients in your state/county.

You may view pdf examples of each document at the following URLs: Eco-scorecards (http://www.growinggreenlawns.org/publications/scorecard.pdf); Green lawns tri-fold brochures ( http://www.growinggreenlawns.org/publications/tips.pdf); Green lawns guidelines (a 20-page book) ( http://www.growinggreenlawns.org/publications/guidelines.pdf).

To order printed samples or bulk quantities, please contact Angela DeFelice (amd88@cornell.edu, 607.254.1535) by Sept 15th. Let us know the quantity you desire of each publication, as well as a complete shipping address and any special shipping instructions.

–
Angela DeFelice
Program Assistant
Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center
110 Insectary Bldg, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
(607) 254-1535     (607) 255-1720 (fax)
amd88@cornell.edu      http://NortheastIPM.org

Love Your Veggies grant program is awarding $15,000 grants to 10 elementary schools across the country. Applications are now available online at  www.LoveYourVeggiesGrants.org through the November 7 deadline!

Grant awards will be based on proposals that demonstrate need, sustainability, innovation and potential for community involvement. Funding must be spent on any of the following:

• Fresh produce (vegetables and fruits)
• A vegetable station (such as a dedicated salad bar)
• Kitchen equipment (primary usage must relate to proposed program)
• Program staffing (cafeteria personnel, lunchroom staff, etc.)
• Nutrition education supplies
• Food safety training

www.LoveYourVeggiesGrants.org