Partners in Massachusetts Agriculture Education
Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources
Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation
UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Forestry Program
Spring 2006 Newsletter
Frederic Winthrop of Ipswich was honored by Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom on March 26th at a dinner celebration marking the onset of the group's 25th anniversary. He was presented with the organization’s first Founder’s Award in front of farmers, friends and past and present board members of MAC. Frederic Winthrop of Ipswich was honored by Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom on March 26th at a dinner celebration marking the onset of the group's 25th anniversary. He was presented with the organization’s first Founder’s Award in front of farmers, friends and past and present board members of MAC.
As the former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Food and Agriculture (now the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources), Mr. Winthrop was instrumental in the formation of MAC. He enlisted members of state government, UMass Extension and Farm Bureau to work together to develop a plan to bring the message of agriculture, nutrition and the environment to children, teachers and the general public.
From these beginnings, MAC has grown over the past twenty five years to reach more then 10,500 educators in every school in the state. Our popular programs include a seasonal newsletter, workshops on the farm, an annual conference, an active website, mini-grants, educational manuals and more.
Mr. Winthrop was also honored for his many other contributions to the advancement of agriculture across the state. He initiated the state Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program to stem the downward decline of farmland. The first statewide program of its kind, it became a model for the nation. Now every state is eligible for Federal funding.
He convened a direct marketing task force to increase the demand for farm products through farmstands, farmers’ markets and institutional sales. He initiated a Massachusetts food and agricultural policy which helped jumpstart many other innovative programs to improve and strengthen the situation for farmers across the state. He also chaired the board that oversaw the regulation of pesticides.
Mr. Winthrop was also instrumental in the drafting of a food and agriculture policy for the ten Northeastern states and served as President of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. He served for ten years as the State’s Agriculture Commissioner until 1985 and then fifteen as Executive Director of the Trustees of Reservations.
Thank you to everyone that helped make our March 26 Gala Recognition of the Founders and Leaders of Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom a great event. John Lee, immediate Past President, did a masterful job of describing the part that Fred Winthrop played in getting MAC off the ground.
Former Commissioner Winthrop was pleased to see and hear from some of his old friends. He directed many remarks toward Doug Gillispie, current Commissioner of the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources, praising his accomplishment and also acknowledging that it is often the talented staff at the Department that carries through on the Commissioner’s initiatives to get the work done. He gave credit to Janet Christensen for the work on educational projects, during his own administration, such as the development of MAC.
The Gala allowed me to recognize some of the many people who support MAC with their time, money and physical labor. They have made this organization grow and excel. Janet Christensen, Marjorie Cooper, Henry Hicks and Jay Slattery were recognized as founders as well as continuing members of our Board of Directors. Mary McBrady and June Johnson were honored as past officers along with Debi Hogan, who served as an officer for many years and for the past eleven years as Educational Consultant. She carries out so many tasks to keep MAC working.
There are many more people that worked hard behind the scenes. A new Board member, Carol Borglund did a tremendous job of lining up many items for the Silent Auction and Raffle. We want to again thank all donors who provided raffle and auction items for this celebration and fund-raising event. We grossed $5,200 to help support our educational programs. Checks are still coming in for support from individuals and businesses not able to attend.
James I. Munger, President
MAC will hold its first summer graduate-credit course in agricultural-literacy training for educators this summer. Using farms as classrooms, teachers will learn how agriculture can enhance the curriculum, enthrall students and meet many MCAS requirements.
The course offers agricultural-literacy training through fun, hands-on study and investigation of agricultural education resources. It will assist new educators and those who want to expand their classroom offerings as they learn how to integrate agriculture into the classroom to create lessons and reinforce MCAS concepts.
Titled “Growing Agriculture in the Classroom,” the course meets on Wednesday June 28 and Wednesday August 16 at the Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each participant will also be required to attend five additional workshops on the farm during the summer. A list of these workshops with descriptions is on our website. Each participant will then spend ten hours developing a classroom project, which will be presented on August 16 for review. These will be compiled and printed for distribution.
