Cornell Horticulture

The Fall 2009 issue of CALS News features several articles of horticulture interest, including:

Feeding an Empire State – Feature focusing on local foods movement in New York: “Most new farms today are starting small and marketing local,” says Anu Rangarajan, a senior extension associate in the Department of Horticulture and director of the Cornell Small Farms Program. “We need to develop the infrastructure to provide more assistance to these farmers to tap into marketing, distribution, and processing systems and help them identify and produce the right type and right quality of foods for local markets.”

Wine Microbiology students evaluate grapes in the CALS Teaching Winery.

Aspiring Vintners Move into New Teaching Winery – Short report on new teaching winery at Cornell Orchards: “The $900,000, 1,800-square-foot winery, attached to the Cornell Orchards, acts as the Ithaca hub for CALS’ new viticulture and enology undergraduate major, which enrolls roughly 30 students and draws on more than 50 faculty members from the horticulture, food science technology, plant pathology, and applied economics and management departments.

Mann’s Rooftop Garden Named for Dean Susan Henry – Working with students in Peter Trowbridge’s landscape architecture class, John Dyson ’65, past chair of the CALS Advisory Council, and Janet McCue, former director of Mann Library, oversaw the beautification of the space—once an unsightly concrete expanse. The garden will be maintained by Nina Bassuk, professor of horticulture, and her students.

New Apple Selections Are Fast-Tracked at 30 NY Orchards – Thirty New York orchard owners are growing new apple selections developed at CALS’ Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva to test whether the apples could be a commercial success.

From Cornell Cooperative Extension Administration via Linda McCandless, CALS communications director:

New York Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Education Summit: Challenges and Opportunities, Monday, November 30, 2009

Cornell Cooperative Extension, in collaboration with a number of local and statewide partners, will host a Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Summit at the Owego Treadway Inn, in Owego, NY, on Monday, November 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Local government officials, landowner coalition representatives, citizens seeking more information, industry representatives, environmental advocates, emergency responders, researchers and educators are encouraged to attend.

Cornell faculty and educators will join with other professionals to address such educational workshop topics as the Geology of the Shale; Municipalities and the Marcellus Shale; Environmental, Water and Regulatory Issues; Local Government Preparation; Workforce Development and Small Business Application; Landowner management; Legal Issues; Water and Wells; Community Development; Taxation, Revenues, and Property Valuation; State and National Energy Plans.

The summit is open to the public; registration fee is $40. Summit information, including a media release, sponsorship information and a registration link, may be found at gasleasing.cce.cornell.edu .

N.Y. Beginning Farmer Project

A three-year, $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help Cornell University’s Small Farms Program (SFP) work with a coalition of groups to broaden its support for new farmers.

“Growing demand for local foods has created new markets for farmers,” says Erica Frenay, coordinator of the SFP’s N.Y. Beginning Farmer Project. “Many new farmers with little or no agricultural experience want to tap this growing market, but face daunting barriers.”

The funding, from the USDA’s Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program, will help the project draw on the strengths of diverse partner organizations to break down those barriers, including limited access to training, capital, and land.

Erica Frenay

“Our goal is to improve beginning farmer success by providing training both to the farmers and the non-profits that serve them,” says Frenay.

Funding will also help the project:

• Expand its online courses and develop new educational resources, including production-oriented topics, how-to videos and on-the-ground workshops.
• Work with middle- and high schools to develop fun events and learning opportunities to recruit young people to careers in farming.
• Identify and address barriers for farmers wanting to scale up production to meet demands of markets beyond direct-to-consumer sales.

Partners include:

• The Greenhorns, a national young farmers movement
• N.Y. Farm Viability Institute
• NOFA-NY
• N.Y. FarmNet and N.Y. FarmLink
• Cornell University’s Departments of Education and Horticulture
• N.Y. Association of Agricultural Educators
• Cornell Cooperative Extension
• Heifer International
• A dozen non-profits from around the Northeast that train and support beginning farmers.

To stay informed about the N.Y. Beginning Farmer Project, sign up for the free monthly Small Farms Program’s e-newsletter and/or visit the N.Y. Beginning Farmer website.

A bevy of Cornell bred potatoes are featured in an Oct. 13 article in the New York Times. (See Stand Back, Yukon Gold: There’s a New Potato in Town.)

Researchers at Cornell University developed them, along with about a dozen varieties that grow well in New York and have flavors that rival the most popular potatoes in the United States.

So growing Keukas here is a no-brainer? Cornell can only wish. Despite the problems, New York farmers continue to grow what their fathers grew and what consumers demand — the heavily marketed Yukons and familiar baking potatoes like russets — and most chefs prefer cheap potatoes shipped in bulk from the Pacific Northwest or Canada.

“We have to educate ourselves and then educate the consumer,” [Orange County Farmer Cheryl] … Rogowski said.

John Mishanec, an agricultural specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, has become something of an evangelist for Cornell-bred potatoes.

“You wouldn’t think of buying an apple without knowing what variety it is,” Mr. Mishanec said. “What I thought we should do is let’s evaluate the New York varieties, figure out what does what well and then market them that way.”

In 1904 New York State grew 435,000 acres of potatoes. This year there are about 17,000 acres, most of them planted with starchy varieties by large growers in western New York who mainly supply potato chip makers.

But potatoes are gaining popularity at farmers’ markets and farm stands in eastern New York, Mr. Mishanec’s territory. Many are varieties Cornell has released in the last 15 years. In addition to Keukas, they include another firm yellow potato, the Lehigh; Adirondack Reds and Blues; and two white varieties, Salem and Eva.

Read the whole article.

