Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

Here is the D.E.C.I.D.E. Before You Act brochure mentioned in this article and posted on the CCE Onondaga County website.

Friday, April 20, 2007 — Syracuse Post Standard editorial
It’s not every day when people on opposite sides of a hotly contested issue link arms on something substantial.

So it is reason to cheer that groups for and against a pesticide notification law have found common ground that will help the environment. Pesticide Awareness Week begins Monday, and lawn care businesses and environmental groups have combined efforts to help homeowners make safe, healthy decisions when caring for their lawns and gardens this season.

With Earth Day coming up Sunday and Arbor Day next Friday, it’s the perfect time for such an effort.

Onondaga County Legislator Kathleen Rapp, R-Salina, and representatives from Cornell Cooperative Extension, Pro Scapes Inc. landscaping and lawn care company and the Citizens Campaign for the Environment have come together in a public awareness campaign that will include workshops and lectures and will place brochures in hardware store aisles across the area. The brochures are designed to educate consumers and encourage them to adopt a “long-term approach to managing pests using ways that reduce environmental, health and economic risks.”

The brochure is called D.E.C.I.D.E. Before You Act - D iagnose the problem (consult the Web site resources listed on the back of the brochure). E valuate all options. C hoose carefully. I nvestigate directions and apply carefully. D ispose of correctly. And E valuate the results.

The risks of doing otherwise are real.

According to the Citizens Campaign Web site, research continues to uncover links between pesticide exposures and serious health problems, including several types of cancer, neurological and reproductive disorders and birth defects.

Children are especially vulnerable to overexposure and can be subject to physiological and behavioral changes. In addition, lawn and garden pesticides are a leading cause of bird deaths.

Considering all that, a law requiring neighbors to give two days’ notice before applying the most dangerous pesticides to their lawns remains a good idea. It should be revisited despite the county legislature’s vote against it last June.

Members of the public awareness campaign disagree on that issue and have wisely agreed to put it aside while they pursue their education campaign. Their goal is to make residents who apply pesticides to their yards more aware of their potential impact and the various alternatives to dealing with those pesky grubs, worms, dandelions, etc. At the very least, the campaign will remind people to carefully follow the directions on the containers when they apply any chemicals. On the other end of the spectrum, some homeowners may want to reconsider what constitutes “a good lawn.”

For more information, the Web site of Cornell University Cooperative Extension-Onondaga County has a section on lawn care and pesticides at www.cce.cornell.edu/onondaga; Cornell’s Integrated Pest Management program is at www.nysipm.cornell.edu; and the CNY Nursery and Landscape Association offers information on the importance of trees at www.cnysnla.org.

With a spring-like weekend on tap, now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at the kind of yard care you want to do this year - and how to make it more environmentally responsible.

With habitat loss, pollution and climate changes, many creatures around the world are in decline. But Cornell researchers believe that the rediscovery of New York state’s official insect, the nine-spotted lady beetle (Coccinella novemnotata or C9), promises a brighter future for this rare species.

See the full article here in the April 17, 2007 Cornell Chronicle.

Master Gardener Volunteer coordinators might be particularly interested in getting involved with this project. This story from April 2007 edition of Human Development Today e-News as it says it is “loosely based on the Master Gardener program.”

A recent collaboration between Karl Pillemer and Linda Wagenet is gaining momentum among Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) associations. Pillemer, an HD Extension faculty member, directs the Cornell Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA) which focuses on gerontology issues. Wagenet’s research and extension work is on civic engagement and environmental management. Together, they have developed the Aging and Environment Initiative. This program aims to work with CCE associations and other community organizations to raise awareness among older people about environmental issues and to examine the impact of aging on the environment (for example, the expansion of retirement communities). The particular emphasis of the Aging and Environment Initiative over the coming 1-2 years is in promoting environmental volunteerism and civic engagement among older persons.
Why is this program needed? Pillemer and Wagenet believe that it can address two critical problems facing American society. First, as individuals reach retirement age, they often experience a sense of generativity and concern about the world they are leaving to their children and grandchildren. Added to that is increased isolation from social settings and decreased engagement in meaningful activities. New roles and meaningful volunteer opportunities are needed for persons age 60 and above, and in particular the newly retired. Second, the deterioration of the natural environment is a major national and international concern. Environmental protection is an important part of our daily lives as well as a key issue for future generations. By creating roles for retirees in environmental volunteering, both social isolation and environmental protection are addressed.
The College of Human Ecology provided Pillemer and Wagenet with pilot funding to initiate the program. This funding allowed the addition of several questions related to environmental attitudes and participation in the Empire State Poll, a survey of New Yorkers on a variety of issues. Joining with Nancy Wells (CHE-DEA) and Nina Glasgow (CALS-DSOC), the group sponsored a one-day workshop on aging and environment issues with CCE colleagues from around the state. Dr. Scott Wright, University of Utah, who has done research in this area, was the key speaker, and Bruce Barbour, Rutgers University Cooperative Extension, also attended. Barbour is a key collaborator in our project, because he has developed an environmental stewards program in New Jersey that is not specific to older adults but can serve as a template for the CU effort.

