{"id":4087,"date":"2023-04-03T13:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T13:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=4087"},"modified":"2024-06-28T13:55:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T13:55:12","slug":"purdue-extension-needs-your-help-growing-food-for-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/Q2\/purdue-extension-needs-your-help-growing-food-for-science","title":{"rendered":"Purdue Extension needs your help growing food for science"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —<\/p> \n

Novice and experienced gardeners are invited to join Purdue Extension<\/a>, the University of Tennessee and Iowa State University for the citizen science experiment Citi-Sci: Growing Food for Science! from April through August.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As scientists, participants will grow six compact tomato plants, bred specifically for urban agriculture in small spaces. Plants will be provided at different stages of maturity to gauge gardener preferences and challenges. Along with provided plants and all other materials needed to conduct the experiment, participants will have access to monthly educational sessions led by representatives from Purdue Extension, University of Tennessee Extension and Iowa State Extension. Session topics will cover pest management, healthy cooking and nutrition, fresh produce handling and food preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur citizen science approach focuses on putting comprehensive evaluations in the hand of the consumer,\u201d said Michael Fidler<\/a>, Purdue horticulture and landscape architecture<\/a> master\u2019s student and graduate research assistant. \u201cOur research is more than about gardening. We are showing there are smaller vegetable plants that you can grow on your windowsill, balcony or indoors. It\u2019s a way to experience nature, learn about healthy eating, connect with others and be self-sufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data collected in the form of two surveys will include yield results, changes in consumer knowledge and plant preferences. These data will be used to share with stakeholders, such as greenhouse growers and breeders, to help the industry understand the needs of home gardeners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur program comes at a time when interest in growing food at home is on the rise,\u201d said Celina G\u00f3mez<\/a>, associate professor of controlled environment agriculture in Purdue\u2019s Department of  Horticulture and Landscape Architecture<\/a> and Fidler\u2019s advisor. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in requests from novice gardeners asking for information and advice on how to start and maintain vegetable plants in alternative spaces beyond your typical backyard or raised beds. There\u2019s also an increase in availability of plant products that can cater to the urban consumer. Citizen scientists will provide valuable insight to help us understand the necessary tools for them to successfully garden at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The citizen science program is led by Fidler and G\u00f3mez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested people living in Lafayette, West Lafayette or Indianapolis can sign up by April 13\u00a0online<\/a>. The experiment is open to anyone, but participants will need a small sunny place to grow their plants. If selected for the research project, participants will receive plant pickup dates, location and more information with additional resources. Contact G\u00f3mez at\u00a0citi-sci@purdue.edu<\/a>\u00a0or 765-494-4443 with questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n Writer:<\/strong>\u00a0Abby Leeds, 765-494-7817,\u00a0mayer36@purdue.edu<\/a>
Sources:<\/strong>\u00a0Celina G\u00f3mez, 765-494-4443,\u00a0cgomezva@purdue.edu<\/a>; Michael David Fidler,\u00a0fidler1@purdue.edu<\/a>
Agricultural Communications:<\/strong>\u00a0765-494-8415;
Maureen Manier, Department Head,\u00a0mmanier@purdue.edu<\/a>
Agriculture News Page<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Novice and experienced gardeners are invited to join Purdue Extension, the University of Tennessee and Iowa State University for the citizen science experiment Citi-Sci: Growing Food for Science! from April through August. As scientists, participants will grow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"department":[6,138],"source":[29],"purdue_today_topic":[72],"coauthors":[89],"class_list":["post-4087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-agriculture","department-extension","source-purdue-news","purdue_today_topic-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4089,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions\/4089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}