The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 31)
IN THIS ISSUE...
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND HORTICULTURE PFT CLIMATE CHANGE TRAINING IN JUNE
The Horticulture Program Focus Team has chosen climate change as their area of focus this year. We have prepared a program for our June Training (June 12-14) to address this complex topic, in a horticultural light. KSRE Agents are welcome to attend at no charge either in person (Sedgwick County Extension Office) or online via Adobe Connect, which will be available live and later archived.
Tuesday, June 12
12:30: Overview of training – Cheryl Boyer
12:40: Introduction to Climate – John Harrington, KSU Geography [bit.ly/L3aHcI]
• Basic science of climate change
• Global Projections of climate change
2:00: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Visualization Project, Ray Wolf (via Adobe Connect) www.noaa.gov
4:00: Adjourn
6:00: Grab dinner (on your own), meet at Botanica for the evening
Socialize/enjoy live music www.botanica.org Cost: $7
701 N. Amidon Ave. [Map: bit.ly/J0YRA4]
Wednesday, June 13
8:30: Climate Change & Climate Data Tools in the Central Great Plains – Ken Hubbard, HPRCC/UNL [bit.ly/Je4mJl] & Tapan Pathak, UNL Extension [bit.ly/KKzhwX]
• Climate change on a local level
• HPRCC tools to evaluate climatic occurrences and weather changes
• Hands-on time to investigate Climatic scenarios (decision making)
12:00: Lunch
1:00: Climate Change in plant pathogens in a horticultural context (via Adobe Connect) – Karen Garrett, KSU Plant Pathology [bit.ly/JAiZZ7]
2:00: Soil Carbon Sequestration – Chuck Rice, KSU Agronomy [bit.ly/Je5wV9]
• Tour of no-till pumpkin production study at the John C. Pair Horticulture Center in Haysville
5:00: Evening social at John C. Pair Horticulture Center. Please bring $10-$15 to cover meal costs.
Thursday, June 14
8:30: Communicating climate change to constituents –Bruce Snead, KSU Engineering Extension [bit.ly/ISzHWc]
10:00: Climatic Change and Arthropod Pests – Raymond Cloyd, KSU Entomology [bit.ly/JcifJU]
11:00: Adjourn
For more information, contact Cheryl Boyer, crboyer@k-state.edu; or to register, contact Christy Dipman, cdipman@k-state.edu. --Cheryl Boyer
FARMERS MARKET WEBINARS
The Kansas Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Alternative Crops (KCSAAC), Kansas SARE, and Our Local Foods Kansas are hosting a series of webinars for and about farmers markets and growing fresh produce for sale to the public. Each of the webinars will be recorded with links available on the Kansas SARE website, www.kansassare.org. All webinars will be from 10-11 a.m. accessible at http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/sareseminar.
Thursday, June 14 - Farmers Market Displays That Really Sell: Market Customers Eat With Their Eyes, presented by Kathrine Kelly, Cultivate Kansas City
Wednesday, June 20 - Post Harvest Handling: Keeping It Fresh, presented by Chris Blanchard, Rock Springs Farm, Decorah, Iowa
Thursday, June 28 - Direct Marketing 101: Farmers Markets and Other Venues, presented by David Coltrain, River Valley Extension District
Wednesday, July 11 - Risk Management for Farmers Markets: Protecting the Public and Vendors and the Market Organization, presented by Tracey Graham, Kansas Rural Center. --Kerri Ebert kebert@ksu.edu
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - KARL
K-State Research and Extension, Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership (KARL) Program POSITION: Assistant Director, Agriculture and Rural Leadership Development.
The Assistant Director shall assist in planning, coordination and implementation of the educational programs and fund development in Kansas to enrich the skills of emerging leaders with agricultural/rural backgrounds and interests. Following a 1 to 2 year training cycle, the Assistant Director/Vice President, with KARL Board and University agreement, may advance to the position of Director of the KARL Program and President-CEO of KARL, Inc. according the board's succession plan.
Kansas State University is an equal opportunity employer. Position is a non-tenure track, annual contract agreement with the not-for-profit host, KARL, Inc., serving as the funding source. Application Deadline is June 15, 2012. Send formal letter of interest, resume and three letters of reference to KARL, 101 Umberger Hall, Manhattan KS 66506. Background checks required for all candidates. For further information, call 785-532-6300. Position is available August 15, 2012 or until filled. Visit http://www.karlprogram.com to learn more about the host organization. --Jack Lindquist jack@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my picks are outcomes and success stories from Pam
Paulsen, Reno County; and Jamie Hancock, Shawnee County:
Evidence:
The Hutchinson Community Gardens regularly leases all of their available spaces
and has a waiting list of gardeners before each growing season begins. Because
of this, the City of Hutchinson is working to locate additional community
garden sites. The city has also revised its property regulations to allow for
small community gardens in neighborhoods throughout Hutchinson.
Two new community gardens started in 2010, continued to grow in 2011, and two
more were started in 2011 in Reno County communities.
Success Stories:
**In 2010, the Hutchinson Community Gardens received nearly $7800 in grant funds
and equipment through the Accessibility for Kansans program. In 2011, they
received another $6200 for equipment and facilities - intended to increase the
amount of time gardeners spend in the garden thus increasing their physical
activity.
The Reno County Producers' Market has steadily grown every year. The past two
years they have run out of booth space for vendors. They are currently making
plans to expand the size of the market and to extend from seasonal to a
year-round market. This change will meet the community demand of locally grown
produce throughout the year. They have had record growth over the past four
years in customers, vendors, and sales. In 2007, total sales for the market
were $165,000 and in 2010, $281,000. The market has become a central attraction
on Saturday mornings in downtown Hutchinson.
**The Shawnee County Master
Gardeners connected with the Topeka/Shawnee County Public
Library to provide teaching and training seminars 10-12 times per year.
The library advertises the events on various gardening topics and
supplies the room and electronic devices needed for the presentations.
The crowds have been averaging about 35 participants and the
demographic diversity is tremendous. We are able to reach so many more
people in other walks of life by using the public library facilities
than we were ever able to draw at the Extension office meeting room.
This has proven to be a great collaboration and one we will continue to
do in 2012.
This new collaboration engaged many more Master
Gardeners in the Public Speaking aspect of the program. We are working
to join good speakers with the more quiet, but often more
knowledgeable Master Gardeners who are too shy to do the actual
presentations. This allows for excellent question and answer sessions
following the presentations. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
SCHOLARSHIPS TO NORTH CENTRAL REGION VOLUNTEER FORUM
Thanks to the great generosity of the Kansas 4-H Foundation, Monsanto Volunteer Development Initiative and the Kansas Youth Council, a significant number of scholarships for Kansas 4-H Volunteers to attend the North Central Region Volunteer Forum are now available. The scholarships will be for $100, (half the Early Bird Registration Fee).
The scholarships will be awarded on a rolling basis until all money is awarded. The first round will be one scholarship per Kansas county (Districts receive the number of scholarships equal to their number of counties) until July 15. After the scholarships are distributed on the one per county basis, the remaining scholarships will be awarded until all are awarded. Both Adult and Youth Volunteers are eligible.
Information and applications are available at http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=314. Go to the second section on the page. Scholarship applications will be accepted until all scholarships are awarded, first deadline July 15.
Please send, (email or surface mail) to Rhonda Zook, Rhonda_zook@hotmail.com; or Rhonda Zook, 298 Boston Mills Rd., Columbus, KS 66725. --Rod Buchele rbuchele@ksu.edu
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