UConn Extension’s Master Gardener Program is celebrating 40 years of transforming academic research into practical gardening skills and techniques that everyone can use. The program sprouted in 1978 from the roots of the founding program at Washington State University. The program instructs participants in science-based horticulture practices and garden management, after which students apply their knowledge […]
Ask UConn Extension
Do you have questions about food, health, or sustainability topics? Ask UConn Extension. Extension educators are working in every town and city in Connecticut to bring the research of UConn to our communities. UConn Extension is on a collaborative journey. We co-create knowledge with farmers, families, communities, and businesses. We educate. We convene groups to […]
Seafood Prepping Tips
Enjoy the healthful benefits of seafood, at least two meals a week. 1. Keep seafood cold* between store and home. Store immediately in refrigerator. 2. Use fresh fish within 1-2 days or wrap tightly and freeze immediately. 3. Thaw seafood overnight under refrigeration. 4. Keep raw seafood separate from cooked/ready-to-eat foods. Prevent raw/thawing seafood from dripping on other foods. 5. Refrigerate […]
Climate Corps Course Shapes Career Choice for UConn Student
The UConn Climate Corps is an undergraduate classroom and service learning opportunity. The program consists of a 3 credit course (Fall semester) on the local impacts of climate change, followed by a 3 credit independent study (Spring semester) during which students work with Extension faculty to assist Connecticut communities in adapting to climate change. In […]
Garret Basiel: From 4-H Project to College Essay
Garret Basiel was a 4-H member in Middlesex County and is a freshman at UConn this fall in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. This is the college essay he submitted with his application. My fingers felt raw, but I once again pulled back the bowstring and aimed down range at the target. […]
Building Community Through a Garden
Dozens of bright yellow Goldfinches flew alongside as I made my way up the winding driveway past their meadows and into the heart of the 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm in Bloomfield. The high, wiry whistle of the birds sounded the alarm at my arrival. I parked behind the barn, and climbed the hill to […]
The Slow Storm: Tree Mortality in CT from Invasive Insect Pests
By Thomas E. Worthley, UConn Associate Extension Professor, Forestry During the early summer of 2018 it became apparent that numerous trees throughout eastern and southern Connecticut did not produce leaves this spring, having died sometime during the winter. While it is not unusual to lose a tree or two to natural causes here and there […]
Service is a Family Tradition
The University of Connecticut People Empowering People (UConn PEP) received a generous gift from the estate of the Reverend John Evans, a lifelong Episcopal priest. The donor was Cherry Czuba, retired Extension Educator from Haddam, and niece of John Evans. He was a charismatic and fascinating uncle who endeared himself to many people. Throughout his […]
Fairholm Farm: CT Green Pasture’s Dairy Farm of the Year
The Green Pastures Award judging team has chosen Fairholm Farm as the Connecticut Dairy Farm of the Year, 2018. The annual award will be presented at the Big E Green Pasture’s banquet where each New England state presents their winning farm. The farms present a slide show of their management strategies and innovative goals that […]
Remembering Grace Hanlon
Grace Hanlon began her experience at the New London County 4-H Camp at the age of 7. The camp, situated on 24 ½ acres in Franklin, CT, provides both day and over-night camping experiences to over 2,100 youth annually. 4-H is the youth development program of UConn Extension. As part of the University of Connecticut, 4-H […]
Helping Connecticut Farmers Succeed: A Collaborative Journey
“Educating farmers in sustainable, profitable and environmentally-sound food production practices benefits every man, woman and child in the country directly, on a daily basis, by helping to maintain a safe and secure food source. Knowledge of effective IPM practices helps prevent excess application of pesticides by otherwise frustrated growers,” Jude Boucher says. The name Jude […]
Emily Alger: Changing Lives Through 4-H
UConn 4-H is a statewide program with educators in all eight counties. Each of our 4-H educators brings unique skills and life experiences to the program. If there is one experience that has opened Emily Alger’s eyes to how special the 4-H program is, it would be asking the high school field hockey team that she coaches to participate in the […]
