Monday, February 4, 2008

Land Grant Universities


How many of you have ever heard of Land Grant Universities? I never had until Jim mentioned it at school last week. Land Grant Universities? What the heck is that? I thought the subject might warrant a post because anything new to me, might be new to others or others might find it interesting. So here goes.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture's website "a land grant college or university is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive unique federal support." There are over 100 universities or colleges in the land grant system. Here is a link for further information.


Tennessee has two land grant universities in the Land-Grant University system, they are the University of Tennessee (UT) and Tennessee State University (TSU). Some other states are as follows: Kentucky: Kentucky State University and University of Kentucky; Alabama: Alabama A & M University, Auburn University, and Tuskegee University; Georgia: Fort Valley State University, and the University of Georgia; Florida: Florida A & M University, and University of Florida; New York: Cornell University, and the State University of New York; and finally Maine: The University of Maine.

So what do all of these universities and colleges do with the special Federal monies? They work in conjunction with the USDA to offer such services as: the Cooperative Extension Program, Agriculture and Veterinary Schools, and Agricultural Experiment Stations. All of these services and programs are vital to a state and its citizens. They provide education, programs such as 4-H clubs and Master Gardeners.

So the next time you might hear someone say Land-Grant University System, or maybe not; more than likely you will wonder why our local extension agents work for the University of Tennessee and why the University of Tennessee plays such a big role in plant research and information, now you will know. I was always wondering myself why Cornell University had so much information on the web in the form of plant databases. Now I know.

in the garden....learning.

23 comments:

  1. Tina, Now I also know. Which proves your never too old to learn, right. Thanks for info!

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  2. With the University of Maine being so large and spread out (it is 7 different universities in 11 different cities in Maine) it is always in the news here in Maine so I have hear the name Land Grant University but never knew what it meant, so it is good to now know. Thanks for the info. Many famous people have graduated from University of Maine, including many, many big leauge sports figures in all sports and a Nobel Peace Prize winner but probably of the most intrest to you is your favorite author, Stephen King. Also his wife, Tabitha. They both graduated from the flagship university which is about 5 miles from where they live. They also have a second (wacation) home which is near Dawn and was where he was when he got hit by a hit and run driver and was taken to the local hospital that serves several small communities. The same doctor that operated on him also was the one that operated on Dawn when she broke her leg. Funny how your posts bring up memories stored in my mind and I ramble about them. One more piece of tidbit. The University of Maine started in 1863 as an agricultural college and became a university in 1865.

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  3. Michigan state university has a large file on the net, it includes the common names and botanical names. Also has care advise including from hail damage to lawn diseases. Later, gotta try to get my dog to eat, he hasn't since we moved, upset his whole teacart. Hope the pups are better today.

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  4. good morning nina, mom and dawn with peaches.

    glad to see you back nina and i hope your dad is fine and all is well out your way. you are definitely never too old to learn, and when you stop learning, you stop living, so let's keep learning.

    hey mom, thanks for the info on the university of maine. i once applied to attend college there, was accepted and all but then the army program was discontinued. i would've loved to have graduated up there.

    i didn't know stephen king and his wife were alumni. that is interesting. i wonder if they met in college?

    it is a small world with the same doctor operating on dawn as stephen king. but maine is a small place anyhow.

    dawn with peaches, it makes sense you would look at michigan's database since they are in the same zone as you. it is amazing how much info is out there in the internet. just amazing and i am glad i learned why some certain universities have more than others.

    sorry about tartarus, changing houses does affect dogs and cats and even humans. he'll adjust.

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  5. I knew about University of Georgia in this program. The Saint and I were planning on checking out their gardens last year but something got in the way of that plan. We will get another plan in motion for this year. We would also like to check out the Macon Cherry Blossoms! I have read that they have them all over the town.

    Have any of you ever seen the Cherry Trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC while in bloom? They are spectacular!

