L-R, volunteers Anthony Capece, Elijah’s Promise coordinator; Geoffrey Slifer, head soils and plant technician, Rutgers Snyder Research Farm; John Milano, Elijah’s Promise; Win Cowgill; Yvette Molina, Elijah’s Promise, Keith Jones, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance; Shahnaz Hameed and Areebah Alam, Shiloh community gardeners; Lisanne Finston; and Paul Helms, New Brunswick Community Farmers Market.

A new community apple orchard at the Shiloh Community Garden in New Brunswick, NJ, practically sprouted overnight in late April. A group of volunteers from Elijah’s Promise, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance and local residents as well as staff and faculty from various departments at Rutgers, planted an orchard of 40 apple trees in one day and installed 90 feet of trellis to support the trees.

Spurred by a conversation between Mark Robson, dean of agricultural and urban programs at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and Lisanne Finston, executive director of Elijah’s Promise, during a 2012 visit to Philadelphia community gardens, the idea became part vision, part challenge. Robson enlisted his colleague Win Cowgill, area fruit agent with Rutgers Cooperative Extension to design and implement the orchard project.

Forty trees of three apple varieties await planting.

New Brunswick is home to Rutgers’ oldest and largest campus community. The city is filled with restaurants, theaters, large and small businesses, hospitals, a train station and the university. Despite its diversity and culture, New Brunswick is considered one of 134 “food deserts” in New Jersey. The Economic Research Service of the USDA defines food deserts as areas where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food, influenced by factors such as availability of grocery stores, income, vehicle availability and access to public transportation.

In New Brunswick, a number of organizations are partnering to create opportunities for residents, many of whom are low income or senior citizens, to have access to locally grown food. The creation of a New Brunswick community farmer’s market and several community gardens are initiatives that have been in place for several years, with involvement from many local organizations, including Rutgers University.

Shiloh Community Garden is located on Tabernacle Way, between Neilson Avenue and George Street in New Brunswick. Neighborhood residents, local youth groups, children and young adults comprise its membership. The garden was established as a passive community park and garden in May 2010 as a collaborative project among the City of New Brunswick, Elijah’s Promise, and the United Methodist Church of New Brunswick, which owns the land. The garden houses raised garden beds, a shed, compost bins and a source of water for the garden. The orchard is adjacent to the garden and will use its water source.

Mark Robson (left) attaches cross beam while Geoff Slifer and Win Cowgill hold it in place. Katherine Nosker (right), graduate student in Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, holds a level to assure the beam is straight.

The orchard project budget was $5,000, funded in part by donations of a Rutgers SEBS teaching award and a personal contribution from Robson, and matched by Rutgers alumna Kate Sweeney, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley. Additional support came from Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).

While there are challenges to placing an orchard in an urban setting, this particular project was designed for manageability in a small space. According to Robson, apple trees from dwarfing rootstocks along with a tall spindle trellis system create the effect of a “Wall of Fruit.” The idea is to occupy minimal space, with full dwarf trees, so that the majority of the work and harvesting can be done from the ground or a small step ladder. This production system is very precocious, meaning the trees will start to bear fruit in the second and third season.

Cowgill selected three apple varieties, all chosen for the disease resistant characteristics and high fruit quality for this urban orchard. All three are resistant to apple scab, the most serious fungal disease, that can lead to complete defoliation and significant fruit loss on standard varieties. Cowgill explains, “the late Rutgers fruit breeder Professor L. F. Hough, discovered the gene for apple scab resistance when he was a doctoral student at University of Illinois. Identified in a crabapple tree, Malus floribunda, the gene, known as the V_f gene, is the basis for all scab resistance in these varieties.”

“The Rutgers NJAES tree fruit breeding program, headed by Dr. Joe Goffreda, is one of the few University breeding programs left in the US,” said Cowgill. Two of the varieties, Crimson Crisp and Pristine, were hybridized through a joint Purdue University, Rutgers and University of Illinois diseases resistant apple breeding program, known as PRI, utilizing traditional breeding methods. The third variety, also carrying the V_f gene, is Liberty, developed through Cornell University’s apple breeding program with the Rutgers V_f gene.

