URI MGP Newsletter, Mar 23

Public Speaking Workshops

Public Presentation Orientation
Thursday, April 6, 6 – 7 pm
Pharmacy 240

Discover if teaching others is your calling in the Master Gardener Program.  We’ll hear from some of our MG speakers about this rewarding experience.  If you like learning about a topic in-depth and sharing that knowledge with your community, this class is for you! Registration is required in Volgistics.

ppoSpeaking Skills Training Session
Tuesday, June 6, 6 – 8 pm
Pharmacy 240

Our public presenters will be on hand to share some of the “tricks of the trade”.  We’ll fill you in on existing presentations that can be edited for your use and our process for fact-checking presentations.  We’ll even practice our opening remarks.  Registration is required in Volgistics.

Volunteers Needed for the Desourdy School Garden Mentors

desourdyVolunteers are needed NOW in several schools around the state as part of The Desourdy School Garden Mentor Program.  The programs run from spring through fall with parents, teachers and MGs working to teach and train students to learn gardening. We hope students will continue a lifelong pursuit of learning how to plant seeds, water, nurture, weed, harvest and prepare for the next season. MG Mentors provide advice, information, and reference materials so teachers can have success with their school gardens as outdoor classrooms. Parent involvement makes the programs run throughout the summer break.

There will be a training for New Volunteers on Wednesday, April 5, 6 – 8 PM at the Warwick Public Library (600 Sandy Lane, Warwick). All school volunteers are required to complete a RI BCI background check.  If you’re interested in learning more, please sign up for the training in Volgistics.

In the East Bay Region, the following schools have openings for MG Mentors:

Bradley, Portsmouth, RI
South Elementary, Somerset, MA
Sowams, Barrington, RI
Westport, MA

The Regional Managers for the Eastern Region SGMs are Linda Griffiths and Jacqueline Guerra Lofgren. If you are interested in this MG project, or if you would like further information, please contact us.

Linda Griffiths
lgriffithsrimg@gmail.com
Jacqueline Guerra Lofgren
jglofgren53@gmail.com

Help Wanted: Engaging Children in Nature

Spring 2017 Learning Landscape Field Trips at the URI Botanical Gardens

childrenWould you like to share your love of nature with elementary school children in the beautiful URI Botanical Gardens? Consider joining URI staff, students and returning URI Master Gardener educators by signing up to become a URI Learning Landscape Educator this spring. Gain three volunteer hours each session while inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards in fun, hands-on educational lessons.

To become a MG Learning Landscape (LL) educator, you’ll need to attend one training session at the URI Mallon Outreach Center on 3 East Alumni Avenue in Kingston on Wednesday, April 19th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, or Thursday, April 20th, same times. Special arrangements will be made if another training time is needed.  When the program begins on April 26th, you’ll have a couple of opportunities to shadow experienced LL educators before signing up to lead a small group of children through the outdoor learning stations.

The Spring Learning Landscape Program runs Tuesday through Friday, April 26 – June 9, 2017 at the URI Botanical Gardens. You choose your level of involvement, from 1 – 3 sessions/week, on-site from 9:20am-12:30pm.  For more information and/or to sign up for a training session, please contact Amy Cabaniss at amy_cabaniss@uri.edu

Back to Our Roots: Being Wild About Wild Plants

Saturday, March 25, 2:00pm – 3:30pm
URI, Pharmacy 170

waterIn Celebration of RIWPS 30th Anniversary, Lisa Lofland Gould, founding member and first president of RIWPS will address the question, Why should anyone care about plants, and especially about that seemingly obscure and often subtle flora we Wild Folks so enjoy? Lisa  will consider the pivotal role that plants play in our lives, some history of human knowledge of the plant world, and how we seek to understand plants today.

http://riwps.org/event/annual-meeting-lisa-gould-guest-speaker/

Michael Dirr in Newport - Cont Ed Credit

Michael Dirr in Newport - Cont Ed Credit

Urban Agriculture Kick Off

Southside Community Land Trust will be hosting four neighborhood Urban Agriculture Kick Off events across the city on Sat., April 8, from 11 am-1 pm (rain date: April 9). These free, public events will take place at four sites: in Providence’s West End, South Side, Olneyville, and East Side neighborhoods.

Each site will have an agriculture expert on hand to answer questions about chemical-free gardening and how to get the most out of small plots, containers and backyard gardens. SCLT will be giving away non-GMO, organic, and heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower seeds, and share helpful tips on how to have a successful growing season.

New SCLT members and those renewing for 2017, including anyone who joins that day, can bring home up to 50 gallons of free, high-quality, organic compost. They will just need to show a membership card and bring large containers to cart it away.

Locations:
Sessions Street Community Garden
60 Sessions Street, Providence, RI 02906
Joslin Community Garden
40 Florence Street, Providence, RI 02909
Davey Lopes Recreation Center                
227 Dudley Street, Providence, RI 02097
Groundwork Community Garden
16 Ring Street, Providence, RI 02909

The Living Landscape: Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke come to RI!

landscapeOn Saturday, June 24th, Sogkonate Garden Club sponsors a free workshop, The Living Landscape, by nationally acclaimed authors Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke from 9-3 at Wilbur McMahon School.   Registration is at sogkonate.org, Go to the home page, and click the green button.   Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to see your landscape in a different way.

