Tag Archives: Art Kney

Saturday Mornin’ Gardening

Hey everybody,

We got a LOT of work done today.  All the fence posts are in, we cut them to be about even height (~7 foot), and hung wire around the top.

We had a lot of enthusiatic help from students, faculty and staff including John Wilson, Cliff Reiter, Annette Diorio, Art Kney and his daughter Elise, LEAP/SEES students: Scott Stinner, Britta Moore, Tom Golazewski, Paul Creme, and Laura Bochner (and it was her 21st birthday!!)

We’ve still gotta: put up the fencing with fence staples and attach it to the wire at the top with zip ties.  I think we’re planning on working on Friday morning to finish it up.  Let me know if you can come!!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and helping today!!

And THANK YOU to Derek Smith for the yummy snacks..fruit and cookies from the farmers market! 🙂

Jenn

Dickinson Farm Director, Jenn Halpin’s Visit!

Jenn Halpin came today and gave a presentation about the Dickinson Farm program.  It was a GREAT presentation and I think it really got everyone excited about our gardens here.  She was here all afternoon for visits and meetings. Here’s what we did:dsc00312

First, Jenn H. arrived and gave a brown bag presentation in Hugel 103.

Then, we had lunch with Professors Dave Brandes, Art Kney, Andy Smith and Annette Diorio at Gilberts for a Q & A for them!

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Then, we had a meeting with Dining Services, including Joe Binotto and Bob Meyer where we talked about serving vegetables in the dining halls.

Finally, we met with garden team students interested in helping starting the garden for more Q&A.

It was a great learning experience and we’re so grateful Jenn H. came and gave us advice!  Now we’ll have to go out there and visit sometime!

Jenn

4th Annual University Hunger Summit!

On Feb. 27-March 1,  Professor Art Kney and I traveled to Auburn University in Alabama for the 4th Annual University Hunger Summit Conference. We were invited to present and sit on a panel discussing the “sustainable food loop”.

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We attended events on Friday and presented on Saturday.  This conference was also a great experience and really inspiring!  Lafayette can work on local hunger issues by working with dining services and perhaps donating our excess food?  Something we might want to think about!

 

Clinton Global Initiative Conference!

On Feb. 13th, Christina Chen and I went to the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference in Austin, Texas.  The garden project is funded by a CGI-U Outstanding Commitment Award, but we received the grant after the conference last year, so we applied to go to this one!

Here’s a quick run-down of the events:
Feb. 13th, Fri:

5:00PM: We arrived in Austin (from Philly), took the shuttle to our hotel to drop our stuff and took a shuttle to the University of Texas campus for the opening night events!

4:00-5:30PM: “Making a Difference on Campus: A Call to Action” Opening Remarks by William Powers, President of UT.  Followed by panel discussion with:

  • Bill Clinton (the former President!!),
  • Paul Bell (president of Dell),
  • Mambidzeni Madzivire (grad student at Mayo in biomedical engineering),
  • Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS shoes), and Natalie Portman (yes, the actress!!!).

Unfortunately we MISSED this session (because our flight was too late!), but we heard it was great!

6:00-7:00PM: “The Future of Food” More opening remarks by Bill himself.  Then other program partipants include..

  • Will Allen (Chief executive officer of Growing Power)
  • Emma Clippinger (grad student, Brown U)
  • Peter McPherson (president of National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges)
  • Morgan Spurlock (Film Director–and the guy from Supersize Me!!!)
  • Roy Steiner (director of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)

Phew..we made it to this discussion!  This one was AMAZING.  The main message (in my opinion) was that campuses need to focus on their food production and waste.  Schools should food-waste compost (check!) and grow their own food (almost check!).  It was so awesome to hear these very smart (and famous!) people talking about how it is important to be doing what Lafayette is in fact doing!  It was an amazing feeling and I have to say it made me so proud to be a part of this project. 😀

7:30-9:30: Social Reception.  Students, faculty, and everyone attending the conference had dinner and (very yummy) desserts and mingled.

Sat. Feb. 14th: (Happy V-day!)

