Spring 2013
Volume 29 Number 1
20th Spring Garden Festival Set for April 27
Inside this issue:
Sustainable Conference
2
Arbor Day Remembrance
3
Schedule of Events
3
Rice Family Foundation Intern
4
New Instructors Join OH
Department
5
Sustainable Landscape
Conference Sponsors
6
Student interns and
volunteers in the
Cuyamaca College
Nursery are getting
ready for the 20th
annual Spring
Garden Festival on
Saturday, April 27,
a banner day for
plant sales.
“The students have
been working very
hard to make sure
the nursery is well
stocked with
vegetables, flowers
and other
favorites,” said Don
Schultz, program
coordinator for the
Ornamental
Customers fan out across the Cuyamaca College Nursery during the 2012 Spring Garden
Horticulture
Festival. The nursery sells ornamental and drought-tolerant plants. Photo by Fausto Palafox
Department.
The festival will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Besides the plant sale in the nursery, events will
take place at the college’s Grand Lawn and
The Water Conservation Garden.
The Urban Horticulturist
Is Online
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The festival theme is “Celebrating Urban Farms
& Gardens” and will include presentations on
raising urban chickens, vegetable gardening
and making cheese. Don’t miss the educational
booths in the Grand Lawn area, where OH
classes will have examples of what they’re
learning on display. At The Garden, “Ask the
Expert” will have an arborist, master
composters, vegetable gardeners and water
experts available to answer garden and
landscape questions.
Also planned are live music, vendor booths, the
Rancho San Diego’s Farmers Market, a petting
zoo and face painting for children. Old Town
Trolleys will provide free transportation to
activities within the festival. Admission and
parking are free. For more information, go to
thegarden.org/springfest.
Sponsors for
this year’s
festival include
San Diego
Home/Garden Lifestyles Magazine, San
Diego County Water Authority, Otay Ranch,
The Foundation for Grossmont & Cuyamaca
Colleges, Carollo Engineers, Old Town Trolley
Tours and Clear Channel Media and
Entertainment.
This
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Page 2
Volume 29 Number 1 ~ www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb
Fifth Annual Sustainable Landscape Conference Raises Funds
The Fifth Annual Sustainable
Landscape Conference at
Cuyamaca College raised
nearly $10,000, thanks to the
contributions by our sponsors
and exhibitors. The
conference March 7 was hosted by the
Ornamental Horticulture Department and the
Cuyamaca College Botanical Society (CCBS).
Funds will be used for the annual CCBS
scholarship and awards dinner in May.
We are grateful to
the sponsors who
made the Fifth
Annual Sustainable
Landscape
Conference
possible. See page 6
for a complete list.
The conference theme of Air, Water, Earth
and Fire was well represented by our expert
speakers Dan Simpson of the San Diego
Zoological Society, Catherine Hollinger,
president of Hollinger and Associates Inc.,
Vicki Estrada, a landscape architect and
president of Estrada Land Planning, and
Greg Rubin, owner of California’s Own
Native Landscape Design. Mike Lee of the
San Diego County
Water Authority
moderated a panel
discussion with all four
speakers. Banyan
Water CSO Jeff
Fulgham gave a rousing
keynote address, and
Nick DeLorenzo’s
summary wrapped up
the day.
Jeff Fulgham of Banyan Water, above, presents the keynote
address at the Sustainable Landscape Conference. At left,
Catherine Hollinger discusses solutions for watershed and
water quality issues; below, Nick DeLorenzo gives a summary.
Volume 29 Number 1 ~ www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb
Page 3
This publication is made possible
through a grant from the
Rice Family Foundation.
Members of the Asakawa family and OH students plant a
flowering cherry in remembrance of Moto Asakawa.
Arbor Day Remembrance
On March 14, the 34th Annual Arbor Day
celebration took place at the Ornamental
Horticulture field site. A ‘Pink Dawn’ flowering
cherry was planted in honor of Moto Asakawa,
who passed away in 2011 after many years of
commitment to the horticulture industry in San
Diego.
Retired OH Professor Brad Monroe served as the
master of ceremony. Mr. Asakawa’s sons Glenn
and Bruce Asakawa and daughter-in-law Sharon
Asakawa helped with the planting. A
Fundamentals of Ornamental Horticulture class,
together with instructor Leah Rottke, also assisted.
The Urban Horticulturist is published
twice a year by the Cuyamaca College Ornamental Horticulture Department and the Cuyamaca College Botanical Society. It has a circulation of
more than 9,000 industry members
and horticulturists in Southern California and the United States. Correspondence regarding this publication
should be addressed to:
Cuyamaca College
Ornamental Horticulture Department
900 Rancho San Diego Parkway
El Cajon, CA 92019
(619) 660-4262
Email address:
[email protected]
Schedule of Events
Saturday, April 27, 20th Annual Spring Garden Festival,
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Cuyamaca College Nursery and Campus
Thursday, May 16, 32nd Annual Scholarship & Awards
Dinner, 6 p.m., University of San Diego, Joan B. Kroc
Institute for Peace & Justice
Thursday, June 6, 35th Annual Commencement
Ceremony, 5:30 p.m., Cuyamaca College
flowering cherry
was planted in
honor of Moto
Asakawa, who
passed away in 2011
after many years of
commitment to the
horticulture
Grossmont-Cuyamaca
Community College District
Governing Board Members
Bill Garrett
Greg Barr
Edwin Ramon Hiel
Debbie Justeson
Mary Kay Rosinski
Student Members
Mohammed Alyasini
Samantha Elliot
Retired OH Professor Brad Monroe leads the Arbor Day
celebration, which this year commemorated Moto Asakawa,
a leader in the horticulture industry in San Diego.