The fee for this seven-day summer course is $275 and includes all materials; farm workshops and tours; some meals, and three graduate credits or 67 professional development points from Fitchburg State College. Curriculum and MCAS standards covered by the lessons will be handed out as workshop materials. Each participant will be paired with a MAC board member to give students long-term access to resources and support. The course is sponsored by MAC in collaboration with Fitchburg State College. It was created with funding from the Agway Foundation and Northeast Farm Credit AgEnhancement. For more information, click here /Workshops/Graduate Course.htm
Welcome to new Board members Adelia Bardwell, representing the Massachusetts State Grange, and Paul Desilets, representing the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association. They join the 26 members of the MAC Board of Directors.
MAC is planning two heirloom tomato sales as fund-raisers for our organization. Heirloom tomato seedlings will be sold at the Warren Farm & Sugarhouse on June 3 and 4 and the Tower Hill Botanic Garden Plant Sale in Boylston on June 3. Additional plants can be ordered by visiting our website and sending us an order.
Using an $860 mini-grant from MAC, fourth-grade teacher Martha Burkettt led her students on a discovery of “Heirloom Gardening” at the North Brookfield Elementary School. They learned about the importance of saving seeds, gardening practices and styles during the 19th century and the changes that impacted farming as new technologies were introduced at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Jan Wentworth from The Warren Farm and Sugarhouse, also in North Brookfield, served as the MAC board-member liaison for this mini-grant and donated heirloom seeds to the students. On June 3 and 4, Jan will host an heirloom tomato sale at her farm to benefit MAC. The students will display information on their seed-saving efforts at the farm to explain their project and add real-body substance to why Warren Farm is raising money for MAC.
Any Massachusetts teacher or school can apply for a mini-grant to support their agricultural education efforts. Each year MAC awards grants of up to $1,500 to teachers for agricultural education projects due April 1, September 1 and November 1. To receive a copy of our mini-grant guidelines, send a letter to P.O. Box 345, Seekonk, MA 02771 or click here.
The seed is the most common method of plant reproduction for cone-bearing and flowering plants. If conditions are right, each seed can grow into a plant that will produce many other seeds. Gymnosperms and Angiosperms are the only two groups of plants that produce seeds. Ferns, mosses, club mosses and liverworts all reproduce by spores.
The name Gymnosperm means naked seed. Gymnosperms produce small, short-lived male cones that send out clouds of pollen. Once fertilized by this pollen, seeds develop inside the female cones. The cones are made of scales. They offer no protection once the seeds are ripe; the exposed seed is held on the surface of the cone. The mature seed consists of an embryo surrounded by a seed coat. It may also contain a stored supply of food. Coniferous trees, such as pines and tropical Cycads are both examples of Gymnosperms.
Angiosperms are flowering plants. They produce fruits to enclose, protect, and help scatter their seeds. These seeds and fruits form from flowers, the reproductive parts of plants.
The seed is the result of the joining of a male cell from pollen with the female egg inside the ovary. There may be many seeds in one ovary. Each seed is made from one pollen cell and one egg cell. As the flower fades the seed continue to develop within the ovary, and the ovary matures into a seed case or fruit. It protects the seed until it is ripe. The fruit may be fleshy or dry.
There are as many as 240,000 species of Flowering Plants ranging in size from tiny duck weed to Tasmanian Eucalyptus the size of redwood trees. They may be fresh water, salt water or terrestrial. Each produces a different seed with unique genetic material.
Seeds come in a wide diversity of shapes, colors and sizes. The biggest seed in the world is a coconut that can weigh 50 pounds. Orchids seeds are as tiny as fine powder. The biggest seeds do not always produce the biggest plant. California redwood seed is about the size of the head of a pin.
To assure survival, plants produce many more seeds than they can grow. Since plants do not move, they utilize other mechanisms to disperse the seeds to a new place where they can grow without competition from the parent for light, water and soil nutrients.
In flowering plants, the seed contains three main parts: the seed coat, embryo and cotyledons. The seed coat protect the seed until it is ready to grow. The embryo is the baby plant with roots and young leaves and the cotyledons provide enough food for the young plant to grow until it can produce its own food.