9:00-10:00AM: Plenary Session “Turning Economic Obstacles into Opportunity”

  • Paul Begala (president of Hat Creek Enterprises)
  • Scott Cowen (president of Tulane U)
  • Carlo DiMarco (VP, University relations and online strategy, mtvU)
  • John Dorsey (co-founder, faceAIDS)
  • Margaret McKenna (president of the Walmart Foundation)
  • Zainab Salbi (president and chief exec officer of Women for Women International)

Well, this one was interesting and quite timely with the current state of the economy.  It was quite interesting to hear from the pres. of Walmart, especially since they fund much of the Commitment Awards given.

10:30-12:00PM: “Working Sessions”!  During this time, students and faculty were divided into sessions of their personal interests.  Christina and I went to separate ones.  I went to the Energy and Climate Change one and Christina attended the Global Health Session.   It was a great time to talk with other students, faculty, university presidents (!), and Clinton Global U organizers on a personal level.

12:30-2:00PM: Lunchtime Meetups and such: time for everyone to mingle and talk about their commitments.

2:30-4:00PM: “Skill Session: Putting your Commitment to Action”

4:30-5:30PM: CGI-U Exchange: more mingle time to talk about commitments and network!

6:00-7:00PM: Summation and Closing Address by Bill Clinton.  and panel speakers:

  • Nnamdi Asomugha (Oakland Raiders Quaterback)
  • Matthew McConaughey (Yes, the actor!!!! and my valentine hah)
  • Marie Tillman (chairman of the board of the Pat Tillman Foundation)

This panel challenged the audience to continue our commitments and take what we learned over the past two days and apply it to the real world.  Hmm.. well, I think we’re on the right track, right? 🙂

7:30-9:30PM: Dinner Reception.  This was our last chance to really mingle.  It was so great to talk to inspiring students from all over the world and hear their commitments.  After dinner, there was a comedian..

  • John Oliver (Yes, from the Daily Show with John Stewart!!!)

He was HILARIOUS.  He commented on how the audience of CGI-U students were more like his parents than any college group he’d performed for on a Saturday night..hahaha, so true.

Feb. 15th, Sunday:

9:00-1:00PM: Service Project.  CGI-U students participated in various service projects around the Austin area.  Christina and I worked on cleaning a local creek (which really needed cleaning!!).  It was lots of fun and one last chance to see our fellow comittment-makers!

The conference in review:

It was an AMAZING experience all together.  I’m really glad Christina and I had the opportunity to attend.  Talking with other students about our gardening and composting projects seemed to really inspire others.  We learned from other students about their commitments and ways to improve our own campus.  One student named Jared worked with the UT campus to donate wasted food to local food kitchens.  This is something we could definately work on!

Thank you to the Lafayette ARC, Prof. Mylon, Brandes, Kortyna, Kney, and student Mike Handzo for making our trip possible!!

Jenn

PS. Here’s a Lafayette new’s story about the conference!

A New Website!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the Organic Gardening website.  I’m glad you’re interested in learning about the garden project or getting involved or even getting a plot!  I’ll give a brief introduction to the project here, but for more details check out the “About the Project” section of the site.

The idea for the project came up while working on the Corn on the Quad project this past summer.  Professor Dave Brandes,  Prof. Art Kney, Prof. Andy Smith and I were working in the fields, er..the quad and thought it would be great to continue the project further and more permanently.  Professor Dave Brandes and I wrote a grant proposal to the Clinton Foundation and won a small grant to support the project.

The next semester, Prof. Brandes, Andy Smith, Derek Smith, John Wilson and I worked together with the school administration and plant operations to plan the gardens. It will consist of two sections: a 1-acre plot for students to tend and another 1-acre plot divided into small plots for faculty, staff, and administration to lease.  We’ll begin planting this March!

This website is going to be a tool for keeping people informed about the project.  I’ll be documenting the progress of the garden through pictures and blogs.  I’m hoping to keep the “Meet the Gardener” updated where I’ll put pictures and bios of those involved.

Thanks so much for your interest and support!  🙂

Jenn