Veggie Bytes. LAYAPP Louisiana Young Ag Producers Program August October Volume 2, Issue 3

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1 2011 August October Volume 2, Issue 3 LAYAPP Louisiana Young Ag Producers Program LAYAPP 1 What s Growing 2 Classroom to the Garden Page INSIDE THIS ISSUE 3 Sundial 3 Science Fair in the Garden Halloween in the Garden The LSU AgCenter s Louisiana Young Ag Producer Program (LaYAPP) is a one-year intensive classroom/hands-on, mentor-based experience that introduces high school juniors and seniors to the options available in the areas of food and fiber production and encourages them to consider a career in agricultural production. The program, which was initiated in 2010 with 14 participants, provides knowledge and resources that will ultimately lead young people into their agricultural production fields of choice. The first group of 14 students returned this summer along with the new class of ten. Participating students spend a week at LSU in the summer followed by a 50-hour internship with a local producer during the school year and a second week at LSU the following summer to complete the program. Participating students receive valuable knowledge and tools to become ag producers and also a $500 stipend pending completion of the program. Student interest ranges from row crops, dairy, poultry and equine, to vegetable production. Of course my area of interest being vegetable production, I ll focus on that aspect of this program. Two young ladies were accepted into the program as future specialty crop producers, Annelisese Franklin and Sarah McKinney. During their week-long visit at LSU, they participated in meetings with financial consultants to learn how to manage the business side of farm production, people within the grocery industry to determine how to meet potential vegetable buyers, vegetable farmers who will serve as mentors to guide the students in the dynamics of Annelisese Franklin and Sarah McKinney accepted into program as future specialty crop producers. vegetable production, LDAF and Farm Bureau personnel and many others. During the week, the students went on several vegetable farm tours. The girls visited three farms in St. Francisville along with myself, county agent André Brock, and members of the Horticulture Club at LSU. The first stop was to see Mr. Buddy Metz. His farm production includes growing tomatoes, squash, peas, beans, sweet corn, elderberries, pears, blueberries, eggplant and peppers. His operation is unique in that he uses chicken and other livestock such as goats to clean up the weeds in fields after a crop is harvested. The second stop was to Mr. Mario Alexander s farm. Mr. Alexander farms several acres in St. Francisville specializing in sweet corn for homemade grits and corn meal, oats, tomatoes, eggplant, Jerusalem artichoke (a neat plant with edible roots), potatoes and an assortment of other vegetables. Mario spoke to the students about diversifying in the crops they grow; value-added products, and using horse drawn equipment in lieu of gas powered equipment. Continued on page 2

2 What s Growing LAYAPP, continued Pg 1 Vegetables to plant.in August Direct seed: snap, lima, and butter beans, beets, collard greens, cucumbers, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, shallots, and turnips. Start seeds of: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and Chinese cabbage Transplant: cauliflower and tomatoes...in September Direct seed: beets, broccoli and cauliflower (early in the month), carrots, collards, English and snow peas, kale, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, snap beans, Swiss chard, and turnips. Start seeds of: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and Chinese cabbage. Transplant: broccoli, cauliflower, shallots (bulbs)...in October Direct Seed: beets, carrots, celery, collards, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, radishes, Swiss Chard Start seeds of: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Chinese cabbage Transplant: broccoli, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, garlic (toes), shallots (bulbs) The third stop was to Mr. Jim Hadden s greenhouses. Mr. Hadden grows hydroponic lettuce for the St Francisville and the New Orleans Crescent City farmers markets. The lettuce grows without soil! He spoke to the students about water quality management, seeding schedules and postharvest storage. During the week, the students also visited two other Louisiana vegetable operations. They toured Mr. Robinson s organic vegetable farm where they learned about business planning and becoming certified organic. This is a more labor intensive approach to vegetable farming than conventional farming, but can yield higher prices when sold to the right clientele. Another grower, Mrs. Joy Boudreaux, took the girls on a tour of her greenhouse and cut flower garden. She educated the students about seeding schedules, cut flower varieties, seasonal plantings, post-harvest storage of flowers, staking and other field management techniques. The LAYAPP program is open to new students each year. If you have a particular student who is interested in this program, contact your local county agent or Dr. Brad Leger at bleger@agcenter.lsu.edu. You can also find more information about LAYAPP at Facebook and on Twitter (@LegerLaYAPP)! For a quick and easy coleslaw recipe pick a carrot and head of cabbage from your school garden and follow these instructions! INGREDIENTS: 1/2 head cabbage 1 large carrot 1 medium onion 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise 3 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons vinegar 1/2 teaspoon salt PREPARATION: In a large bowl, shred the cabbage, carrot and onion. Mix them thoroughly. In a medium bowl combine the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, and salt. Pour the liquid mixture over the shredded vegetables. Chill for several hours and serve! TIP: You can mix a quarter head of red cabbage and a quarter head of green cabbage for a colorful treat! Page 2

3 Connecting the Classroom to the Garden Plant Parts We Eat The display board is an educational tool to teach young school-age children basic agriculture. Plant parts and descriptions of their botanical functions lie on one side of the board. For instance: LEAF- A leaf takes in sunlight and makes the plant s food. On the other side of the board are drawings of vegetables, each representing an edible plant part. For example, a cabbage is used as an example of edible leaves. The back of the board is wired and each part sits near a small red light. When plant parts are connected by wire to their correct representative vegetables, their lights are activated. An audio component is included as well, as children can be heard squealing Ooooh! when the bulbs light up. The board is useful at ag demonstrations in a number of settings. Mr. Brock tries the game. Oh no! Let s try again. He gets it right on only the second try. Good job, Mr. Brock!!! Sun Dial What is a sundial? A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the sun. It shows the time by the shadow of a pointer cast by the sun onto a plate marked with the hours of the day History of the sun dial. The sundial dates back to the Egyptian Period, around 1500 B.C. It was also used in ancient Greece and Rome. In central Europe it was the most commonly used method to determine the time, even after the mechanical clock was developed in the 14th century. The sundial was actually used to check and adjust the time on mechanical clocks until late into the 19th century. How to make a simple accurate one for the garden Other helpful sites: Page 3

