ORCHIDACEOUS

"Haywood" Brand for Local Produce

2006-12-07T16:40:00.000-05:00

Source: HaywoodCountyNews.com
Haywood shows off produce
by Josh Boatwright
December 7, 2006 12:15 am

WAYNESVILLE — You’ve probably heard of Idaho potatoes or Vidalia onions, but how about Haywood County tomatoes?

A local group wants to make “Haywood” the brand name for quality tomatoes and other produce grown in the area through a $60,000 marketing program.

“When you buy a tomato you don’t really know where it’s coming from,” said Bill Yarborough, an agronomist for the state department of agriculture.

“What we intend to do is have a sticker on every tomato that shows where it comes from and lets people know it’s a good, wholesome, healthy product,” he said.

Yarborough and others believe boosting the popularity of home-grown produce may give the county’s shrinking group of tomato growers an edge in an ever-expanding global market. The Golden LEAF foundation agreed, providing the funds for the 18-month program called “Buy Haywood” that will involve heavy advertising among local grocers and consumers, as well as designing a special label for the produce.

Tomato farms in the region have shrunk in recent years from 300 acres to a mere 50.

Faced with limited farmland, growers still feel pressured to produce a large volume of crop each year to make the work profitable.

Tomato grower Bill Holbrook has been growing tomatoes specifically for 13 years. Though the market varies every season, Holbrook says it is getting tougher and tougher each year to produce enough crops to make a good living.

He hopes marketing local produce may be effective because of a rising demand from consumers for premium produce.

“People come from the Southern states looking for tomatoes from our area. They want mountain tomatoes,” he said.

Holbrook remains realistic, yet hopeful about the “Buy Haywood” project. For it to be a success, he said it will take a great deal of cooperation among growers to get their best produce out in the market.

“It’s a long shot, but it’s worth taking,” Holbrook said.

Buy local - The smaller farms in Western North Carolina may not produce huge quantity, but they do produce quality. That’s what farmers need to emphasize, according to Stephanie Wise, marketing specialist for the state Department of Agriculture.

Health food stores like Earth Fare and Fresh Market in the Asheville area demonstrate a big demand in the region for local, organic foods, Wise said.

“Folks are really in tune with things being local versus being shipped in. They realize it’s fresher, and because it’s fresher, it’s probably picked at a prime time, so the taste is better,” she said.

Hunger for one mountain fruit even draws lots of people from out of state each year, Wise said. The logo “NC Apples” brings many visitors to Henderson County who have come to associate the North Carolina name with tasty apples.

One of the state’s premiere tomato breeders, Randy Gardner, is working on creating a new kind of tomato that Wise hopes will bring people to Haywood County for the same reasons they visit Henderson. It doesn’t have a name, but she compares it to the heirloom variety; those round, thin-skinned tomatoes that are traditionally grown in a garden. They don’t ship as well as tougher, greenhouse-grown tomatoes, but they keep a lot more flavor and are well suited for local sale, she said.

A tomato success story - Fame of the tomatoes grown in nearby Grainger County, Tenn., has reached well beyond its state borders. Some tomato growers in this mostly rural county located just west of North Carolina ship their produce to buyers as far away as the Northeast and Midwest.

Locals say they have a distinct flavor, created by the added acidity in the soils around Cherokee Lake where many of the area’s tomato farms are located.

Their popularity became so great over the years that the county established a festival in honor of the fruit. Fifteen years running, the Grainger County Tomato Festival began with only a few growers and a couple of booths for vendors.

This past summer, the festival drew about 30,000 visitors over two days.

Grainger County only has one motel.

“Our only claim to fame in Grainger county is tomatoes. We don’t have any industry, we don’t have any rock stars, we don’t have any movie stars, just tomatoes,” said James Clark, chairman of the tomato festival for the past two years.

Clark said the grower that gets their tomatoes out first in the season can get $100 a bushel (60 pounds). Tomatoes have replaced tobacco as the big money crop in the area, he said.

“If you find something that works, you stick with it,” Clark said.

“Buy Haywood” aims to have their tomatoes out in test markets as early as this summer.

The project will also advertise locally grown cucumbers and peppers.

BIOFUELS FORUM

2006-12-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

The Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, Haywood County Soil and Water Conservation District and NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services are sponsoring an exciting forum entitled “Biofuels In Haywood County: A forum for potential users of biofuels”. The free program addresses the many questions of biofuel use in Haywood County. The Haywood Biofuels Forum is Friday, December 8, 2006, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. in the downstairs auditorium at the Haywood County Agricultural Agency Center at 589 Raccoon Rd. in Waynesville, NC. Fleet mangers, school officials, farmers, and the public are invited to join with biofuel experts and local, state and federal government representatives at the Biofuels in Haywood County Forum. Financial support for the Forum is being provided by the State Energy Office.

Topics include an Overview of the Advantages and Statewide Status of Biofuels; Experiences with Biodiesel in fleets and equipment; Benefits to Farmers using Biofuels; Commercial Availability and Costs of Biofuels; and The Clean Cities Program and other Funding and Technical Assistance Programs. Special Guest Speaker will be NC Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler.

Use of biofuels in North Carolina and across the nation is increasing. Biodiesel, a mixture of petroleum diesel and biologically derived diesel fuel, is available at some commercial gas stations or by delivery from biofuels distributors in the region. Biodiesel is commonly derived from soybeans or recycled restaurant grease. Although the fuel can be burned in a pure form (B100), most often it is mixed with petroleum diesel to provide B20 (20% biodiesel/80% petroleum diesel). Most diesel vehicles require no modifications to burn biodiesel. Another biofuel is ethanol blended with gasoline. The ethanol is derived from corn and added to gasoline to provide a product such as E10 that is 10% ethanol or E85 that is 85% ethanol. E10 can be used in any gasoline burning engine and E85 can be used in “flex fuel vehicles” provided by some major vehicle manufacturers at little or no additional cost.

