Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

From the Wall Street Journal

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER
June 5, 2008; Page D1

More families are looking right under their feet to ease the problem of high food prices.

As consumers balk at the rising cost of groceries, homeowners increasingly are cutting out sections of lawn and retiring flower beds to grow their own food. They’re building raised vegetable beds, turning their spare time over to gardening, and doing battle with insect pests.

For the full article click here.

An article from National Gardening Association that might be of interest to you and your local gardeners…

No matter how good a gardener you are, at some point or another animals, insects, and diseases will attack your plants. Organic gardeners know this is a fact of nature and will tolerate some damage to their fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetables, and herbs. A perfect plant doesn’t mean one that is completely blemish-free. However, if left unchecked a little damage can quickly turn into a lost crop.

There are a number of organic pest control techniques you can use to keep your plants safe and pests at bay. Start now, before disaster strikes in your garden. Here are my top 10 ways to protect and save plants from pest attacks. I know there are other controls and a bevy of home remedies out there, but I consider these some of the best. Tell me your favorite pest control methods and I’ll publish a list in the next issue of Edible Landscaping.

Click here for details on the top 10.

See this article for an update from Penn State on this issue.

Click here for article website.

From:

Elizabeth A. Bihn, Senior Extension Associate in Cornell Food Science

E-mail: eab38@cornell.edu

www.gaps.cornell.edu

I think the questions {county educators} are likely to get asked are things such as what types of tomatoes are involved, so which ones can I eat, what is salmonella, what are the symptoms, etc.

This FDA website is good and answers most things. http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html

For more information on Salmonella (in general, not the specific saintpaul strain) go to the bad bug book and look under Salmonella: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/intro.html

If there are more specific things I will be happy to help, but in general I think these two sites are good. CDC also has some good information.

I do want to specifically mention that home grown tomatoes grown in home gardens are not implicated.

Hope this helps.

Betsy

This message is from

Eric Harrington
Assistant Director for Occupational & Environmental Health
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Dean’s Office

Cornell University e-mail: eh22@cornell.edu

I would like to remind Cornell pesticide applicators of issues concerning using and recommending “home remedies.”

The Environmental Conservation Law (specifically Article 33) requires a commercial pesticide applicator when performing the commercial application of pesticides to apply a pesticide product that is registered by both NYS DEC and US EPA. Article 33 also allows a commercial applicator to apply a pesticide which has been specifically exempted from registration by the US EPA (25b list of exempted materials). Since a “home remedy” is neither a registered or exempted pesticide, a commercial applicator is prohibited from commercially applying a “home remedy.” As a certified commercial pesticide applicator, it is not a good practice to recommend “home remedies.”

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please let me know and I would be happy to discuss it further with you.

Eric

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Eric Harrington
Assistant Director for Occupational & Environmental Health
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Dean’s Office

241 Roberts Hall (US Mail) 607-255-0485 (Office)

204 Rice Hall (Campus Mail) 607-254-6569 (Fax)

Cornell University e-mail: eh22@cornell.edu

Ithaca, NY 14853 USA http://oeh.cals.cornell.edu/

You are cordially invited to the annual Plant Science Day at the Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center on Tuesday, July 8.

This year, we will be dedicating a beautiful Acer griseum (Paperbark Maple) in honor and memory of our beloved George Good. Dr. Good’s wife, children, and family will be coming down from Ithaca to attend. The dedication will occur shortly after 4:00 pm, when the Plant Science Day begins.

Formal tours and demonstrations are held from 4:00-6:00 pm and a barbecue is held on-sight beginning at 6:30 pm. There are four tour routes from which to choose: 1. grapes and wine program, (2) floriculture and greenhouses, (3) nursery and landscape, and (4) vegetables. Registration for the afternoon begins at 3:30 pm. As in past years, NYSDEC Pesticide Recertification credits will be available for this event.

Following the tours, our barbecue will be held on-site at the LIHREC and will be catered by Joe and Barbara Pelis. The cost of the barbecue is $30. Barbecued chicken quarters, BBQ pork ribs, and marinated sliced London broil will be served for the main course along with appetizers, vegetables, and dessert. A 50/50 drawing will be held with all profits going to the research and extension programs at the LIHREC. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m.