There are two main divisions of flowering plants: monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Monocotyledons have one cotyledon or seed leaf (corn, lily). Dicotyledons have two cotyledons or seed leaves (maple, bean). Cotyledons are called seed-leaves because in many plants they are the first leaf-like structure to appear after germination. They often look quite different than the true leaves that will develop later.
Germination is sprouting into growth of the embryo. The seed may not seem to be alive, since it is hard and dry. It is dormant and resting. In order for the seed to germinate the right conditions are required. This includes adequate moisture, the correct temperature and oxygen. A few seeds, like lettuce, also need light. Once given water and the food stored in the cotyledons, the baby plant inside the seed will begin to grow.
Plants also need soil, although they will germinate in water. They will not continue to grow without soil, which provides small amounts of several minerals they need.
Once germination has occurred and the plant begins to grow the young root will emerge from the seed. Next the stem and leaf develop. In corn, the cotyledons remain beneath the ground; in beans they emerge above ground. The cotyledons will shrivel up after a few weeks, once the food in them has been used. The young plant starts to make its own food as soon as the true leaves have pushed through into the sunlight, and the roots have established themselves in the soil.
The majority of seeds of annuals and perennials will germinate as soon as they are ripe if placed under suitable conditions. Seeds of most trees and shrubs will not germinate until the following spring or summer. This is often due to the immaturity of the embryo, which has not yet developed fully. In other cases the seed coat is too hard, thick or water tight and must be softened or broken.
Dormancy prevents seeds from germinating during the winter when the freezing temperatures would kill the seedlings. It also prevents all of the seeds of a plant from germinating the same year, providing for a great chance of survival. This is especially important in harsh climates such as deserts or areas prone to flood and fire.
Horticulturists have developed special treatments to trick these seeds into breaking their dormancy. Soaking overnight in hot water helps some seeds germinate by weakening the seed coat and letting in water and oxygen. Others may be rubbed between two sheets of sandpaper or filed to simulate a winter outdoors. Seeds may be washed in acid to mimic the journey through a bird’s digestive system. Dormant seeds of trees, such as the apple, must be kept cold and wet for three months and then warmed to imitate a winter outdoors.
Human Intervention
Seeds, especially grains, are essential as a food source for people all over the world, both for themselves and for their animals. At first humans gathered seeds only as a source of food. Gradually they learned that it they planted seeds they could grow their own food and also save seeds to assure food the following year.
Over the thousands of years since farming began, farmers learned to save the best tasting and biggest seeds for planting, gradually creating stronger and better crops through seed selection. They also learned to cross-pollinate in order to produce different plants. Some of the seeds formed this way are improved crops that produce more food on less land, offer more nutrients or are resistant to insects and diseases. The business of seed companies emerged. They collected and package seed for sale, and also worked to develop new and better varieties.
Genes banks have also been established to protect genetic diversity Collections of seeds and plant material are housed in gene banks all over the world. These banks provide plant breeders with materials they need to improve food crop varieties, storing samples of both primitive and more recent varieties that are no longer in use, and related wild species.
- Annual: An annual is a plant that completes its life cycle (seed germination to seed production) within a single season and then dies.
- Dormant: A state of suspended animation, literally a state of sleep.
- Egg Cell: Female cell which joins with a male cell from the pollen grain to form a fertilized egg. The fertilized egg becomes a seed.
- Fruit: The fruit is the ripened ovary. It houses the seed(s) and protects it/them.
- Ovule: A structure within the pistil of the flower that contains the egg cell. After fertilization it becomes a seed.
- Perennial: A perennial is a plant that lives for many years.
- Pollen: Microscopic bodies produced by conifers and flowering plants. Each contains a male cell whose function is to join with the egg.
- Pollination: The placing of pollen on the stigma as a prelude to fertilization - the joining of male and female cells.
