Food Gardening Class Targets Beginning Gardeners

While the calendar may be saying it is still winter, warm, rich soil lay in wait of springtime, ready to accept tomato plants, carrot seeds, and other nutritious vegetable and fruit plantings. A course for beginning gardeners called Food Gardening 101 offers an opportunity to learn about how to successfully grow vegetables and fruits for the family table in the backyard.

The series of four classes will be taught by trained volunteer Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. All classes will be offered at two different locations: the Shirley J. Luck Senior Citizen Center, 109 East Main Street, Johnstown, and the Arkell Museum/Canajoharie Library, 2 Erie Boulevard, Canajoharie. 

Classes are arranged sequentially, but can be attended independent of each other if desired. Residents may register for all four classes or select separate sessions. Each session will provide a combination of classroom instruction, demonstration and hands-on experiences.

Scheduled sessions include: Starting Your Seeds; Selecting a Site for Your Garden; Mapping Your Garden; and Post-Planting Care. Details about each class can be downloaded below.

Canajoharie classes will be offered on March 15, March 29, April 10 and April 26, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.  Johnstown classes will be offered on March 15, March 29, April 12 and May 3, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

The cost of each class is $5 or pay $15 to register for all four classes. Pre-registration is required by March 5. Call 518-673-5525 x 101 or email fultonmontgomery @cornell.edu. 

The CCEFM Board of Directors, at its meeting on February 22, accepted a letter of resignation from Executive Director Marilyn J. Smith.  Her last day of employment will be March 6, 2012.

In her letter, Marilyn thanked the board for nearly twelve wonderful years.  “I have worked alongside some excellent colleagues and volunteers,” she said, “and have had so many opportunities to grow and develop in my career field.”

Marilyn has accepted a position as Business Liaison / Field Representative in the Office of Congressman Paul D. Tonko, 21st Congressional District of New York.

The Board of Directors will continue to work on short-term and long-term plans.

Landowners Can Take Advantage of Low-Cost Native Plants, Schools Can Get Them Free

More than 50 species of trees and shrubs are now available to schools and public and private landowners at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Saratoga Tree Nursery, DEC announced today.  The Saratoga Tree Nursery provides trees for erosion control, wildlife habitat, reforestation and other uses.

The program provides low-cost, native planting materials from New York sources to encourage landowners to enhance the state's environment for future generations. The Saratoga Tree Nursery also offers a few non-native species which can enhance wildlife plantings and/or assist with stream bank stabilization. For instance, toringo crabapple provides a winter food source for wild turkey, grouse and deer and streamco willow is used in many stabilization projects.

Download details, including species available.

July 22-27, 2012

If you want to increase your wine appreciation and knowledge and gain hands-on practice working vines and making wine, CUVEE is an excellent opportunity for you.

CUVEE pairs College of Agriculture and Life Sciences acclaimed Viticulture and Enology Program faculty members with leading winery owners, vineyard managers, grape growers, winemakers, and others. Together, with the Central New York wine region as your classroom, you will learn about key agricultural components of growing grapes, the importance of microbiology in wine making, scientific principles behind viticulture and enology, and the business aspects of owning or investing in a winery.

During CUVEE, you will enjoy field trips to vibrant Finger Lakes vineyards, gain an insider's view of the grape-growing and wine-making business; as well as savor and evaluate wines during specially designed tastings.

This program is designed for wine enthusiasts, individuals interested in growing grapes to produce wine for pleasure or for commercial purposes, anyone contemplating purchasing, investing in, or opening a winery, wine merchants, restaurateurs, chefs, and sommeliers and anyone with a keen interest in understanding the "nuts and bolts" of growing grapes and making wine.

Mark Your Calendar Now! It's less than 2 weeks away!

Enjoy a meal at Ruby Tuesday, 4917 State Highway in Amsterdam, on February, 21st, 22nd, and/or 23rd and Ruby Tuesday will donate 20% of your purchase to CCEFM!

You must present the valid coupon, which can be downloaded below. Reservations are not necessary, but gladly accepted by calling the restaurant at 518-843-5064 or online at www.rubytuesday.com. You may also see their menu online! No other coupons or offers are valid in conjunction with this program. CCEFM appreciate's Ruby Tuesday's Community Giveback Program.

Please download and print the coupon or pick up a copy at the CCEFM office in Canajoharie. Feel free to print several and share them with yoru friends, family and neighbors.

