Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

Dr. Rutz,  Director of the NYS IPM Program writes:

Dear Friend of IPM:

I am writing to alert you to the fact that the state IPM funding that we receive through the Department of Ag and Markets has been totally eliminated in the Governor’s Budget.  The bottom line is that if this funding is not restored, the NYS IPM Program will be forced to end in July 2010. For your information, we have put together a list of critical examples of impacts (See attached) to NY agriculture if our funding is not restored and the Program ends.  If specific commodity impacts would be helpful, just let me know and we can provide these to you as well.

We need your help and we need it now!! I hope that you would be willing to write a letter or an email supporting the restoration of the funding for IPM in New York.  These should be directed to the Agriculture Committee Chairs, Magee in the Assembly and Aubertine in the Senate plus the Environment Chairs, Thompson in the Senate and Sweeney  in the Assembly.  Here are their addresses:

Assemblyman William Magee , Assembly Ag Committee Chair

Legislative Office Building 828

Albany, NY 12248

518-455-4807

MageeW@assembly.state.ny.us

Assemblyman Robert Sweeney,  Assembly En Con Committee Chair

Legislative Office Building 625

Albany, NY 12248

518-455-5787

Sweeney@assembly.state.ny.us

Senator Antoine Thompson, Senate En Con Committee Chair

Legislative Office Building, Room 902

Albany, New York 12247

518-455-3371

athompso@senate.state.ny.us

Senator Darrel Aubertine,  Senate Ag Committee Chair

903 Legislative Office Building

Albany, New York 12247

518-455-2761

NO email listed

I do hope that you will be willing to send a letter or an email.  It would be great if you would send a copy to me as well at my Geneva office.

Thanks in advance for your assistance with this very critical matter.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best,

Don

–

Donald A. Rutz,  Ph.D.
Director of the NYS IPM Program &
Professor of Veterinary Entomology

IPM Program Office
NY State Agricultural Experiment Station
Geneva, NY 14456-0462
(315) 787-2353
Fax: 315-787-2360

The New Yorker magazine devoted an article to the retirement of Carolyn Klass, who for 38 years was Cornell’s diagnostician for insect pests. The insect-identification service started in 1971, and Klass has been the program’s sole diagnostician from the start. People sent her bugs — or what they thought were bugs — to analyze. But often these items were not insects at all but fabric, cereal, skin particles or scabs.  The New Yorker – Jan. 26

We are planning a March 31^st evening webinar to update Landscape Industry Members (Arborists, Landscape Professionals) about Ornamental Pests of Importance Pertaining to the Upcoming 2010 Outdoor Growing Season.

We are seeking approval to award DEC re-certification credits for categories 3A and 25.

7:00 – 8:00     Dan Gilrein, CCE Suffolk County
Ornamental Insect/Arthropod Pests of Importance Prevalent in 2009
Update and Forecast of Possible Problematic Insect/Arthropod Pests for 2010 Outdoor Growing Season
Integrated Management of Arthropods/Insect Pests of Importance

8:00 – 9:00      Dr. George Hudler, Cornell University
Background of Ornamental Diseases of Importance Prevalent in 2009
Update and Forecast of Possible Diseases for 2010 Outdoor Growing Season
Integrated Management of Diseases of Importance

This webinar will be available only to hosting CCE county offices. (Setup to broadcast an Adobe Connect meeting -word doc) You MUST emailed Lori Bushway  by Monday Feb 8th that you want to host, especially if you want to award participants at your site DEC credits.

Each of these calls will last 1 hour. The first call will be via regular conference call but subsequent call we hope to use the internet phone service Skype.

February 18 10 am -11 am Simple tools to foster communication with volunteers and regularly evaluate your volunteer program.

March 3 10 am to 11 am Volunteer program by-laws: Why have them and some examples.

March 24 10 am to 11 am Communicating the value of your volunteers’ efforts.

April 7 10 am to 11 am Successful and unsuccessful approaches to motivating volunteers.

contact Lori to get get more details.

If you are interested but need travel funds we can work something out.