The seeds of flowering plants have three main parts: The seed coat, cotyledon and embryo. Soak a bean seed. Then look closely to see what is inside. The seed coat is on the outside of the seed. It is very strong and protects the young plant and its food supply from: drying out, micro-organisms, being crushed, being digested by animals and from germinating before conditions are ideal for growth A seed may have more than one seed coat.
On one side of the bean seed is a scar, called the hilum (high-lum). The hilum is the place where the bean was fastened to the pod. There is a tiny hole near one end of the hilum called the micropyle. This is the place where, under the right growing conditions, water can enter the seed to initiate growth. Soak bean seeds in hot water for a half hour. As water enters the seed, the seed coat will soften and the seed will expand. It is then easy to remove the seed coat. Carefully open the bean to look inside. You will see the cotyledons and the embryo.
The embryo is a young plant. Its parts will grow into a root (hypocotyl), the stem (epicotyl) and the first leaves. The tiny root will emerge through the micropyle and develop into the primary root that will anchor the seedling and begins to absorb water and minerals.
The two large parts of the bean seeds are the seed leaves or cotyledons. They provide food for the seedling until it can photosynthesize and make its own food. Some cotyledons are thick and full of food, others are thin. As the growing plant uses this food the cotyledons shrivel. Seeds with only one cotyledon are monocots and those with two are dicotyledons. Some cotyledons stay under ground and others come up out of the ground.
Seeds stand a better chance of growing if they do not have to compete with the parent plant for light, water and nutrients. Since plants do not move, fruits and seeds have developed unique structures to help them move to a new place where there is less competition. If they land in a suitable patch of soil they may have a chance of growing.
Plant Parachutes: Some seeds are very light and attached to tiny hairs, silken threads or fluff that act like parachutes that allow the seeds to float on the wind, sometimes for miles. The seeds of milkweed, cottonwood, dandelions and pussy willow are dispersed this way. Watch these seeds to see in which directions the wind is blowing. Do they all travel at the same height? Will they all wind up at the same place?
Helicopters: The seeds of maple, elm, basswood, ash and pine have wings. They spin away from the tree and ride on the air like gliders.
Hitchhikers: Some seeds, such as those of burdock and beggar tick, travel by sticking to the fur of animals. The burdock seeds have rows of hooks to grip the coat. These seeds may travel for several miles before being brushed off, chewed from the fur or released by a burrowing animal. Notice where these seeds are located on the plant.
Self Movers: Some seeds move slowly along the ground as if crawling. The seed of wild oats and the common storkbill has a twisted tail. When the tail is damp it partly untwists. As the seed dries the seed twists again. This twisting helps the seed move along the ground and may also twist into the fur of animals. Mexican jumping beans jump away from their parent plant. Tumbleweed breaks off near the ground when its seeds are ripe. As it rolls along, it scatters its seeds.
Exploding Pods: The pods of touch me nots (jewelweed) and witch hazel pop open explosively when the wind knocks them around or an animals brushes by, sending the seeds flying several feet. Violets pop open when they dry. The squirting cucumber may throw its seeds as high as a three story building.
Salt Shakers: Some seeds are shaken out of pods by the wind. Iris and poppies have openings at the top and as the long stalks are blown or shaken they scatter the seeds.
Food for Birds: Many seeds are scattered because of the fruit or pulp around them which is attractive to birds. When the seeds are green the fruit is sour. When they are ripe the fruit is sweet. The birds may eat the fruit and drop the seeds while eating or eat both the fruit and seeds, which are protected by the seed coat and past through the digestive system unharmed.
Food for Animals: Acorns, hickory and other nuts may be collected by squirrels. They bury the nuts in the fall and may forget where some are planted.
Ant Ferries: Almost one third of the woodland wild flowers of the eastern forest, such as the bloodroot, depend on ants to disperse their seeds. Some seeds have a special, edible appendage called an elaiosome, which is rich in sugar, oils, amino acids and aromatic compounds attractive to ants. They take the seeds to their nest, remove the elalosome and feed it to their young. The “useless” seed is moved to their compost heap, an underground chamber containing decomposting food scraps and other organic materials, perfect for keeping seeds moist and supplying nutrients to young seedlings.
