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:

Students in HORT/IARD 3200, Experiential Garden-Based Learning in Belize, spent the week leading classroom activities and building school gardens in a village in Toledo District. Details coming soon.

Did you do anything of horticulture interest on spring break? Send pix to cdc25@cornell.edu

Students in HORT 4940 Biodiversity on Easter Island kicked up their heels. Learn more at the Department of Horticulture seminar they’ll be giving April 22.

Did you do anything of horticulture interest on spring break? Send pix to cdc25@cornell.edu

• Fall Semester, 2013
• HORT 4940
• 2 credits
• Letter grade
• Tuesdays — 9:05 – 9:55 am Lecture and 1:25 – 4:25 Lab

Permaculture is an approach to land use that promotes systems that meet human needs, increase ecosystem health, and address local inequalities. Learn a systems-thinking and ecological approach to designing gardens, farms, and landscapes. The practice has been taught to people all over the world since its inception in the late 1970s and is successfully used as a tool to integrate horticulture and agricultural systems.

The Department of Horticulture at Cornell University will again be offering a Permaculture Design Certification Course this coming Fall semester, 2013. The course will be meet Tuesdays (morning lecture, afternoon lab) and feature hands-on activities at the MacDaniels Nut Grove and Dilmun Hill Student Farm, in addition to a number of field trips. Professor Ken Mudge and Cooperative Extension Aide Steve Gabriel will teach the course.

In 2012 the course was full with 31 enthusiastic students from academic departments including Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Plant Science, Natural Resources, Animal Science, and Agriculture. (See video below.)

In addition to credit, successful completion of coursework earns students an internationally recognized Permaculture Design Certificate issued by the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute. (Note: There is a $200 materials fee per student to cover certification costs)

Find more information at the Permaculture@Cornell website.

Permaculture Design Certification class @ Cornell U from Developing Pictures on Vimeo.

Indoor lawns help students handle stress [UPI 12/5/2012] – Grass lawns brought indoors are helping Cornell students at University in New York deal with the stress of final exams. Marcia Eames-Sheavly, director of the Garden-Based Learning program, said she understands the calming allure of grass. “We know from research that time spent in nature fosters diverse facets of our well-being, from cognitive function, to lower stress levels. [Indoor lawns] are easy to create, and do not require elaborate materials.” See also Concrete Oases at The Essentials.

Sandy uprooted trees by the thousands in NY, NJ [AP 11/17/2012] – “When trees go down that have lived a long life and been so beneficial, it’s terrible when they cause injury to people and property,” said Nina Bassuk, program leader at the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell University. “We have to replant better and do it smarter.” Bassuk suggests shorter trees like hawthorns and crabapples below electric wires and using CUsoil to help trees extend their roots beneath pavement to improve their balance in high winds.

Northeast sees second-driest November since 1895 [Cornell Chronicle 12/11/2012] – With an average of 1.04 inches of precipitation, the region received only 27 percent of its normal level making it the driest November was in 1917, according to Cornell’s Northeast Regional Climate Center.

Are Some Red Wines Healthier Than Others? [Prevention 12/2012] – Leroy Creasy, professor emeritus, Department of Horticulture, consistently found the highest concentrations of resveratrol in pinot noirs that had been grown in cool, rainy climates. His advice to health conscious imbibers: “Stay away from huge wineries, because their wine is made by chemists and they tend to mellow the wine out to save aging time, which reduces resveratrol. Stick to boutique wineries or traditional old-fashioned wineries, where the winemaker is not a chemical engineer.”

From Betsy Leonard, CUAES organic farming coordinator bai1@cornell.edu:

Have you ever wanted to grow vegetables, have an awesome summer job, and take on a leading role at Dilmun Hill, Cornell University’s student organic farm? This is your opportunity! We are now accepting applicants for market garden managers for the 2013 season.

The market garden managers are part of the team of students that will run the farm during the summer and fall.

Market garden managers are full-time paid positions over the summer and and part time into the fall semester. They also coordinate a wonderful group of volunteers. All Cornell undergraduates, who will still be enrolled next year are eligible for the position. To apply, please complete the written application and the questionnaire below and send them to Betsy Leonard by January 30.

Manager application (docx)

Manager application questionnaire (docx)

Cornell University’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York offers a Summer Research Scholars Program where undergraduate students can participate in exciting research projects in one of four disciplines including; Entomology, Food Science, Horticulture, and Plant Pathology/Plant-Microbe Biology.

The student interns will have the opportunity to work with faculty, their graduate students, postdocs, and staff on research projects that can be laboratory or field-based.

The submission deadline for all application related material is February 1, 2013.

More information and application instructions.

View 2013 horticulture research projects.

From Frank Rossi, who introduces students to plants grown for food, beverages, fiber, aesthetics and recreation in HORT 1101 (Horticultural Science and Systems). View more HORT 1101 posts.

We’ve been exploring the culture, history and chemistry of dye from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, culminating in this week’s lab where students used indigo dye to to create a class banner and turn a piece of clothing into a work of art to take home.

Click on images for larger view.  See indigo art from last year’s class.

Hortus Forum, Cornell’s student horticulture club, will be holding its annual poinsettia sale on December 3 and 7 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Kenneth Post Labs Greenhouses on Tower Road (near the Vet School, view map).

Prices are:

• 6″ pots: $9
• 10″ pots: $15

Questions? Contact Chelsea at cmv45@cornell.edu

Deliveries can be arranged for larger orders on a case-by-case basis for a flat-rate charge of $15.

Some of this year’s varieties (click image for larger view):

If you’d like to catch a glimpse of students’ final projects in Marcia Eames-Sheavly’s Art of Horticulture class, you can sneak a peak online.

You can also see previous class’s work (as well as other class projects and videos) by visiting the Art of Horticulture’s gallery page.