From Margery Daugherty, senior extension associate in the Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Department:

Are garden centers in your area worried about what to tell home gardeners this spring about impatiens and their downy mildew problem? (See Impatiens downy mildew in the news for background on the problem.)

This may help: ‘Great Annuals For Shade’ brochures for home gardeners are now online. This colorful brochure describes shade annuals that can be used instead of garden impatiens and briefly discusses downy mildew. Two versions are available:

• 4-page brochure
• Trifold brochure

There’s also a factsheet on impatiens downy mildew for homeowners.

New mild onions offer great taste, long shelf life [Cornell Chronicle 2013-04-27] – Cornell researchers have developed new mild onions that will have chefs crying – tears of joy. Twelve years in development and with a couple years of testing to go, researchers say it will be just a few years before the mild locally grown onions are available to the public. “My goal was to develop a mild onion with higher brix, for better storability, and adapted to New York state long-day growing conditions,” says Martha Mutschler, professor in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics who developed the onions.

Northeast Farmers Urged to Plan Ahead for Climate Change [Lancaster Farming 2013-04-27] – “The assumption that our past historical climate can be used for decision-making is really no longer valid,” David Wolfe told the Climate Smart & Climate Ready Conference at the New York State Grange in Cortland, N.Y., April 19. “The generations of farmers before us could all rely on what the historical climate data told them, we can’t do that,” he said. “This is really the first generation of farmers to face this predicament and so really all of us — ag scientists, NGOs, government agencies and farmers — need to be developing new approaches to environmental monitoring so that we can keep ahead of what is changing out there.”

Awesome Vintage Apple Art: 9 Fruits You Won’t Find at Your Supermarket [Mother Jones 2013-04-26] – Reblogged from CALS Notes: [Mother Jones goes] ga-ga over the 1905 two-tome book The Apples of New York, one of the finest resources for the amateur New England apple enthusiast—“Its nearly 200 illustrations really are worth bragging about, and not just for their scientific value either. They capture the full beauty of apple hues during a time before widespread color photography.” On top of detailed historical and scientific scholarship of 800 apple varieties, the books also teaches readers step-by-step how to identify a mystery apple. Both Volume I and Volume II are available online.

Dean recognizes fantastic faculty, staff and students with awards [CALS Notes 2013-05-03] Congratulations Susan Brown and Jenny Kao-Kniffin, who were among those recognized by Dean Boor April 26. CALS undergraduates recognized Kao-Kniffin for Faculty Excellence in Research Mentoring. Brown received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

Learn botanical illustration online.  Three courses taught by Marcia Eames-Sheavly start June 3, 2013:

• Basic Drawing Techniques
• Working with watercolor
• Advanced Techniques

You can view works by students in previous classes on display in the cases in the west wing of the first floor of Plant Science Building.

Margery Daughtrey, senior extension associate in the Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Department, has had a tough time keeping up with demand from reporters this spring as they rush to cover the dramatic spread of impatiens downy mildew.

“Deer, chipmunks and plagues of locusts have been blamed for the sudden loss of leaves on impatiens — many gardeners who have seen the problem have not yet figured out that it was a plant disease that destroyed their plants,” she told the Chicago Tribune.

In the last week Daugherty was cited in articles of three of the leading papers in the country:

• Impatiens disease changing American gardens [Chicago Tribune 2013-04-22]
• Impatiens, a shade garden workhorse, goes lame [Washington Post 2013-04-17]
• A Pox on Your Flowers [New York Times 2013-04-17]

Fortunately, impatiens aren’t your only flower option for shady sites. For alternatives, see this factsheet from Nora Catlin, CCE Suffolk County.

Students in Creating the Urban Eden: Woody Plant Selection, Design, and Landscape Establishment (HORT/LA 4910/4920), taught by Nina Bassuk and Peter Trowbridge, measured tree diameters on the Ag Quad Tuesday. They will use the measurements to estimate the monetary benefits of each tree, which they’ll display on oversized tree tags attached to each tree during the week leading up to Arbor Day, April 26.

The students will use the National Tree Benefit Calculator, a simple-to-use online tool that estimates the environmental and economic benefits of street trees based on their location, size and species. Those benefits include:

• Reduction in stormwater runoff
• Increase in property value
• Energy savings for heating and cooling
• Improvements in air quality
• Carbon dioxide sequestration

For more information about the calculator, visit: www.treebenefits.com/calculator

Cornell Chronicle, April 8 2013:

Twelve Cornell students practiced their “taking things in stride” skills when they traveled to Belize over spring break, as part of the Experiential Garden-Based Learning in Belize (HORT/IARD 3200) course.

The students were well-prepared for their mission to lead classroom activities that integrate gardening into the curriculum, reinforce those lessons with hands-on gardening experiences, and engage the community in building and supporting school gardens.