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  6. Your right Nina, never too old to learn. I didn't know either about the land grants. I thought that was something the government did yrs & yrs ago when they gave acreage to people for home steading. Or am I completely off base on that too. Does someone know?
    Didn't know about King & wife either. Boy I must be in Duh land today.

    Only saw pics of cherry trees. They are quite lovely.

    Do hope the "babies" are doing much better. Keep us up to date.

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  7. hi skeeter and lola,
    skeeter, definitely check out the university of georgia's gardens. our gardens here in jackson are fabolous and so informational. ut does a program each summer called "summer celebration" which spotlights the gardens, has a master gardener plant sale, and free seminars. i love it. i bet un. of ga has the same thing.

    never seen the cherry trees in bloom but they must be heavenly. you have seen them skeeter? how about you mom?

    lola, i am not sure about the homesteading land grants. that might be part of it but i did not research that and it seems like that was a special bill or program, though maybe related to the land grant university program. seem logical.

    no, you are not in duh land. we must always learn and still can't know everything.

    the pups are not well. all are in the vet clinic. i am so totally sad to say lamar passed away today. praying for the others but will not post much until i know definitively what is going on with them. don't want to get everyone's hopes up to have them dashed. lamar looked so much better when i saw him on friday but he just didn't recover.

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  8. So sorry about lamar, but do hope & pray the others get well soon. One never knows. I admire you greatly for what you have done for these "babies"
    THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

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  9. So sorry about Lamar. Gosh I hate it when I lose a pet. x and o to the others.
    Yes, Stephen King met his wife at college, I've seen him in person, NOT very attractive, still had a bad limp. My kids sometimes talk about running into him and asking for his autograph, guess his is pretty nice about that, I remind them most of the time people are speechless. He frequents our local store/diner. BTW, when he walks and reads, he's in the road most of the time, he bought the van that hit him and shortly thereafter the driver was found passed away in a tent, never did find out what happened.

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  10. Oh my goodness Dawn, I can't believe Tatarus won't eat since he has spent half his time in the house while you were building it and he can look right out a lotta the windows and see the mobile. Hope he is okay but I am sure when he gets hungry enough he will eat.

    I don't know if Stephen and Tabitha met in college or not. I will goggle him. now you have me curious, and you know what they say about that..........okay I am back with lotsa Stephen King infor. They met in Fogler Library at the University of Maine where they both worked while going to college there and they married in Jan of 71. He had graduated with and English degree in 1970 and was qualifed to teach high school but could not find a job immediatly so they live off her student savings and loans while he worked in an industrial laundry with a boost from an occasionaly selling of an article to mens magazines. He was heavily involved in the anti Viet Nam activities but got a draft notice right after college. He got a 4F due to high blood pressure, limited vision. flat feet and punctured ear drums. His first writings that was published was a weekly column in the University of Maine newspaper. His parents lived in Portland where he was born but after his parents spilt he moved around quite a bit till they settled in Durham when he was (oh crap I can't remember) but I think 10 years old. He graduated from Lisbon Falls High School as Durham only had (and still only has) a grade school. In the fall of 1971 he got a job teaching at Hampden High School. In the spring of 1973 Doubleday accepted his book Carrie but was not published for a couple of years. However he was then able to quit teaching and write full time and the rest is history. He does still teach creative writting at the University of Maine some. Guess he liked the area where he went to college verses my backyard as the university, Hampden and Bangor are all neighbors. They both have given millions to different charities in Maine and there will be something on the news about it every now and then. They used to turn their house (a big 3 story house) into a haunted House every Halloween and let people go thru it but you and I both know there are a lotta wacky people out there and they started protesting it and he had to stop. Sad.

    Yes Skeeter and Tina I have seen the cherry blosoms in D.C. several times and they are great but the thing that really amazed me is how tame the squirels are there.

    And by the way Tina, even though Maine is not high in population (thank God) it is larger in size than a lotta states. Tennesse only has 10,000 square miles more than Maine.

