A 4-H club in Erie County, “The Ladybugs,” recently videotaped the process of a bonsai tree project they completed. The Erie County 4-H Staff graciously shared the video with us. Enjoy!

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Here’s some highlights from the March CGBL newsletter: (Or view the newsletter in its entirety here>>>)

• The CCE Statewide Beneficial Insect Campaign is well underway.
• Another round of online Botanical Illustration Courses were completed (image @ right)
• The first Permaculture Design Certification course took place last Fall, packed with 31 enthusiastic students. Graduates are developing PC gardens at Dilmun Hill Farm and on campus.
• VEGETABLE VARIETY TRIAL & DEMO GARDEN (VVdG) is underway for its second year. Registration has closed, but stay tuned for updates!
• We’ve launched a MINI-GRANT program and
• an E-LIST for Garden Educators, in an effort to help NYS garden educators share successes/challenges, resources, and have a forum for discussion: NYSGardenEducatorsNetwork-L@cornell.edu. The list will be live ANY DAY now!

The Alchemical Nursery and the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute
announce the donation of two half-scholarships for the Community
Training in Ecological Design in Syracuse, NY.

You can apply for a scholarship worth $100 towards your tuition.
Application deadline is Sunday January 27th at midnight

To register, and apply for a scholarship, please visit the Finger
Lakes Permaculture website at http://FingerLakesPermaculture.org.

To learn more about the course, information is also available at the
Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/443712039011996/

North Country Jr. Iron Chef registration is OPEN – and both the middle and high school divisions are more than half full!

On December 1st schools/organizations can register more than one team per division.

Visit the event website at http://ncjrironchef.org/ to learn more or register a team.

More about the event… NC Jr. Iron Chef is a competition for teams of middle and high school students from Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties, NY. The challenge is to develop healthy recipes, using a combination of local and commodity foods, that could be prepared in a school cafeteria. On competition day each team will prepare their recipe and present it to a panel of distinguished judges who will choose the winners! North Country Jr. Iron Chef… offers a positive, hands-on experience with healthy food for youth, shown to increase the likelihood that students will select and consume these foods; provides an opportunity to learn about and build lifelong skills related to healthy food purchasing and preparation; is a creative approach to addressing school food issues and engaging youth in the dialogue; & promotes the incorporation of local foods into school menus. North Country Jr. Iron Chef will be held on March 9, 2013 and is a project of the Health Initiative, in partnership with St. Lawrence University. Learn more at http://ncjrironchef.org/.

The Cornell Farmworker Program (CFP) is dedicated to improving the living and working conditions of farmworkers and their families. We also seek recognition for farmworkers’ contributions to society and their acceptance and full participation in local communities. The 2013 Summer Internship program is accepting applications now until Feb 4. Check out the image or the CFP site for more details.

The next Take Root! Training for Garden Educators is taking place this Saturday at 12 noon at the Steinway Library in Queens. Topics to include Intro to Permaculture, Season Extension and Capacity Building. A few spots still left. More info visit http://www.queenslibrary.org/event/take-roots-garden-educator-training & www.gardening.cornell.edu/takeroot.

CGBL September Newsletter –

In 2012, Cornell Garden-based Learning revived a Cooperative Extension tradition of focusing on a yearly theme to promote educational resources statewide. With the theme of “Soil & Compost”… See entire newsletter

On-line Garden-Based Learning courses for the Fall

The following horticulture 6 week distance learning courses will be offered this fall for school, community-based educators, or volunteers who want to enhance their garden-based learning program. For each of these courses, participants earning a cumulative outstanding or satisfactory grade will be awarded 3 Cornell University Continuing Education Units and a certificate of participation.

Planning and Organizing Sustainable Gardening Programs – Starts Sept. 4.

Looking to start a school or community-based garden program, but do not know where to begin? This course focuses on the foundations and benefits of garden-based learning, and provides the tools, resources, and collaborative support needed to plan, organize and develop a successful and sustainable gardening program that fits your organization’s needs.

Teaching and Learning in the School Garden – Starts Oct. 8.

Focusing on the foundations, benefits, and teaching strategies of garden-based learning (GBL), participants will build a toolbox of resources for developing a school gardening program that meets cross-curricular needs. Case study, research, and GBL resources are evaluated through group discussion, learning activities, and reflective journals. Educational theory will be put into practice using real-world tools, through collaboration, practicum, small and whole group discussion, lesson plan assignments, and the final portfolio project.

Find out more about these and other distance learning courses offered by the Department of Horticulture at our distance learning site.

We have great news!  Many of you have heard about Youth Grow, but fewer of you are really familiar with it yet.

Youth Grow is a leadership program for high-school aged youth that provides them with the training and tools to become leaders in creating sustainable local food systems. As we are well aware, young people can play multiple and important roles in the creation of sustainable community food systems: as key consumers, as future leaders, and increasingly, as agents of change.  The goal of Youth Grow is to support youth in getting involved in this national movement so that their engagement can produce meaningful and effective change in their own communities, and serve as motivation for others to the same.

Our Youth Grow activities are nearly complete, and soon will be available at our garden-based learning website.  We will alert you when activities are complete and appear at our site here.

The rare nine-spotted ladybug has been found in New York State after 29 years without making an appearance. This is New York’s official state bug, valued for its value as a predator in gardens and farm fields.