Cornell Cooperative Extension Community Horticulture

In the NY Times Home & Garden Section

By ANNE RAVER

Published: January 7, 2009

I COULDN’T believe that the giant goldenrod was still blooming in late December, when the temperature was only 32 degrees. But there it was, its curvy seven-foot stems lounging in a landscape devoted to regional plants at the United States Botanic Garden here.

Solidago stricta, or wand goldenrod, is a native of New Jersey’s coastal wetlands. “But it’s very adaptable. I have it blooming at home, in dry clay, right now,” said Bill McLaughlin, the garden’s curator of living collections. “It’s the plant I name when the local rock garden society asks, ‘What’s blooming in your garden in January?’ ”

We wandered on through the three-acre garden filled with plants native to the Coastal Plain and Piedmont areas, from New Jersey to North Carolina, many of which can be grown in southern parts of New York and Connecticut and other places where winter temperatures rarely drop below zero.

There were chokeberry bushes loaded with red berries; beautyberry full of purple fruit; and a variety of evergreens, including pond pine, longleaf pine and the familiar Eastern red cedar, with waxy blue-gray berries that attract flocks of cedar waxwings.

Even in this frozen state, the garden serves as a model for the Sustainable Sites Initiative, introduced in November by the United States Botanic Garden, the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

See the full article here

How a practiced propagator gets seedlings off to a healthy start

by Adrianna Vargo

Few gardening pursuits are as rewarding as growing your own plants from seed. As the nursery manager at the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello, I have started thousands of ornamental and vegetable plants from seed. Growing plants from seed is not always an easy task, and over the years I have developed and adopted the following techniques to ensure that seeds get a healthy start.

See the full article and videos on Fine Gardening website here

Gardeners are eagerly eying their mailboxes for the winter’s crop of seed catalogs, but they’ll find far fewer seeds to choose from now than just 25 years ago.

By one estimate, the number of commercially available garden seed varieties has fallen by 90% since 1981.

Older “heirloom” varieties, the ones grandpa used to grow, are disappearing from the lists. “Historical value and novelty are not the only reasons to take an interest in heirloom varieties,” says George Kuepper of the Kerr Center, a nonprofit educational foundation in Poteau.

According to a new set of free publications from the center, heirlooms offer much more than just antique accents for both home and commercial gardens.

The rich genetic heritage of heirlooms preserves traits that let them flourish in an age before widespread fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation.

Another plus: since they are neither hybridized nor genetically engineered, anyone can save their seed to plant again in the next season.

Two of the new reports detail the results from the Kerr Center’s heirloom variety trials.

Over the 2008 growing season, Kerr Center tested 30 heirloom varieties of okra, and twenty (along with six newer varieties for comparison) of sweet sorghum.

Growing Heirloom Okra at the Kerr Center: A Preliminary Study rates okra varieties for yield, date of first harvest, plant height, ease of harvest, fruit type and color, and attractiveness as landscape plants.

“Okra is one of the most popular and intriguing vegetables in the Mid-South United States,” Kuepper writes. “It not only adds variety, taste and nutrition to Southern cuisine, it is one of the more reliable crops that farmers and gardeners can grow in this climate.”

Results reported in Growing Heirloom Sorghum at the Kerr Center: A Preliminary Study include dates of seedling and head emergence, stalk height, and tillering. “Some heirloom sorghums were much earlier than improved varieties we’ve customarily grown and processed at the Kerr Center,” Kuepper observed.

The Kerr Center has grown sorghum for more than twenty years. During the annual Fall Farm Fest at the Overstreet-Kerr Historical Farm near Sallisaw, visitors watch the sorghum being pressed and “cooked” the old fashioned way.
The center plans more variety trials in 2009.

The third new publication, Heirloom Vegetables, Genetic Diversity, And the Pursuit of Food Security, explains how the loss of heirloom varieties sacrifices both genetic diversity and public control of the food supply.

The report identifies opportunities that heirlooms offer both for market gardening and home food production. It also reviews scientific evidence suggesting that heirloom varieties may be more nutritious than their more recent counterparts.

For more information call the Kerr Center at 918.647.9123 or visit www.kerrcenter.com. The site offers free downloads of these and many other publications on various topics in sustainable agriculture.

March 5th and 6th, 2009

Light on the Hill Retreat Center   Van Etten, NY (just 30 minutes outside of Ithaca)

The Inner Garden Retreat

Rejuvenate yourself…inspire your audience!

2‐day reflective retreat:

• Become a more effective and reflective educator
• Connect your garden program with principles of generosity and belonging.

• Learn about outdoor places of refuge, and how to foster them in your program.

Participants limited to 30 people. Register ASAP to reserve your spot!

$75 registration fee (includes meals and overnight accommodation).

Scholarships available.

Contact Marcia Eames‐Sheavly at ME14@cornell.edu or 607‐255‐1781.

• Day 1: Activities and conversation that help us to take a step back from the “crazy busy” work world

• Day 2: How to “walk the talk:” fostering this in our work environments & with our audiences.

We encourage you to take the time out of your busy schedules to attend this important retreat. It is an investment in yourself, and as importantly, for the audiences and educational programs you work with!

