FLORICULTURE STUDENT IS FFA NATIONAL CHAMP

Meet Bridget Baker, the 2009 winner of the National Agricultural Sales Proficiency Award. Baker is a sophomore from Morrowville, Kan., majoring in Horticulture with a specialization in Greenhouse Management. She works part-time in the KSU Gardens.

Baker credits her studies and experiences at K-State for giving her extra knowledge that she needed to excel in the national contest.

“Now I have the background knowledge on so many more areas of plants and their needs and care that I was able to stand out and have people take notice of what I was doing,” Baker said.

Bridget first became interested in the floral industry while practicing for the National FFA Floriculture CDE (Career Development Event), when she began volunteering at a local flower shop.

“I found out how much I loved working with flowers and plants and being able to create such unique designs…without my FFA experience, I would not be where I am today.” Baker said.

As Baker continues her education, she still works in her hometown floral shop. Her favorite part of her job is the creativity it allows her to use

HORTICULTURE FACULTY MEMBER RECEIVES NATIONAL TEACHING AWARD

Kim Williams recently received the North Central Region Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences from the Higher Education Programs of the United States Department of Agriculture. She was one of eight national recipients of these awards presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) in Washington D.C. on November 15, 2009. Williams is a professor of floriculture production and plant nutrition at Kansas State University. She teaches the courses greenhouse management and floral crops production, and co-teaches pre-internship in horticulture and plant nutrient management. Her courses are known for their extensive use of hands-on activities, case studies, and instructional technologies. From her publications list of more than 85 book chapters, scientific articles, and industry publications, Dr. Williams has co-authored seven articles specifically about teaching, two of which have been awarded the American Society for Horticultural Science Outstanding Education Publication Award.

K-STATE STUDENTS LEARN LANDSCAPING FROM HANDS ON EXPERIENCE (from K-State Collegion, 11/02/09, written by Karen Ingram)

Pruning, digging, planting and weeding. These may not sound like normal classroom activities, but for students in Cathie Lavis’s Landscape Maintenance Lab, it was all in a day’s work.

“We always are outdoors doing some sort of hands-on activity,” Lavis said. “That’s the only way to learn landscape maintenance.”

The lab, which ended Sunday, is a two-credit-hour class in which students worked around Throckmorton Hall and in Waters Courtyard.

One of the major projects for the semester was to cut back the thick growth of plants which had begun to cover up the limestone walls around Throckmorton.

Lavis said she wanted the students to help lighten the work load of the Division of Facilities.

“They need some help with weeding and mulching, and doing some of the pruning, and I just thought, ‘Hey, this is a great opportunity for my students,’” Lavis said.

She also said she insists on helping with projects, donning black jeans and work boots and crawling through the dirt. Aside from the occasional grumble, Lavis said she mostly heard positive feedback from students.

“The other day, it was a little wet out. It was questionable about whether we should be out there planting,” she said. “And knowing everything we know about soils, probably we shouldn’t have, but I said to my students ‘If this was your company, and you needed a paycheck so that you could pay your employees this Friday, you’d be out there working.’”

Emily Frasier, sophomore in landscape design, worked on the Waters Courtyard project, pruning trees and bushes and planting hostas. A Colorado native, Fraiser said the class has helped her become more familiar with plant species not found at home. She also said she learned about pruning, something she had never done before the class.

“It’s been fun working with my classmates and getting to know them better,” Frasier said.

Drew Dobbeleare, senior in park management and conservation, worked with a team of four people who tackled the growth that covered the walls around Throckmorton.

Dobbeleare said he was already familiar with pruning from a previous class, but he learned more about mulch and how to sharpen and care for his tools. He also said he appreciated Lavis’ hands-on approach to learning.

“It helps us understand it more, and once you’ve done it before, you can do it better in the future,” Dobbeleare said. “I think that it was a great class and I’d recommend anyone to take it.”

Lavis already has projects in mind for next semester’s lab, including installing a walkway in Waters Courtyard.

