Plants can "feel" temperatures changing

Just as many researchers use white mice in labs, plant researcher use the Arabidopsis thaliana because its simple life form can show significant changes in pH, soil nutrients, air pollution and more. Scientists in the United Kingdom used it recently to show that plants can not only sense temperature change but also adapt to these changes by certain movements in the way their DNA is packaged. The research may result in being able to breed plants resistant to heat or cold. For the full story:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107132543.htm

--Dianne Olsen

Planning on Tomatoes this year: Late Blight Q & A

The seed catalogs are rolling in, and with them comes a gardener's hope and excitement . . . a "this'll be the best garden ever" enthusiasm. If last year's tomato troubles are getting you down, follow this link to a short article on Late Blight, from the Northeastern IPM center, and learn how and where the pathogen overwinters, and which tomato varieties are currently believed to be most resistant.

http://northeastipm.org/newsandreports/2009fall/Fall09_LateBlight.html

Rank your favorite vegetables

The Cornell Citizen Science folk have put together a fabulous website to help home gardeners share their successes (and failures) in the vegetable garden. Find out what other people are growing and share your stories of tasty tomatoes and bouncing bean harvests. http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/

Cornell Tested Veggies

Vegetable gardening was so frustrating last year! Rain, rain and more rain and late blight of tomato . . . and that was just the headlines. Try again this year - it will definitely be better. To help gardeners pick the most successful hybrids, Cornell tests hundreds each year. The list of the best for 2010 is available now at http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/vegetables/vegvar.pdf

ALL NEW: CHECK OUT THE MG PUTNAM COUNTY, NY FACEBOOK PAGE

Hello All,

Please note the good news! Master Gardeners of Putnam County, New York now have a FaceBook page where we can post glad tidings as well as informal gardening chats, notices, etc. to one another.

Check it out at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=181702671506&ref=mf

Or, just log on to FaceBook and search Master Gardeners of Putnam County, New York to become a participating member.

And post something on the wall for us all to see. You'll be glad you did!!

Michelle Obama Reaps Bonanza From White House Garden -- Politics Daily

Michelle Obama Reaps Bonanza From White House Garden -- Politics Daily

NY Governor's Mansion Executive Chef Talks Home Grown Vegetables

Noah Sheetz, Executive Chef of the Governor’s Mansion in Albany New York, was a speaker at CCE/Putnam’s Victory Garden workshop held earlier this summer in Patterson, NY. Master Gardener Tim Fisher had the opportunity to talk further with Noah about his personal interest in growing vegetables for Governor David A. Paterson, himself and his community.

Q. When did the Governor’s Mansion start a vegetable garden?

The Governor's Mansion has had a vegetable garden for more than 30 years - as long as our head grounds keeper Frank Willey has been there. Perhaps even longer than that. Last year we cut another garden on the back lawn. The new garden gets full sun. There are several large pines that have grown up around the older garden and we've found that it is getting too much shade. There's also a large herb garden.

Q. Is it organic?

Yes, although not certified organic. Because we are in the city limits of Albany we can't impose any sort of low input spray program. Which is a good thing but unfortunate to a degree. We also have a small orchard at the Mansion but without a spray program the fruit is generally unusable.

Q. As a chef, what are your thoughts about growing organic vegetables at home or in a community garden vs. what’s available to Americans in supermarkets today?

Garden grown foods are fresher, retain a higher nutritional value than store bought foods and are significantly cheaper. Of course it is unrealistic to assume that we can grow everything but there are many things that everyone can be growing with very little financial investment and energy. I like the example of tomatoes, which practically everyone eats. They can be grown anywhere - in suburban backyards or in pots on terraces in the most crowded of urban spaces. The flavor quality and nutritional value of home grown tomatoes is far superior to anything from California that we buy in the grocery store and the expense is, without question, far less. If everyone grew their own tomatoes in the summer, the money saved and reinvested in our local economy would be enormous.

Q. What prompted you to start your own plot in a community garden this year?

Actually it was my assistant chef's idea. I had proposed going in together on a CSA share but Tom started poking around the Capital District Community Gardens website and before you knew it we were both signed up for plots. Mine has a perfect location - right across the street from the Mansion.

Q. How was/is your harvest?

Wonderful. It’s amazing how much you can grow in a small space. I probably wouldn't have done half as well without the expert guidance of Belo’s - an experimental farm corporation in Geneva that does growing trials for farmers throughout the region. They called and asked if we needed seed/seedlings for the Mansion's gardens. I said yes. I also told Elaine from Belo’s about my latest community gardening endeavor and she offered some amazing guidance. She sent seeds for the spring planting and seedlings for early summer. As a novice gardener I was able to grow kohlrabi, broccoli, spinach, beets, collards, mustard greens, kale, chard, romanesco, radishes, cabbage, potatoes and carrots (tomatoes too but they were afflicted with blight).

Q. What kind of responses do you get from the governor/guests at the mansion to vegetables fresh out of the garden?

Very positive but sometimes it’s hard to tell. I'm back in the kitchen. So I watch plates. If the plates come back clean I know we did well and generally the plates come back clean. I do get direct feedback from time to time and it’s invariably enthusiastic. This is so gratifying but to me not surprising. There's nothing better than really fresh vegetables, like sautéed chard that was just clipped or roasted potatoes that were freshly dug. It’s all about the ingredients - the better the ingredients the better the food.

Q. What rewards do you find in working your own garden plot?

It’s peaceful and there's always something to eat. And sometimes its kind of interesting in that it requires less refrigerator space (for vegetables). I can drop by my garden on the way home from work and harvest just what I need for dinner.

Q. With today’s busy lifestyles, what are some simple ways to start a home vegetable garden?

Of course it does depend on how much time you can spare but there are several low maintenance vegetables like chard, kale, and tomatoes that will accommodate even the busiest of lifestyles. They are amazingly regenerative and can be managed by even the busiest of workaholics.

Q. Have you ever met a vegetable you didn’t like?

No. Although I'm not totally crazy about plain cucumbers. I like them in a salad or marinated in some way. Otherwise I'll eat anything.

Noah Sheetz is originally from El Paso, Texas, and settled in the Hudson Valley to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. While living in New York, Noah has worked in fine dining restaurants, owned a bakery, and enjoyed teaching as a culinary instructor in a federal correctional institution. In April of 2004, Noah was hired as the Executive Chef of the Governor’s Mansion in Albany New York. As the Executive Chef at the Executive Mansion, Noah plans and supervises special events, private dinners, working luncheons, and neighborhood barbecues. In addition to his duties at the Mansion, Noah is involved in community outreach to educate youth in the community with healthy cooking presentations and interactive workshops that promote organic gardening and eating locally. Noah’s philosophy is to buy fresh, local, and seasonal foods. His mission is to work with fresh, high quality produce, buying the same day it is harvested if possible. Noah spends time networking with farms in the area to support and promote local agriculture and to increase awareness of the benefits of eating locally. Noah is currently attending graduate school at the University of Albany in Albany, New York.