A deep-sea fishing trip is being planned for the following day, Wednesday, July 9 for anyone who is interested. If you would like to go fishing or find out more details, please let me know (mpb27@cornell.edu).

Pre-registration is required to attend the barbecue.

For more information about Plant Science Day, directions, hotels, etc. call Diane Hanwick at 631-727-3595 or email her at djh29@cornell.edu

I hope to see you then,

Mark

Dr. Mark Bridgen, Professor and Director
Cornell University
Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center
3059 Sound Ave.
Riverhead, NY 11901
Tel: 631-727-3595
Fax: 631-727-3611
E-mail: mpb27@cornell.edu

Introduction to Botanical Illustration

Drawing Plant Forms in Pencil & Ink

An Online Course Offered by Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture

June 16 to August 8, 2008

Enrollment limited to 20 students, so be sure to reserve your spot right away.

Cost: $500

Register at: hosts.cce.cornell.edu/hortdl

· Have you always wished that you could be more proficient at drawing?

· Have you been looking for an opportunity to unwind by finding a new avenue to express yourself creatively?

· Have you simply not enrolled in a drawing class because of a lack of opportunity or your busy schedule?

About the course

This six-week online course for beginners (seven including the introductory week) teaches you how to use plants as the subject of art with easy approaches and many visual examples. Because you take the course online, you can access it whenever you want and complete the lessons at your own pace.

A physical distance from other students allows you to express yourself creatively without comparing your work to those around you, fostering confidence and your own individual style, while still providing an opportunity to interact with others online through a discussion forum.

Introduction to Botanical Illustration is designed for beginning artists of all ages and from all walks of life — from current students, to those who haven’t taken a class in a very long time. Topics include:

• How to observe and approach subjects for drawing.
• How to creatively transfer what you see to paper.
• How to use the elements of line, shape and space constructively to make a composition.

Participants will read very straightforward lessons on six different topics in botanical drawing and observing the natural world. You will advance your own skills through practice and assignments, and reflect critically on your experiences in journal entries shared with your instructor and with other students via an online forum.

The six lessons of the course will begin on June 16, and the course will end on August 8. The deadline for submission of all assignments will be on the Friday of each week.

To get the most out of the experience, you should expect to spend 3 to 4 hours per week on the lessons and assignments. The course is offered through Moodle, an easy-to-use online interface that you’ll view through your personal computer’s web browser, or print out to use elsewhere. No additional software is required, but you will need a scanner to submit your assignments.

What students have said about the course:

I find this really rewarding - I feel I’m rediscovering an old long forgotten way to relax and lose myself in something that does not cause stress!

I am sad that this course is coming to an end. Reflecting on the highlights, I would have to say that I enjoyed the whole process of slowing down and actually looking and seeing a plant or flower or leaf at such minute detail. It was difficult to get started at first on many projects, but once I did, time just melted away, and I loved it. It has helped me to overcome any fears that may have kept me from drawing and art in the past. For me, it was monumental in giving me a good swift kick in the pants, and I will definitely continue this process…As far as any improvements in your curriculum, I cannot think of many, except that I would like to continue and paint with watercolor and colored pencils. Your exercises were all very insightful.

To register, please follow the link: http://hosts.cce.cornell.edu/hortdl and click on Introduction to Botanical Illustration.

By Erin Marteal (Cornell’s Garden-Based Learning Program Project Leader )

Recently, I visited a third grade classroom with a shiny red toolbox in my hand. There were no hammers, pliers or wrenches in the box, yet the tools contained inside were perfectly suited for my purpose.

Had you been there, you would have seen the unlikely contents: seed catalogs, index cards with pictures of vegetable varieties glued on, an envelope containing pieces of paper with funny names, and a CD envelope with vegetable pictures peeking through the cellophane window. And the effect these humble tools helped me create was even more surprising.

With my tools I set-up three activity stations in under three minutes, and facilitated a conversation to introduce the foundation concept for the activities: Biodiversity.

The very foundation for ecological stability and the main characteristic of nature, it turns out, is a concept perfectly suited to the intellect and experience of third graders, at least the ones I visited. They amazed me with their acuity at grasping the concept of biodiversity through a group process of defining the word, arriving at a definition that reflected a real understanding of biodiversity.