4 Science Fair in the Garden It s school time again! As you begin planning your year, you re probably determining which activities and lessons you ll repeat and which you ll change. Science fair happens to be one of those activities for some of you that repeats itself year after year. Finding new topics for the students to research can be challenging. But if you have a school garden, the potential science fair projects are endless. Celine Richard, a student at St. Joseph s Academy in Baton Rouge, La., has already begun working on her project. She is interested in the art of grafting plants. Her main focus is to determine the best method for grafting tomatoes. She is using one rootstock variety and one scion variety but taking three different approaches to grafting them to see which method works best. Success is defined by the cambium tissues of the top or bottom portion of the graft uniting into one plant. Why is this important? Well, people often enjoy the taste of a heirloom tomato, but cannot grow them because of their poor resistance to soil-borne diseases. By grafting an excellent fruiting plant onto a disease resistant rootstock, you obtain quality fruit with minimal management, a plus for most avid gardeners. What other science fair projects can be done in the school garden or using vegetables? 1. Does mixing compost into soil make plants grow better? 2. What is the proper fertilizer rate for optimum yield of tomatoes (peppers, lettuce insert your vegetable of choice). 3. Do worms have an effect on plant growth? 4. Does soil ph have an effect on plant growth water ph? 5. Are there alternative methods to chemical herbicides for weed control? Vinegar, household cleaners, etc. What rates do you need to apply for success? 6. What is the best way to propagate a (insert your vegetable of choice). 7. What is the best soil mix for starting seedlings? 8. Do different varieties of the same vegetable have different concentrations of vitamins A and C? 9. What is the optimum container size for optimal yield of (insert vegetable of choice) when planted in containers? 10. When controlling weeds, what type of mulch works best? What is the optimum amount of mulch that needs to be applied to reduce weed growth? When coaching science fair students, remember that most judges base their scores on a few major points. Does the student know what his or her hypothesis is? Did the student do the project or did a parent? This is very apparent once the student starts to explain his or her project. Pick topics they can do with little help. Did the student understand the outcomes of his or her project? And finally, did the student have replications? Good Luck with all of your science fair projects this year! Page 4

5 Halloween in the Garden The ghouls and goblins are out and the candles in the jack o'-lanterns are all lit. The Halloween season put me in mind to look at scary traditions and relate them to common gardening ideas and misconceptions. by Dan Gill, Associate Professor School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences Drive a stake through its heart! An old remedy for a tree that was deficient in iron was to drive nails into its trunk. Another variation was to push nails into the soil around the base of a plant. Plants absorb iron as simple ions, and the iron in nails is not available to them. Iron deficiencies in plants generally don t occur because there is not enough iron in the soil, but because the soil is too alkaline tying up the iron that is present. Acidifying the soil is the solution to this problem, not pushing nails into the ground. And, the idea that driving nails into the trunk of a tree will benefit it is not only wrong, but destructive. Driving nails into the trunks of trees can lead to infection and decay. There are man-eating plants lurking about! Well, there are carnivorous plants, but don't get carried away. Insectivorous would be a better word. Most of these plants are after insects, not you. And Oh my!! except for the Venus fly-trap, most of the traps are passive, waiting for insects to fall into a pool of digestive juice or get stuck on sticky hairs. There are plants that catch microscopic organisms, like nematodes, and some may catch small frogs or other amphibians, but mostly its bugs. Hey, any plant that eats bugs is okay with me. But don't worry about getting eaten by a plant the next time you're hacking your way through a rain forest. The Dreaded Mind Transfer Machine Picture the laboratory of a mad scientist. On two tables lie two bodies connected to each other by about a hundred wires. A switch is thrown and amid a shower of sparks the characteristics of one are transferred to the other. There is actually a gardening misconception that is similar. Basically, the idea is that if you plant a plant with one color flower near a plant with flowers of a different color, the color of one can be changed by the proximity of the other. Planting plants with different colored flowers next to each other will not cause the flower color to change. The color of the flowers a plant produces is determined by its genetic make up, just like the color of your eyes is determined by your genetic make up. A plant will no more change the color of its flowers than the color of your eyes will change if you live with someone whose eyes are a different color. Neither will planting a hot pepper plant next to a sweet pepper plant cause the sweet pepper plant to produce hot peppers. Page 5

6 Halloween in the Garden. Continued To wrap things up (mummy), just let me say that there is a lot of gardening information out there that ranges from questionable to just plain wrong. Most bad advice is fairly harmless, but some can actually damage the plants you are trying to help. I always say that gardening is about 90 percent commonsense. Generally, if something sounds odd you should check it out with a reputable horticulturist or knowledgeable gardening friend first. Otherwise you might get more trick than treat. Get the whole picture and have a in the garden! Growing Gardens! Kathryn KiKi Fontenot, PhD Visit our website: Louisiana State University Agricultural Center William B. Richardson, Chancellor Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station John S. Russin, Vice Chancellor and Director Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service Paul D. Coreil, Vice Chancellor and Director The LSU AgCenter is a statewide campus of the LSU System and provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. Page 6