Angie Tovar: 4-H Alumni Spotlight
Angie Tovar of Danbury was a teen mentor in our CT FANs IM 4-H program. She is entering her junior year of college at Western Connecticut State University where she majors in Elementary Education. Angie currently works as a translator for St. Peter Church in Danbury and Student Worker for Pre-Collegiate and Access Programs in […]
Granby 4-Hers Experiments Flew into Space on a NASA Rocket
Eight youth from Granby 4-H along with one leader, Rachael Manzer successfully launched three experiments into space on a NASA rocket. The three experiments included “Bees in Space” where honeycombs were launched, “Rubber Bands in Space”, and “Gallium in Space”, all of which were proposed by the 4-Hers themselves. Cubes in SpaceTM, a global competition […]
Erin Morrell: 4-H Alumni
Hometown: New Haven, CT Involvement: New London County 4-H Alumni Education: Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Connecticut and a Master’s Degree from Fairfield University Current Employment: Associate Dean at Albertus Magnus College What did 4-H teach you? Listen to others and be a better presenter and public speaker, as that is something I use regularly in […]
Chris Collins: Making a Difference
By Cathleen Love Chris Collins moved to Meriden, Connecticut four years ago with his girlfriend and her two children. In his professional capacity he serves as a substance abuse counselor at Rushford at Meriden, an organization that offers a variety of outpatient programs and services, including counseling young adults about substance use disorders. A longtime […]
No Place Like Home: Black Bears are Back
Connecticut is bear country. It may sound strange, but western Connecticut is home to a growing population of American black bears. While bears may at times look out of place in the fourth most densely populated state, black bears living around humans is becoming more and more common not only in Connecticut, but across North America. This new reality has instigated new research […]
Safeguarding Health Through Diagnostics
The Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL) at UConn safeguards animal and human health. Faculty and staff fulfill their mission through veterinary diagnostic laboratory services, professional expertise, and collaboration with state and federal agencies to detect and monitor diseases important to animal and human health, as well as detecting newly emerging diseases. CVMDL is committed […]
Cooking with EFNEP at Morris Street School
Since, 1969, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) has helped families in Connecticut learn about healthy eating, physical activity, cooking, and shopping on a budget. Despite being an affluent state, nearly 1 in 5 families with children in Connecticut is food insecure, or does not have adequate access to healthy food. Many urban areas in Connecticut are amongst the poorest in […]
10 Rules for Safe Canning
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety Even though some may feel home canning has gone the way of the dinosaurs, I regularly get questions posed to me by newbie and experience canners alike. Some want to know how to can tomatoes without potentially killing a loved one. Others want to know if […]
Shuresh Ghimire Joins UConn Extension
UConn Extension and the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources are pleased to announce that Dr. Shuresh Ghimire joined us on July 6thas our Extension Vegetable Educator. Dr. Ghimire has a PhD in Horticulture and is based in the Extension office at the Tolland Agricultural Center in Vernon. He was working at Washington State University (WSU), studying […]
4-H Volunteer Attends White House STEM Summit
RACHAEL MANZER JOINED LANDMARK GATHERING OF STATE & FEDERAL STEM EDUCATION LEADERS AT THE WHITE HOUSE WHITE HOUSE SUMMIT WILL HELP INFORM NEXT 5-YEAR STEM EDUCATION STRATEGY Rachael Manzer, STEM Coach at Winchester Public Schools and a UConn 4-H Leader was recently invited to attend the first-of-its-kind State-Federal Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education […]
Food Safety on Farms
Fruits and vegetables add important nutrients, color, variety to our diet. Most of us enjoy them raw in salads, as a snack, or dessert. However, in the last few years there has been an increase in the number of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with fresh fruits and vegetables. Spinach, cantaloupe, tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions, […]
Testing Ticks is Vital to Safety
The warmer weather has people and our animals headed outdoors. Unfortunately, this same weather has also brought ticks out in abundance. Recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have cited increased numbers of ticks, and tick-borne diseases. UConn’s Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL), part of the Department of Pathobiology in […]
