Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

This is the latest edition of Food Citizen column

Written for the Albany Times Union by Jennifer Wilkins a Food and Society Policy Fellow at Cornell University.

(adapted from USDA-Agricultural Research Service)

The pigments found in plants play important roles in plant metabolism and visual attraction in nature. They are also important for humans, attracting our attention and providing us with nutrients. Major plant pigments include carotenoids, anthocyanins and other flavonoids, betalains, and chlorophylls.

Chlorophylls, which are green, and carotenoids, which are yellow, orange, or red, play pivotal roles in photosynthesis. They occur in all green plants. Chlorophylls capture light energy and convert it into chemical energy. Carotenoids protect the chlorophylls from photo-oxidation and are accessory, light-harvesting pigments. They occur in all green tissues as well as independently of chlorophyll in flowers (where they serve to attract animals), storage organs, and other plant parts. Flavonoids include red or blue anthocyanins and some white or pale yellow compounds. Flavonoids in flowers and fruit provide visual cues for animal pollinators and seed dispersers to locate their target.

Approximately 40 carotenoids have been found to be vitamin A precursors. When these are consumed, they are enzymatically broken down to retinol (vitamin A). In this way, consumption of horticultural crops provides over 80% of the vitamin A for the world. Vitamin A deficiency worldwide is the most common specific dietary deficiency as it afflicts millions of children each year with blindness, or death. Subclinical deficiency reduces immune function thus increases the risk of severe and fatal infections.

Research findings since the 1970s have indicated that food crops containing carotenoids, anthocyanins, and other flavonoids are believed to function as “chemopreventers”, by providing protection against certain forms of cancer and a reduction of cardiovascular disease. Interestingly, non-provitamin A carotenoids such as lycopene, the major pigment of tomato and watermelon also confer chemoprevention. The important characteristic common to all chemopreventers is their antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant properties of carotenoids which protect plants in photosynthesis apparently may also protect humans from carcinogens and heart disease.

Grow vegetables. See Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners

Check out USDA link for more articles.

The 2008 Selected list of Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners in NYS is now available in pdf form via the Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners’ info page or directly here.

We are eager to recruit lots more vegetable gardening enthusiasts to submit their opinions at the Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners project website about the vegetable varieties they have grown.

As it stands now we have 2,230 registered vegetable gardeners, over 600 from NYS. We representation from 60 of our 62 counties (we need Lewis and Richmond counties). Collectively NYS gardeners have submitted 871 of the more than 3,300 total vegetable varieties reviews we have collected.

We do hope someday soon to generate our recommended varieties list from gardeners’ opinions shared on this site so please help us build some depth across NYS by spreading the word in your county. Check out the promotional material you can download from the Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners project website. There is a PowerPoint presentation about the project, bookmarks and posters as well as a link to the new Vvi project aiming to partner youth and adult gardeners.

On November 29^th our Community Horticulture Garden-Based Learning team meet on campus.

Here are the minutes (pdf)

You asked for it, and you’ve got it.

Recently, a number of CCE educators have requested an easy, introductory garden-based learning activity for children — something that could be done in any program setting, at any time of the year, with few materials, with little preparation, that we would promote widely among counties, that could be a good NYS Fair entry, and that could be a stepping stone for other projects.

We have worked with Leigh MacDonald, education director for the Ithaca Children’s Garden, to develop this activity, attached. It has been a successful and often requested introductory activity with her program, and seemed fitting as a statewide project. We tried it out at a recent garden-based learning meeting, and the numerous educators there made some suggestions and additions. While it’s exciting to develop innovative, and perhaps more advanced projects, we don’t want to neglect the newcomer to garden-based learning arena.

Soon, we will be sending along information about a new living sculpture project, which focuses on youth-adult partnerships in the context of public art, with both introductory, and more challenging community-based activities. This could be a springboard for that new effort as well. Please stay tuned.

Many thanks to Leigh for putting this together for us, and to those educators providing us with valuable input. We welcome feedback as to how you may be adapting it for your setting.

turtle-sprouts-2008.pdf

Best,
Marcia

Marcia Eames-Sheavly, Senior Extension Associate
Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program
Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/art

This site provides some facts and figures on the benefits on plants from economic, health and psycho-social and environmental perspectives. This material serves as excellent background information for our continual efforts to use garden as a tool for success.

http://www.floridagardening.org/benefit.asp

National Gardening Association is cranking out e-newsletters for all sorts of gardening audiences. Below are some of their many offerings. These e-newsletters could offer you ideas for articles for your own local newsletters, columns or workshops.

Celebrating the Seasons

Urban Gardening

Edible Landscaping

Kids Gardening

Regional reports and blogs

Do you have other sources that provide you inspiration and news on emerging issues? Please share.

The Cuyamaca College Ornamental Horticulture Program has been approved to begin recruiting for our full time instructor position in our OH program to start in the fall 2008 semester. We have a large and growing two-year program with seven majors and over 300 students. Cuyamaca College is located 15 miles east of downtown San Diego, California.

The position posting link. Deadline Feb 1, 2008

Thanks,
Brad Monroe
Program Coordinator
Ornamental Horticulture
Cuyamaca College
619-660-4261

www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb