Gardeners engage the next generation in vegetable growing and making use of all the fruit in the vegetable garden.

Rise to the challenge and create a cool, funky piece of earth-friendly art with youth in your community.
See: Veggie Art

From Marcia Eames-Sheavly:

We have some exciting new project “supports” for you.  Knowing that some of you will be giving workshops for your volunteers, teachers, and other educators, I have put together a garden-based learning presentation that you can use in your counties.  It has been piloted in several settings; it will come with a one-page guide for its use, and a handout to accompany it.  Please let me know if you’d like a copy!  Please also let me know if you would like assistance with a garden-based learning workshop in your region.

As you’re aware, we’re pretty excited about our new living sculpture project, http://www.hort.cornell.edu/livingsculpture Two talented project assistants have been hard at work on the living sculpture project this summer, including creating a living sculpture “toolkit” to inspire an interest and direct people toward the website.  It contains a couple of informational/inspirational posters; a poster that instructs, in images, how to make the ever popular “sod sofa;” seeds, and other materials.  It’s at the printer currently, and we’ll be sending a kit to every county.  If you’re gearing up to do more with living sculpture, let us know if you’ll need more than one kit.

Cornell Garden-Based Learning Institute

Brown Bag Lunch Series

Mark your calendars now:

September 11 * October 9 * November 13 * December 11

 

12:05 – 12:55, Rm. 22 Plant Science Building

Join us on September 11th for a lively discussion as we explore the garden – nutrition connection:

 

v     Integrating gardening with food, nutrition, and community food systems approaches.

v     Reaching diverse audiences.

v     How to connect community members from different cultures for idea exchanges.

v     Current projects offered by various departments and programs.

Who should attend?

v     Educators, volunteers, students and practitioners – anyone with an interest in the topic, willing to engage in dialogue.

v     Bring a brown bag lunch.  We’ll see you then.

For more information: Marcia Eames-Sheavly, ME14@cornell.edu or 255-1781

click here for flier

What’s green, very cool, easy to make, and can transform your world? Living sculpture, of course! We’re launching a new website that introduces young people and their leaders to the leading edge in gardening and the environment.

What is living sculpture?
It’s sculpture created with living, growing, or recently harvested plants. It can be functional and/or ornamental.

What comes to mind when you think of sculpture?
Chances are, you may think of something made from clay, plaster, glass, bronze, or even, plastic. Sculptors through the ages have traditionally worked with media such as these. Although sculpting plants isn’t a new idea (think bonsai or topiary), its recent rediscovery by artists, horticulturalists, gardeners, and young people has given living sculpture an innovative popularity.

Living sculpture offers a highly appealing blend of art and science. On one hand, you’re creating a piece of art. It’s creative, it may be whimsical, and will surely stand out in your backyard, park, school, or community center. Creating a living sculpture gives you the chance to bring your own unique vision or idea to life (literally!) On the other hand, this piece of art is alive! The plants you use are a vital part of your sculpture. Those plants have needs that must be met to keep your sculpture alive, and may require special horticultural skills, such as grafting, to create the art.

How is the project set up?

Our web-based project guide introduces easy activities that you can do in an afternoon, and more challenging community projects to create over time. Videos and images provide inspiration. You’ll find guides to making many projects, from sod furniture to topiary and mowing patterns. Visit us! http://www.hort.cornell.edu/livingsculpture

What leaders are saying about Living Sculpture:

“It’s exciting to see that the gardening community has produced something revolutionary for a change.”

“The kids got so creative and wanted to keep going and going. We will be doing more projects along this line!”

“I’m always pleased to see the sod sofa in use. Yesterday morning when I came out of Gimme Coffee I saw a woman reclining on it reading a book. It’s certainly not just for kids.”

Visit our site!

http://www.hort.cornell.edu/livingsculpture

Questions? Contact: Marcia Eames-Sheavly, ME14@cornell.edu

Christine Hadekel, a project leader with Cornell’s Garden-based Learning Institute, attended a workshop titled “Writing Right for the Web.” She thought these items below were some of the most useful points in the workshop:

· People go to a website for two reasons

1. To find content and information that’s important to them
2. To take actions and complete tasks

· People are impatient. A website needs to be clear and concise in order to initially capture and then hold peoples attention (this needs to occur within 2-3 seconds of them visiting your website).

· Web readers are scanners. Sentences and paragraphs need to be short and broken up using subheads and bullet points.

- Paragraphs should have a maximum of 5 sentences or < 50 words.

- Sentences should have a maximum of 5 to10 words.

- Subheads should use active words.

· Blogs are a very popular and effective method of conveying a lot of information on a website. One way to do this is provide a list of topics with intro paragraphs, and then provide the opportunity for people to click to the full story if they want to find out more.

· If you use photos at the top, pair the image with a caption that succinctly captures the message of the page. Top of the page photos can distract the viewer from your primary message.