Visit the Cornell Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website for descriptions and seed potato sources for these and other varieties:

• Keuka Gold
• Lehigh
• Adirondack Red
• Adirondack Blue
• Salem
• Eva

Sept. 14, 2009 Department of Horticulture seminar on the benefits of high tunnels for extending the season early and late for vegetables, flowers and berries. Presenters: Dr. Marvin Pritts, Dr. Chris Wien, and intern Elizabeth Buck.

High tunnel seminar, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell University from Cornell Horticulture on Vimeo.

For more information, visit the Cornell High Tunnels website.

8/28/2009 news release from the New York Farm Viability Institute featuring High Tunnels project led by Chris Wien:

The opportunity to extend New York’s growing season, and produce crops that are bigger, better looking and higher yielding has many growers considering high tunnels.

“Living in the northeast, we have a lot of weather that is not good for growing crops. The more high tunnels I can put up, the more I will,’’ said Zaid Kurdieh, owner of Norwich Meadows Farm, in Norwich, NY. …

For the past few years, Cornell University has been conducting on-farm research trials to be able to make recommendations about production practices, crops, varieties, pest management, economics, and more. An outreach campaign to share information with farmers includes field days, a website, blog, farm visits by Cooperative Extension educators, and more. …

“A cool, wet season is a good argument for high tunnels, especially if you are growing warm-season crops – tomatoes, eggplants, and so on,” said Judson Reid, a vegetable specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

The chance to increase yields, or attract premium prices for, say, fresh and local lettuce in April, or strawberries in September, has attracted the interest of numerous growers and start-up farmers.

Read full news release.

Visit Cornell High Tunnels website.

Attendees at a pair of August field days at the Organic Research Farm at the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research facility in Freeville, N.Y., were treated to a hands-on workshop to assess cover crop performance and other demonstrations and presentations, including:

• Specialized equipment for weed control and reduced tillage.
• Organic breeding for quality and disease resistance.
• High tunnels for early and extended harvest of warm season crops.
• Compost quality and maturity.

Analyzing cover crops at Freeville organic field day.

Zone tillage demo at Freeville organic twilight tour.

Participants view hoophouse crops at Freeville organic twilight tour.

More information:
Melissa Kitchen, 607-280-4898 or mjb239@cornell.edu.

For permissions, contact Craig Cramer: cdc25@cornell.edu

Right, Floriculture Field Day attendees at Cornell University’s Bluegrass Lane research facility viewed and rated new and recent annual flower introductions.

ITHACA, N.Y. – In July, attendees at the Floriculture Field Day and open houses at Cornell University’s Bluegrass Lane Research Center rated their favorite new and recent annual flower introductions.

“Surprisingly, they agreed on three of the top five choices,” says Melissa Kitchen, who coordinates the trials. “Sometimes what the industry likes doesn’t go over as well with the public.”

But this year, floriculture pros and general public agreed that Zinnia Zahara ‘Fire’, Sanvitalia Cuzco ‘Yellow’ and the ornamental millet variety ‘Jade Princess’ belong at the top of any gardener’s or landscaper’s list.

Lobelia Techno Heat ‘Upright Light Blue’ and Salvia Velocity ‘Blue’ rounded out the industry Top 5, while Lobelia Techno Heat ‘Electric Blue’ and the purple fountain grass Pennisetum Graceful Grasses ‘Rubrum’ made the public list.

“It’s not a scientific test,” notes Kitchen. “But it does give you an idea of what flowers are catching the eyes of pros and the public.”

The raters chose from among more than 240 annual flower cultivars from the seven companies that sponsored trials at Cornell in 2009: Ball FloraPlant, PanAmerican Seed, Syngenta Flowers Inc., Proven Winners, Oro Farms, W. Atlee Burpee & Co. and American Takii, Inc.

You can view images and ratings of previous years’ trials at the Bluegrass Lane Annual Flower Trials website: www.hort.cornell.edu/bglannuals. Results of this year’s trials will be posted there at the end of the season.

The Floriculture Field Day also featured the sixth annual Kathy Pufahl Memorial Container Design Competition. View winners and other entries at www.greenhouse.cornell.edu.

Right to left, Zinnia Zahara ‘Fire’, Sanvitalia Cuzco ‘Yellow’ and the ornamental millet variety ‘Jade Princess’.

Below, Floriculture Field Day attendees at Cornell University’s Bluegrass Lane research facility viewed and rated new and recent annual flower introductions.

Attendees learned how to sample for annual bluegrass weevils at the July 15 Cornell Turfgrass Field Tour at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, Ithaca, N.Y. (below). The remaining field tour of this summer’s series will be held Aug. 12 at Bethpage State Park, site of the U.S. Open.

Turf professionals can keep up with pests, diseases and the latest sustainable turf management practices through the weekly Cornell Turfgrass ShortCUTT podcast.

Viewing flower beds at 2009 Cornell Floriculture Field Day

Attendees at the Cornell Floriculture Field Day June 21 were treated to talks on bulbs and landscape perennials, color in the landscape, insect and disease management, Cornell research updates, and a consumer panel at the Vet School’s James Law Auditorium.

But the action heated up that afternoon when the program shifted to the Bluegrass Lane Turf and Landscape Research Facility, adjacent to the Cornell campus. There, participants viewed more than 1,000 flower varieties in walkabouts of the perennial and annual flower trials.

In addition, the winners of the 6th Kathy Pufahl Memorial Container Design Contest were announced and Carol Glenister, IPM Labs, Locke, N.Y., accepted an Excellence-in-IPM Award from the NYSIPM Program for her work with beneficial insects.

View container contest entries.

Below, Carol Glenister explains how ‘guardian plants’ can attract beneficial insects that help keep pest in check to ornamental plantings.