Conference at Cornell University: Organic & Sustainable Gardening in a Warmer World, October 4 & 5th, 2013
Synopsis by attendee Maraleen Manos-Jones
Opening Keynote by Dr. Paul Wapner 10/04/13:
“Better Cruel Truth than Sweet Lies”
– incontrovertible and factual evidence of global warming due to human activity compiled by atmospheric physicists
– last frost now one week earlier in the Spring and one week later in the Fall
– more extremes of precipitation
– snowfall: not consistent change, but how long snow stays around. There are now 30 days less of snow cover, which means more insects, disease & pests moving north
– humans want to control nature, now we are controlling on steroids with technology
– there is no getting back to clean atmosphere. There used to be 270 parts per million carbon, now there is 400 parts carbon per million in the atmosphere
– there are fuels from Heaven and fuels from Hell, sun/wind vs. oil/gas
– third world hit hardest by climate change
– monsoons have changed significantly in India & Nepal. They are the frontier/brunt of feeling the effects of global warming. i.e. glaciers in Chile melting, the source of water for millions
Morning Keynote by Dr. Art DeGaetano 10/05/13: Why Adapt to Climate Change?
– by 2080, our planet will be 7 to 10 degrees warmer, even if we mitigate, we are on a roll
– by the end of this century, there will be one month more frost free, 5 to 6% increase in rain, and 25% more rain from big storm events
– heat stress: crops/livestock, increased insects & disease, more droughts in summer
– can be an opportunity for different crops
– cool season crops will suffer: apples, cabbage, broccoli
– we must ADAPT
– integrated pest management, developing new strategies for pests, disease & weeds
– improve soil resilience
– more compost and mulch
– drip & rain barrel irrigation
Birds & Climate Change by Dr Kim Bostwick, 10/05/13
– there is .8 C temp rise already – we want to avoid 2 degrees C, it’s too scary and we are probably going to 4 degrees C IF WE DON’T CHANGE OUR ACTIONS – 4 DEGREES + EQUALS HELL ON EARTH
– quote from Marshall Gentz, “We need massive, coordinated, intelligent, ambitious action…we’re stuck between the impossible and the unthinkable.”
**** IF NOT ME, WHO? IF NOT FOR THIS, FOR WHAT? IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
WE NEED A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT
– savoring and saving nature
– all ask, Where is my place of power – and talk about climate change with friends, neighbors
“Our lives begin to end when we are silent”
– Attitudes toward climate change: 18% alarmed, 33% concerned, 19% cautious, 12% disengaged, 7% dismiss/deny, from a study by Andrew Leiserwitz, et.al., 2009
– focus on empowering, writing & mobilizing, the cautious, concerned and alarmed are 70% of the population
– responding to warmer temperatures, birds are on the move north (10,000 species)
– extreme weather events have big impact
– climate change is a reality: check Al Gore’s website: 350.org
– what is important in your life – who do you love – what kind of world d you want them to inherit?
– engage it, understand issues, and own it
– discover and embrace your personal place of power
– change your life & the world
– invest in climate – put your money where your beliefs are
– timing is everything for some species – food sources, egg laying, migration, habitat specialists, latitude, coastal, water sources –
Edible Landscapes and Permaculture by Steve Gabriel, 10/05/13
– permaculture integrates aerating and fertilizing soil, pest control, and weed control, i.e. ducks eat slugs, turn grass into better soil, they fertilize soil and give us meat
– slugs love mushrooms – rotate where ducks eat
– cover crops : buckwheat, radish, clover
– thin trees – you can use for mushroom logs – takes 20 year old tree logs for mushrooms – need 30 logs for 1 lb. mushrooms/week – check out: www.mushrooms.cornell.edu
– CO2 cycle is a dynamic system – tree/soil/animals BUILD HEALTHY SOIL AND REDUCE/OFFSET OF OUR OWN EMISSIONS (FROM FLYING FREQUENTLY, DRIVING, ETC.) or i.e. grow your own tea since black tea travels 1,000’s of miles
– Bio-Shelters – to grow greens in the winter and year round– just south side is plastic, other sides just well insulated check out Three Sisters Farm BioShelter : www.bioshelter.com. Rodale also a good source of information
– good cover crop: buckwheat & daikon radish – broadcast into woodchips, micro organisms hang out with root systems – let buckwheat and radish flower – cut before it goes to seed or let the chickens go in and eat
– build garden as nature would – no till
– use compost, layer over newspapers, and then apply mulch (cardboard on the aisles)
– for new veg. beds, use one foot straw mulch
– no newspaper on salad greens/carrots
– read online positive news
There are layers of edible forest garden: – tall canopy/tall trees,, sub canopy/shrubs, shorter shrubs, and herbaceous
– Permaculture: We plant ecosystems – climate change polyculture appropriate for backyard or farm scale
– can species thrive as it warms? Choosing species that adapt to chaos
– IMPORTANT TO GROW FOOD & MEDICINES to have on hand
– Plant mostly native species
– great canopy tree: hybrid chestnut , Castonea dentate xspp – it is stable food and nutritious
– hazelnut hedges – also has 40’ roots !