Areebah Alam digs a hole while Keith Jones readies the tree for planting.

Robson plans to continue to help the orchard establish roots by installing a drip irrigation system. Rutgers NJAES and faculty and staff will show Elijah’s Promise staff and Shiloh community gardeners how to maintain the orchard. A first year Byrne Seminar, which focuses on research and interests of faculty and introduces students to the range of intellectual and career possibilities offered at Rutgers, will also be developed around this activity.

According to Finston, the apples will be community fruit to be shared by gardeners and members of the community, as well as for use in the Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen and culinary school. The trees will bear their first fruit in fall of 2014.

Rachael Winfree

On May 8, several Rutgers faculty were recognized for their outstanding efforts. Rachael Winfree, associate professor in Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and an extension specialist in the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, was among those honored. Read more about the awards.

At the Plant Diagnostic Lab Sabrina Tirpak examines a turf sample for disease symptoms.

The Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Lab and the Soil Testing Lab, both located on the George H. Cook Campus, cater to commercial farmers, small businesses, and individual residents. The labs diagnose and mitigate existing problems related to plants and diagnose soil needs to assure optimal growth. With the knowledge and expertise of these two Rutgers-based labs, farmers and recreational gardeners have everything at their fingertips to make their farms, gardens, lawns, and groves thrive, at a minimal cost.

The Plant Diagnostic Laboratory and Nematode Detection Service, its full name, is a full-service plant health diagnostic facility of NJAES with the mission to solve plant problems for the residents of New Jersey in an accurate and timely manner. The laboratory serves both residential and commercial plant managers in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. It also boasts clientele from as far away as California, Arizona, and Florida. Laboratory services include disease and insect pest diagnosis, plant and weed identification, insect identification, fungus and mold identification and nematode assays. Laboratory services are provided in cooperation with NJAES and RCE faculty and staff.

“Since our inception in 1991, we have evaluated around 42,000 plant samples for diagnosis,” said lab director Richard Buckley. “Proper diagnostics help to eliminate the need for unnecessary pesticide and fertilizer applications. We provide science-based solutions to enhance plant performance and when a pesticide is the best course of action, we help our clients in selecting the best product for their needs. The reduction in overall pesticide use is good for the environment and it also saves our clients a lot of money.” The lab has two full-time staff Mr. Buckley and principal technician Sabrina Tirpak. In addition to their role as diagnosticians they also teach in numerous SEBS, RCE, and NJAES outreach programs as well as provide educational resources for many industry and trade groups.

As one can imagine, the lab experiences its highest influx of customers in the warmer months. “Plant diseases are driven by the weather. We do get different types of plants depending on season – turfgrass in summer, greenhouse before holidays (poinsettia before Christmas), and landscape and nursery in spring and fall, with the bulk of the sample rush being between May and October.”

The Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Laboratory also participates in federal and state pest monitoring programs. It is designated a National Plant Diagnostic Network Laboratory, under a joint Department of Homeland Security and USDA program, and contributes its services to the Cooperative Agricultural Pest survey.

Soil testing lab technicians at work.
Dr. Murphy (left) checks progress of an analysis. Sung Won Yoon (center), former graduate student and now Ph.D., works on soil organic matter analysis while Principal Technician Steve Griglak prepares to run an extraction.

The Soil Testing Laboratory is a service unit of NJAES and provides fertility and mechanical analysis of soils for the residents of New Jersey and neighboring states and for Rutgers University researchers. Its mission is to provide accurate and timely soil test reports to meet the unique agricultural and environmental needs of New Jersey.

“There’s a lot of interest now in nutrient management not only because of the benefits to plant growth, but also because of the environmental issues that are becoming apparent, especially in New Jersey with our dense population and development,” explains Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D., director of the Soil Testing Laboratory. “We’ve been effective in demonstrating how nutrient management in the soil can help to improve water quality long-term.”

