Please share this inforamtion widely within your communities it is via Meg McGrath, Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University and is posted the Department of Horticulture blog:

http://blogs.cornell.edu/hort/2009/06/26/late-blight-a-serious-disease-killing-tomatoes-and-potatoes-this-year/

On Thursday July 2nd from 7:30 to 9:30 PM, vegetable specialists from Rutgers University and Cornell University will be holding a webinar on Late blight and other important diseases of tomato will for interested homeowners, master gardener volunteers  and extension personnel in the Northeast.

All are invited to log-on by clicking on the following link at 7:30 on Thursday evening. https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=783&password=M.0F6AA3BB4AF839F512A8243F881332

For this session: TOMATO DISEASE CLINIC

For more information on the webinar, please contac:

Steven Komar, Sussex County Agricultural Agent , New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at skomar@aesop.rutgers.edu or at 973-948-3040.  *********************************************************** Margaret Tuttle McGrath Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Cornell University Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center 3059 Sound Avenue Riverhead, NY 11901-1098

From the

Gardens are, of course, a source of food and flowers, and tending them can be soothing and satisfying. But when planted by soldiers or their families, they also can be a way to connect with each other and a place to renew and reintegrate.

To give members of the military and their families such common ground, Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) Defiant Gardens program plants gardens in the ground and in plastic containers on military bases and in communities with many military families and sends container gardens to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

for the full article click here

From June 15, 2009 PR Newswire

Americans fear bugs – big time. In fact, bug infestations rank just behind fires and natural disasters as one of the most dreaded threats to people’s homes, according to a recent national survey.
more…here

NYS IPM will hold their second IPM In-depth workshop from 12:30-5:00 on July 20, 2009. This year’s hands-on topics are:

• Aphid identification
• Beneficial and damaging nematodes in the greenhouse and nursery
• All about alkalinity – testing your water

Program details:
Aphid ABC’s
Aphids may not be your #1 pest, but they often seem to blow up out of nowhere at really inconvenient times. How does that happen? Where do they come from? What kinds of aphids are common in greenhouses, why can it be important to know which kinds of aphids are on your crop, and how do you tell them apart? How can you detect an infestation before it gets serious? What pesticides are best for which aphids, and why? What sorts of predators and parasitoids can be used against aphids, and how do they work? We’ll try to cover these topics. Feel free to bring in some aphid-infested plants and we’ll see if we can identify which species you have.

Nematodes in the Greenhouse and Nursery
In this session we’ll take a look at the increasing problems with foliar nematodes and root knot nematodes, we’ll look at the symptoms and the tiny, squirmy worms under microscopes! We’ll also take a look at the very common free-living nematodes that can be found in all soils and beneficial nematodes that can be used to help control greenhouse pests.

All About Alkalinity
What is my water’s alkalinity? Why is alkalinity, not pH, the #1 factor affecting nutritional disorders? How come my alkalinity changes throughout the year? What is the best fertilizer choice for my alkalinity? How does alkalinity reduce effectiveness of some pesticides and how can you correct for this? In this session, we’ll learn the answer to these questions through ‘pHun’ hands-on chemistry exercises. Be sure to bring a water sample from your operation (rinsed 20 ounce plastic soda bottles work fine).

The Doctor is IN
Bring in plants that have ‘issues’ you can’t identify and our team of experts, and your fellow growers, will diagnose what the problem might be. We’ll all learn something!

The day after the IPM-In-Depth is Cornell’s annual Floriculture Field Day (July 21).

Registration form – Combination form allows you to register for IPM In-Depth and/or Floriculture Field Day and Container Competition. Cost for the IPM In-Depth is $45 and attendance is limited to 45 participants. Pre-registration required.
Questions? Contact Betsy Lamb at eml38@cornell.edu or (607) 254-8800

Details at:

http://soilhealth.cals.cornell.edu/extension/events/2009workshop.pdf

or from  Larissa Smith, lls14@cornell.edu, 607-255-2177

see it here.

The University of Missouri Extension has released Community Gardening Toolkit (PDF/971KB). The 16 page publication contains information on how to start a community garden, steps to success, benefits of a garden, resources and more. Also available is a Gardeners’ Welcome Packet (PDF/134KB). The packet is intended to be a tool for organizing your garden, introducing new gardeners to the policies, procedures and people that keep the garden running smoothly, and keeping returning gardeners updated and involved.

2009 Hooked on Hydroponics

Awards Deadline: September 18, 2009 2009

Healthy Sprouts

Awards Deadline: October 17, 2009 2010

Youth Garden Grants

Deadline: November 2, 2009

A special new addition for our conference:

Felder Rushing, a horticulturist and host of “The Gestalt Gardener,” a weekly show on Mississippi Public Radio will be our guest after dinner speaker for the Wednesday gala.

His presentation will be:  “Yard Art: The Good, The Bad, The Unbelievable”

NYT featured him in this article here.

There is something for everyone at this conference. There are more than 30 educational workshops, sessions and tours from which to choose. Come and hear from Cornell campus experts from more than a half dozen Departments around Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Celebrate the benefits of gardening and enjoy the company of your fellow active CCE volunteers from around the state.

Register on line at: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/mgconf/index.html

…and if you do not want to stay in the dorms Best Western is eager for our business. I don’t believe individuals will have much luck asking for this rate but if MGV get together and call through your office they might here are  details ..and consider them for any trip to Cornell.