Interest in biofuels in the US is shared by farmers, consumers, conservationists and entrepreneurs as well as many others who recognize the importance of national goals to reduce dependence on foreign oil and improve air quality. Some school systems have begun using biodiesel to reduce the hazards of exposing school children to the toxic emissions of petroleum diesel. Biofuels also present local opportunities for economic development.

To register or for additional information, please call Bill Eaker with the Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition at 828-251-6622 or Gail Heathman with the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District at 828-452-2741 (Extension 3).

Hort Club Decorates Shook House for the Holidays

2006-12-01T18:01:00.000-05:00

Officers of the HCC Horticulture Club along with Instructor George Thomas decorated the Shook - Smathers House for the Holidays and an upcoming wedding. You might also note the wonderful new turf that was installed by the students last spring. This is one of several community projects that the Horticulture students are involved in.

More info: Built in 1795, by Revolutionary War veteran Jacob Shook, the Shook House lies close to the Pigeon River in Clyde. It is one of the oldest if not the oldest house standing in Haywood County. Francis Asbury, famous traveling preacher who helped establish Methodism in the United States, stayed in the house in 1810. Revival meets were held in the attic and camp meetings were held on bottom land adjacent to the house. The original part of the house is of post and beam construction.

Horticulture Competition of the Carolinas

2006-10-25T11:59:00.000-05:00

HCC Student Frieda competes in the Plant ID exam. Without flowers, this is a real test of plant ID abilities.

There are tests and then there are TESTS! The Horticulture Technology Students Competed with 4 other community colleges in Wilkesboro. The exam based on the North Carolina Certified Landscape Technician Exam was judged by three extension agents with combined experience of nearly 90 years and upper management from two of the largest landscaping firms in North Carolina (New Garden and Bland Landscaping). These volunteers were not only tough-but-fair judges, but potential employers. Talk about pressure... Our students performed admirably in the individual events. The overall title went to Alamance Community College but HCC was the winner in 20% of the individual events.Team HCC. From Left to right (Buddy, Amanda, George, Brandon, Adam, John, Frieda, Dawn, and Julie)

Alamance Community College, Central Piedmont Community college, Catawba Valley Community College, and Mayland Community College also fielded teams. Wilkes Community College hosted the competition as well as competing. Special thanks to WCC Instructors Ron Dollyhite, Donna Riddle, and Wilkes students for all their efforts and work involved in hosting this great academic competition.

HCC Student Adam answers questions on the fly while planting a tree. A competition he would win. The extension agent in the background has been a nursery specialist for 30-years.

The Professional Certified Landscape Technician Exam takes place over two days and has an exhaustive written test along with 22 field exams ranging from plant identification and pesticide application to landscape plan reading and skidsteer operation.

Julie installs pavers during a timed competition. This exam takes an hour. The judge watches and grades the entire time.

The student competition has ten events that are identical to those in the CLT exam providing the students with not only the spirited opportunity for competition, but important preparation for the certifying exam. At least one student received a job offer on sight.

Next year the competition will be held at Haywood Community College. Both Bland Landscaping and New Garden Horticultural firms are extremely interested in judging and meeting more of our students and students from other community colleges. We will also be calling on our local horticultural professionals and extension experts to judge.

Unforgettable Acacias

2006-09-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

We covered symbiotic relationships in HOR 162 lecture recently using Acacias and Ants as an example. I came across this interesting on-line article on everything from the biologcial variation in Acacias to commercial products made from them.

Fall Color

2006-09-15T08:26:00.000-05:00

I came across this on-line article on Fall color. Interesting read. It further substantiates my belief that although Horticulture Therapy got off to a slow start, it will become a much larger field of study and employment in the future.

Blog of Note is by a Landscape Designer

2006-09-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

Just thought you might want to check out the Blog of Note from today. Whispering Crane was chosen on Blogger as a great site. I think many of you interested in Landscape Design will find it intriguing.

GUEST SPEAKER and PIZZA

2006-08-25T16:25:00.000-05:00

Randy Crouch will be giving a lunchtime seminar on Tuesday, August 29th at noon at the Nix Horticultural Complex on Medicinal Native Plants. The Horticulture Club will also be providing Pizza for attendees.

This will be a fantastic seminar from one of our local experts. Also if you know of anyone else you would like to be notified of announcements to this blog please let me know and I will add them to the list serve.

Biltmore Farms Job Posting

2006-07-23T09:46:00.000-05:00

I know that some of you are only beginning your academic pursuits in the area of horticulture, but I thought I should pass along this job description just to let you know what is out there. The predicted population growth rate in Western North Carolina suggests that there will only be more jobs like this in the future. It is a great time to be pursuing further education in horticulture.

Interesting NPR Story on Avocado

2006-07-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest challenge in releasing any new food crop is marketing. NPR had a very interesting story on how farmers met that challenge with the avocado. The avocado fruit has only been commercially available in the U.S. since 1915!

Check out the story details here.

Trivia Contest Winner!

