If the weekend paper insert Parade magazine says something is a national trend isn’t that mainsteam and so?

Did you see the article?  Note what is in paragraph 4 (quoted below)?

What America Really Eats

The bi-annually state MGV conference will take place July 22-24th 2009.  We want to create a schedule that is attractive to MGV and highlights our campus resources.

Please take a few minutes to respond to this brief survey ASAP (no later than Dec 8th):

Cornell’s Mann Library seeks your assistance in identifying the information needs of Cooperative Extension staff in counties throughout NY State. Your feedback will help us allocate our resources to best enhance your work life as a Cornell Cooperative Extension staff member. This one page survey should take about 10 minutes to complete, and you can access it at

http://surveys.cit.cornell.edu/Survey.aspx?s=54a64dd6048a4ee6bc9e104947242215

Find meeting minutes at this link:

http://www.hort.cornell.edu//department/faculty/bushway/comm_hort_blog/Oct%202008%20PWT%20Minutes.pdf

In our last state conference call in October we talked about Master Gardener Volunteer reference checking so I can work to establish some guidelines based on what people are already having success with. Notes from that call are at this site.

I aim to schedule conference call monthly on subject matters most pressing to your needs. Go to this survey to share your preference on when we should schedule these calls. It is nearly impossible to find a time all are available so likely I’ll rotate around the best times.

Our next conversation will be Thursday December 4th from 9:00 -10:00 on approaches to:

Reward and recognition of volunteers.

contact lori (bushway@cornell.edu) for access number and code.

We getting together a group of CCE educators to work through the process of becoming CVAs

(Doesn’t everyone want three initials after their name?

If you might be interested email lori (bushway@cornell.edu) and here a bit more about the certification…

Certified in Volunteer Administration (CVA) is the only international professional certification in the field of volunteer resources management. Originally developed by the Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) several decades ago, the program is now sponsored by the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration (CCVA). The CVA credential reflects mastery of the knowledge required of practitioners in this field as measured through an exam and peer assessment process. Full details at this website: http://www.cvacert.org

Looking for those lost Cornell bulletins or Extension publications?

Browse eCommons@Cornell

Try typing garden in the left top search box. Or try a more specific term like compost.

An article from National Gardening Association’s

Moss in the City Newsletter:

Top 10 Winter Houseplants

With colder weather approaching, many of us are forced to get our gardening fix indoors. Houseplants can help us maintain a connection to nature and keep our green thumbs in shape. With thousands of plants suitable for indoor culture, it’s easy to find some with flowers, foliage, or fragrance that pleases you.

The plants listed below are some of my favorites for fighting the winter doldrums. (For friends in the Southwest and Southeast, many of these are good garden plants, too.) My criteria for selection include color, fragrance, foliage, care required, longevity, and even weirdness. With a little love and attention they will flourish and provide years of winter happiness.

For the complete article and list of plants see this site:

http://www.garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=top-10-houseplants 

An article from National Gardening Association’s

Moss in the City Newsletter:

Wire mesh fencing shields woody plants from hungry rodents.

Protecting Plants Against Old Man Winter

Even though my witch hazel and aromatic ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ aster are still blooming, I know the gardening season is ending and it’s time to take steps to help my outdoor plants make it through the winter. The time I take now can mean the difference between plant survival and loss come spring.

for the full article see:

http://www.garden.org/urbangardening/index.php?page=protecting-plants

By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY

Virginia farmer Rod Parker can walk into a grocery store 10 miles from his farm, 40 miles from it and even 100 miles from it and see his fresh produce marketed as “locally grown.”

Some retailers even consider “locally grown” to be something produced a day’s drive from the store, he says. Meanwhile, “I’m sure consumers think it’s grown right down the road,” says the owner of Parker Farms.

Nationwide, retailers from Wal-Mart to Whole Foods are increasingly devoting more shelf space to “locally grown” products including such things as fresh produce and Thanksgiving turkeys. Whole Foods, for one, now spends almost 22% of its produce budget on locally grown products, up from 15% four years ago, it says.

Full article from USA Today can be found here.