Never before has such a vast amount of genetic information been available to tree fruit breeders. Today, Washington State University researchers know enough about the natural diversity within a species’ genetic code to enrich centuries-old tree fruit breeding techniques. Here in the Northwest, this means increasing tree fruit yields while leaving a smaller environmental footprint. […]
Imagine farm life in Washington State a century ago: Smoky kerosene lamps lighting up the night reveal no smartphones, laptops, or TVs. Food is cooked on wood or coal stoves. Clothes are washed with homemade soap by hand in a tub. Horses provide transportation as well as draft power.
Three generations of Appels, including 20 WSU alums, have been farming the land outside Colfax for more than 80 years. During half of that time, 4-H leadership has been part of the growing tradition.
At a recent graduation ceremony in Pullman, a Presidential Medal of Freedom honoree and former Secretary of Defense thanked WSU students, faculty, and administrators for their efforts to “recruit and embrace our military veterans returning home from America’s wars.” The collaboration between the Green Alliance for Veterans Education and WSU Extension is the latest example.
From making baskets at Farm Women’s camps in the early 1900s to learning about diversified farm management via Google Hangout live streaming during this year’s Women in Agriculture Conference, WSU Extension has been creating opportunities for women in the Pacific Northwest to gather and share their farm life experiences since the beginning of the organization itself.
The WSU Wine Science Center is poised to blend research and teaching expertise with the state’s rapidly growing wine industry.
Jim Holmes, the retired owner of Ciel du Cheval Vineyards, is a legend in the Washington wine industry as the first to plant grapes on Red Mountain in the Yakima Valley. Today, the region is covered with vineyards making the most of the high pH soil and low-rainfall climate that stimulate vines into producing highly coveted winegrapes.
Pour a glass of Riesling from the tall, sleek green bottle labeled Blended Learning, and out comes not only a unique blend of white wine grapes from the Yakima Valley, but the story of six WSU students finding opportunity and education in the heart of Washington wine country.