2006-07-18T08:26:00.000-05:00

Thanks for everyone who has or who was planning to attempt the Trivia contest posted last Friday, but there has already been a winner. Yesterday Don Smallwood provided a correct response with a submission which included the following:

"...Isolation is most critical with cultivars that contain the sh2 gene. If they are pollinated by other gene types (su, se, field corn or Indian corn), they will revert to field corn with high starch and low sugar. Cultivars containing the se gene that are pollinated by normal su cultivars don’t revert back to field corn, but their sugar levels will decline to normal su type levels."

additional clarification: in the case of outcrossed se vs. sh2 as in the trivia question both varieties will suffer a loss of sweetness.

The key to the question was knowing that there was a reversion to starchy and using the internet to determine the gene type of the two cultivars mentioned in the question.

Bountiful Harvest Begins

2006-07-17T16:07:00.000-05:00

The students are beginning to see the vegetables of their labors at the Nix horticultural complex.
Even with record heat and humidity, the garden is thriving through the benefit of student care.

New Horticulture Trivia Contest

2006-07-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

Well last week's prize went unclaimed...so this week the prize is two gift certificates to the Coffee Cup Cafe. For the curious, I was looking for the term vivipary last week and the plant was a Red Mangrove.

NEW CONTEST!!!

A local grower plants a 1/2 acre block of 'Pegasus' hybrid sweet corn directly along side a 1/2 acre block of 'Temptation' hybrid sweet corn. She had grown 'Temptation' last year and it was wonderful. People were coming back to the farmstand asking for the corn by name. She had heard from other growers that 'Pegasus' was another winner with consumers, so she planted it this year as well.

(Temptation)

When harvesting the 'Temptation' much of it wasn't sweet and some of it was down right starchy. The plants look great, the grower had no pest problems, the kernels were fully filled and nearly all at the milk stage, but the 'Temptation' ears were not sweet.

E-mail me with a few sentences as to what you think went wrong??? Entries are limited to students in the Horticulture Technology Program at Haywood Community College and must be received by Friday, July 21st at 5 pm.

Veggie and Hort Garden Update for Week 8

2006-07-14T13:40:00.000-05:00

There is definitely a growing difference in the two different portions of the student vegetable garden under either the conventional or organic program. Some of this is due to soil type and other factors. I would love to hear some student comments on the blog as to what things they believe are causing the differences.

I saw this interesting visitor in the ornamental gardens. I believe it to be a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth.
Finally, who can get enough of summer flowers.

Some Highlights from OFA 2006

2006-07-10T10:06:00.000-05:00

Plug transplant machine. There were over a 100 machines on display. If you ever get the opportunity this is the show to attend in the United States for the Floriculture Industry. More information is available at http://www.ofanet.org there is a student rate.
Musa cultivar appropriately named "The Little Prince"
Massive tray filling machines. Automation was a big theme in addition to horticulture. Labor has always been a concern...but the concern is definitely growing.
This 'Hot Chocolate' Calla Lily drew a lot of attention.
One of many geranium displays.
Sample from the big flower arranging competition.
Look at that color!
Seed companies from all over the world presented their very best releases. This cyclamen display was gorgeous. The photo doesn't due it justice because of the difficult indoor lighting.
There were dozens of different containers on display.
The OFA Short Course is recognized as the premier educational and trade show event in North America. The 2006 OFA Short Course will be the 76th event – featuring nearly 1,330 trade show booths, approximately 500 exhibiting companies, and more than 130 educational sessions. It will attract an estimated 10,000 floriculture professionals to Columbus, Ohio.

The OFA Short Course is the best place each year to get your own worldwide perspective on floriculture. Attendees come to the OFA Short Course from throughout the United States and more than 20 foreign countries. They come to view the latest products and equipment, find answers to business problems, learn new skills, catch up with old friends, and network with industry leaders. The first Ohio Florist Short Course was held in January 1930.
I presented a talk on an educational resource developed by several particpating colleges including The University of Vermont, University of Florida, The Ohio State University, and The University of Arizona. I will use many of the materials developed by this national team in the on-line offering of the two greenhouse courses in the Haywood Horticulture Technology Program.

Veggie Garden Update for Week 7

2006-07-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

So week number seven has come and nearly gone for the Horticulture Students enrolled in AGR 263. It appears as though the Conventional production methods are leading to healthier plants, but the word at the Nix Horticultural complex is that this comparison may not be that fair since the students using Organic methods got stuck with much more clay in their soil.

Biocontrol anyone?

3 sisters approach to sweet corn production; maximizing ecological efficiency.

Orchidaceous has International Visitors

2006-07-06T08:12:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

Every couple of weeks I look at the stat logs for who is visiting the website....mostly students and instructors until now.

This past week the blog was viewed by visitors from Korea, the Netherlands, England, China, and Brazil.

Your vegetable garden and other activities have been viewed on several continents!

4th Summer Horticulture Trivia Contest

2006-06-30T16:06:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Amanda M. who correctly identified the man in the photo as Luther Burbank and provided the following description:

Luther Burbank is an American botanist, born March 7, 1849, who grew up on a farm in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He is best well known for developing the Burbank potato and the Russett-Burbank potato, which is the most widely cultivated potato crop in the US today. Burbank developed over 800 different varieties of fruits, grains, grasses, vegetables , and ornamentals, including the Shasta Daisy, the Freestone peach, the nectarine, a spineless catus that is of use in cattle feed. He also wrote numerous books documenting his experimental horticultural practices and methods. Burbank's fifty-five years of work in agriculture and horticulture inspired the passing of the 1930 Plant Patent Act, allowing for the patenting of new plant varieties.

For her efforts she has one a $5 gift certificate to the Coffee Cup Cafe. Kudos again to Don S. for correctly identifying the photo.