THE HEALING POWER OF FLOWERS

Bringing flowers and plants to the sick is more than just a sympathy gesture. A series of publications by Seong-Hyun Park and Richard Mattson at Kansas State University backs up existing data that show a positive relationship between plants and pain management and recovery in hospital settings. In the first study, they studied patients recovering from an appendectomy in patient rooms with and without foliage and flowering plants.

The study concluded, “Patients in hospital rooms with plants and flowers had significantly fewer intakes of postoperative analgesics; more positive physiological responses evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure and heart rate; lower ratings of pain, anxiety and fatigue; and more positive feelings and higher satisfaction about their rooms when compared with patients in the control group. Findings of this research suggested that plants in a hospital environment could be noninvasive, inexpensive and an effective complementary medicine for patients recovering from abdominal surgery [HortTechnology 18(4), 2008].” The paper is titled “The Effects of Flowering and Foliage Plants in Hospital Rooms on Patients Recovering from Abdominal Surgery.”

The second paper appeared in HortScience [44(1):102-105, 2009] titled “Therapeutic influences of plants in hospital rooms on surgical recovery.” In this paper, results are presented on 80 female patients during recovery from thyroidectomy surgery which may extend to five days or more of hospitalization. Patients with plants in their hospital rooms were hospitalized a significantly shorter period of time, required less strong pain killing medications, and had vital signs indicating less stress and anxiety while in recovery.

The third research paper involving plants in hospital rooms was recently published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine [Sept, 15(9): 975-80, 2009]. The paper was titled “Ornamental indoor plants in hospital rooms enhanced health outcomes of patients recovering from surgery.” Patients with plants in their hospital rooms during recovery from hemorrrhoidectomy surgery had lower blood pressure, pain sensitivity, anxiety and fatigue. Patients interacting with plants reported more positive feelings and higher satisfaction about their hospital rooms.

The research was conducted in two large medical hospitals in South Korea. In the three groups of surgical procedures, it is concluded that plants in hospital rooms can be noninvasive, inexpensive, and an effective complementary medicine for patients recovering from surgery.

WORK AT STUDENT HORTICULTURE FARM SPARKS RESEARCH INTEREST

Aaron Yoder, K-State senior majoring in horticulture, is currently involved in undergraduate research under the supervision of Rhonda Janke, Ph.D.

After taking Dr. Janke’s HORT325: Introduction to Organic Farming class, and writing a mock grant proposal for an assignment, Yoder submitted a similar grant to the USDA. Yoder began the experiment after a $300 USDA/SARE (Sustainable Ag Resource and Education) grant came through.

When asked how the experience will help him in the future, Yoder replied, “It gave me good experience writing grants, setting up a project for myself and following it through.”

Although the trial began in the spring, Yoder is still collecting yields and soil samples, testing for moisture and mineral content.

The trial, which focuses around water input reduction in production agriculture, is being conducted at the Willow Lake Student Farm in Manhattan, Kan.

Three different plot types were used in the trial: newspaper and hay mulched, hay mulched and bare ground. Yoder said, “The purpose of the mulch was to reduce the amount of water necessary.”
The trial also went on to compare irrigated and non-irrigated plots, while anticipating higher yields in the mulched and irrigated plots.

“My favorite part of the research was seeing the clear results by basic observation in the field, especially when I anticipated some completely different results,” said Yoder.

K-STATE HORTICULTURAL THERAPY STUDENT WINS NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP

QiuXia Chen, a K-State Senior majoring in Horticultural Therapy and Modern Languages (Spanish-Hispanic Studies), has been named the recipient of the Ann Lane Mavromatis Scholarship awarded each year to the top Horticultural Therapy student in the nation by the American Horticultural Therapy Association. The Scholarship award will be presented on October 1-3 at the AHTA’s 2009 Annual Conference held this year at Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California.

