Congratulations Denise and Alan.
Coffee, Cloves and Chocolate:
Plant Explorers and Thieves
Did you know that pepper was a major player in Europe’s “discovery” of the Americas? Or that coffee is the world’s most widely used psychotropic drug? Learn more about these and other amazing stories as we examine a botanical treasure-trove of important culinary, medicinal, industrial, and ornamental crops over time.
Discover the critical roles plants have played throughout history—from saving lives, to enslaving multitudes, to pitting nation against nation.
Instructor: Don Rakow
M/W 8:40-9:55 AM (3 credits)
Hands-on ‘Stickwork’ workshop Friday with sculptor Patrick Dougherty at Ithaca Children’s Garden Friday
Everyone — young and old — is invited to help create a large-scale ‘stickwork’ sculpture with artist Patrick Dougherty at the Ithaca Children’s Garden, starting at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Dougherty, who has created more than 240 plant-based sculptures, delivered a Messenger lecture (video below) and other talks this week on campus. He uses a well-honed technique to bend, interweave and fasten together sticks and tree saplings, with the help of volunteers, to create an intricately woven network of natural materials that evoke images of nests, igloos, urns, cocoons, cones castles and beehives. In 2006 Dougherty, as a Cornell Council for the Arts artist-in-residence, created a complex array of sculptures that resembled primordial huts in Collegetown. (Read more in the Cornell Chronicle.)
The event is free and open to the public. Come on down and try your hand at stickwork.
See also Cornell Chronicle article: Artist tells how he found his calling with ‘stickwork’
Marion Zuefle, M.S., has joined the staff of the New York State IPM Program as a vegetable IPM educator. Zuefle, who previously served as a NYS IPM vegetable implementation specialist and fruit survey technician, will work closely with growers and researchers around New York and the Northeast.
More recently, Marion has taken responsibility for the sweet corn pheromone trap network, an important resource for farmers, extension educators, and consultants throughout the state. She’s improved the network’s web interface for reporting results and created resources to help cooperators deploy traps and identify catches for accurate results and recommendations. And she’s obtained funding for research to help determine whether spotted wing drosophila, a known pest of small fruit, also poses a threat to tomatoes.
From Steve Gabriel, Extension Aide, Dept. of Horticulture, email@example.com:
I’m collaborating with Roger Ort, Cornell Cooperative Extension – Schuyler County, on a Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension program grant to develop the pawpaw (Asimina triloba) fruit as a niche agricultural crop.
We are seeking existing farmers (with some crops currently under cultivation for sale) in New York State who would consider growing pawpaws on their farm.
We want collaborating farmers to:
- Receive fruits from Cornell and test them in their local markets for saleability
- Plant trial groves 1/4 – 1 acre in size (plant stock would be provided)
We are hoping to have a range of microclimates and demographics (rural/urban markets) in the study. If you know anyone who might be interested, please let us know: firstname.lastname@example.org
Pawpaws are native to much of the Southeast, north to Pennsylvania and Ohio and west to eastern Nebraska. The large fruit have custard-like flesh with easy-to-remove seeds and hints of banana, mango and cantaloupe.
Our Lansing Orchard has a grove of pawpaws that was established in 1999. We will be using this planting to host short courses, provide fruit for tastings at farmers markets, and to share fruit with local farmers, chefs, and others to conduct a study to determine consumer demand and farm feasibility from the farmer perspective.
The event starts with an interactive tour at Dilmun Hill student-run farm from 4 to 5 p.m., followed by a presentation from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in 143 Plant Science.
This event is free and open to the public, and sponsored by Dilmun Hill Student Farm, Cornell Garden-Based Learning, CU Collaborate and the Toward Sustainability Foundation.
From Cornell Chronicle article 2013-10-16:
Patrick Dougherty, an artist who has created more than 240 plant-based sculptures, will deliver a Messenger lecture and other talks during the week of Oct. 21.
Dougherty uses minimal tools and a well-honed technique to bend, interweave and fasten together sticks and tree saplings, with the help of volunteers, to create an intricately woven network of natural materials that evoke images of nests, igloos, urns, cocoons, cones castles and beehives. In 2006 Dougherty, as a Cornell Council for the Arts artist-in-residence, created a complex array of sculptures that resembled primordial huts in Collegetown. The winner of numerous awards, he has created such works all over the country as well as in Europe and Asia and has chronicled his art in “Stickwork” (2010).
His public Messenger presentation, “Stickwork,” will be part of the University Course, The Art of Horticulture, and will take place Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 12:20 p.m. in 305 Ives Hall.
Lee Dean, lead arborist at Cornell Plantations, Wednesday taught basic tree-climbing to students in HORT 4940 (Special topics in Horticulture: Arboriculture – Applied Tree Care).
Along with Dean, Taryn Bauerle and Don Rakow in the Department of Horticulture teach the course, which is new this semester. Students in the course get hands-on experience with
- Tree establishment
- Assessing plant health
- Worker safety
- Pruning techniques
- Urban forestry