NEW CONTEST:

Lets give the history a break for a while :-)

This contest has two parts. (1) You must identify the common name, genus, and specific epithet of the plant in the image and (2) correctly name the unusual characteristic this plant is displaying in the image. This particular characteristic can also cause economic losses in tomato and some types of citrus.The prize this week is a $5 gift certificate to the Coffee Cup Cafe. The first correct entry by a student in the Horticulture Technology Program wins the contest.

AGR 263 Vegetable Garden Week 6

2006-06-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick update this week showing progress in the Vegtable Course's student managed garden.

The tomatoes are coming along!!!

Farm and Garden Tour

2006-06-25T20:01:00.000-05:00

The 11th Annual Mountain Farm and Garden Tour provided members of the Vegetable Production class with the opportunity to visit a number of locally run organic farms and gardens. Instructor George Thomas and seven students spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon touring four distinctly different operations.

One farm specialized in a wide variety of heirloom vegetables using strictly organic techniques, while another focused on production using biodynamic practices (planting and fertilizing according to astrological signs).

A third farm produced an interesting combination of organically grown lavender and blueberries along with milking goats.

The fourth garden was without a doubt the most interesting to everyone. Although only one acre in size, over 500 species of native and exotic medicinal herbs, perennials and vegetables were on display.

The owner, Joe Hollis demonstrated a remarkable knowledge of the properties and uses for all of the plants under his care.

He also showed us his extensive herbal library, pharmacy (where he actually makes and sells his own herbal remedies) and seed repository.

For more information on this amazing garden visit his website: www.mountaingardensherbs.com. Additional information about this annual tour event can be found at: www.carolinafarmstewards.org.

Worms Write 'Hi' in tomato

2006-06-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

Gardener Losing Battle Against Worms
story from NBC

POSTED: 7:51 am PDT June 23, 2006

UPDATED: 7:56 am PDT June 23, 2006

Email This Story | Print This Story

CONWAY, Ark. -- The worms in Phyllis Smith's garden are trying to tell her something.They're saying "hi."Smith has found herself losing the battle against the worms. She recently found a fruit with a message on it, clearly written by one of the unwanted guests."We got down and was pruning and got down there and just pulled open those tomato vines," Smith said. "There was a message that that bold bug had left on that tomato, and it said, 'hi.' And it just blew our minds.

I laughed so hard."Smith said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the message. She said she has sworn to do whatever it takes to get rid of the message's author.

AGR 263 Vegetable Production 'Garden' Images Week 5

2006-06-23T13:00:00.000-05:00

Things are really starting to move in the garden maintained by the student in George Thomas' AGR 263 Vegetable Production course. This shot is from the opposite end of the field of those shown in previous posts.

Standard corn production practices.

3 sisters ecological approach.

Organically produced cabbage and tomatoes.

Conventionally produced beans.

Developing squash.

Interior of squash flower.

New Gadget Proves that the World Needs More Horticulturalists

2006-06-22T12:46:00.000-05:00

When people need this much help growing plants in their windows you know that the career options for students studying horticulture are wide open.

The Herbi Smart Hydroponic Garden: Life support for plants

Posted Jun 22nd 2006 9:43AM by Stan Horaczek
Filed under: Household

Keeping a plant alive should be simple for responsible adults such as ourselves, but one look at the greenhouse graveyard on our windowsill would suggest otherwise. Luckily, the Herbi Smart Hydroponic Garden knows exactly what your plants are craving, thus eliminating the guess work involved with feeding and watering. The device measures water levels, PH levels and nutrients in the soil of up to six attachable "silos" that can house just about any kind of household plant or herb you can throw at them. You can add supplies (water, fertilizer, etc.) to the device that will automatcially be distrubuted to the plants for up to a month. When something is running low an icon is lit up by a blue LED, letting you know exactly what you need to add in order to keep your plant from turning into compost prematurely. No word on pricing or availability yet, but we're hoping, for the sake of our wilting basil, that it's easier to get a hold of one of these than it was the elusive RFID-enable herbarium from Philips.

Permalink to story at Engadget.com

3rd Summer Horticulture Trivia Contest

2006-06-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

This contest has two parts. (1) You must identify the horticulturalist in the image (first and last name) and (2) in 100 words or less summarize his major contributions to your field of study.

The prize this week is a $5 gift certificate to the Coffee Cup Cafe (supporting local businesses is sustainable for us all)

Since the summary requires reading all the entries the selection of a winner won't take place until Friday June 30th.

All entries must be e-mailed to me a mtignor@haywood.edu by Friday, June 30th at 4:00 pm to be considered for the prize.

Contest Winner!

2006-06-19T08:05:00.000-05:00

Dawn P. won the second horticulture technology trivia contest by submitting the correct answers on Friday 16th. Kudos to Don. S. who also got the correct answer just a few hours after Dawn.

There will be a new contest question posted this Thursday afternoon (in order to give more students a chance to look at it before the weekend.)

About Pehr Kalm, for whom the genus Kalmia was named (courtesy wikipedia.org)

Pehr Kalm (March 6, 1716 - November 16, 1779) (in Finland also known as Pietari Kalm and in some English-language translations as Peter Kalm) was a Finnish explorer, botanist, naturalist, and agricultural economist. He was one of Carolus Linnaeus's most important students. Among his many accomplishments, Kalm can be credited with the first written description of the Niagara Falls, and the first comprehensive study of North American natural history.

Kalm was born in Ångermanland, Sweden, where his parents had taken refuge during the Great Northern War. When the hostilities were over, the family returned home to Närpes in Ostrobothnia, Finland, where Kalm's father was a Lutheran minister. Kalm studied at the Academy of Åbo from 1735, and from 1740 at the University of Uppsala, where he met the renowned naturalist Carolus Linnaeus and became one of his first students. In Uppsala Kalm became the superintendent of an experimental plantation.

