News Stories - Page 4

The door to UGArden’s herb drying room leads to an olfactory explosion — sharp peppermint, earthy tulsi, sweet calendula and floral chamomile mix into an herbal perfume that would undoubtedly have tea drinkers reaching for their kettles. Now University of Georgia students will be able to get a taste of UGArden’s chamomile tea, along with a selection of the student community farm’s other herbal teas, with their campus meals as the UGArden medicinal herb program expands into UGA dining halls this spring.

As students filter into Julie Campbell’s Tuesday morning lab, they are greeted by bins of sharp tools lining cold, stainless steel tables. It’s dissection day, but not the kind you may expect. This is “Floral Design and Management,” or HORT 3030, and today’s lesson is the anatomy of a flower. Students pass pale pink carnations and delicate yellow-and-orange Alstroemeria around the room as Campbell, assistant professor in the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture, begins a lecture on plant morphology.

The University of Georgia’s Office of Service-Learning has established longstanding partnerships with community organizations to help address local food insecurity. Last September, the office launched the AmeriCorps Community Food Fellows program to further support these organizations. Since then, the 20 fellows have connected with organizations across the Athens community, serving daily meals at Our Daily Bread, harvesting food at UGArden, packing meals with Campus Kitchen, and delivering meals to families served by the Athens Community Council on Aging.

For plant breeder Andrew Ogden, things are looking up. Way up. A new assistant professor in the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Ogden focuses on breeding members of the cucurbit family — namely melons and squash — in a vertical greenhouse environment. An asset to the UGA Griffin campus, Ogden joins the college's controlled environment agriculture research team, which was formed to support the ever-expanding green industry.

On a stormy day in September 2009, a crew of Central Fulton Master Gardeners were nearly knee-deep in mud, installing landscaping on their first house for a partnership with Atlanta Habitat for Humanity. It was not how anyone envisioned the project kick-off. More than 14 years later, CFMG has maintained its commitment to the organization, completing its 500th Habitat project — a fitting milestone as the national Extension Master Gardener program celebrates its golden jubilee this year.

Two faculty members in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension were named to the Fruit and Vegetable 40 under 40 Class of 2023. The award ceremony will be held during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.