In addition to Murphy, the lab is staffed by Steve Griglak, principal laboratory technician; Phyllis Berger, laboratory assistant; Terriann DiLalo, administrative assistant; as well as several undergraduate assistants who help with many of the basic, day-to-day tasks. The peak time for samples of soil to come pouring into the Soil Testing Lab are the spring and fall.

When not performing soil tests, Murphy and staff participate in many outreach efforts, such as the Office of Continuing Professional Education (OCPE) Annual Home Gardeners School and the Soil and Site Evaluation for Septic Systems Short Course, and have presented programs in support of the environmental stewardship programs. Murphy, who serves as the representative for the Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources to the State Soil Conservation Committee, also guest lectures in several undergraduate soils courses and hosts several classes of undergraduates for tours of the soil testing laboratory. Next fall, she will instruct the undergraduate course, “Soil Quality.”

The Plant Diagnostic Lab and the Soil Testing Lab are an integral part of the NJAES and the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, providing diagnostic and educational services in support of the teaching, research, and outreach efforts of the school and experiment station. Both labs obtain most of their support through fees and work to attract grants and contracts from state and federal programs.

To learn more about plant diagnostic and soil services at Rutgers, visit http://njaes.rutgers.edu/services/.

Read the entire article at DailyRecord.com »

Robin Brumfield takes notes from Region 4 shadehouse producer Shiromanie Isaacs. At left is Ryan Nedd, field officer with the Farmer to Farmer project.

One year ago, Rutgers specialist in farm management Robin Brumfield found herself enjoying the cooling spray of the brackish brown water as she sped along in a 15-seater speedboat on the Essequibo River. The “Mighty Essequibo” as it’s called, is the third largest river on the continent of South America and the largest in Guyana, the only English-speaking country on the continent.

Winding its way north for over 600 miles through some of the more remote areas of Guyana, the Essequibo River flows around more than 365 distinct islands. At the time, Brumfield and several Guyanese field staff from an internationally funded farming project were skirting the largest of the three  biggest islands located in the 20-mile wide mouth of the Essequibo River, just before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Far from her New Brunswick, New Jersey, campus home of the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Brumfield was in Guyana in 2012 to conduct training to boost the operations of hydroponic vegetable greenhouse growers. For two weeks in May, she traveled to several regions of Guyana, including some of the more remote parts of Region 2, Essequibo, to teach local growers as well as program staff about cost analysis, developing budgets for vegetable crops and business planning under a fledgling “Hydroponic Shadehouse (Greenhouse) Vegetable Production and Marketing Project.”

In Guyana, hydroponics or “soilless” cultivation is being introduced as an alternative vegetable production system of growing plants without soil, a practice being adopted by small farmers and non-farmers alike for cash-crops like celery, lettuce, bok choy, tomatoes and peppers. When paired with the protective shadehouse (greenhouse), this hydroponic technique is growing in popularity, in large part because it is possible to produce fresh, healthy vegetables throughout the year, a prospect that is attractive even to non-farmers doing gardening at home.

Crossing the Essequibo River in Region 2, Guyana

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Prof. Robin Brumfield, at right, with Market Promotion Technician Sybris Harvey, traveling by speedboat to the Village of Bethany across the Essequibo River

So far, most of the producers grow a limited range of cash-crops under shadehouses in shallow, raised beds to avoid heavy pest infestation on the ground in this tropical climate and to avoid potential flooding from heavy downpours, especially during the extensive rainy season.

While a few of the small-scale producers use the traditional hydroponic method of growing in water enhanced with inputs, the vast majority of those participating in the pilot project use a substrate of sand mixed with paddy husks (rice hulls), the by-product from the production of rice, one of the main agricultural crops grown in Guyana.

Robin Rbumfield in one of two classroom training sessions for producers in Regions 3 and 4

“I was impressed with the simplicity and appropriateness of the technology to the country—using food crops that Guyanese already eat, using local materials like paddy husks (rice hulls), using organic and locally-produced pesticides—to make shadehouse vegetable production cost effective and doable with a high probability of success for farmers and non-farmers,” said Brumfield.