At present, Pillemer and Wagenet are developing and promoting a specific extension program called the Retiree Environmental Stewards Program (RESP), which emerged from the data gathering efforts just described. The program is loosely based on the Master Gardener program. The goals of the RESP are to educate senior volunteers on environmental science and management through a series of sessions encompassing approximately forty hours of training. The volunteers will then become stewards of their local environment and can serve in a variety of capacities. Training topics include, among others: Using your retirement years productively; You as a retiree and the environment; Local environmental management and decision-making; Local land preservation issues; Sustainability and energy issues; Lakes and watersheds; Conflict resolution techniques; Communication and leadership; Intergenerational programs and the environment.
There has been enthusiastic response to this initiative from several CCE Associations. Pillemer and Wagenet are working with Russ Martin, Executive Director of CCE-Schenectady, to develop the program further for CCE and to seek external funding. They hope to work closely with other Capitol area associations as well. Interest from Long Island, Western NY and the Finger Lakes region has also occurred, and the Pennsylvania Environment Council is interested in working with the CU group for a proposal. The CHE/CALS collaboration also led to an application for Federal Formula Funds to support the effort since it is an integrated research and extension project.
Pillemer and Wagenet are eagerly seeking additional collaborators from CCE associations. If you would like to learn more about this effort in aging and environmental management, please contact Karl Pillemer, (607)255-8086, kap6@cornell.edu; or Linda Wagenet, (607) 254-7460, lpw2@cornell.edu.

From Cooperative Extension Administration:

April 2007 e-newsletter

In response to requests from members, we intend to begin more regular communication to keep you informed of new activities and interesting developments in applied research and extension. This newsletter includes details about the upcoming annual Program Council conference on May 9, information on Hatch and Federal Funding proposal submissions, links to 2006 PWT annual reports, updates from Program Council liaisons, plus profiles of PWT projects and stakeholders, who are actively creating positive change for the state of New York.

We welcome your feedback on our new newsletter format. Please send any comments or suggestions for the next quarterly edition to Lauren Chambliss, CUAES Communications Specialist, at elc55@cornell.edu. One of our goals is to begin publicizing the great work of the PCs and PWTs around the state. If you have ideas for stories of projects or profiles of stakeholders, please send them to Lauren.

Chemung, Ontario, Orleans, Rensselaer and Washington County Master Gardeners have been collaborating with Charlie Mazza for the last 15 months to launch a new educational theme, Site Assessment for Gardeners. Master Gardeners in those counties are conducting workshops in 2007 with home gardeners as a means of motivating home gardeners to plan ahead. There is still some work to do, but resources will be available to move beyond those five counties in Autumn, 2007, published by NRAES.

We have broken it up into chapters for ease of viewing online. It is based on a series of activities to gather information about a site. Note that it will undergo some changes, based on a peer review that is being conducted in many states in the Northeast and Central part of the U.S.

If you want to see a pre-publication version of the workbook, visit it online at www.gardening.cornell.edu/landscape and click on the first resource on that list, Site Assessment for Gardeners (4.8 MB, pdf file).

Here is what the back cover of the future workbook will say:

Ever wonder why some gardens and landscapes look dazzling year after year, while others just go down hill after planting?

Are you looking for ways to prevent gardening problems before they get out of hand?

Then site assessment – the ‘discovery process’ that reveals the physical traits that make your yard unique – can help your gardens and landscapes thrive.

The hands-on activities in this workbook will help you find out more about the soil, wind, light, temperature, drainage, and uninvited wildlife guests that determine the success or failure of your plantings.

When you’ve gotten to know your property better using this approach, you’ll have:
• A sketch of your yard with information you’ll need to make important planting decisions for years to come.
• A list of existing plants and how they fit into your future plans.
• A checklist of other physical factors that you have discovered during your site assessment.