What they didn’t know was that two of the three teachers in the Barranco village school where they were scheduled to work would suddenly be called away for the beginning of the week.

“Our students really rose to the occasion,” said Marcia Eames-Sheavly, senior lecturer in the Department of Horticulture and the course’s instructor. “Particularly in global service learning experiences, we stress the need to be flexible and practical. And the students saw this as an opportunity, not a calamity.”

Read the whole article.

More images by Ava Ryan:

Camp Mushroom – Hands-on mushroom cultivation workshop
April 12 & 13, 2013

Location: Cornell’s Arnot Teaching and Research Forest located about 20 miles south of Ithaca, NY at 611 County Route 13, Van Etten, N.Y.

Camp Mushroom is a unique beginner/intermediate level workshop for those interested in small-scale forest mushroom cultivation. Participants will be trained in two methods of mushroom cultivation (bolt and totem), laying yard considerations, and assist in a research project by inoculating bolts and/or totems. Each participant will also inoculate two shiitake bolts to take home.

Cost: $65 ($35 if not staying in cabin bunks). Includes Friday dinner and breakfast and lunch on Saturday.

Registration link at: http://blogs.cornell.edu/mushrooms/events/

Farmers harnessing wind to save apples [Albany Times Union 2013-03-25] – “After last year’s crippling frost, dozens of orchards around the state started investing in the machines. Terrence Robinson (right), an applied fruit crop physiologist at Cornell University, estimated that the number of wind machines in the state likely doubled between 2012 and 2013. The 2012 frost prompted Cornell to conduct a study of the machines’ effectiveness. The study found that farms that already utilized the machines fared much better during the frost. ‘The most viable means of frost protection seems to be these wind machines,’ said Robinson. He said that the university recently worked to encourage farmers to think about methods for protecting against frost, rather than simply relying on crop insurance to make up for losses in years that crops fail. ‘A lot of growers have taken up our advice and run with it,’ he said.”

From mushrooms to dandelions, foraged food finds way to U.S. tables [cnbc.com 2013-03-23] – “Cornell University ecologist Antonio DiTommaso said he was encouraged by the growing interest in eating wild plants and thinks the trend could affect which crops are grown. He no longer buys lettuce in the summer, he said, choosing instead to eat a mixture of plants from his yard in upstate New York. He wondered how far the movement could go in supplanting traditional agriculture. ‘It might have been okay 10,000 years ago,’ said DiTommaso, an assistant professor in the crop and soil sciences department. ‘If we get all of New York City running through our fields in upstate New York, I don’t know that there would be much left.’”

Compost helps restore soil in arid region of China [Cornell Chronicle 2013-03-25] – “Parched land in China has prompted Cornell environmental experts to come up with a simple solution to restore soils in arid areas, using wood chips and compost. Led by Rebecca Schneider, associate professor of natural resources, researchers have shown that a method they developed to restore agricultural land by adding components into the upper soil layer, and collecting and retaining water to make the most of meager rainfall supplies can also contribute to soil fertility and carbon sequestration.”

From Violet Stone, Cornell Small Farms Program vws7@cornell.edu:

Are your farm energy bills on the rise – and are you wondering what you can do to reduce them?  Are you looking for more sustainable sources of energy? Join us online for a webinar series of farmer-led virtual tours and fun, informational tips for saving energy and converting to renewables on your farm or homestead!

This four-part lunchtime webinar series will provide examples of energy conservation measures, solar arrays, wind turbines, compost heat, and a variety of other ecological production techniques and introduce you to farmers and professionals who are successfully harnessing the power of renewable resources to produce affordable, sustainable energy.  Tune in to learn if solar, wind, geothermal, and even compost power are right for you!

The series will run from noon-12:45pm every Friday from March 29th through April 19th.  All of the webinars are free and open to the public.  To sign up, please complete and submit our New Generation Energy Webinar Sign-Up form.   You will receive an email approximately one week before your chosen webinar(s) providing a link and instructions for you to access the series. [More Info]

Sponsored by NE SARE (Northeast Sustainable Ag Research and Education) and the Cornell Small Farms Program.  To learn about funding opportunities available from NE SARE, visit www.nesare.org.  To learn more about sustainable energy resources visit http://smallfarms.cornell.edu/resources/farm-energy/

Grad student helps women rebuild Rwanda with mushrooms [Cornell Chronicle 2013-03-13]

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 scarred its people and its landscape. Cornell graduate student Bryan Sobel is trying to help heal both — using mushrooms. Sobel, a graduate student in the field of horticulture, recently spent two weeks promoting mushroom cultivation to women farmers in the central African republic.

The short-cycle, high-yield crop could offer a profitable complement to traditional crops in an economy largely driven by subsistence agriculture.

Read the whole article.

See also: Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund offers grad students experience, adventure