A ‘Pink Dawn’
Chancellor
Cindy L. Miles, Ph.D.
Cuyamaca College President
Mark J. Zacovic, Ph.D.
Urban Horticulturist
Donald Schultz, Adviser
Joan Tammariello, Editor
industry in San
Diego.
Page 4
Volume 29 Number 1 ~ www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb
“I decided to try
something
completely new.”
Arron Robinson
Assistant Grower Arron Robinson at work in the Cuyamaca College
Nursery. Photo by Don Schultz
Working with Plants Puts Rice Family Foundation Intern on Career Path
By Arron Robinson
Throughout my life I never really considered
working with plants as a career choice. In fact,
it was mid-2011 when I decided to try
something completely new to see if it
interested me at all. Sure enough, it did, and I
am glad to be taking classes in the
Ornamental Horticulture Department in pursuit
of a degree in Nursery Technology. I am also
working as an assistant grower in the
Cuyamaca College Nursery and am grateful
to the Rice Family Foundation for funding the
position.
I was born in 1985 in the Philippines at the
Subic Bay Naval Base, located within the city
of Olongapo. Because my father was in the
Navy, I was able to live in all sorts of places,
including Washington state, Virginia, Texas,
Japan and California. I really love the
weather in San Diego, and since I had lived
here on four occasions throughout my life, it
feels like home to me. The people, the parks,
the beaches, the scenery, the microbreweries,
and the food are some of the things I like
about San Diego. In 2003 I received my high
school diploma at Junipero Serra High School
in Tierrasanta.
In 2005 I had the opportunity to go back to
Japan to take some college courses through
the University of Maryland’s Asia program on
Sasebo Naval Base. I mainly took general
education classes and a few Japanese classes
such as language and history. In addition to
taking classes I worked on the base in
restaurants and as a bartender. I had a great
time, but I ended up returning to San Diego in
2007 without a degree.
In Summer 2010, after holding various jobs, I
began getting back into the groove of going to
school. I focused on getting all the general
studies out of the way and took a few music
classes. I thought that it may be too difficult to
land a great job in that field, so I decided to
change my major. I always had been fond of
nature, which drew me to the Ornamental
Horticulture Department at Cuyamaca College.
I volunteered for six months in 2012 at the
Bayside Community Center in Linda Vista as the
groundskeeper for the garden they developed.
I had a great time because the people were
friendly, the experience was great, and above
all, it was fun. I learned many tips and tricks
from the gardeners there, and I was able to
offer them advice and help as well.
I plan on starting my own business within the
field of Horticulture, perhaps producing and
popularizing Japanese heirloom vegetables. It
certainly will take time and experience to find
the perfect niche; so in the meantime I plan to
continue to learn more about plants and work
with them.
Arron Robinson is a Rice Family Foundation intern.
Volume 29 Number 1 ~ www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb
Page 5
New Instructors Join Ornamental Horticulture Department
Spring has brought a crop of new instructors to
the OH Department at Cuyamaca College. We
are happy to have on board five new
instructors, each bringing a wealth of
professional expertise and knowledge to their
perspective classes. A big welcome to all!
Chris Erickson is the
golf course
superintendent at The
Crosby at Rancho Santa
Fe. He teaches OH 120,
Fundamentals of
Ornamental Horticulture.
Michelle Landis is a
landscape architect
working with
DeLorenzo
International and is a
graduate of Cal Poly
Pomona. She teaches
OH 173, Intermediate
Landscape Design.
Michelle Landis
Chris Erickson
Tim Splinter has more
than 30 years’
experience working
with hardscapes with
his own company,
Cheyenne Construction.
He teaches OH 220,
Landscape Construction
Concrete and Masonry.
We are happy to
have on board five
new instructors,
each bringing a
wealth of
professional
expertise and
Ben Kotnik brings a
strong teaching
background in
mathematics and lots of
passion and experience
in fruit tree production.
He teaches OH 140,
Soils.
Tim Splinter
Ben Kotnik
perspective
Linda Whitney has
more than 10 years’
experience running her
own landscape design
company. She is
currently finishing her
graduate work in
Landscape Architecture
at UCLA Extension. She
teaches OH 170, Trees
and Shrubs.
classes.
Linda Whitney
Cuyamaca College Botanical Society
32nd Annual
SCHOLARSHIP & AWARDS DINNER
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Reception begins at 6 p.m.
University of San Diego
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
San Diego, CA 92110
Visit our website at www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb for details.
knowledge to their
Page 6
Volume 29 Number 1 ~ www.cuyamaca.edu/ohweb
Thank You to Our 2013 Sustainable Landscape Conference Sponsors!