With more than 35 years of experience in greenhouse production and management in the U.S., Brumfield was a natural fit for this project in Guyana as she has helped greenhouse owners to make effective managerial decisions to sustain their operations. She developed “Greenhouse Cost Accounting,” a computer program that allows greenhouse managers to allocate costs to specific crops that has become the standard for the greenhouse industry.

Brumfield recalled how excited she was to be chosen for last year’s international project sponsored by the Partners of the Americas’ Farmer to Farmer program, which is supported by the U.S. Congress and USAID as part of the U.S. foreign assistance program. The Farmer to Farmer program brings together agricultural professionals and practitioners from the U.S. and the Caribbean to serve as volunteers, working with farmers and agribusiness owners in Latin America and the Caribbean to identify local needs and design projects to address them.

“What stood out for me was the sacrifice that so many of the small farmers had to make to produce their crops and get them to the market, especially those in the remote areas,” said Brumfield. “Their interest in learning all they can to make their small-scale operation profitable was well worth my trip and I was grateful to the Farmer to Farmer program for allowing me to share my expertise.”

Brumfield noted the lack of widespread training in agriculture or economics among the young staff but had high hopes for the new hydroponic initiative because of the expertise and leadership of Kelvin Craig, who earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University. Craig is the country coordinator for the Farmer to Farmer program. “Kelvin’s assembled a great, young staff to spread the program to the average Guyanese in the face of what we might consider significant obstacles—poverty, lack of robust industry, remoteness of some locations and access to markets,” said Brumfield. “Let’s not forget the mosquitoes,” she added, jokingly.

Family producers, led by Mahendra Sookraj, show Robin Brumfield their bok choy during a visit to Region 3

In July this year, Brumfield is returning to Guyana on a follow-up Farmer to Farmer assignment to conduct “Cost of Production” training for field staff and new shadehouse vegetable producers on calculating costs, returns and profitability; crop scheduling for specific markets; and business planning for niche marketing. In addition, this new assignment includes specific follow-up training for the female shadehouse producers she met last May in Guyana, under the curriculum for Suzanne’s Project, which Brumfield debuted in Turkey in 2011 to train women farmers there on the basic skills they needed to sustain and scale profitable agricultural businesses.

“I met a lot of enterprising women farmers who were part of the initial greenhouse hydroponic project in Guyana, and the chance to conduct further training with them is deeply satisfying,” said Brumfield. So, for two weeks this summer, Brumfield returns to Guyana, even enduring that speedboat journey across the mighty Essequibo River for the chance to help small farmers run profitable enterprises.

“As an educator of small farmers in New Jersey, I was pleased to get the opportunity to spread the vision of Rutgers University’s “Jersey Roots, Global Reach,” by taking the lessons that I’ve learned working with producers in New Jersey to entrepreneurs in the Americas.”

L-R: New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher, Ken Osterman, and James Giamarese, president of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture

On April 24, Nurseryman Ken Osterman was presented with a Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award  by the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture in Trenton, NJ.

Osterman has played a major role in many aspects of New Jersey’s agriculture industry over the years, from leadership within Rutgers University and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, searching for Cooperative Extension faculty, to adding a calm and consistent voice to advisory boards and assisting in policy and legislation formulation. He has been a great steward of the land, working to continue preservation efforts and agricultural viability and sustainability all across New Jersey.Osterman has devoted his life to agriculture and his community. After active duty in the United States Marine Corps, he rejoined Osterman Nursery in Middlesex and Neshanic in 1971. At that time, the family business offered design/build landscape contracting. The 250-acre, permanently preserved farm now specializes in the production of specimen-sized ornamental trees and flowering shrubs for the wholesale market.

Osterman has been active in agriculture industry and community organizations since the 1970s. He served with distinction on the Executive Board of the New Jersey Association of Nurserymen, now known as the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association for nine of his 20- plus years of membership, chairing the Market Development Committee for three years, leading the association in developing new markets for membership development, as well as wholesale and retail markets for its members.