Kalm did field research in Sweden, Russia and Ukraine from 1742 to 1746, when he was appointed Docent of Natural History and Economics at the Åbo Academy. In 1747 he the Academy elevated him to Professor of Economics, and the same year he was also appointed by Linneaus and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to travel to North America, to find seeds and plants that might prove useful for agriculture or industry. In particular, they wanted him to bring back the red mulberry, Morus rubra, in the hope of starting a silk industry in Finland (which then was an integral part of Sweden).

Kalm arrived in Pennsylvania in 1748, and made the Swedish-Finnish expatriate communities in southern New Jersey his base of operations . There he served as the pastor of a local church, and there he married in 1750. He made trips as far west as Niagara Falls and as far north as Quebec, before returning in 1751. After his return he established a botanical garden in Turku/Åbo, where he also taught at the Åbo Academy until his death in 1771.

Kalm's journal of his travels was published as En Resa til Norra America (Stockholm, 1753–1761). It was translated into English in 1770 as Travels into North America. In his Species Plantarum, Linnaeus cites Kalm for 90 species, 60 of them new.

New Images from the Vegetable Garden and New Contest

2006-06-16T10:33:00.000-05:00

View showing both production schemes side-by-side.

The students in George Thomas' Vegetable Production course continue their hands-on learning on the campus grounds. Each team continues to adjust their management plans based on the production scheme they were chosen to work with. Stop by and take a look!

View highlighting the conventional production area of the garden.

View of entire garden.

View highlighting organic production area.

NEW HCC HORTICULTURE STUDENT CONTEST

Well I didn't have a lot of takers on the last contest although I did have a few students mention that they were close. So lets try again. Just like the lottery the total is growing. We are now up to two custom coffees or equivalent (for non-coffee drinkers there are baked good and other food as well). All entries must be submitted via e-mail by Friday, June 23rd, 2006 at 5:00 pm. The best response wins.

Question: Who was the genus Kalmia named for? What country was this natural resource scientist born in? and who was his most famous teacher?

Landscape Design to promote thoughtful reflection.

2006-06-15T07:46:00.000-05:00

An overhead view of the model for the Memorial shows how the benches will appear when they are lit up from underneath at night. Courtesy Pentagon Memorial Fund (additional note: lighting is designed to be visible from the air as flights approach D.C.)

"Groundbreaking Set for Sept. 11 Pentagon Memorial" NPR - Morning Edition, June 15, 2006 by Nancy Marshall Genzer· Ground will be broken at the Pentagon on Thursday for a memorial to the 184 victims who died there on Sept. 11, 2001.

The ceremony is a milestone in a project that began months after the terrorist attacks, when the victims' families held a design competition for the memorial. The winning entry calls for 184 steel benches -- one for each victim -- arranged along the path American Airlines Flight 77 took before smashing into the Pentagon.

The path will run between rows of memorial benches shaded by paper bark maples. The benches will hang above pools of water and look as if they're floating. Each bench will bear a victim's name. They'll be lined up according to the victims' ages, which ranged from 3 to 71.

The memorial is scheduled to be finished in the fall of 2008.

A rendering shows what the Pentagon Memorial would look like in the daytime. Stainless steel benches, shaded by paper bark maple trees, will line a gravel path along the route taken by American Airlines flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001. Courtesy Pentagon Memorial Fund

For more detailed information on the design process of the landscape architects involved go to the official memorial website and scroll down to a set of links entitled design stories.

Horticulture Students Install Landscape at North Canton Elementary

2006-06-11T10:18:00.000-05:00

Students from John Sherman's Landscape Design course produced several different designs for a portion of the grounds at North Canton Elementary School.
One student design was chosen to be installed at the school. The students not only developed the plant materials list, but as you can see from the photos put hands on the shovels and put their horticultural skills to work.
Instructor John Sherman pitches in and helps the students with site preparation.
Another balled and burlapped tree is almost ready to go in.
Imagine the pleasant surprise for teachers and students at North Canton Elementary. The Horticulture Technology Program at Haywood Community College has a long history of community service learning projects in Western North Carolina.

Special Thanks to Freda Walden for photos!

Vegetable Production and Garden Revitalization Underway

2006-06-09T14:56:00.000-05:00

Students enrolled in George Thomas' AGR 263 Vegetable Production course have been hard at work trying out different production techniques. If you drive by you can really start to see some things happening out in the garden.
Some of the trial comparisons are readily apparent. Convential sweet corn (above left) growing beside organic/sustainable sweet corn being produced in three sisters fashion with marigolds thrown in as a biocontrol method.
Here is an overall view of the students' vegetable production so far.

...Also if you haven't been by the horticulture gardens recently the students enrolled in HOR 152 Horticultural Practices (also taught by George Thomas this summer) have been hard at work revitalizing the plantings and collections.

Tamed 11,400 Years Ago, Figs Were Likely First Domesticated Crop

2006-06-04T19:02:00.000-05:00

Archaeobotanists have found evidence that the dawn of agriculture may have come with the domestication of fig trees in the Near East some 11,400 years ago, roughly a thousand years before such staples as wheat, barley, and legumes were domesticated in the region. The discovery dates domesticated figs to a period some 5,000 years earlier than previously thought, making the fruit trees the oldest known domesticated crop.

Figs at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository. (Photo by David Karp / Courtesy of USDA Agricultural Research Service)

Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University and Mordechai E. Kislev and Anat Hartmann of Bar-Ilan University report their findings in this week's issue of the journal Science.

