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The May issue of the Agricultural Science departmental newsletter profiles the Agricultural Science students that will be graduating in May and August of 2013.  Click on the graphic below to access the newsletter.

Well, it’s really past ‘tater plantin’ time (St. Patrick’s Day or Good Friday being preferred potato planting days per two competing traditions in my family anyway), but students from the University Farm crew were busy getting spuds in the ground these past couple of days.  Wet weather has kept them out of the field over the last month, but the soil temperature remains relatively cool.  Varieties planted include Red Lasota, Yukon Gold, and All Blue.  The potatoes are being grown for the University’s Farm-to-School program and (favorable growing conditions prevailing!) will be served in the dining halls this fall.

As the semester is winding down, the practicum groups are stepping it up to push their product sales during the last few weeks of class. The Savory Syrups practicum group has been working hard all semester to collect fresh maple sap from Dr. Campbell’s maple trees in an attempt to make their own syrup from scratch. Here, Alex Hermann is taking his turn to man the group’s table in Magruder. The group is offering a variety of flavors in a variety of sizes and prices, so be sure and stop by for a sample and pick up your very own jar!

The Woof n’ Whinnies group is selling homemade treats for dogs and horses for their Senior Ag Practicum project. The cost is $4.00 a bag and they offer 4 flavors (2 for the “woofs” and 2 for the “whinnies”. Treats can be purchased at their table in Magruder (being manned here by Christine Tosie and Jane Rademacher) or you can even order them at woofnwhinnies@gmail.com. The flavors are:

For the Woofs:

Pumpkin Paws: A pumpkin and peanut butter cookie that your pooch will love!

Liver Lovers Jerky: Lip smackin’ savory strips of dried liver…so good they’ll be howlin’ for more.

For the Whinnies:

Pony Patties: Peppermint and oats rolled into minty bite-sized morsels

Nickerdoodles: With molasses and carrot baked into a sweet treat, they’ll give your horse something to nicker about!

3 of the TSU E-team ladies that competed at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Zone 7 Championships have qualified for the IHSA Nationals May 1st-5th in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Sophomore Elizabeth Miller won reserve champion in Open Equitation on the Flat, Senior Danielle Witt won reserve champion in Novice Equitation on the Flat, and Senior Caitlin Schaefer won reserve champion in Walk/Trot. The Truman Ag Department would like to congratulate the girls and Coach Costello and wish them good luck and safe rides at Nationals!

Early this morning, Equestrian Team Coach Emily Costello and four girls from the TSU Hunt Team loaded into a van to make the trip to Texas to compete at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Associate Zones. The riders competing for Truman are: Seniors Christine Tosie, Danielle Witt, and Caitlin Schaefer, and Sophomore Elizabeth Miller. The Truman State Ag Department would like to wish the ladies safe travels and good luck at the show.

On Tuesday, students from Dr. Seipel’s Ag Entrepreneurship class took a field trip to Moberly to tour a Producer’s Choice Soy Energy, a soybean processing plant and biodiesel production facility. The students not only learned about the process of making biodiesel, but they also had the opportunity to hear how the company was started and how it has changed over the years. After leaving Producer’s Choice, the group stopped by Chariton Vet Supply to meet owner and founder (and Truman alumnus), Robbie Rainer. Mr. Rainer told the students how he had started the business back when most medical supplies for livestock were bought directly from the vet. The group would like to thank Producer’s Choice and Chariton Vet Supply for allowing them to visit their facilities and discuss what it means to build a business from the ground up.

Okay, so maybe we didn’t actually go out and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars so we could play with exotic creatures such as lions and tigers. We did, however, take the time to bring a little bit of agriculture to the other side of the campus for a few hours. The TSU Aggies spent today out on the Mall celebrating Day Three of National Agriculture Week with a petting zoo featuring animals we would normally see on farms, but that many students have only seen in pictures. Students could stop by on their way to class to pet and hold bottle lambs, feed Polly the pony a treat, milk Joy the Jersey cow, or even watch a couple of Tom Turkeys “strut” and gobble back and forth. The Ag Week Planning Committee would like to thank Dr. Seipel, Emily Costell, Amy Schaefer and Charles and Jane Johnson for bringing animals, as well as Bill Kuntz and all of the students who helped with setting up and breaking down the pens. Don’t forget we still have Jennifer Wood guest speaking on her family farm operation tomorrow at 7 pm in MG 1098 and the chili cook-off and dinner at the farm Friday at 5:30 pm with music and dancing to follow. Once again, the Ag Week Planning Committee would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made this week a success, we couldn’t do it without your support.

You don’t want to miss it either!  The latest issue of the Truman Agricultural Science departmental newsletter is available in pdf form by clicking on the picture above or this link.