    Oh Tina I am so sorry about Lamar. But I bet you gave a him a few great days!

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  11. Dawn, ypu I knew he had bought that van and that the driver had died and I forgot to mention that. There was not a word about it in his bio and I was surprised as he almost died and took a long time to mend. Probably he has his own web site and I should have gone there but went to Wikipedia. Everyone that has seen or met him says he is very nice. Just a good ole down to earth maieiac.

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  12. Hi Tina, I am sorry about Lamar. A day doesn't go by that I am not thinking about you and your cute little fur balls. I hope the others do better and get well soon. I didn't know about this Land Grant program either. You would think they would be teaching the same thing in the same school district --but this is the first I heard of it. I will have to quiz the boys tonight about it:) We had a busy day this morning --had to head down Nashville way so that took a chunk of our day. No school tomorrow --yeah!!! We have lots of homework tonight --guess we have to do more since we get a day off, lol. Catch you later!

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  13. Hi Nina, thank you for the plant info. That will come in handy for this new to the garden mom:)

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  14. I am so sorry to hear about Lamar Tina. But as I mentioned at Pet People, he had the best life while with you! He is now over the Rainbow Bridge with my Skeeter and lots of other fur babies, chasing butterflies!

    Yes, I have seen the Cherry blossoms in DC. Went there for my birthday one year a long time ago. That year the birthday fell on Easter Sunday and we spent it walking around the Tidal Basin. Was the most spectacular thing you ever saw! People were so friendly as the blossoms seem to put a spell on everyone with their beauty!

    I went to clip the Monkey grass and after cleaning out the leaves and debris in the planter, decided to leave it this year. It is still practically green so looks good enough to allow it to stay this year. Funny as all the grass is gone at the edge of the planter. Mr. Peter Cottontail took care of that for me...

    I cleaned out the round planter in the garden and clipped all the Elephant ears, Banana tree and the Peonies. Also clipped three of the small butterfly bushes. They already had new growth on them! Put all the clippings into the compost pile! Will have to get the Saint to turn it for me as I have a good pile now...

    I put the Cannas and Lily of the Valley in the ground today! I put the Lily of the Valley in the Hosta planter to start a new bed. The voles ate all the hosta roots last year! I think that is what happened to them… So this year I plan to put the Lily in front then some new hosta in the back of that for a different look. I put the Cannas in the yard. Oh boy will the Saint fuss at me tomorrow when he sees that! He does not like for me to dig in the grass of the yard. He says more for him to mow around, funny that I do most of the mowing! LOL… I had an area that kept sinking into the ground. We think where a tree once stood. We have to keep filling the hole with dirt and it sinks down in about a year or so. We have several of these sink holes in the yard. So this time, I dug up a nice circle and planted the Cannas! If they don’t grow, I will have to plant something else because I dug a big area for 4 Cannas!

    Saint is taking the day off tomorrow so he can do some car maintenance. First we will go to Vote (I would rather celebrate Fat Tuesday instead of Super Tuesday LOL) then we will go to lunch then home and he work on the autos and I will be in the yard seeing what else I can get into! It may be a record breaking high temp tomorrow! Come on spring….

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  15. i leave for a little while and come back to all SORTS of conversations! so great.

    i am sooooo sorry about lamar and thank everyone for thinking of these sweet little pups. i hope the others get better soon. never in my worst dream would i anticipate this happening. all of YOU and the PET PEOPLE have been great. it has just been a rough situation for all, especially those precious little pups. lola, mom, dawn with peaches, skeeter, nina, anonymous-everyone thank you so much and continue your prayers for the remaining five. they are holding their own except the little girl i took in this morning, she is not too good. nighttimes seem to be the worse for them.

    thanks mom and dawn with peaches for the information on stephen king. this is what i mean by great conversation! so much info and good stuff to talk about (besides gardening). i really like having conversations.

    i did read the driver of van who hit stephen king did die. i thought it said he had health problems. wonder why it is not mentioned on his website.

