URI MGP Newsletter: URI MGP wins International Award; Chestnuts and Hanging Gardens for the twenty-first century

Catherine Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program wins Prestigious International Award

In case you missed it…

award3Download the press release detailing the recent news that our own School Garden Mentor program has won an International  award.​
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Here is the original winning application​ that explains the program in detail.

Read more about the Catherine Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program and learn how to join the effort next year!

Join us at the International Master Gardener Conference in Oregon next summer to celebrate as we accept the Search for Excellence Award!

The URI American Chestnut Project

- Beechwood Gardening Series

Speaker: Rudi Hempe, Agricultural Experiment Station Facilities Manager – URIMGP
Date and time: Wednesday, January 18, 2017, 2:00PM
Location: Beechwood Center; 44 Beach Street; North Kingstown, RI 02852

ChestnutRudi Hempe is a retired journalist who spent more than 40 years in newspapers including the Providence Journal and mostly as editor of the North Kingstown Standard-Times. He is a freelance writer, spent several years as an adjunct professor of journalism at URI, and is vice chair of the Southern RI Conservation District.

A resident of Narragansett, he finally had time in his schedule to take the URI Master Gardener Program training class in 1999 and has remained active with that organization to this day, logging more than 15,000 volunteer hours, believed to be the highest total among Master Gardeners nationwide. You may know Rudi as a founding member of Rudi’s Rangers!

While he is the Agricultural Experiment Station Facilities Manager for the Master Gardener Program at East Farm, he has concentrated in recent years on research projects such as the effort to develop a blight resistant American Chestnut Tree, an endeavor known as the Chestnut Orchard Research Project, which started locally in 2009.  Rudi will discuss the latest developments and findings in this ongoing research project to help save the Important American Chestnut.

If interested in attending, please contact Betsey Anderson, Volunteer/Program Coordinator, at The Beechwood Center for Life Enrichment at 401-268-1596; or email her at: banderson@northkingstown.org.  These programs are offered to members and the public at no charge.  Master Gardeners receive education credits for attending.

We are also excited to announce the rest of our upcoming 2017 Lecture Series!  We have a great group of speakers who we are sure will prove to be dynamic and educational.  The talks are held every other month and we hope to see you all there!  The following is an outline of our speakers and topics for 2017:

3/22/17          Bees in the Garden, Ken Oles, URI Master Gardener
5/24/17          Herb Gardening and Uses, Glen and Mary Cory, Farmacy Herbs, Providence, RI
7/19/17          Cooking with Native Produce, Chef Brandon Read, The Celestial Café, Exeter, RI
9/20/17          Creating Pollinator Habitat, Vanessa Venturini, State Program Leader, URIMGP
11/15/17        Designing the Ecological Landscape, Kevin M. Alverson Landscape Architecture

Hot Topics from the URI Consumer Horticulture Educator

rosanneThe following science-based articles may help you answer questions from the community.  Rosanne Sherry, URI Consumer Horticulture Educator, recommends you read them to help sharpen your own gardening and educator skills!

From Eco-RI November 21, 2016
Will the winter moths mean another spring of defoliation?

From  Inside Grower November 14, 2016
America’s Shifting Shopping Habits
The Atlantic recently posted a fascinating story about America’s shift in grocery spending. Initially, the article seems to pin the problem on Millennials (what’s new? And I’m no Millennial, not by a long shot, but it does seem if something goes awry, the first generation to get the finger pointed at them is the enormous Millennial gen), but then the writer digs deeper. It turns out all of America is shifting toward eating out more, and dividing their shopping among several stores and not just one market.
In fact, according to the story, for the first time ever Americans spent more on restaurants and bars than on groceries in January 2015. Also according to the story, in 2005 two-thirds of shoppers said their local supermarket was their primary shopping destination, while in 2016 fewer than half only shop at one place. The story points out a shift toward convenience stores and all-in-one retailers grabbing a larger share of the grocery market, too.
Read the full story.

From EcoRI News   November 8, 2016
Rosie’s Question? MA just banned it affecting only one producer in the state. Likewise we only have one producer in the state. Yet nearly every major retail food market in RI is switching to cage free eggs.  What’s up?

The Big Thicket, the newest national wildlife refuge emerges

From New Terrain  Oct. 17, 2016
The hanging gardens of Heathrow! London airport installs wall of 1,680 plants to help tackle travel rage by Sadie Whitelocks for MailOnline.

Horticulture needed to ‘colour in’ green infrastructure by Nigel Dunnett in Horticulture Week.