He has continually served as a member of the Somerset County Board of Agriculture since 1988 with a stint as President from 1991 to 1993. He formed the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Somerset County Advisory Board in 1991 and was its first president. After 21 years of membership, he is again serving as president. He has been a member of the Rutgers Food Innovation Center Advisory Board and he continues to serve on the Hillsborough Township Agricultural Advisory Committee as well as director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau.

Osterman was a member of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Board of Managers from 2000 to 2006 and served as president from 2003 to 2005. He rejoined the board last year.

Read the entire article at NJ.com »

The camp, which is operated by Rutgers Cooperative Extension, is located on 108 acres in beautiful Stokes State Forest, Sussex County, N.J. This annual sleepaway summer camp welcomes everyone, not just 4-Hers, and at an affordable and competitive price for each of the six one-week sessions. Discounts are available for 4-H members and Rutgers University employees.Campers participate in weekly sessions that offer a variety of arts & crafts, environmental education, shooting sports, and waterfront activities on Lake Shawanni, and bunk with their peers in one of eleven rustic cabins provided on the site. Campers will also be able to experience a variety of traditional camp activities like evenings around the campfire, talent shows, learning new games and dances in a safe, non-competitive environment.

James Tavares, director of the camp since 2000, describes the camp experience as one that facilitates real growth for all the participants. “Our research-based, age-appropriate programs use the “learn-by-doing” approach of 4-H to enable youth to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to become competent, caring and contributing citizens of the world.”

The summer camp is open to all youth who have completed grades three to ten. Counselor-In-Training positions are available to older kids, teens who have completed grades nine and ten.

The Lindley G. Cook 4-H Youth Center for Outdoor Education, which has been providing outdoor experiences for youth since 1951, is named after Lindley G. Cook, who was the associate director of the New Jersey Cooperative Extension Service from 1945–1958. Cook was the driving force behind the planning, fundraising, and development of New Jersey’s first State 4-H Camp. There is no official record of just how many campers and counselors have enjoyed the sleepaway experience from 1951 when the camp first opened, but “since 1982, over 32,000 campers and counselors passed through our gates,” said Tavares.

Participation in summer camp is available to all 4–11 graders, whether they live in cities, suburbs, or in rural communities. Register online, call 973-948-3550 or visit the camp website.

Photo courtesy of Central Park Conservancy

Rutgers University’s bond with Central Park is as strong as the hardy grass a Rutgers professor plucked from Sheep Meadow in the 1960s and cultivated into world-class turf.

Rutgers and the Central Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization responsible for the restoration, maintenance and enhancement of the iconic park in Manhattan, have strengthened their collective expertise in horticulture and turf care ever since through years of collaboration and training.

“The partnership between Rutgers and the Central Park Conservancy is preparing the next generation of environmental stewards with the tools to manage landscapes and help them flourish,” said Douglas Blonsky CC’83, president and chief executive officer of CPC and a Rutgers graduate.“We get professional advice from the people who are doing the research, and the conservancy shares what it’s doing in the field,” added Russell Fredericks CC’91, CPC’s chief of operations and another Rutgers alumnus. “Having that back and forth goes a long way.’’

Rutgers’ link to Central Park goes back at least to 1962, when the late professor C. Reed Funk took samples of ryegrass in Sheep Meadow that managed to thrive despite having no fertilization or irrigation – and plenty of foot trampling. Reed used the grass’ genetics to breed Manhattan perennial ryegrass, which became one of the most successful commercial turfgrasses produced for sports fields and lawns (it is now in its fifth generation).

Like Manhattan itself, Central Park had hit a low point in 1980 – after decades of neglect – when a group of volunteers founded the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) to restore the 843-acre park to its 19^th-century splendor. CPC’s enormously successful efforts were rewarded in 1998, when the city formalized the conservancy’s stewardship in a contract that put the non-profit in charge of the park’s day-to-day operations.

Responsible for the private fundraising of the majority of its $46 million annual budget, CPC has raised more than $550 million to date, including a $100 million gift from the Paulson Family Foundation in October. World renowned for park management, CPC has overseen the investment of more than $750 million.