    i never knew anything about the mannings, but it looks like they have quite a dynasty going. peyton got mvp. well deserved. heartbreaking for the pats though. hated to see that.

    mom, i so was not trying to slight the great state of maine, it is a beautiful state always. if there was a military base there and i could garden year round, surely mr. fix it and i would retire there and not tennessee. honestly i would've thought maine larger than tennessee in area.

    i wonder why the squirrels in d.c. are so tame?

    anonymous, had you not mentioned no school tomorrow, jimmy and i would've been up bright and early. i knew it was out due to voting (which i will do), but silly me forgot. jimmy will going to vote with me as he does each time we vote. it is a good experience for him. you should take the kiddos too. what did you do in the big city?

    skeeter, can't wait to see pictures this year of the garden, especially the veggie garden since you are doing such a good job describing it. i love the saint is fussing at you about mowing--when you do all the mowing! gotta love it.

    skeeter, will you forgive me if i tell you happy birthday early? i am so bad with birthdays as i don't celebrate mine so i have to get it out before i forget yours. you are probably wondering what the heck does mine have to do with yours? nothing, i just don't do ANY birthdays well, just ask my mom or dawn with peaches or kids. i will try to remember again later.

    i forgot georgia also votes tomorrow. have fun. it is HOT here too and i think spring is here. i will let you all know when the peepers start peeping, as that is MY true sign spring is here. i am worried about a late freeze because so many trees and shrubs are already budding out and on that point i do not want spring to come. does not bode well-again.

    hey you guys, i am preparing a post on arbors. i am not going to label whose is whose but thought it might be nice to get as many different types as i am able. i have one from lola. does anyone else have a picture of an arbor in their yard or a picture of one they would like in their yard and can send to me on digits? it needs to be a picture file for blogger to load it. if so, i will add it in. you know the email. ramseytina5@gmail.com i love arbors and need some more ideas than what comes out of my head. thanks.

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  16. took a peek outside today & saw that my snow bells are beginning to bloom. they have the cutest bloom. bell shaped with a green dot on each petal. another great one from n.c.
    I had gotten a couple new hostas last yr & put them in a pot--am anxious to see how they will be this yr. I had thought about putting all of them in pots as they aren't doing too well in the ground.
    skeeter i hope your sink hole isn't like the ones we have here. whole houses sink.

    has anyone seen the alocasia 'polly'? it has the strangest leaves. i did research on it & it belongs to elephant ear family.

    wow jean, i didn't know maine was almost as big as tn. i hear it's pretty up there.

    i think there is beauty anywhere you want to look. just have to have an open mind.

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  17. Skeeter, my goodness you sure have been busy!! Can you stand another check on a catalog? It is not anything about birch At collectionsect.com they have a cat tunnel for $20.00 if you wanna let your babies get some fresh air outside. It looks pretty neat to me. Item # 801-76-76111

    Tina I went to Wikipedia to look for King's bio and then I wondered why that accident was not in the bio so I went to King's web site and guess what?!!! Same bio as Wikipedia. Wonder why that is not included. Strange. Maybe he just wants to forget it.

    I think prpbably the squirrels are so tame cause they are so used to so many people being around. Only thing I could figure out. Anyone else have an answer?

    Lola...Bless your heart. What a great way to think about beauty. Good for you. You go girl!!! Spread it around.