"Eleven thousand years ago, there was a critical switch in the human mind -- from exploiting the earth as it is to actively changing the environment to suit our needs," says Bar-Yosef, professor of anthropology in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and curator of Paleolithic archaeology at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. "People decided to intervene in nature and supply their own food rather than relying on what was provided by the gods. This shift to a sedentary lifestyle grounded in the growing of wild crops such as barley and wheat marked a dramatic change from 2.5 million years of human history as mobile hunter-gatherers."

The researchers found nine small figs and 313 fig drupelets (a small part of an aggregate fruit such as a fig) at Gilgal I, a village in the Lower Jordan Valley, just 8 miles north of ancient Jericho, known to have been inhabited for some 200 years before being abandoned roughly 11,200 years ago. The carbonized figs were not distorted, suggesting that they may have been dried for human consumption. Similar fig drupelets were found at a second site located some 1.5 kilometers west of Gilgal.

The scientists compared the ancient figs to modern wild and domesticated variants and determined that they were a mutant selectively propagated by humans. In this variety of fig, known as parthenocarpic, the fruit develops without insect pollination and is prevented from falling off the tree, allowing it to become soft, sweet, and edible. However, because such figs do not produce seeds, they are a reproductive dead end unless humans interfere by planting shoots from the parthenocarpic trees.

"Once the parthenocarpic mutation occurred, humans must have recognized that the resulting fruits do not produce new trees, and fig tree cultivation became a common practice," Bar-Yosef says. "In this intentional act of planting a specific variant of fig tree, we can see the beginnings of agriculture. This edible fig would not have survived if not for human intervention."

Figs are very easily propagated: A piece of stem stuck in the ground will sprout roots and grow into a plant. No grafting or seeds are necessary. Bar-Yosef, Kislev, and Hartmann suggest that this ease of planting, along with improved taste resulting from minor mutations, may explain why figs were domesticated some five millennia before other fruit trees, such as the grape, olive, and date.

"The reported Gilgal figs, stored together with other vegetal staples such as wild barley, wild oat, and acorns, indicate that the subsistence strategy of these early Neolithic farmers was a mixed exploitation of wild plants and initial fig domestication," Bar-Yosef says. "Apparently, this kind of economy, a mixture of cultivation of wild plants, planting fig trees and gathering other plant foods in nature, was widely practiced during the second half of the 12th millennium before present throughout the Levant, the western wing of the Fertile Crescent."

Bar-Yosef, Kislev, and Hartmann's research was sponsored by the American School of Prehistoric Research at Harvard's Peabody Museum, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Shelby-White-Leon Levi Foundation, and the Koschitzky Foundation at Bar-Ilan University.

sciencedaily.com

First week in June around Campus

2006-06-02T13:10:00.000-05:00

Well the end of May has come and gone and we are into June. Lots of exciting things happening around campus for those interested in horticulture. The vegetable garden is coming along and the students on both the organic and conventional teams have been working on their portion of the field. I'll try to post at least one update a week concerning George Thomas' vegetable production course and the progress that the students are making.
I took a few photos around campus. It is a fantastic time of years for not only flowers....
but interesting flower buds. (note the trichomes).
and early fruit formation (from a botanical standpoint).
...great foliage displays
lots of insect activity to...in this case good stuff.

CONTEST: The first student currently enrolled in the Haywood Horticulture Technology program who correctly identifies the four plant species in the images below the vegetable garden picture will win one custom coffee of their choice from the Coffee Cup Cafe. The species names must be e-mailed to me (mtignor@haywood.edu) using correct botanical format including the genus, specific epithet and include a common name. Contest ends June 9th, 2006. If know correct entry is received the prize will be added to the next contest award.

LET US KNOW: If you know of anyone else outside of the horticulture program, friends, family, colleagues, or co-workers who would like to receive notifications of updates to this blog please send their e-mail to me (mtignor@haywood.edu). I will gladly add them to the mailing list.

Super-sized Cassava Plants May Help Fight Hunger in Africa

2006-05-31T09:35:00.000-05:00

In a recent study, genetically modified cassava plants produced roots that were more than two-and-a-half times the size of normal cassava roots.The findings could help ease hunger in many countries where people rely heavily on the cassava plant (Manihot esculenta) as a primary food source, said Richard Sayre, the study's lead author and a professor of plant cellular and molecular biology at Ohio State University.

The researchers used a gene from the bacterium E. coli to genetically modify cassava plants. The plants, which were grown in a greenhouse, produced roots that were an average of 2.6 times larger than those produced by regular cassava plants.

“Not only did these plants produce larger roots, but the whole plant was bigger and had more leaves,” Sayre said. Both the roots and leaves of the cassava plant are edible.

Cassava is the primary food source for more than 250 million Africans – about 40 percent of the continent's population. And the plant's starchy tuberous root is a substantial portion of the diet of nearly 600 million people worldwide.

Sayre said he hopes to offer these plants to countries where cassava is an important crop.

The current study appears in the online early issue of the Plant Biotechnology Journal. Sayre collaborated with Ohio State colleague Uzoma Ihemere and scientists from BASF Plant Science in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and BARC-West in Beltsville, Md., who formerly worked on this project in his laboratory.

Sayre said that cassava produces sugar more efficiently than any other cultivated plant.

“We wanted to find a way to help the plant redirect that excess sugar and use it to make starch,” Sayre said.

The researchers used a variety of cassava native to Colombia (cassava was brought to Africa from South America by the Portuguese in the 1500s.) They inserted into three cassava plants an E. coli gene that controls starch production. A non-modified fourth plant served as a control.