The program is free, but for planning purposes, please register.

Beginning Farmer Workshops - Southside Community Land Trust

Composting to Build Soil & Fertility on Your Scale
Sun., Mar. 26, 10 am – 2 pm
Urban Edge Farm, 35 Pippin Orchard Rd., Cranston

Rich Pederson from City Farm will discuss the intensive food scrap composting system he has perfected over his 15 years as an urban farmer in Providence. City Farm is the #1 food waste composter in Providence, #2 in the state of RI!  Bryan O’Hara of Tobacco Road Farm will present his best practices for building compost in a quantity that serves a handful of acres of intensive vegetable production. His no-till, year-round vegetable farm has grown famous in our region for its success for more than two decades. This event is outside, please dress for the weather!

Passionate about water quality issues?

urilogoInterested in lawn care management and how those decisions affect our water quality? Researchers at the University of Rhode Island are conducting a short online survey on lawn care and water quality. These survey responses will provide us with vital information for this research funded by the National Science Foundation.

We’re counting on participation from residents like you. You can receive $2 in Amazon credit for your participation. Please take the time to fill out the survey before March 31st.     

Type this in your browser: goo.gl/Jr5hBm

This research has been approved by URI’s IRB.

Hot Topics from the URI Consumer Horticulture Educator

hottopicsThe 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! Please send comments or suggestions for articles to rsherry@uri.edu.

A long tailed wasp was ecently seen in American Beech in RI. Thanks to MG Nan Quinlan for finding it in her beeches! Both Heather Faubert, URI Plant Clinic Director and Dr. Steven Alm have confirmed the identity. Both indicate that the wasp likely moves in after a tree is already stressed and may also transmit disease. While devastating to lose one or more large trees on your property, this insect is not an invasive species and is simply doing its job. Large scale control on very large trees is not recommended. Eventual removal of failing trees is the best solution.

The factsheet is from Colorado so please consider this as you read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sHkz-jxyYw
http://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/pigeon-tremex-horntail-and-the-giant-ichneumon-wasp-5-604/
http://texasinsects.tamu.edu/cimg326.html

2017 Agricultural Outlook Forum (AOF) Student Diversity Program Winners
USDA Names 2017 Agricultural Outlook Forum Student Diversity Program Winners

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2017 ─ The United States Department of Agriculture today announced the selection of 28 university students who will attend USDA’s 2017 Agricultural Outlook Forum. The finalists include students from Land-Grant, Hispanic Serving Institutions and American Association of State Colleges of Agriculture and Renewable Resources institutions who are the recipients of corporate and USDA sponsorship aimed at promoting the education of the next generation of agriculturalists.  The Forum entitled “A New Horizon: The Future of Agriculture” is USDA’s largest annual event and will be held Feb. 23 and 24 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.

“USDA’s Outlook Forum gives these students the opportunity to hear leaders describe their vision for the direction of agriculture’s future,” said Chief Economist Robert Johansson. “USDA in turn welcomes the next generation to learn so they might excel to even greater heights in their careers.”

The 20 university juniors and seniors majoring in agricultural-related studies were selected based on their essays, “Agriculture As A Career.” The 8 graduate students submitted essays on “The Greatest Challenge Facing Agriculture Over the Next 5 Years.” Each institution conducted a “pre-selection” process and chose the final best two essays among the applicants based on the recommendations from their academic deans or department chairs.

NameUniversityUniversity Type
Nakia CoitUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore1890
Nora FarisUniversity of Missouri1862
Carlos FloresKansas State University1862
Vanessa Garcia PolancoUniversity of Rhode Island1862

This is not the complete list but wanted to show our own! YOU GO GIRL!!!

From  Rhode Island Wild Plant Society  March 2017 e-Newsletter
— Americans once moved away from forests. Now forests are moving away from Americans.
Article in the Washington Post summarizing a study based on satellite imagery of forest canopy.  Declines are most notable in rural areas.

From Green talks sustainability e-news Feb. 24, 2017
Whole Foods to Close 9 Stores
In an interesting turn of events, Whole Foods just announced they are closing nine stores, following six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales. Less than two years ago, they anticipated growing significantly.

What happened? The Washington Post’s article on the topic says its just plain competition. Organic food, once sought out in high-end stores like Whole Foods and sold at a premium, has become increasingly popular in the last decade. And when demand goes up, everyone gets involved. By 2015, in fact, 53.3 percent of organic food sales occurred at mass-market retailers, according to the Organic Trade Association. (In 2015, Costco’s organic sales surpassed $4 billion.
The landscape has changed considerably for the grocery chain often jokingly referred to as “Whole Paycheck,” due to its high price points. What remains to be seen is how they will navigate the new territory of being a high-end grocer in a sea of alternatives.