Undergraduates in Horticulture

Sorry for the late post, school has been a little busy. At our last meeting (2-12-09) we discussed opportunities for club members to get involved in the community.

There is an option to volunteer at a nearby elementary school with members of the Forestry Club. The children get the benefit of positive role models and volunteers get a great leadership opportunity.

In April or early May volunteers are needed in Big Stone County, MN to help plant bare root fruit trees that are a result from a 150 tree donation to elementary students in a effort to promote community sustainability and nutrition awareness. I am the student organizer on working on this project this semester and can help answer any questions.

As far as activities this semester, when March hits we will be busy planting, planting, planting. I was also interested in getting a Saturday tour of Bushel Boy Farms in Owatonna MN. http://www.bushelboy.com They are a large producer of hydroponic lettuce and tomatoes. It is a place I have always been interested in visiting.

Horticulture BINGO was the over all the big hit of the meeting. Members were asked general horticulture vocabulary from classes as Plant Prop. and Greenhouse management. It was a lot of fun.

If anyone has questions or suggestions of volunteer opportunities please contact me.
Megan Mathey
hortclub@umn.edu

Posted by Megan Mathey at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thusday, 1-29-09 was our clubs first meeting of the semester and we were able to get our hands a bit messy. Our first mission was to propagate houseplants for a donation to the St. Anne’s Place Women’s Shelter. Stalk plants of Chlorophytum comosum, spider plants and Zebrina pendula, inch plants were made available for our use from Roger Meissner as they were extras from Plant Propagation. Thanks.

Our next project was sorting our seed collection and making early decisions as to which plants our members want grow for our spring plant sale. A donation of Seeds of Change seeds, a Certified Organic seed company was made by Neil Anderson. A section of our plants at this years sale will be grown with organic growing media and these seeds this will be an exciting step in a new direction for our club.

Just a reminder our club is always open for new members and you may join at anytime. For further questions don’t hesitate to e-mail me at hortclub@umn.edu

Megan Mathey

Posted by Megan Mathey at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)