QiuXia transferred to K-State after completing coursework at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontaria, and Unity College, Unity, Maine. QiuXia has completed internships in 2008 at CooperRiis, a psychiatric patient healing farm community in Mill Spring, North Carolina, and in 2009 in the Triad Internship program where she worked at Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation at the New York Medical Center, at the New York City Botanic Gardens, and at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA. QiiuXia is originally from Brooklyn, New York.
In June, 2009, QiuXia was selected to receive the American Society for Horticultural Science’s Outstanding Horticulture Student award. Her academic achievements, student leadership roles within the Horticulture, Forestry and Recreation Resources Department and at K-State have also resulted in her being awarded other national and regional scholarships and recognitions.

K-STATE STUDENTS PRACTICE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE TECHNIQUES AT STUDENT FARM BY GROWING AND SELLING PRODUCE, CONDUCTING INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Growing oyster mushrooms in recycled dorm lofts is one way that Kansas State University students are learning about sustainable farming practices through hands-on work and research projects at a K-State student farm.

Rhonda Janke, K-State associate professor of horticulture, teaches a course on sustainable agriculture and worked with students to start the Willow Lake Student Farm in fall 2007. She said the two-acre farm, which is at the Forestry Research Farm near Tuttle Creek Dam, is a place for students to develop skills and an understanding of sustainable farming practices through hands-on learning.

"This really all began with student initiative," Janke said. "They wanted a place to practice and to really do all the things we talk about in class. I just facilitate getting the grants and the logistics set up, and the students become the managers and decision-makers in terms of what we grow, how we sell it and other details."

The farm produces a variety of vegetables, fruit, mushrooms and honey and is run by students. Besides crop production, students also conduct independent research projects.

The co-managers of the farm are: Keith Unruh-Carey, senior in horticulture, 2005 graduate of Washington High School, Kansas City, Kan.; and Brandon Gonzalez, senior in horticulture, 2003 graduate of Wichita High School East. They are doing research on oyster and shiitake mushrooms for a project funded through a Kansas Department of Agriculture mushroom grant they wrote with Janke.

Gonzalez said mushrooms typically are grown in sterile conditions, but the students are working on growing the mushrooms outdoors at the student farm by using a more sustainable approach.

"Our approach is more sustainable than having to keep the mushrooms in an area that is sterile and temperature-set," he said. "It's also a lot cheaper. Someone that might want to add extra income for themselves can do it at home and not have to purchase a lot of extra items."

Unruh-Carey said the shiitake mushrooms are grown on logs; for the oyster mushrooms, the students have created a boxed structure from recycled dorm lofts with screens to keep bugs out.

"Most outdoor grows have pest problems during certain parts of the season, so we are physically excluding them," Unruh-Carey said. "It has worked pretty well so far, and it's a good setup for people who can't justify the expense of an indoor grow room."

Gonzalez said the students are studying the best variety and the best process to grow the mushrooms. Once it is established, they will teach others their growing process.

"The idea is that we are trying to grow mushrooms in a way that we can teach the community and anyone who wants to learn, to increase the overall mushroom production in the Manhattan area," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said many people start at the farm as volunteers with the Willow Lake Farm Club, which has people from several academic departments who supplement the farm labor.

"You get a lot of people out there working with various levels of experience," Gonzalez said. "It involves a lot of teaching one another. People come work together and learn from each other."

He said the farm's produce is sold through several outlets, including farmers' markets, local businesses and on campus at noon Tuesdays from a kiosk east of Seaton Hall. The club also has events to educate the community about sustainable farming.

"When you're growing local food, it becomes a community venture where you're investing in community development, health and well-being," Gonzalez said. "It builds the community in every way."

Gonzalez said student research projects often stem from grants. The farm isn't financially self-sufficient yet, and the students rely on grant money and donations.

One of these projects involves Jacob Chapman, freshman in agronomy, Olathe, and Aaron Yoder, junior in horticulture, Bluffton, Ohio. They are studying tomato production with and without mulches and irrigation. They're trying to see if tomato production could be sustainable in a low-rainfall region. They wrote and received a U.S. Department of Agriculture Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant. Chapman is a 2008 graduate of Olathe South High School, and Yoder is a 2005 graduate of Newton High School, Bluffton, Ohio.