Water Floaters: Some seeds may get washed to a new home by a hard rain. Others sail on rivers like small boats. A few seeds, like the coconut can sail across the ocean and still germinate. Special fibers around the seeds help the coconuts to float. Many water traveling seeds have inhibiting seed coats or chemical timing devices. Cranberries have tight, but thin, skins that keep them from drying out.
Germination is sprouting into growth of the embryo of the seed. Germinating seeds can push very hard. They push hard enough to break the strong seed coats and even to push through the sidewalk and even break the walls of storage bins. Try this experiment.
Materials: Plastic medicine bottle with a snap on lid or small glass bottle with a cork. Enough dry lima beans or peas to fill the bottle.
Fill the bottle full of beans or peas. Then fill the bottle with water; do not leave air bubbles. Put the cap on tight. Look at the bottle the next morning. What happened?
Different seeds contain different kinds of food. Seeds may have starch, protein and oils. The cotyledons of beans are filled with starch and protein. Those of soybean contain mostly oil and protein.
To Test for Oils: Materials: hammer, paper towels, 2 drops of cooking oil, peanuts in the shell.
Procedure: Drop the oil on the paper towel. Shell the peanuts. Mash them with the hammer. Rub the peanut powder on the other opposite end of the paper towel. Does this spot look like the place where you dropped the oil? Test other seeds for oils.
Test for Starch: Materials: hammer, paper towel, medicine dropper, teaspoon starch, bean, almond, corn grain, cracker, teaspoon sugar, teaspoon flour, dilute iodine (5 drops iodine/20 drops water.)
Procedure: Mash the dry beans to powder with the hammer. Put the powder on a paper towel. Put a lump of starch on the same towel. Ask a parent or teacher to put a drop of dilute iodine on the starch and on the bean powder. Iodine gives a blue color with starch. Is starch present? Mash other seeds and to test for starch.
A great fall activity is the collecting and saving of seeds from favorite annuals, perennial, trees and shrubs. Let students known that before seed companies were prevalent, people had to save all the seed they would need from year-to-year. When Thomas Jefferson sent letters to friends in Europe he would enclose a few seeds of favorite plants and would ask the friends to send seeds to him as well.
Most natural species, plants as they occur in the wild unimproved by hybridization or selective breeding, can be raised from seeds. Hybrid crosses, however, will not breed true to type and must be increased by vegetative means.
As soon as the seeds are ripe, they should be gathered and spread out to dry in a well-ventilated room. When they are completely dry, label the seeds with name and date and put them in a closed container. Store in a dry, cool frost-proof place for use next year.
The length of time that seeds will retain their vitality depends partly on how they were stored, as well as the type of seed. Some seeds, such as those of willow, only retain there ability to germinate for a few days, while the seed of Cassia, have been known to germinate after 80 years. Generally, oily seeds quickly lose their vitality and those with hard seed coats, especially members of the Pea family (Leguminaceae) are the longest lived. In tests, beans seeds have germinated after 149 years.
The hardiest seeds are those of the Arctic Lupine. Seeds were found in the Canadian Yukon that were believed to be 10,000 to 15,000 years old. Some sprouted and grew into plants. One even produced flowers.
Humans have been eating seeds for thousands of years. At first they gathered seeds from the wild to eat. With time they learned to plant those seeds to grow crops to give them food, beverages and even fiber. Can you find some of these seeds in your home?
Grains: The three most important seeds are rice, wheat and corn. They are food for people all over the world.
- Rice is a staple food for about two thirds of the world’s population. It contains complex carbohydrates for energy, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, iron and potassium. It can be eaten cooked or used to make flour, cereal, cakes, crackers and oil.
- Wheat is used to make flour for bread, cakes, cookies and crackers. It is fed to livestock and also used for non-food items such as glue and pharmaceuticals.
- Corn (maize) is the third most important food crop worldwide and first in the United States. It provides complex carbohydrates, fiber, Vitamin B and potassium. It is eaten whole and also fed to livestock and processed into meal, flour, cereal, bread, syrup, oil and alcohol. Industrial uses include: ethanol, degradable plastics and starch for recycled paper.