Blonsky joined CPC in 1985, two years after earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Landscape Architecture at Rutgers’ Cook College (now the School of Environmental & Biological Sciences).  The New York State-registered landscape architect oversaw many of Central Park’s notable restorations, including that of the famed Great Lawn, and he established the park’s zone management system, creating 49 zones with one gardener in charge of each to ensure accountability (Strawberry Fields, with funding from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, was the first area managed that way). Under Blonsky’s leadership, park use has tripled to more than 40 million visitors a year.

“My education at Cook College gave me the tools to play a crucial role in the decades-long transformation of Central Park,” said Blonsky, whom New York City appointed Central Park administrator.

Russell Fredericks

When faced with a turf or horticulture quandary, Fredericks doesn’t hesitate to call a Rutgers scientist for guidance. Such was the case three years ago, when the soccer fields in the park’s North Meadow were worn thin by constant, intense use.

The Conservancy turned to Rutgers extension specialist James Murphy, whose research showed the effectiveness of more frequent, high-concentration seeding. CPC began seeding fields twice a week instead of just once at the end of the fall season, using 15 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet – double the normal amount.

The following year, CPC implemented another of Murphy’s recommendations: taking one of the six soccer fields out of service each fall and restoring it on a rotating basis.

“It definitely made an overall difference in the quality of the turf,” said Fredericks, who earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Planning and Design with a minor in plant science from Rutgers in 1991.

The relationship is a two-way street; CPC’s standing as a world-renowned park manager has also proven to be a tremendous resource for Rutgers and its students.

Photo courtesy of Central Park Conservancy

Murphy, who has been on the Plant Biology and Pathology Department faculty for 21 years, said he takes classes on field trips to Central Park because “it has one of the most advanced management systems I’ve ever seen. For me, it’s a field lab and there’s a lot to be learned there.”

Rutgers and CPC run internship programs that give students hands-on experience in Central Park. Last summer, Dev Saha, a Rutgers senior double majoring in agriculture science and environmental business, worked alongside Central Park staffers and interacted with the public visiting the park – an experience he’d not had at other gardens.

“Being park ambassadors was a big part of it,” said Saha, noting visitors inquired about projects the staff and interns were working on. “For us to have that experience was really awesome.” A plant lover, the 22-year-old Hillsborough resident plans to start his own nursery.

“Rutgers University consistently provides us with interns who are passionate about the environmental sciences and eager to apply what they’ve learned at Rutgers to one of the most extraordinary urban parks in the world,” Blonsky said.

CPC staff members also spend time on Rutgers turf – attending and teaching at Rutgers continuing education courses.

“We like to send our staff to Rutgers courses because of the quality of the presenters: their instructors (including Murphy and Brad Park) are well respected industry professionals,’’ said John Dillon, CPC’s director of Horticulture for Turf and Tree Care. Dillon, a 1991 graduate of the Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management School two-year certificate program, oversees the care of 250 acres of turf and more than 24,000 trees, as well as the park’s composting operation.

In February, Dillon lectured at a Rutgers continuing education course entitled “Reducing Pesticide Inputs and Exploring Organic Options for Sports Turf.”  The Conservancy is a leader in Integrated Pest Management, using as many natural methods as possible to limit pest damage.

CPC staff, from upper management to groundskeepers, have participated in many of Rutgers courses, including Managing Insect Pests of Ornamental Plants, Invasive Species Seminar: Diseases, and Athletic Field Construction & Maintenance. They also have attended Rutgers Turfgrass Research Field Days where they get the latest information to help them improve their turf and sports field management practices.

Jim Murphy

“We always strive for all our classes to be ruthlessly practical; having CPC staff as instructors shows how these best practices are being applied on the ground today,” said Jim Morris, associate director of Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education.

Morris noted that attendees of Rutgers continuing education courses have years of field experience under their belts, so “they bring a wealth of information of what works and what doesn’t work.”

From continuing education to the undergraduate experience to expert consultation, the connections between Rutgers and the Central Park Conservancy run long and deep, and seem primed for at least another fifty years of collaboration.

Source: NJAES Office of Continuing Professional Education

Read the entire article at NewBrunswick.Patch.com »