February 4, 2010
Get experience growing, maintaining and evaluating plants. 35 hour/week paid internship, June 1 to Aug 20. Application deadline March 1. For more information, see poster or contact Melissa Kitchen at 607-280-4898 or mjb239@cornell.edu.
February 3, 2010
From Mason Newark, president of Hortus Forum, Cornell’s undergraduate horticulture club:
It’s that time of year again!
That’s right, Valentine’s Day is almost here, and that means that the annual Hortus Forum Rose Sale is nearly upon us! The sale will be held on February 12th, 2010 at Duffield Hall and Mann Library Lobby. We will also have a second sale on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 in some location to be determined in Collegetown. Our prices are $4 for a singlet, $20 for a half dozen, and $30 for a dozen.
We will be accepting preorders starting today until 10am on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010. If you would like to place a preorder, please email me at mjn68@cornell.edu with the following information:
Payment can be made with either cash or check.
February 3, 2010
From a Feb 2. Cornell Chronicle article:
“The Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES) has adopted a culture of sustainability that welcomes ideas from everyone in the organization.
“‘We are empowering people by giving them an opportunity to be a part of this [sustainability] cause,” said Mike Hoffmann, director of CUAES. “You have to offer all of the citizens an opportunity to do the right thing.’”
The right things — which will help the university meet its goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050 — include:
CUAES is also spearheading a pilot project to cut energy use and the carbon footprint for selected CALS buildings.
February 1, 2010
From Melissa Kitchen, horticulture research support specialist who accompanied Hortus Forum members on their trip.
Members of Hortus Forum Cornell’s undergraduate horticulture club, spent a week of their winter break touring Florida to get a behind-the-scenes look at the floriculture and horticulture industries most will soon join.
The tour began with a visit to Miami International Airport to explore cut flower importation. Other destinations focused on pot production of orchids, bromeliads and foliage plants. In Homestead, club members visited the Fruit & Spice Park, home of more than 500 varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, nuts, and other commercially important plants from around the world, caught a camellia show at Harry Leu Gardens in Orlando, and attended the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition tradeshow.
Next up were tours of citrus groves and processing and packaging plants, and fruit tasting. And no trip to Florida would be complete without stopping at Disney! Students enjoyed flamboyant topiaries at the Walt Disney World Nursery, while learning about large-scale event coordination. Epcot’s Behind the Seeds tour showcased hydroponic and vertical growing systems.
A kayak tour of the mangroves gave the students an opportunity to get wet and soak up some sun. And last but not least, they visited the University of Florida’s Indian River Research Center.
Hortus Forum would like to thank everyone who patronizes their plant sales for helping make this trip possible!
Behind the scenes at Epcot.
Hortus Forum advisor Dr. Bill Miller discusses container growing with Hortus Forum members at Kurt Weiss Greenhouses, Sun City, Fla.
At the Fruit & Spice Park, Homestead, Fla.
January 29, 2010
Update [2/4/2010]: Follow annual flower research at Bluegrass Lane on Facebook.
Images, ratings and other data from the 2009 annual flower trials at Bluegrass Lane Turf and Landscape Research Center are now available online.
The 2009 trials tested nearly 200 cultivars of recently released or not-yet-available annual flower and foliage plants. Researchers and staff photographed and rated each cultivar through the growing season on flowering impact, foliage, uniformity and overall landscape value.
The cream of the crop — best overall, best in category and honorable mentions — are featured on the site’s Recognition page.
Seven companies helped sponsor the 2009 trials:
January 28, 2010
The Atlantic columnist and gadfly Caitlin Flanagan created quite a stir with her column Cultivating Failure: How school gardens are cheating our most vulnerable students, published in the magazine’s January/February issue.
Flanagan’s main point is that California’s innovative and extensive school garden program not only doesn’t help improve students’ test scores, but might be particularly detrimental the system’s marginally performing students.
While there may not be research showing direct correlations between the California gardening program and standardized test scores, there is, according to Cornell’s Garden-Based Learning Program, “…a significant body of research to support garden-based learning, some of which points to increased academic achievement, in addition to the myriad other benefits, from improved nutrition to enhanced environmental awareness.”
Read the Program’s full response on the Garden-Based Learning blog.
Visit the Cornell Garden-Based Learning Program website to read about studies documenting the benefits of garden-based learning.
January 25, 2010
Featuring free pizza!
Thursday, January 28, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Plant Sciences student lounge and adjacent Room 151 Plant Science.
January 19, 2010
Join Horticulture graduate student Chad Miller for a lecture on the detailed history of the tulip, from its origin in Asia, to modern cultivation, to a bouquet on your table.
The Traveling Tulip
January 24, 2010 – 12:00PM to 1:00PM
This event is part of the Light in Winter festival.
Mann Library, Room 102
Open to Public, Alumni, Students, Faculty, and Staff.
January 19, 2010
Researchers and staff in the Department of Horticulture and Cornell Cooperative Extension educators are helping farmers across New York to tap the benefits of reduced tillage systems, including:
With new funding from the New York Farm Viability Institute and a Specialty Crop Grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the project will provide growers with information, technical assistance and equipment cost-share funds to test reduced tillage on their farms.
“We are seeking growers of all scales, producing conventional or organic vegetables – either direct-seeded or transplanted crops,” says Betsy Leonard, a technician in the Department of Horticulture. “Ideally, we’d like to work with growers who can compare deep zone tillage next to conventional tillage in the same field and on the same crop. We will also assist with economic analysis to quantify cash savings of these systems.”
Locating equipment to test reduced tillage has been a barrier for many growers. To help, the project team is working closely with equipment dealers who can rent equipment for testing.
Planned reduced tillage educational events for growers include:
Contact your local Cornell Cooperative Extension educator, Anu Rangarajan (ar47@cornell.edu) or Betsy Leonard (bai1@cornell.edu) in Cornell University’s Department of Horticulture if you are interested in participating in the project or have questions regarding reduced tillage.
For more information including videos, fact sheets stories from other growers who have transitioned to reduced tillage and more events as they are scheduled, visit the team’s Reduced Tillage Vegetables website.
January 12, 2010
Fruit growers considering the organic market have two new online resources to help them:
The guides provide suggestions on everything from variety- and site-selection to soil health and nutrient management. The bulk of each provides recommendations for how to manage insects, diseases, weeds and other pests using organic practices.
Funding for the guides was provided by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and is part of a series of organic production guides produced by the New York State IPM Program.
Tim Weigle and Juliet Carroll of the NYS IPM Program served as coordinating editors for the grape guide, which included other contributors from Cornell and Penn State Universities. “We were also fortunate to have four organic grape growers from across New York State who provided their expertise in creating this publication,” notes Weigle.
Gregory Peck and Ian Merwin in Cornell’s Department of Horticulture were the primary authors and coordinating editors for the apple guide, which also included contributors from other Cornell units.
Organic guides for beans, carrots, cole crops, cucumbers and squash, peas and spinach are available at the NYS IPM site: http://nysipm.cornell.edu/organic_guide