Beans: Modern farmers grow more than a hundred kinds of beans, including green, navy, red , black, lima, pinto, soybeans and peanuts. They are an important source of protein and fiber.
Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, cashew, pecans, pistachios, and many other nuts provide proteins, fat and fiber.
Beverages: Coffee is made from the seeds of the coffee tree. Chocolate comes from cacao beans and Cola drinks from the beans of the kola tree.
Spices: Many culinary spices are seeds, including nutmeg, anise, caraway, cardamon, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, mustard, poppy and sesame.
Oils: Oil for cooking and flavor comes from the seeds of corn, peanuts, soybean, sunflower, safflower, sesame, walnuts, pumpkin, coconuts, palm, flax, rape (mustard) and cotton. Fine hairs growing out of the cotton seed coat are used to make cotton fiber.
True Nuts: A true nut is botanically a one seeded fruit with a hard, woody outer layer. Acorns and chestnuts are true nuts.
Drupes: A drupe is a stone-seed surrounded by a fleshy layer while on the tree. Almonds, walnuts, pecans and hickories are really drupe fruits, such as peaches and plums. The cashew is also from a drupe fruit. It’s closest relative is poison ivy and its shell contains an oil that irritates the skin.
Pods: Brazil nuts are borne in clusters of twelve to twenty individual seeds packed within woody pods about six inches in diameter and weighing five pounds.
Legumes: The peanut is the fruit of a tropical legume. After fertilization, the blossoms bend downward and drill themselves into the soil. The dry shells enclosing the “nuts” which develop underground, corresponds to the pods of peas and beans.
- Look for fruits and cones on the ground. Match these with those you see on the trees. Break them open and look for seeds
- Research where our common seed crops such as grains originated. How have they been changed over time through breeding?
- Learn about the many ways that seeds travel. Offer students a collection of seeds to explore to guess how each may travel.
- Grow alfalfa or radish sprouts on a sponge. Try sprouting beans in a jar.
- Collect a diverse assortment of seeds in many colors, shapes and sizes. Ask students to make a seed mosaic.
- Seeds need water in order to grow. Place a rows of seeds, such as peas, beans, radishes or rye in the center of two paper towels. Roll the paper towel around the seeds. Soak one paper towel with a spray bottle. Set both aside. Unfold both towels the next morning. What happened?
- Line a jar with a paper towel and fill the center of the jar with more towels. Slip bean seeds between the towel and the side of the jar. Fill the bottom with water so it wicks up the towel. Watch the seeds sprout and grow.
Mass Nursery & Landscape Association
P.O. Box 387
Conway, MA 01341
www.mnla.com
NE Vegetable & Berry Growers Association
125 Main StreetP.O. Box 387
Deerfield, MA 01342-0387
John Howell:413-773-0412
Eastern Native Seeds Conservancy
P.O. Box 451Great Barrington, MA 01230
www.enscseeds.org
Seed Savers Exchange
www.seedsavers.org www.seedsavers.orgAmerican the Beautiful Fund - Free seeds
725 15th Street, N.W. Suite 605
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.freeseeds.us
National Corn Growers Association
National Cotton Council
National Gardening AssociationCalifornia Rice Council www.calrice.org
Peanuts
The Popcorn BoardSoybeans
Sunflowers
Walnuts
Plant Information Database
Books
Beans by Gail Saunders Smith, 1998.
From Flower to Plant by Anne Dowden, 1984.
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, 1991.
Glorious Grasses by Meredith Sayles, 1999.
Seeds by Gail Saunders Smith, 1998.
Information for this newsletter was taken from the resources listed above.
The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources sponsored this newsletter by funding the printing costs.
Mission: Massachusetts Agriculture ion the Classroom is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) educational organization with the mission to foster an awareness and learning in all areas related to the food and agriculture industries and the economic and social importance of agriculture to the state national and the world.
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Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom
P.O. Box 345
Seekonk, MA 02771
(508) 336-4426 Fax: (508) 336-0682