WETM Lunchtime
Garden Series
Our goal was to find a creative way to get Cornell’s Garden Based Applied Research into the hands of the larger community.
We had an opportunity to partner with three additional Cornell Cooperative Extension offices-Tioga, Steuben, Chemung-on a lunchtime TV garden series. WETM TV is a local media resource that we had not used much in the past. We provided a unique program to the lunchtime audience, in addition to our normal, morning three minute timeslots or evening workshops.
Each CCE office taped one episode a week so that a sixteen week span was covered. My topics included a staking tomatoes episode and a two part series on growing unusual small fruits in your garden.
My segment on staking tomatoes was timely and relevant to the community at large. In the episode I was assisted by our local garden center; they donated stakes and different materials for staking tomatoes. In the unusual fruiting plants for your garden episode, I borrowed plants from a small fruit nursery. These plants included hardy Kiwi vines, elderberry, European strawberries, seaberry, currants, pineberries and a few other unique treasures. Our local CCE Teaching Garden was also highlighted during the series, as I was able to harvest fresh fruit from the garden to use as examples in the filming.
Ultimately we reached a new under-served audience through WETM and some 227,000 viewers. We combined effectively with other CCE offices, establishing connections that we can build upon in the future. Lastly we passed along relevant horticulture research, and hands-on tips to a widespread audience in an effective manner.
http://www.mytwintiers.com/community/garden
HORTICULTURE
Roger Ort, [email protected]