If the bland pallor of winter’s supermarket tomatoes has you yearning for a taste of summer, take heart. This month, the folks at Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center plan to release the first batch of seeds for the new Rutgers tomato. Th…
Search Results for: "Jack Rabin"
Biotechnology in Agriculture Career Intern Anthony Noto (SEBS ’16)
By Jack Rabin Anthony Noto, “AJ” to his friends, is a SEBS ’16 Biotechnology major. He received the Rutgers-FMC Corp. Crop Protection 2015 paid summer farm research internship. AJ spent the summer learning how to drive tractors, operate farm equipment and manage vegetable crops under commercial conditions. He also learned to design field studies, collect […]
Giamarese Farms and Rutgers University Feed the Poor
Giamarese Farms on Fresh Ponds Road was busy, even on this rainy day. The gleaners had arrived from Cook Campus at Rutgers University and they were hard at work in the apple orchard. Some of the gleaners were students from Dr. Jack Rabin’s “Sustainable Agriculture” class at Cook, while others were members of Rutgers Against Hunger (RAH.) Farmers Against Hunger (FAH) were gleaning, too, gathering the Jona Gold and Golden Delicious apples that still hung on the trees or that had recently fallen to the ground… What is gleaning? Gleaning is an ancient farming practice in which farmers would leave an area, often the four corners of a crop area, unharvested so that the poor of the surrounding area could gather some fruits and vegetables to feed themselves and their families.
Rutgers’ Plant Breeders: Fighting Hunger and Disease, Bringing Back Jersey Tomato
As part of its 250th anniversary celebration, state’s largest public college will honor its world-renowned program and a cornucopia of vegetables, nuts, and berries… Agricultural scientist Jack Rabin tends to show his enthusiasm when he speaks about the staff at Rutgers University’s plant-breeding program. “Rob Pyne has the most perfume-scented job on God’s earth being a Ph.D. candidate plant breeder of basil,” he’ll say. And, “If Jim Simon were not here and did not have his germplasm collection who would do this for society?”… The obvious ardor of the associate director of farm programs at Rutgers’ New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) is contagious. And it makes it difficult to dismiss his assertion that his coworkers’ contributions to the global food pantry are not only groundbreaking but of unassailable importance.
The Quest for the Perfect Tomato
In the day when the mass production of food trumped everything else, plant breeders developed the “perfect” supermarket tomato. Thick-skinned and with a shelf life for the ages, it was a boon for growers, shippers and retailers… But even non-foodie consumers realized that they were getting the short end of the stick. Those reddish orbs looked like the real thing but tasted like damp cardboard, and the supermarket tomato became a standing joke. It also spurred the rediscovery and celebration of the heirloom tomato, the antique, vernacular fruit that managed to capture not only the folksy history of a regional variety but also the warmth and memory of summer itself. The poster child was the brassy beefsteak Brandywine, but thousands of tomato varieties have survived thanks in large part to this renaissance… This is the magic driving another tomato breeding program in New Jersey, a state where the tomato is a cultural icon. At Rutgers University’s agricultural research farm in Pittstown, hybridizer Tom Orton has been trying to capture the lost flavor of a famous old variety named, simply, Rutgers… I recently met his colleague Jack Rabin at the Snyder farm in Pittstown to taste the shortlisted finalists. We abbreviated their actual identification numbers to No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6.
Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Laboratory: A Resource for Plant Professionals and Home Gardeners
Since the days of Rachael Carson and Silent Spring, plant health managers, green industry professionals, and home gardeners alike have been looking for ways to reduce the impact of pesticides in the food supply as well as the lawn and landscape. From outright pesticide bans, to highly specialized and precision integrated pest management systems, the […]
It’s High Season For Jersey Tomatoes
No matter how you slice them, tomatoes are a big part of summer. They grow on big farms and small fields along the highways. Their leafy stalks and bulging red fruit dangle over white-picket garden fences or lean against fire escapes on apartment build…
What’s in Season from the Garden State: Summer Picnic Foods Should Not Be Brown and White
It’s summertime in Jersey and the landscape bursts into a symphony of color: greenery, flowers, blue skies and water, beach umbrellas, fireworks. And then you go to a picnic or barbeque. All of a sudden the tableau turns to a drab brown and white: Hot dogs. Hamburgers. Buns. Potato salad. Cole slaw. Cola. Lemon-lime soda. […]
What’s in Season from the Garden State: The Basil Battle – New Cultivars on the Horizon to Beat Downy Mildew
For the past seven years, a familiar scenario has been playing out on farms and in gardens across the U.S. A healthy, fragrant crop of sweet basil begins to display yellowing leaves. Upon closer inspection, the undersides of the leaves show signs of a menacing grayish sporulation. It is only a matter of time before […]
Rutgers Ag Agent Richard Van Vranken Receives Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award
Source: New Jersey Department of Agriculture Richard VanVranken, agricultural agent, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County, was honored February 4 with a Distinguished Service Citation to New Jersey Agriculture at the State Agricultural Convention held in Atlantic City. “Rick VanVranken has served New Jersey’s agriculture industry with passion, dedication and enthusiasm for decades,” said New […]