We hope to see you there!

To study bird feeding and breeding behavior, ornithologists used to tag birds with colored bands and then painstakingly track the birds' activity. But now, an existing technology repurposed for tracking birds by researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology automates such data-collecting, requiring scientists to spend only a few hours a week tending to feeders wired with tracking technology.

The technology, called RFID (radio frequency identification), requires researchers to tag birds on the leg, while a battery- or solar-powered antenna and micro-computer on a feeder perch records an ID number whenever a tagged bird comes within a few inches of the feeder. The system reduces errors, records even the briefest visits and generates a complete record. Cornell ornithology researchers have now recorded more than 2.5 million visits by tagged birds to wired feeders.

In the past, RFID readers have prohibitively cost up to $10,000 each, but David Bonter, Project FeederWatch director at the ornithology lab, and Eli Bridge at the University of Oklahoma have developed a do-it-yourself version that can be made for about $40. They have posted instructions online at <http://www.animalmigration.org/RFID/index.htm> and recently published them in the Journal of Field Ornithology.

RFID tags have been used to track pets in case they get lost and packages by shipping companies, for example. Biologists have used RFIDs since the 1990s to monitor hordes of birds such as terns and penguins.

When used in feeders, the continuous data may help answer such questions as when birds feed during the day, how weather affects feeding behavior and whether feeder location influences feeding behavior.

The 7^th annual Ag Literacy Week is scheduled for March 19-23, 2012. Volunteers will read the book Seed, Soil, and Sun, written by Cris Peterson, to second grade classes throughout Fulton and Montgomery Counties.  Thanks to a grant from the Target Foundation, a copy of the book will be provided to every class to whom it is read.

Seed, Soil, and Sun highlights the seemingly miraculous process by which air and water combine with seed, soil, and sun to create nearly all the food that we eat.  The book uses the corn plant as its example.  Volunteer readers will be paired with a second grade classroom teacher to read the book and conduct a related activity with the class sometime during the designated week, on a day and time that is mutually convenient for them.

Becoming a volunteer reader makes a great community service project for an older youth.  Volunteers represent all walks of life, including 4-H volunteers. Schools especially in need of readers at this time include Fort Plain, St. Johnsville, Fonda-Fultonville, Canajoharie, and Mayfield.

Two meetings offering training opportunities are available on March 14^th.  Volunteer readers may select the one that best fits their schedule. The first will be held at the CCEFM office in Canajoharie 1:30-3:00 p.m. and the second is set for 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Shirley Luck Senior Center in Johnstown.   

Adults and teens who wish to serve as a reader may contact Bonnie at CCEFM: email bsp8@cornell.edu or phone 518-673-5525 x 115.

CDC just released a new report entitled. This report describes an outbreak of 132 human Salmonella infections between August 2010 and September 2011 associated with exposure to small turtles (those with shell lengths < 4 inches).

Many of these infections occurred in young children, whose illness can be severe and cause hospitalization. Despite a three decade ban on the sale of small turtles, these infections continue to occur. CDC reported similar outbreaks in 2007 and 2008. Increasing enforcement of existing regulations, increasing penalties for illegal sales and emphasizing regulations can assist in decreasing infections acquired from these reptiles.

Turtles are not appropriate pets in households with young children or other high risk individuals (pregnant women, older persons and the immune-compromised).

When the Child Safe Playing Fields Act came into effect for K-12 schools and day care centers in 2010-11, New York's 700 school districts had to find alternatives to using pesticides on their grass, playgrounds and playing fields.

Cornell experts from the Department of Horticulture and the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM) have stepped in to educate them about the new regulations and offer advice about how to meet the mandates.

Through workshops, webinars and printed materials, IPM specialists reached groundskeepers, school officials and board members in hundreds of schools across the state.

Two entomologists in search of one insect have discovered two others: a tiny wasp that hadn't been seen in North America in nearly 100 years, and one that has never been recorded here.

First found in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1915 by Cornell researchers M.D. Leonard and C.R. Crosby, the fairyfly Gonatocerus ovicenatus has not been collected on the continent since then, prompting some European entomologists to question whether it truly was established in North America.

In the picture: The tiny fairyfly Gonatocerus ovicenatus has been found in Geneva after not being seen since its initial discovery by Cornell scientists in 1915.