This year’s Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series schedule has been announced. Download the booklet, which has details on the farms, topics, dates, locations, directions, etc., here (pdf). A co-sponsor of the series is CFAES’s Sustainable Agriculture Team.
Sustainability... On The Farm
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See what they’re growing, learn how they do it
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on May 15th, 2013
Invasive species in your yard, woods, or garden … and what you can do about them
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on May 15th, 2013
CFAES’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program is holding a four-part seminar series for gardeners, landscapers, homeowners, and others on invasive species, the problems they cause, and how to deal with them. Read the whole story. The stewards program is part of our statewide outreach arm, OSU Extension. (Photo: Invasive insects called hemlock woolly adelgids (the fuzzy white spots) on a hemlock branch by Nicholas A. Tonelli, Pennsylvania, USA, via Wikimedia Commons.)
Tree-mendous way to help your trees
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on May 10th, 2013
The signup deadline for CFAES’s Tree School in Mansfield has been extended to Monday, May 13. Program brochure here (pdf). Online registration here. The workshop is May 18.
Beech aphid excrement. It’s what’s for dinner. If you’re a Scorias spongiosa
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on May 9th, 2013
Fun fact No. 1: There’s something called a beech aphid poop-eater. Fun fact No. 2: It’s one of the “Weird Things in Your Woods” that make up one of the 20 expert-taught sessions (pdf; scroll down) at CFAES’s first-ever Tree School May 18. It’s for anyone interested in knowing more about and growing trees. Sign up by tomorrow (May 10) Monday, May 13, if you’d like to attend.
Fun sustainability-related fact via the linked-to Tom Volk’s Fungi website, which puts the fun in fungal: “Leaves covered in sooty molds [of which the beech aphid poop-eater is one] adsorb more polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals from air than clean leaves. Thus they may be more efficient at cleaning up polluted air.”
Innovative ditch design: Two stages, many benefits
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 26th, 2013
You may think there’s only one way to dig a ditch. But Andy Ward has a better idea. And farms, farmers, soils, plants, animals, and water are all better for it. Story plus video link …
Keeping world’s rice safe
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 26th, 2013
A CFAES scientist has been honored for his work to keep rice sustainable — free of plant diseases and able to feed more than half the people on Earth. Read the story (with link to video).
May 17: These not so little invasive piggies are looming on the horizon (as are others)
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 25th, 2013
People who manage parks, farms, trees, wildlife, landscape plants, commercial nurseries, and more for a living can get a detailed look at Ohio’s invasive species, including the possible new threats, at a workshop May 17. There’s an early registration discount if you sign up by May 3. The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, which is part of OSU Extension, which is the statewide outreach arm of CFAES, is the sponsor. Get the workshop brochure here (pdf). Feral pigs like the ones shown here are now in southeast Ohio.
See one? Whip out your iPhone
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 25th, 2013
Your Apple mobile devices can now fight invasive species (such as the Asian longhorned beetle shown here; not actual size). CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, has released an iPhone and iPad version of its Great Lakes Early Detection Network (GLEDN) app. (Photo: USDA-APHIS.)
‘Green Fire’ update 2
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 17th, 2013
Last night’s “Green Fire” screening was cancelled due to a suspicious package report in Ohio State’s Ohio Union. Environmental Professionals Network Coordinator David Hanselmann writes:
“I was with the speaker [“Green Fire” guide Curt Meine]. We were walking toward the entrance when the evacuation began. We stood in the rain on the far side of High Street until about 8:10 and decided to pack it in, not knowing when the building would re-open and if anyone would still be around to watch it. Right now there are no plans to show it again, but we will consider that. For now, people can watch a slightly shortened version on WOSU TV Sunday [April 21] at 3 p.m.”
‘Green Fire’ update
Posted by Kurt Knebusch on April 17th, 2013
We’ve gotten some questions about last night’s “Green Fire” screening. The location for the screening, the Ohio Union on Ohio State’s Columbus campus, was evacuated from about 6-7:30 p.m. so police could investigate an unattended backpack that was found to be harmless. What we’re trying to find out is whether the screening was just delayed or was cancelled altogether … and if it was cancelled, whether it will be rescheduled. If you have any details, drop us a line. Otherwise, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.
