This Saturday is National Walk in the Woods Day. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service is encouraging everyone this weekend to unplug from their busy lives and take a walk outside in the woods.

While studies show that spending time outdoors is good for us, they also show people are experiencing nature less often than in the past, according to a post on Evidenced-Based Living, the blog of the associate dean and associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension.  

“A growing body of evidence suggests people of all ages, and especially children, have fewer nature experiences and spend less time outside compared with previous generations. The research shows this trend has negative implications for health, especially childhood obesity, as well as development and education. A term has even been coined for the problem – “nature-deficit disorder,” the blog says.

According to the blog, studies show that spending time outdoors has positive effects on children’s social and personal skills, concentration and cognitive functioning.

To learn more read the Evidence-Based Living Blog post Get outside! The evidence shows it’s good for you.

As area residents ready their gardens and farmers markets prepare to open, Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties will present the first home food preservation class of the season, “Jams & Jellies” on Tuesday, May 24, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Shirley Luck Senior Center in Johnstown. 

Participants will learn how to make gelled products, can fruits using a boiling water canner and correctly prepare food for freezing using current food safety recommendations. Samples of home preserved jams and informational packets will be available for workshop attendees.

The class costs $15 per person.

Class size is limited. Pre-registration is required by May 23. Call the Cornell Cooperative Extension office at 673-5525 x 116 to sign up.

Other upcoming food preservation classes include June 11 - Herbs & Freezing, July 9 - Pressure Canning, July 19 - Boiling Water Method for Tomatoes/Pickles and August 11 - Storing and Preserving the Fall Harvest.

The CCEFM volunteer Master Gardeners announce the 12th annual Master Gardener Plant Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 21 at a new location in Johnstown.

This year the annual fundraising event will take place on North Comrie Avenue (State Route 30A) in the parking lot next to the Udderly Delicious ice cream stand. The sale will begin at 9 a.m. and will continue while supplies last. The plant sale will take place rain or shine.

Vegetable plants, flowers, house plants and perennials will all be available for sale at competitive prices. Many of the plants for sale come from the private gardens and greenhouses of local Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers.

The annual plant sale is the only fundraiser of the year for the Master Gardeners. Currently over 20 local residents volunteer for the Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program answering questions, teaching classes, providing soil testing services and more for adults and youth interested in gardening.

Don’t forget to drop by the new CCEFM offices in Canajoharie during the open house May 4 from 4-7 p.m.

CCEFM’s recent relocation to Canajoharie marks a return to the village for Extension. In 1914, Cooperative Extension in Montgomery County got its start in Canajoharie at an office at 12 Barclay St. The Montgomery County Cooperative Extension office would later move to Fonda.

Now, nearly a century after the first Extension office opened in Montgomery County, the offices are back in Canajoharie this time in the basement of the United Methodist Church at 50 E. Main St., one block east of Church Street.

While the local Extension is three years shy of its centennial, the state Cornell Cooperative Extension system is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

This year marks the 100 year anniversary of the appointment of John Barron – the first county agent in New York State – and the creation of the Cornell Cooperative Extension system as we know it today.

While Cooperative Extension has roots dating back to 1862, it was in 1911 that Barron’s office first opened in Broome County. The opening of other Extension offices in other counties would follow. In 1914 the Extension office opened in Montgomery County and in 1917 one opened in Fulton County. By 1918, there were 54 county Extension offices across New York.   

Five Fonda-Fultonville students have swept the second grade category in a statewide agriculture art contest.

CCEFM promoted this year’s I Love New York Agriculture Contest with assistance from volunteer Master Gardener Melanie Gessinger. The second-grade category this year was My Favorite New York Food and Where It Comes From. Students had to submit a painting or color drawing on paper with a four-sentence paragraph on the theme.

The winning students are:

First place: Alexandra Burns, Tribes Hill

Second place: Emma VanGorden, Johnstown

Third place: Karrie Kosier, Esperance

Honorable mention: Cole Deming, Fultonville

Honorable mention: Christian Richardson, Fultonville

The Fonda-Fultonville entries were among nearly 750 from around the state. The local students grabbed every prize in the second-grade category.

“We’ve had students win in the past but never have we swept an entire category like this,” CCEFM 4-H Educator Bonnie Peck said.

To see the Fonda-Fultonville winning pictures and essays visit the New York Agriculture in the Classroom 2011 contest winners Web page.