“Cassava actually has this same gene,” Sayre said. “But the bacterial version of the gene is about a hundred times more active.”

The modified plants converted more of their sugar into starch, as shown by an increase in root size as well as the number of roots and leaves produced by each modified plant.

The roots of the modified plants were up to 2.6 fold larger than the roots of a non-modified plant (an average of 198 grams for the biggest roots vs. 74 grams for the roots of the non-modified plant.) The modified plants produced a maximum of 12 roots, compared to the seven roots produced by the non-modified plant. These modified plants also produced a third more leaves – a maximum of 123 leaves per modified plant vs. 92 leaves per non-modified plant.

Sayre said that the bigger roots produced by the plants were just that – bigger. They weren't necessarily more nutritious. And they would still need to be processed quickly and properly after harvesting, as the roots and leaves of poorly processed cassava plants contain a substance that triggers the production of cyanide.

In previous work, Sayre helped create cassava that produced little to no cyanide once it is harvested.

He is also the principal investigator of an ongoing project focused on improving the nutritional content of cassava. In this work Sayre leads a team of national and international scientists focused on increasing the vitamin, mineral and protein content of the plant.

The current study was supported in part by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Centro Internacional Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and Ohio State.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060524221812.htm

Organic Nitrogen Gives New Clue to Biodiversity

2006-05-30T12:16:00.000-05:00

Scientists have found that organic nitrogen is more important for plant growth than previously thought and could contribute to maintaining diversity in grasslands.

Until recently it was generally believed that the most important source of nitrogen for plants was inorganic nitrogen. However, researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) from the University of Lancaster and the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) have found that not only can organic nitrogen be directly taken up by plants it is also used differently by different species, enabling nitrogen sharing and biodiversity.

By tagging organic nitrogen with stable isotopes researchers have challenged the long held idea that organic nitrogen has to be first converted into an inorganic form before the plants can use it. Their findings have significant implications in unfertilised, low-productivity grasslands where organic nitrogen often appears in greater concentrations than inorganic forms.

Professor Richard Bardgett, lead researcher at the University of Lancaster explained: "This research provides important new information about what happens to organic nitrogen in real ecosystems in real time. Tagging amino acids also revealed that different plant species prefer different sources of organic nitrogen. These preferences may be a way for plants and microbes to avoid competition with their neighbours for nitrogen when it is in very short supply, effectively enabling them to share nitrogen and maintain biodiversity."

Professor Julia Goodfellow, BBSRC Chief Executive, commented: "This is important work which increases our understanding about the underlying processors that generate and maintain biodiversity and will help farmers, industry and government make the most of natural resources and use biodiversity more effectively."

Source: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Learn how lotus plants inspired architects and industrial designers.

2006-05-29T14:39:00.000-05:00

Architects and engineers were puzzled over how to keep all those skyscrapers free of dust in an a more cost effective way than manual labor. The lotus plant inspired one solution. There are other interesting industrial innovations from nature, but the lotus is first in the video.

Robots And Inflatable Conveyor Belts Set To Slash Farm Labour Costs

2006-05-29T13:17:00.000-05:00

Robots are on the march again into the last bastion of labour intensive industry - farming and horticulture. Research engineers and horticulture specialists at the University of Warwick are working together to devise a suite of robots and automated systems which could transform farming and horticulture over the next decade.

Mushroom picking robot. (Image courtesy of University of Warwick)

The researchers from the University of Warwick's horticultural arm, Warwick HRI, and its manufacturing engineering section, Warwick Manufacturing Group, are working on a number of robotics and automation products that will vastly reduce the labour costs of farmers and growers. Those projects include:

A robotic mushroom picker: the robot uses a charged coupled camera to spot and select only mushrooms of the exact size required for picking achieving levels of accuracy far in excess of human labour. The mushroom(s) are then picked by a suction cup on the end of a robotic arm. Whilst the speed of picking is currently just over half that of a human - the mushrooms and the robot can be set to pick 24 hours a day right through the night without the need for any sort of break. The researchers also hope to increase the speed of picking to much closer to that of a human worker.

Inflatable Conveyor Belt: The Warwick Manufacturing Group and Warwick HRI researchers have helped an agricultural machinery company "Aeropick" to develop a revolutionary group of inflatable aids to harvesting which provide huge savings on labour costs. The inflatable conveyor system can be driven into an open field or covered growing area. Within minutes up to 100 metres of powered conveyor belt can be deployed allowing crops to be processed at high speed straight to cool storage, or washing, or simply sorted and graded while still in the field.

Story Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/03/060307220709.htm

Ebb and Flow Concert at the Japanese Garden

2006-05-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

For those of you that missed it Ebb and Flow gave a concert on Friday at the Japanese Garden at Haywood Community College. There is always something great going on down at the Nix Horticulture Complex, so be sure to stop by.
Adam played the bass and sang along with....
Neil on the acoustic guitar. Probably the only band you will ever see whose name was in part inspired by a type of greenhouse irrigation system. Horticulture rocks!!! UPDATE: from one of the musicians: "Ebb&Flow, as an idea has been with me long before i entered into the horticultural fray, although the hydration system is one of the influences into our name, it is not the primary one"

Vegetable Production Course Underway

2006-05-25T14:13:00.000-05:00

The Horticulture Technology students enrolled in Vegetable Crop Production have begun their hands-on learning in the on-campus garden. They will divide the vegetables produced among themselves and the remainder will be given to a local area food shelf. George Thomas, the instructor for the course will teach the students the applied science of vegetable production .
"I know those students are around here somewhere?"
"Hey George, I think we saw some students working over there...but they are gone now"
Seriously, the students worked very hard installing raised vegetable beds. Everyone jumped in grabbed a shovel or rake and went at it.
Several students install a divider down the center of the beds. As part of the course the students will compare conventional production to organic methods.
Some cucurbit transplants being installed.
The students also direct-seeded sweet corn.
Brassicas, cucurbits, tomatoes, and pepper plants were all put in today.
Student transplanting peppers.
Check back for more updates during the summer!

