2010 Texas A&M Horticulture Gathering

[RetroSteve]

I just made it back from a day long trip to my old alma mater in College Station. You know, THE school in Texas! :D

This year marked the 3rd anniversary of my graduation with degrees in Entomology and Horticulture and also the Horticulture Gathering, an event held every 5 years that hosts past students and encourages them to revisit their professors and facilities.

It was a wonderful day that started with my waking at 6:30...erm, before hitting the 'snooze' button at least 10 times...and a quick shower. Hopped in the ol' mustard wagon, made a pit stop at Thunderbird for some bs'ing with my old high school friend and a Yerba Mate, and then hit the road.

The air was crisp with fresh morning dew. The sunshine crept over the soft rolling hills and stunted pine trees onto the glistening road. There was a surprising amount of traffic and I couldn't figure out why until I reached the 21 cut-off and noticed all the Aggie bumper stickers...it was game day! Now, before any of you T-sips go and hound me about the score, let it be known that the Aggie good luck charm (moi) was unable to watch the game and, therefore, a loss was inevitable. Rest assured that next week's game, against Kansas, will have a much better outcome in our favor as I 'will' be watching it and rootin' for the 12th man!

Ok, red-assin' aside, back to the story. I drove alongside my fellow Aggies and an hour and a half later we made it to the promise land. Kyle Field rising magnificently above all other structures in the distance, guiding me back to where my adult life began. After parking and walking to the HFSB (Horticulture and Forestry Sciences Building) I entered to grab my name tag and start mingling with folks from my past.

It was a great time to hear the Director of the Horticulture Department, Dr. Tim Davis, give a comical speech about what all has been going on the past few years. There were even door prizes given out for oldest grad, longest married hort. couple, and my personal favorite; most prolific propagator (given to the grad with the most children)!

A tour of some of the facilities followed and I started by visiting the tissue culture labs where I received a tissue culture of a vanilla orchid (yes, vanilla comes from an orchid) that I plan on growing and hopefully planting in the upcoming greenhouse project on the farm. Isaac even showed me a really amazing book that I plan on using when I get to designing my own tissue culture lab in the garage as part of the classroom/laboratory I have planned.

I even got a little tour by my old class mate, Tim, out to his vegetable plots. He showed me some of the GMO's he's been working on and even gave me the ripened fruit off of his Buddha's Hand citrus. I'll be adding it with the two fruits that I have to make some Candied Buddha's Fingers.

I met with Doug Scheuring, a research staff member working with Dr. Miller, about his work with up and coming new potato breeds. He had quite a few (around 40) cultivars all sliced up and fried into chips and all laid out on paper plates just waiting to be tested by us. I spoke with him for over an hour and got an offer to be added to his 'testing' sites come February (aka free potato starts of new cultivars before even the mega-farms get them!!!) So that'll be a really great experiment and I'm excited to have been offered the opportunity to add to the research collective in that capacity.

I even had a chance to schmooze with Dr. Lombardini about my pecans. He's suggested a few books about top-working my pecans and installing either Pawnee or Caddo. I won't be starting that project until the spring at the earliest, however, he did tell me that he could get me enough scions to get me started!

After hanging out with old friends, reminiscing about the great times spent in Dr. Novak's greenhouses, and shuffling through the gorgeous Holistic Garden (a past employer, btw), it was time for me to take my leave and head back home.

After a sleepy trip back to Austin I've returned with some great 'plant-nerd' goodies and some great new prospects for the farm come next season. The farm was a popular topic amongst many of the faculty and there's alot of interest in my little project. This trip was a great reminder of what I've learned and where that knowledge is taking me. I hope to bring everyone reading this blog and anyone interested along with me on my adventure into the great unknown of urban agriculture!

Stay fresh, friends.

[Ty Mellon]

Hey, how did the Flip cam work out? Did you get your video? I'm anxious to see! :)

[RetroSteve]

I'll be up in Cedar Park working on the greenhouse all day. I usually get back around 530 or 6pm

[Ty Mellon]

We're gonna swing by at lunch and check out the RV. I have some work to do to it....will you be around?

Ty

[RetroSteve]

Sounds good to me, Ty. I've been meaning to get together with you and Rachel and have y'all come over and spec out the progress that's been made.

I'll be here Wednesday in the late afternoon/early evening around 530 or 600

Pop on by!

[Ty Mellon]

Wow! AWESOME post, Awesome Steve! Let's get together Wednesday and do a deep dive on your cool goodies and feature you and your farm!! :)