· Use “care words.” Words that are important to your audience and reflect what they can get out of the site. For example, “care words” on a university site that is trying to attract new students would be words such as: “advance your career” and “gain the skills you need”, not words that reflect the institution such as “diverse student body” or “experienced faculty.” A garden example: “find the tools and activities you need for your gardening success” as opposed “one-stop-shopping for gardening how-to information.”

· Speak to the people visiting your website – use the word YOU.

· Real stories about real people are very popular and effective at getting a message across.

· Use newspaper copy words, not frilly and fancy language.

· Use emotional language when appropriate.

· The right-hand column of a page is now used as the place to list visible calls to action – i.e. opportunities to get involved, connect, interact, contact others, etc…. Use imperative action words that tell people what to do (i.e. Interact!)

· Limit the use of PDFs – especially ones that were initially print publications. Reformat these PDFs into an online friendly or blog format.

· Avoid low contrast between colors of text and background.

· Use a consistent font and format throughout your website. Verdana, Arial, and Calibri are the most popular fonts for websites.

· White space between lines is very important.

· An organization’s mission statement is written primarily for the internal community and therefore should not be featured prominently at the top or beginning of a page.

· Title tags are important ways to be ranked higher by a search engine. Title tags should include the main heading of a page.

· To ensure maximum search engine visibility: use common keywords, ensure no broken links, ensure good title tags on every page, ensure good content and body copy on every page.

· Check all links on your website to make sure there are no dead links. Dead links inhibit a high search rank.

Monday July 21^st (10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) Hosted by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County

This in-service will provide an opportunity for CCE educators working in community horticulture to build their confidence and skill in helping lawn owners implement ecological lawn care practices.

Come with your lawn care questions and be prepared to practice identifying grasses, weeds and diseases as well as trouble shooting issues in the field. Cornell turf team experts Dr. Frank Rossi will be leading this in-service.

We will begin at 10am at CCE Rensselaer, 61 State Street, Troy, NY and take a field trip to nearby lawns in the afternoon. We will end about 3:00 pm.

Registration fee: $25 includes lunch and materials.

Homework
Identify the hot lawn care topics and issues in your county. Bring your clients’ most challenging/frequently asked lawn care questions and issues. We want to share these with the turf team to identify potential solutions and fuel future educational and research efforts.
Review Lawn Care without Pesticides and Lawn Care Almanac available from www.gardening.cornell.edu/lawn

Send this registration information by July 15^th to:
Maxine Welcome mw45@cornell.edu
Your Name:
Your County:
Your Email:
The county 9100 account to charge $25 fee:

…after July 15^th contact Lori to register.

If you are not able to attend this in-service do you have a volunteer eager to build expertise in lawn care and willing to represent your county program at this in-service? If so please contact Lori to determine arrangements.

Lori Bushway, bushway@cornell.edu, 607.255.5918

This is an invitation to submit photos for the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program’s new website. Your program can become world famous!

We have been working on an exhaustive and exciting revision of our website. Soon, it will be easy to navigate, attractive, user friendly, featuring excellent content! BUT, we’re missing photos of YOUR program, and that would make it so much better.

1) We are looking for 4 photos to feature on our homepage. We invite you to submit photos from your program that you would like to be permanently featured on our site! Your photo submission(s) should illustrate the following four themes:
· Garden-based learning activities and projects in action
· Keys to a successful adult, youth or adult and youth gardening programs
· Your garden
· Connecting with others interested in gardening (i.e. photos of Master Gardener Volunteers, 4-H leaders, older folks in the community, etc…)

2) We are also looking for many more photos to feature throughout our website that beautifully illustrate the following:
· Garden-based learning in action with youths, adults, families, communities…
· CCE Volunteers or adult and youth citizens actively engaging in leadership roles
· People of all ages learning about food/ nutrition as it relates to the garden
· People demonstrating an appreciation of the outdoors/garden environment
· The intimate connection between children, youth or adults and nature
· The unique perspective volunteers or children and youth bring to a program
· The role of your garden/program in your community
· Your garden-based learning success stories or any other fantastic photos from your program!

Please send your photos to Marcia Eames-Sheavly by August 1^st, 2008.

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.

Are you looking for ways to share the excitement of school gardening with other teachers and educators? Need to convince your administrators of the benefits of beginning a garden in your school? Although you’re familiar with all the merits, are you looking for research-based justification of why gardening is so important? Use this Powerpoint presentation (link) to get everyone on board! Designed as a guided presentation, or a stand alone that can run on its own, this will help you rally others and build enthusiasm. Available from the Cornell GBL resource page: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl/pubs/index.html

You might also be interested in the Creating and Sustaining Your School Garden CSYSG training program created by the UC Davis Children’s Garden Program and UC Santa Cruz/Life Lab at:

http://www.csgn.org/page.php?id=75