– urine watered down 10 to 1 makes great fertilizer
– from Badgersett Research Center: “Only if ¼ of the world’s food crop converted to woody crop, would there be a HALT and REVERSE of increased CO2”
– Paw Paw tree, Asimina tricora, native to N.Y. & South, is related to papaya and is great source of delicious, highly nutritious fruits (more potassium than banana & some fat), the pulp of which can be frozen for winter use – fruit does not have a long shelf life. It can grow in 50% shade to full sun, can grow near Black walnut, deer resistant, but you have to hand pollinate in May with a paintbrush, and you must have at least two trees. There is a Paw Paw festival n Ohio: www.ohiopawfest.com
– great shrub: Serviceberry, Amelanchier, also known as Juneberry or Shadbush, have vitamin filled berries for all – www.juneberries.org
– traveling with agricultural products in our globally connected world introduces pests that travel with plants (shutdown devastating to detecting pests – and plant inspectors get only 50% volume)
– it is expensive to control unwanted outbreak which can lead to abandonment of crop & closing of markets if pest not eradicated
– key place of entry: Florida
– Valentine Day Flower Import: 2,000 pests introduced on ONE DAY
– we should reproduce plants by cuttings rather than seed produced elsewhere
– it’s how we got Asian long horned beetle in Brooklyn & L.I. since 1996, & Emerald ash borer (native wasp tells where borer is)
– new fruit fly w/spotted wings attacks unripe fruit , i.e. raspberries, blueberries, grapes
– marmolated stink bug injures apples
– crane fly & marsh crane fly
– columbine saw fly
– lily leaf beetle
-in corners of Florida there is Dogwood disease, anthacnose and Boxwood blight since 2011 in N.C., Ct. & Va., and since 1994 in England – blight browns them out after rain & humidity (looks like bad hair day), leaves fall off , BUT HOW MANY SPECIES DOES BOXWOOD SUPPORT?
– fungus on root of impatiens started in 2012, blown in by spores. Showed up in England in 2003 – New guinea impatiens seems to be resistant
– jewelweed is close relative – there have been reports of fungus on jewelweed –
– there are too many long Asian worms which are loosening the soil way too much – read Second Nature by Michael Pollan
– good resources: environment.yale.edu/climate change and of course Cornell research
Capstone Keynote by Dr. Shorna Allred, 10/05/2013
– climate change: people don’t think it will affect them personally
– volunteers as change agents: 64 million Americans volunteer 7.9 billion/hours/year or 1 in 4 adults volunteer
– 700 CCE educators and 60,000 volunteers
– NOW IS THE TIME FOR URGENT STEWARDSHIP ACTION
The Drum Major Instinct: “Everybody can be great because everyone can serve.” Martin Luther King, Jr. , 1968
Georgia Master Gardener Program:
Learn New Things, Serve Community, Challenge, Influence, Leadership Role
We learn best when we learn from peer relationships – each one teach one. Understand goals, issues, pressures, unbiased, trusted, use credible sources of information, you speak the same language instead of acronyms – Master gardeners are accessible and local
There are Master Forest Owners, Naturalists & Composters
“Leave a committed life behind.” Bill McGibbon
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