The Ecological Landscaping Association’s 2009 Conference & Eco-Marketplace brochure is now available on ELA’s website: www.ecolandscaping.org.

The event is scheduled for Friday, February 27th and Saturday February 28th, 2009. It is again centrally located at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA.

ELA’s conference offers something for all levels of experience, and we think that master gardeners will find the event especially educational and enjoyable.

Cornell Cooperative Extension manual is at:

http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/education/mgprogram/mgmanual.htm

The Ohio State is at:

http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/mg/manual/index.htm

As one of my community service projects for our new Master Gardener Club, I have started a website that is dedicated to Master Gardeners nationwide.  This site will be a place where Master Gardeners can go to get all types of gardening information, share stories, swap seeds and much more.  There will be an online magazine starting February 1 (which will allow Master Gardeners to submit stories about their gardening experiences) and a photo gallery for members to upload their pictures to.

Many new features will be added as my time allows.  Please feel free to send feedback and let me know if you have any suggestions for the site.

Please visit: www.mastergardenersnetwork.com

Use the username: master and the password: gardener to browse the members only sections.

This log in will be available until February 20, 2009.  After that, all members will need to make their own usernames and passwords.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Dina Schoenfeld

Owensville, Missouri

Ps. If you have any content that would be beneficial to this site, please feel free to forward a link to the page(s).

For Release: IMMEDIATE                                                                      Contact: Lori Severino
Thursday, February 5, 2009                                                                                      (518) 402-8000

DEC ANNOUNCES FREE TREE SEEDLINGS AVAILABLE TO SCHOOLS

Schools across the state are now eligible to receive free seedlings for spring planting through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) School Seedling Program. The program provides 50 tree seedlings or a mixed packet of 30 wildlife shrubs to any public or private school that would like to participate.
The seedlings can be planted on school grounds or other community space. Teachers and students are encouraged to plan the project ahead of time by discussing the values trees contribute to the environment to determine the objectives of the planting such as erosion control, wildlife enhancement, windbreak and other conservation practices.
“As we step up our efforts to green New York, this is a wonderful opportunity for schools across New York to obtain native tree seedlings free of charge,” said Commissioner Pete Grannis.  “The seedlings we plant this spring will grace the grounds of our schools for generations to come, and help clean our water and air and sequester carbon to mitigate climate change.”

Planting 50 seedlings will require approximately 1,800 square feet, while the shrub planting will require about half that space.

To participate, schools should contact DECs Saratoga Tree Nursery at (518) 587-1120, or the nearest DEC regional forestry office and request a school seedling brochure that contains all the information necessary to place an order. All orders must be received at the nursery by March 31^st.   For more information on the school seedling program, visit the DEC website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9393.html .

America the Beautiful Fund’s Operation Green Plant program is offering grants of FREE SEEDS (vegetable, flower, or herb) to encourage citizen efforts to protect and preserve America’s lands and resources. Shipping and handling fees for the first set of 100 seed packets is $14.95. Additional set(s) of 100 packets are available for $5 per set.

Click here for more details.

Capital District Community Gardens (CDCG) is a non-profit community service organization that has helped local residents improve their neighborhoods through community gardening and urban greening for more than 30 years. CDCG manages 47 cooperative neighborhood food gardens in Albany, Rensselaer, and Schenectady Counties that serve more than 3,000 people. Other major program areas include nutrition education, street tree planting and dietary improvement, which include the Squash Hunger program and The Veggie Mobile. Our newest program is The Produce Project.

Produce Project Description:

The Produce Project will establish a job training program for students from

Troy High School, based on the growth and marketing of organic vegetables to local restaurants. Students will build high tunnels and use other season extension techniques to create a year-round produce business, under the supervision of a Farmer/Educator. Trainees will receive stipends and vegetable shares to bring home to their families. Produce sales will help pay trainee stipends and cover operating expenses. Students will receive basic skill training, emphasizing punctuality and preparedness for work, the ability to follow directions and work as a team. Particular skills learned will include plant care, harvesting, natural pest control, record keeping, marketing and business management.

Farmer/Educator’s Responsibilities Include:

• Farm business management including growing, marketing and production

• Monitoring attendance of job trainees and maintaining work records

• Making appropriate records available to project partners

• Coordinating trainee schedules and expediting work flow

• Balancing trainee’s skills and experience with work opportunities so that they continue to enhance their personal performance while achieving business goals

• Liaising with individuals and companies to encourage job placement of trainees

• Working with CDCG staff to optimize partnerships, training and business success

Required Skills:

Agricultural experience is critical, organic growing methods preferred. A record of managerial oversight and/or teaching is encouraged, preferably with a non-traditional work community. Ability to coordinate with governmental agencies, maintain personnel records and provide effective training. Successful candidate will be flexible and able to work with diverse segments of the population. Excellent written and oral communication skills are necessary.

Creativity, vivacity and a love of farming will all be helpful, but not at the expense of thoroughness and attention to detail.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary for the position is $25,000 per year. Benefits include: Fully paid health insurance; generous vacation and holiday leave: and retirement plan.

CDCG offers a great work environment.

Send Resume To:

edcenter@cdcg.org or attn: Matthew Schueler at Capital District Community Gardens