We are taking orders for the 2013 National Ag Week t-shirt. Cost will be $12. Starting today (March 6) thru Friday March 8 there will be an envelope in Marsha Redmon‘s office (Magruder Hall 3132)–order in person and pay at time of order. Checks can be made out to “Truman State University” with “Agriculture” and your t-shirt size in the memo. You may pay with cash or check but checks are preferred.

Today has actually been a welcome break from the immense heat of this summer, which is taking a devastating toll on our plants. As I told a reporter this morning in an interview (you read that right, the Garden is making headlines …), most days of gardening this year have been challenging; the rest have been just plain frustrating.

As a gardener, I love to see plants grow and thrive. But when heat, drought, and insect pressure keep them scrawny and sickly, my mood often matches that of my plants. On top of a record-setting drought year, we’ve also been making a conscious effort to conserve our water usage at the garden, so in many cases the plants have to fend for themselves in the heat.

Nevertheless, we have seen some hope spring from this garden. As my last post reflects, the watermelons are growing well, as are their cantaloupe cousins. We’ve also harvested about 20 pounds of squash and 15 pounds of green beans so far. The produce went to the Christian Food Depot on North Osteopathy Street last week and was distributed to families all over the Kirksville area. In addition, we have thousands of cherry tomatoes waiting in the wings, just a week or so (I hope) from harvest time. I love tomatoes, especially off the vine, and I hope that the Kirksville community likes them too, because a whole truckload (give or take) is coming their way.

How’s your garden handling the heat? Or, if you don’t have a garden yet, what are you doing to stay cool?

Keep growing,

Zach

Of all the garden fruits and vegetables, watermelon is undoubtedly my favorite. Spend a long afternoon out hoeing weeds, harvesting veggies, or otherwise breaking a sweat, and there is nothing on earth like a refreshing watermelon. It’s sort of like an all-natural, homegrown snow-cone – with perfect sweetness and perfect flavor. Everytime.

That’s we decided to plant a few hills of watermelon this year at the Jamison community garden. Altogether we put in 16 plants. On a good year, I’m told we could expect a hundred melons out of that bunch. This year, I’m hoping for one.

 Okay, so I’ve set my sights a little higher. We already have a couple dozen “Crimson Sweet” melons forming. I’ve included pictures of them in various stages. I used my wedding ring (size 11) to give a little perspective of just how tiny these little guys are. But isn’t the detail in their stripes amazing?

Have a great watermelon story to share? Maybe a variety of melon you like best? If so, tell us about it in the comment section.

Keep growing,

Zach

Things are growing along quite well at the Jamison Community Garden. We now have individuals in the majority of our personal plots, and our communal portion is rapidly reaching for the sky (nearly an inch of rain last week really helped). Here’s a picture of our garden from the southeast corner, where cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins abound. (I’m also pictured, with my parents. Despite what it may appear, I’m not picking my knows … at least, I don’t think I am …).

Enjoy the garden photos and feel free to stop by and see it in real life sometime. If you’d like to serve the community and spend some time in the peace and quiet of our garden, please respond to this post. We’ll definitely put you to work!

As this is the first post in our community garden section, I feel that I should catch the readers (if we have any yet, that is) up to speed.

The Jamison Community Garden is centered around a simple idea: to bring people together through gardening. Throughout this gardening season, that goal is going to be accomplished in three ways: 1) through individuals sharing a gardening space for personal use, 2) through groups and volunteers helping out in a communal garden which will benefit the Kirksville Food Pantry, and 3) through community events which will take place at the Garden.

I’ll briefly share some news about each of the components of our garden:

In the individual section, many members have planted their beds and are watching their veggies grow. However, we currently have several spots available for use; anyone interested in growing with us is encouraged to respond to this post, so we can send an application your way and get you started gardening. It’s a little late in the season, but with a few watermelon and tomato starts, your garden with be looking tasty in a hurry.

Over on the communal side, we have planted about 75% of the plot, with the rest (hopefully) coming in later this week. We currently have 140 tomatoes planted, 6 rows of green beans, 100 cucumbers, and 60 squash. We are looking to put in about a 100 peppers, a few tomatoes, and a variety of other vegetables here in the coming days. In addition, we will be covering portions of the garden with a heavy mulch, to help with weed pressure. We’ve had volunteer groups come through the garden already to help with watering and weeding, and we are always looking for more help! Please post a comment if you’d like to join us.

Lastly, we are going to be organizing some community events, which will be held in the later part of each month. These are still in the planning stages, but they’re going to be a laid back way of celebrating summer and the beauty of life. We invite you to attend and enjoy those summer evenings with us!

Until then,

Zach

This is the blog for the Truman Agricultural Science program. From time to time, we’ll post Truman Ag events, projects, and stories taking place around Kirksville, Northeast Missouri, and the world. We hope you come enjoy the farm life with us sometime … Until then, keep reading!