I asked them to share examples of ways that biodiversity shows up in their daily lives. We talked about cultural diversity, diversity of food preferences, clothing, and pets, and what the world would look like without biodiversity – scary! I introduced vegetable varieties as one very visible way that biodiversity appears in the garden.

After a brief introduction of the activities, the class of 20 counted off by threes and went to their first station. Group one started at the matching game, where they spread out a dozen or so funny names, like rat tail and bon bon, and pictures of vegetable varieties. As a group, they deftly maneuvered the names to match the pictures until each match had a mate. Using the answer key that had been hiding in the toolbox, I set aside the correct matches, leaving the rest to be reconsidered and rematched, repeating this process until all were correct. A lot of negotiations were seen at that table, as they reasoned and debated over why one name was much better suited to this variety than that, while bustling to get their matches made in time.

At the second station, students were “hired” to write variety descriptions for a seed company. Budding writers turned out innovative descriptions, such as : “‘Fire Peppers’: A camp fire in your garden; spicy and sweet,” and “ ‘Earth Toned Marker Box’: This corn tastes like rat poison, decoration only, DO NOT EAT.”

Group three found scissors, seed catalogs and magazines, poster board and glue sticks to create a biodiversity collage. As a slight twist on the usual collage experience, each student explained to the others in the group why each image represents biodiversity to them as they pasted it on the board, which sparked some interesting discussion.

Five red toolboxes just like this one have been awarded to youth groups around New York state who will be piloting Vvi (Vegetable varieties investigation) this spring and summer. To learn more about piloting Vvi, a project of Cornell’s Garden-Based Learning Program, visit vvi.cce.cornell.edu, or contact Erin Marteal: enm6@cornell.edu, 607.255-9911.

Looking for some information and games for all ages around invasive species? Check out this website.

And remember we have lots on

Viburnum Leaf beetle

FINGER LAKES LAND TRUST
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT: DIRECTOR OF STEWARDSHIP

The Finger Lakes Land Trust, a regional non-profit land conservation organization, is seeking a full-time Director of Stewardship to work from its Ithaca, New York office. The Land Trust works cooperatively with landowners and local communities to conserve those lands that define the character of the Finger Lakes Region. Since it was founded in 1989, the organization has conserved 10,000 acres through the use of conservation easements, the establishment of nature preserves, and the provision of assistance to local governments.

The Director of Stewardship will lead a team of volunteers, staff, and contractors to provide for the effective management of a growing network of Land Trust protected lands including nature preserves, conservation easements, and public lands in which the organization holds a legal interest. The position requires frequent travel throughout a 12-county region and calls for a flexible work schedule.

Responsibilities: Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Stewardship is responsible for overall management and coordination of the Land Trust’s stewardship programs. Responsibilities include:

1) Preserve Management: Oversee network of 26 conservation areas and nature preserves; coordinate and train volunteer stewards; work together with volunteers, contractors and staff to provide for public access where appropriate; implement invasive plant control efforts and other habitat management strategies; and conduct outreach to neighboring landowners and local officials.

2) Conservation Easement Monitoring & Baseline Documentation: Provide for systematic monitoring of a growing number of conservation easement properties presently 58; train volunteer stewards to conduct monitoring visits; complete conservation easement baseline documentation files while also supervising contractors to produce same.
3) Other Land Protection and Stewardship Activities: Assist with other land protection and stewardship activities as needed including but not limited to inspection of lands to be acquired, and representing the Land Trust at meetings relating to local and regional conservation initiatives.
4) Outreach and Fundraising: Support Land Trust’s fundraising efforts by preparing funding proposals for stewardship programs, and meeting with donors as needed.
5) Management & Administration: Supervise contractors, volunteers, and interns. Oversee management of data files relating to conservation easement monitoring and preserve stewardship programs.

Finger Lakes Land Trust
Position Announcement Director of Stewardship
Page Two

Qualifications:

· Successful work experience involving the management of natural areas and the stewardship of conservation easements

· Bachelor’s degree in natural resource management or related field; Master’s degree preferred
· Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal skills
· Ability to work independently while also operating as part of a team
· Ability to work with diverse partners and constituents
· Strong organizational and computer skills
· Willingness to travel and work flexible hours
· A strong commitment to land conservation

Contact: Send resume, three references, and cover letter to Abbey Chernela, Office Manager, Finger Lakes Land Trust, 202 East Court Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 or by e-mail to abbey@fllt.org