The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow project is looking for local volunteers to help measure precipitation. Trainings can be completed online and an in-person training is scheduled in Johnstown May 18.  

Open to youth and adults, this citizen scientist project is an excellent opportunity for 4-Hers and others interested in learning more about the weather.

According to its website, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) project is a “grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are major sponsors of the project.

Volunteers are asked to measure the precipitation whenever a rain, hail and snow storm crosses their area and then to enter the measurements into a website.

A free volunteer training is scheduled for May 18 in Johnstown. Other trainings for May are slated for Herkimer, Hamilton and Schoharie counties. Training can also be completed online.

Even after two decades of service as a Master Gardner, Fulton County resident John Deitch says he learns something new all the time.

“I get out of it more than I put in,” Deitch said of his 20 years of service as a Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardner. The countless people Deitch has helped throughout the years might disagree.

Deitch began gardening when he was child growing up in the Bronx. One of seven children, Deitch says his father had each child keep a garden when they turned 10 planting whatever they wanted.

A retired businessman, Deitch said he first thought of becoming a Master Gardener when he met the late, longtime Master Gardener James Donnelly when Donnelly was working a Master Gardener table at a local store.

“I thought I knew a lot until I met Jim Donnelly,” he said.

Even after 20 years of helping local residents with their gardening, lawn and other questions, Deitch still comes to the CCEFM office three days a week. He has volunteered as many as 500 hours a year in recent years.

Never underestimate the power of a volunteer force. Cooperative Extension has always known this. Our organization depends on the service of many trained volunteers to multiply our educational programming.

But last month volunteers demonstrated their power to make it happen as they assisted staff at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties in moving our office from Johnstown to its new location in Canajoharie. For their dedication, perseverance, physical strength, and goodwill, we are exceedingly grateful.

For behind the scenes assistance, we acknowledge the help of Jeff Bouchard, Fulton County Solid Waste (recycling and confidential records disposal), Dan Talmage, Deb Landrio and Barbara Perry Thomas at Frontier Communications (assisting with telephone transfer), Don’s Electric (use of tools), Frank Fosmire at Fulton County EDC/Crossroad Incubator Corporation and Tom Walsh (legal issues). In addition, we thank the CCE executive directors in Schenectady and Washington counties (lending vehicles) and Rensselaer and Saratoga counties (lending staff and vehicles to help move). We thank many of our partner agencies who were able to use gently used office equipment and supplies and repurpose items to match their needs.

Volunteer Scott MacLauchlin and CCEFM board member Bill MacLauchlin handled new location arrangements and we thank them. We also thank Bernie and Jean Sweet, Jean Sweet Interiors (window treatments).

The dairy expertise and resources available at Cornell University played a role in convincing a Colombian dairy company to locate its first North American plant in upstate New York, a recent article in the Cornell Chronicle says.  

Alpina, which runs nine dairy facilities in South America, has announced plans to locate a yogurt manufacturing plant in Batavia.

The research and development capabilities and the experience in agriculture production at Cornell was one of the major factors in Alpina’s decision to locate in New York, the Cornell Chronicle article says.

 "Our faculty, staff and students have considerable depth in milk production and dairy processing expertise and aim to build lasting partnerships with this innovative company," Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is quoted as saying in the article. "It's a wonderful example of how we work with industry to deliver the college's land-grant mission of applying knowledge for a public purpose.”

To learn more read the Cornell Chronicle article CU dairy expertise attracts Colombian company to upstate New York.

The Cornell University Department of Horticulture’s blog recently highlighted the work of their professor David Wolfe.

In a new book, Wolfe explains what gardeners can do to deal with climate change and reduce their carbon footprints.  

“There are many things gardeners can do to cope with climate change. And at the same time, they can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and take other steps to slow the warming of the planet,” the blog says in its recent post Wolfe: Gardeners part of climate-change solution

According to the blog, to reduce their carbon footprints Wolfe suggests gardeners:

Be strategic with nitrogen fertilizers. Synthetic nitrogen uses copious amounts of energy to manufacture.  And once applied, a portion inevitably is released as nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.  Try legume cover crops (which can take nitrogen from the air and leave it in the soil to fertilize future crops) and local sources of manure or compost instead.

Store carbon in your soil. Crops remove carbon dioxide from the air and leave it in the soil as organic matter. Till your soil less because tillage breaks down organic matter and returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.