Aging and the Environment Training – March 2

Retirees in Service to the Environment (RISE), has been piloted in several counties in the state. RISE consists of a series of workshops on environmental issues with a strong leadership and stewardship component. Training will be provided on how to conduct the RISE program, including planning, publicizing the program, recruiting speakers, and evaluation. There is an accompanying manual and there is no charge for the workshop. Lunch is included. The training session will run from 10am-4pm on campus.

Contact Linda Wagenet at lpw2@cornell.edu, if you are interested in attending.

Certification in Volunteer Administration (CVA).

CCE educators contact me ASAP if you might be interested in going through this credentialing process in 2010. I have professional development funds available to cover fees and the cost of reference materials.

6 of us did in 2009 and it was well worth our time and should be a requirement for all who work with volunteers.

From:  Meg Tuttle McGrath, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University

In some areas of Europe late blight recently started occurring every year and the only folks who can ensure success growing tomatoes and potatoes are those willing to spray fungicides!  Late blight now occurs regularly there because both mating types are now present (due to potatoes having been brought in from Mexico where both occur in 1999).

When sexual reproduction occurs the result is a type of spore that can survive for several years in soil without host plant tissue.  This enables late blight to become like Septoria leaf spot and early blight – waiting in the garden for the next tomato plant! Gardeners need to realize this could happen in the US, and it would be devastating especially for gardeners.

Both mating types were detected last year in PA and VA.  If we all have a ‘no tolerance‘ policy with late blight hopefully there isn’t an opportunity for the 2 mating types to end up growing together.  Hopefully the only way the pathogen was able to survive in the northeast from last summer was as potato tubers.

We need to make sure everyone knows this and all infected tubers will be destroyed as well as any volunteer potato plants as soon as they emerge!

Also I hope that gardeners can be educated about their role when this ‘community disease’ strikes their garden because of the impact it can have on farmers and other gardeners.  Considering how destructive this disease is, that the spores the pathogen produces are easily dispersed by wind, and that late blight can be difficult to control with fungicides applied beginning after its detection; when late blight occurs, others growing the susceptible crops need to know about it right away.  This is the approach we take in the agricultural world: a grower who finds symptoms informs local extension educators who then use an established listserv dedicated to this disease to spread the word.  Gardeners need to also routinely scout and promptly get suspected diseased tissue to a plant clinic.

Check out this slide presentation for the basic you need to consider if social media like facebook and twitter is for your program.

It was created by a Steven Newman, Horticulture expert with Colorado State University Extension.

Staying Connected with Your Community Through Social Media

I know in CCE we have some social media. In the comment space below please share a link to your facebook and tell everyone about your experience…good and not so good.

The Celebrate Urban Birds project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers mini-grants to help museums, afterschool programs, libraries, community centers, and other local organizations fund neighborhood events. These events may involve art, gardening, science, community service or other cultural activities

We’re ready to award a new round of these mini-grants which average $250-$500. If you are planning an event, you’re invited to apply for a grant at www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org. Organizations working with underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply. No experience with birds is required.

As you may know, Celebrate Urban Birds is a free, year-round citizen science project in which participants watch birds in their neighborhoods and report what they see. This information helps scientists better understand how birds survive in cities and make use of green spaces, including parks and gardens.
I look forward to seeing all your great ideas!

Sincerely,

Karen Purcell, Project Leader
Celebrate Urban Birds
urbanbirds@cornell.edu

Job Details Here

Provides leadership for an effective educational program that supports the commercial nursery and garden center industry, water quality and conservation and urban horticulture outcome-based program that supports identified issues in El Paso County.

Coordinates Master Gardener program. Responsible for effectively reporting, marketing, and interpreting results of programming efforts. Develops and works with stakeholder-based committees that provide direction for Extension programs supporting horticulture and natural resources.

Works with nursery industry and community-based organizations, utilizes print and broadcast media to effectively link Extension and horticulture to the community.

Understands job responsibilities of a county Extension agent and accepts the responsibilities associated with the position.