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  18. Mom, I believe the accident is not in his bio because he does want to leave it behind him, he got addicted to pain killers and drank alot to get thru it. Not only did he have alot of trama and pain but the combo of pills and alcohol (which stimulates the system by closing blood vessels) messed him up in ways we can only image. He has given lectures on it, kept him up, would not eat, put a large strain on his family and not to mention eventually he had writers block. It is nice to see someone in the spotlight get out of that stuff with all of what's going on that is...
    Can't believe you guys have voting day off, we had the rep. vote on Sunday, mitt romney got it. We do have the day off today as there is another snow storm to day. Our kids will be going til July, at first I thought that was a joke but I'm beginning to believe it.
    Still having a difficult time with Tartarus, we played ring-around-the-driveway yesterday and he ended up in the mobile by himself, Jack of all trades put catfood in his dish just to get him to eat some of his food. He spent time laying 3 ft from his dish last night occasionally smelling but would not go beyond the invisable barrier that blocked his way. He is worst than a kid sometime, I think he felt his job was to protect me from danger while we were constructing this house, but most of the time he was in my way almost causing danger! Go figure.
    Ps I think squirrels are so tame because, if they hang out with humans, they know that is where the food it.

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  19. Tina,
    Bless you for all you have done and are doing for these pups. I am so sorry to hear about Lamar. But you blessed him with love, comfort, play and security while he was with you.

    And I wish I could say I had an arbor but I don't. While living in lower AL hubby built me a beautiful huge arbor that 2 different roses climbed on. Ahhh...those were the days when he had time for a honey do list. Oh well, retirement is only a few years away and maybe then he will get started on it!

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  20. good morning mom, lola, dawn with peaches and o'malley,

    all is well here. waiting to hear about the pups then i have to go vote and have a meeting this morning.

    i am so happy we have the day off for voting and jimmy is home. it is great.

    lola, there is indeed beauty everywhere you look. i believe this. especially in nature. i haven't seen the alocasia polly, but i do like the elephant ears alot. i bet they grow well down there in florida. they are marginally hardy here, but only some varieties.

    mom, i am sure like dawn with peaches said, king just wants to forget the trauma. he did do a movie that is somewhat based on his experience with healing-wasn't it about a hospital? not sure if there is also a book out there too.

    dawn with peaches, have fun with the snow day and i so hope tartarus gets better. dogs are like kids. but sometimes i like them better, they are not usually sassy like kids can be, though they can at times.

    o'malley,
    retirement comes before you know it. it really does. i lived in enterprise for two long long years when mr. fix it and i were stationed there. i couldn't garden too much there but can imagine your roses on an arbor did wonderfully. roses are one thing i find loves alabama, unlike this human. you will have another arbor with roses on it up here and i hope your husband's time deployed passes quickly. it did for us but then we all think time passes quickly in the ramsey household. sometimes too fast and sometimes not fast enough, but quickly nonetheless.

    what color were your roses and what color are your favorites for roses? anyone else? what color is a favored color for roses? i like deep red myself.

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  21. Yea Tina, I go for deep red also but mine are pink {can't look gift horse in mouth}. Later, I will send you a pic of mine on arbor {another} that Young'un built for me---also I have it in corner of chain link & it grows both ways. It's old time rambler I think. If you let cane touch ground you got another plant. I got em everywhere, can't give them away. Alocasia dies back in winter--will come back out in spring. I started with 1, this past spring I had 4--they were left in same pot. I didn't know it would come back as I had not done research at the time. Have you tried the Black version? I do, but will have to do mine different. I have them in pots. Everything in pots---pots everywhere. Darn this old leg.

    Arbors---I have thornless blackberries growing on them--about to figure out berries not good idea. Birds eat before they get ripe.

    Persimmon did great last yr. Anxious to see what it does this yr. Had the plant about 7 yrs. Seems all my stuff takes looooong time.

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  22. i'm with you lola, can't look a gift horse in the mouth. i take whatever will grow well and unfortunately don't always hold out for what i truly want. that is a sign of a plant collector more than a designer. that is ok with me. whatever grows best works for me.

    all gardening takes a long time. i don't have any experience with persimmons. i hope it does well. they do grow up here as some people do have them.

    i bought illustris elephant ears. they haven't done well at all for me and are not hardy so i am not bothering with them so much. i still prefer the ones which come back each year. it is my plan to dig in an old black pond with drainage holes and plant a bunch of elephant ears in it. the tub should hold water for the elephant ears and hopefully they will do better. got get that time again. sigh.

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