Horticulture Makes Front Page of Asheville Citizen-Times

2006-05-17T07:27:00.000-05:00

An industry in bloom

Area’s population boom keeps growers busy
by John Boyle, JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published May 17, 2006 12:15 am

ETOWAH — The new crop of homes and commercial buildings in Western North Carolina may encroach on farmland, but it has a major upside for some growers, especially those in landscaping and greenhouse-related businesses. To read full article online click here.

photo credit: Steve Dixon, sdixon@citizen-times.com

Carlos Fernandez guides a tree onto a trailer for a Brevard customer as Worth Weant runs the loader at Hillside Nursery’s operation in Transylvania County. The Henderson County-based company has seen its business in the mountains grow by 300 percent in the past five years.

Annual Plant Sale A Success

2006-04-28T18:13:00.000-05:00

Once again the annual plant sale at the Nix Horticulture Complex was huge success. Horticulture enthusiasts showed up early to buy plants and get advice from faculty and students alike.
George Thomas assists a customer.
George tallying another sale. All proceeds go support the Horticulture Technology Program at Haywood Community College.
Anita used her culinary and catering skills to provide customers with barbecue sandwiches and grilled vegetables.
Don makes sure those flats stay well watered for customers during the fundraiser.
Dawn helps a customer to her car with a cart full of plants that will soon be in the garden.
This was a common site on campus as people wanted to make sure their newly purchased plants did not overheat in their cars.
In addition to many types of annuals, containerized perennial plant materials were also sold.
Some horticulture students also provided a three piece band to entertain shoppers during the sale.
Good plants, good prices, good food and good music. If you didn't get a chance to stop by the sale this year make sure you put it on your calendar for next year.

Horticulture Students Prefer Garden to Beach Part II

2006-04-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

Who's Who in Horticulture

2006-04-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

The 2005–2006 Who’s Who among Students in American Junior Colleges

Students named this year from HCC’s
Horticulture Technology Program:

Jordana A. Chalnick
Horticulture Technology

Linda Rudisill Soesbee
Horticulture Technology

Annual Plant Sale

2006-04-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

Click on Flyer to view a larger printable version... Haywood Community College Annual Plant Sale!

WHAT: A sale of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, shrubs and house plants @ VERY reasonable prices.
-All plants grown in house by hort. students.
-Proceeds to benefit HCC Horticulture department and Horticulture club.
-Food and beverage to be sold with vegetarian option!

WHEN: Friday, April 28th 9-4pm

WHERE: HCC Horticulture department, 1100 Nix Building

For information please contact:
George Thomas @ (828)627- 4625

Horticulture Students Prefer Gardens to Beach

2006-04-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

George Thomas, Horticulture Instructor, took interested students on a field trip to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Here George arranged for the students to expand their horizons with reviews of hundreds of new plant species and varieties and discussions lead by internationally recognized experts such as Dr. Allan Armitage of the University of Georgia's Horticulture Department.
Students observed many dazzling displays of horticultural collections including orchids, azaleas, and other species too numerous to mention here.
Callaway Gardens, a stunning 13,000-acre garden, offers the perfect setting for horticulture students. Callaway Gardens' landscape explodes with beautiful displays of over 20,000 azaleas, plus mountain laurel, dogwoods, daffodils and daisies.
HCC student Adam Bigelow manages to make a new friend during a brief break in the garden tour.
One of the many stunning conservatories at Callaway Gardens.
Plants are used for a variety of design purpose at Callaway Gardens. When does a garden stop being a garden and become statuary?

These images were generously provided by HCC student Dawn Pomraning.

Interested in Horticulture at HCC? Send us an e-mail at mtignor@haywood.edu , gthomas@haywood.edu, or jsherman@haywood.edu Come Grow With Us!!! We are also now offering many of our courses On-Line.

Easter Lily Fundraiser

2006-04-10T15:39:00.000-05:00

As part of John Sherman's HOR 235 Greenhouse Production Course students are raising Easter Lilies. The students are selling them as a fundraiser that will be used to purchase additional supplies for the Horticulture Center. The cost is 4$ per Easter Lily please contact John Sherman at jsherman@haywood.edu or Buddy Tignor at mtignor@haywood.edu if you would like to purchase one. The Easter lilies have been moved to a cool storage room to extend flowering until the holiday weekend.

Student Efforts at Historic Shook House

2006-04-10T15:35:00.000-05:00

Built in 1795, by Reveloutionary War veteran Jacob Shook, the Shook House lies close to the Pigeon River in Clyde. It is one of the oldest if not the oldest house standing in Haywood County. As part of an ongoing effort spearheaded by Horticulture Faculty George Thomas and John Sherman new landscaping activities continue.
The students enrolled in landscape management (co-taught by John Sherman and Buddy Tignor)finished sodding the front of the Shook House complex and began seeding the remainder of the yard. Horticulture Instructor George Thomas (in the hat) assists students in putting straw down on the newly seeded yard. After a hard afternoon's efforts the additional turf is in place in both the front of the Shook Complex and...
to the side of the Shook House. If you have a minute drive by and see how things are shaping up. Supplies have been generously provided by Dr. Hall for these student learning activities.