Yoder also is assisting May Altamimi, graduate student in horticulture, Manhattan, with a project that involves comparing pac choi and tomatoes that are grown either organically or conventionally and in high tunnels or in open field conditions.

 PROFESSOR JACK FRY HAS BEEN APPOINTED EDITOR OF APPLIED TURFGRASS SCIENCE

Dr. Jack Fry, professor of turfgrass science in the Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources, has been appointed editor of Applied Turfgrass Science. This online journal is part of the Plant Management Network, which is jointly managed by the Crop Science Society of America, the American Society of Agronomy, and the American Phytopathological Society. Applied Turfgrass Science publishes peer-reviewed research articles directed at turfgrass professionals and researchers in all areas of the turf industry. Fry has served as a technical editor for journal since its inception in 2004. His three-year term as editor will begin on January 1, 2010.

PARKS MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION GRADUATE RECEIVES AWARD

Lisa Stork, recent graduate of K-State's Parks Management and Conservation program, was awarded the Distinguished Seasonal Interpreter Award from the Association of Missouri Interpreters. Stork worked at the Meremac State Park in Sullivan, Mo., and will continue there through fall 2009 working with land and habitat management. The award was presented September 1, 2009 at the AMI Awards Banquet held in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. Pictured from left to right are George Kastler of Missouri State Parks, Lisa Stork with her plaque and certificate, and Dr. Ted Cable, professor and assistant department head in the Department of Horticulture, Forestry and Recreation Resources.

  HEARTLAND REGIONAL WATER COORDINATION INITIATIVE TEAM RECEIVES AWARD

Congratulations to Charlie Barden and collaborators who make up the Heartland Regional Water Coordination Initiative Team for receiving the 2009 K-State Research and Extension Team Award.  The Team consists of Charlie Barden, Joel DeRouchey, Daniel Devlin, Hilary Kaizer and Amanda Schielke. The award will be presented at the K-State Research and Extension Annual Conference Awards Luncheon, Oct. 20, 2009.

  PROJECT PLANTS GETS KIDS EXCITED ABOUT GARDENING

Project PLANTS is a USDA-funded research project led by Candice Shoemaker that is focused on helping kids develop healthy eating and exercise habits through an after-school gardening program. 
Learn more...

HORT THEREPY RESEARCH AIDS GREEN INDUSTRY MARKETING

 Two K-State Horticultural Therapy research projects, one led by Candice Shoemaker and the other by Richard Mattson, are featured in the latest issue of Grower Talks magazine.

You’re never too old
Worried about losing your best customers, the aging baby boomers? We’ve seen a flurry of published research in the past year that supports the notion that gardening is exactly what they should be doing to boost their vitality.

According to new research out of Kansas State University, gardening can keep their hands nimble and strong and keep their self-esteem high. Plus, gardening can help people achieve a moderate activity level and meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s exercise recommendations.

“One of the things we found is that older adults who are gardeners have better hand strength and pinch force, which is a big concern as you age,” said Candice Shoemaker, Kansas State professor of horticulture. They also saw marked differences between gardeners and non-gardeners in the areas of overall physical health and self esteem. She adds, “There’s a lot of natural motivation in gardening. For one thing, you know there’s a plant you’ve got to go out and water and weed to keep alive. If we get the message out there that older adults can get health benefits from gardening, they’ll realize that they don’t have to walk around the mall to get exercise.”

Physical and Psychological Health Conditions of Older Adults Classified as Gardeners or Nongardeners” was published in the February 2009 issue of HortScience (Vol. 44). The Kansas study on exercise, “Can Older Gardeners Meet the Physical Activity Recommendation through Gardening?” was published in HortTechnology (Vol. 18, Issue 4). For a press release on that research, visit http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/ksu-ggo020309.php. “The Impact of Horticultural Responsibility on Health Indicators and Quality of Life in Assisted Living” appeared in the October-December 2009 issue of HortTechnology (Vol. 18, Issue 4)