Matching your plantings to your site’s characteristics will help you create more-sustainable and easier-to-care-for landscapes.
Each step includes an explanation of its importance, information-gathering activities, how to use the information you gather as well as books and websites for more information.

We also have a powerpoint presentation (in both CD format and 35mm slide format) arriving in the Horticulture Resource Library to motivate gardeners to the advantages of assessing their properties and a workbook that contains steps to accomplish the goal. I

This project on Site Assessment for Gardeners builds on the statewide Community Horticulture Extension educational goal of preventing gardening problems from getting out of hand by getting to know your site — its opportunities and challenges. The goal of promoting preventive practices in gardening/landscaping was set by the Community Hort PWT back in the early 2000’s. Both the powerpoint and the workbook are resources to help you further that educational goal and to you plan educational programs on that theme in years to come.

For additional information contact project leader: Charlie Mazza (cpm6@cornell.edu)

Do you get occasional plant or insect samples from gardeners or homeowners that puzzle you?

All Cornell Cooperative Extension staff on campus and in the counties are invited to participate in the e-list cce-hortdiagnostic-L. This list has been active for more than a year now using the experiences of many to try to relatively efficiently identify puzzling plant material, insects and pests that come into their office. Only the odd stuff not the routine.

This effort compliments that of the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic, extension entomologist Carolyn Klass in the Insect Diagnostic Lab and extension botanist Ed Cope in the Bailey Hortorium .

Check out this impact statement (word doc) for more information.

To join cce-hortdiagnostic-L:
We can only accommodate CCE staff on this e-list. If you have a volunteer who is active in diagnosing he/she must work through the supervising CCE staff person. Only people who join/subscribe to the list can post to the list.

To join an e-list (also called subscribing), send an e-mail message to lyris@cornell.edu . The body of the message should be:
subscribe cce-hortdiagnostic-L “your name”
where your name (include the quotation marks) is the name you want to be available to the list’s administrators.

Basic cce-hortdiagnostic-L guidelines:
We encourage you to send digital photos and detailed description. For example, include information about where the plant or insect was found, its size, key features such as leave and bud arrangements for plants or mouth-part types for insects. Clarify the symptoms, type and extend of damage suffered as well as a brief list of what resource you have been scouring to make your diagnosis.

Some educators have had good luck taking digital pictures of plant material using a digital camera and/or the inexpensive Digital Blue QX3 + Computer Microscope. Good digital images of the small and tiny insect are more challenging. We welcome suggestions on equipment that accomplishes this well.

Do not send copyright images. It is too difficult for us to worry about breaking copyright laws. Assume every image sent will become freely available to the world.

We also encourage you to respond to postings if you can help with an answer or even simple another resource the person might check into. Send your insightful replies back to the whole list so we might all learn. If you have inquires of a personal matters send those just to the party of interest. We will be strict about keeping the e-list on the relevant and not something that clutters our in-box.

Send question, comments or concerns to LJB7@cornell.edu or call 607.255.5918

The purpose of this e-newsletter is to provide regular integrated pest management updates to commercial horticulture educators in the Cornell Extension system and others that are in the position to use and disseminate information. It is our intent that the content from theses updates will be used in newsletters and programs that reach New York growers.

The Spring 2007 issue and past issues are available online at http://nysipm.cornell.edu/nursery_ghouse/newsletters/default.asp

Brian Eshenaur, bce1@cornell.edu

Free copies of this book are available from the Biodiversity Research Institute bri@mail.nysed.gov

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/bri/publications/legacy.html

Legacy: Conserving New York State’s Biodiversity is a new, 100-page, full-color book offering a remarkable glimpse into the vast array of life and beauty in New York State. Included are the birds we see at our backyard feeders, giant salamanders that quietly eat crayfish, “bottomless�? lakes, alpine tundra, forests that need fire to survive, and much, much more.

This book is a publication of the New York State Biodiversity Project, an ambitious collaborative effort by the American Museum of Natural History, New York State Biodiversity Research Institute, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York Natural Heritage Program, and The Nature Conservancy. The group’s aim is to improve the understanding of the state’s biodiversity and to identify both challenges and solutions to protect it.

Fasciations …An abnormal flattening or coalescence of stems

The freak show of the plant world.

An April 17, 2007 New York Times article:

Click here to read the article

Any thoughts on how Home Depot’s green push might postively influence Cornell Coopertive Extension county efforts to promote ecologically sound gardening practices?