Understanding Gypsy Moth Outbreaks
Gypsy moths (also known as the North American Gypsy Moth or the European Gypsy Moth) were imported to North America from Eurasia in 1869 for a silk production experiment. They have caused periodic defoliations in New England since then and particularly severe defoliations in the early 1980s and again in Connecticut and Massachusetts in 2016 […]
Is there any hope to fix our salt problem? Perhaps…
Another winter has finally ended, and messy roads and salty cars are quickly becoming a distant memory. Where did all that salt go? The millions of tons of deicing salts that get applied to our roads either wash off into local streams, or move into the local groundwater. Yet another research study has recently come […]
Controlling Ticks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends creating a tick-safe zone. Ticks feed on blood of animals including humans. Tactics to reduce the attractiveness of animals traveling into your yard will keep the number of ticks dropping off of them reduced. Do not feed the birds as chipmunks, squirrels and many other animals […]
Basic Management of Small Poultry Flocks
By Michael J. Darre, Ph.D., P.A.S. There are several basic needs that need to be provided for poultry. These are feed, water, fresh air, light, darkness, proper thermal environment, protection (from the elements, predators, injury and theft) and proper space. Proper housing and equipment will take care of many of these items. Poultry and other […]
Dealing with Storm Damaged Trees
By Tom Worthley, UConn Extension On May 15, 2018, late in the afternoon, a striking example of one of those “severe weather events” we see quite often these days passed through my neighborhood in Higganum. Severe winds, downpours, lightning and thunder all were part of a wicked and deadly storm that ripped limbs from and […]
Can I Water Vegetables with my Rain Barrel Water?
By Joan Allen Originally published by the UConn Home & Garden Education Center Collection of rain water from roofs using rain barrels is growing in popularity because of its many environmental and practical benefits. It can help the environment by diverting water that might contain contaminants away from storm drains and the natural bodies of […]
Lettuce Learn a Bit About E. Coli
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety Recent news reports regarding the romaine lettuce outbreak have, yet again, raised concern about pathogens in our food supply. In particular, leafy greens continue to show up as a source for outbreaks. Two outbreaks since late fall have implicated romaine and/or leafy greens. In both outbreaks, […]
Another Win for Rain Gardens
By Amanda Ryan Originally published by the Center for Land Use Education and Research It’s well known that rain gardens are great for infiltrating stormwater but people may not realize that they also help destroy common stormwater pollutants. Several studies have found that rather than accumulating pollutants in their soils, rain gardens tend to biodegrade […]
Connecticut Statewide Impervious Surface Map Layers
By Emily Wilson Originally published by the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research With funding from CT DEEP, CLEAR has acquired and made available on CT ECO a new statewide, high-resolution, impervious cover data layer. While acquired to support new stormwater regulations, the layer can be used for other purposes as well. What […]
What Do You Do After You Scoop?
By David Dickson Originally published by the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research On my drive home last week I saw two of my neighbors walking their dogs. One of the dogs had just done his business and the owner dutifully scooped it up with a doggy doodie bag dangling from the dog’s […]
Irene Reichl: 4-H Alumni Spotlight
Name: Irene Reichl Current Town: Danbury, CT 4-H Involvement: teen mentor in high school Education: currently a sophomore at the University of Vermont 4-H taught me to problem solve, work with others, communicate clearly, and think outside the box. 4-H taught me to stop expecting things to go according to plan all the time. […]
UConn 4-H Members Win State VEX Competition and Head to World VEX Competition
Written By: Jen Cushman, Hartford County 4-H Extension Educator Six youth from the Granby 4-H Club won the State VEX Robotics competition and qualified to represent CT at the VEX Robotics World Championship, April 29-May 1st, in Louisville, KY. At Worlds, the youth will compete in teamwork, programming and driving competitions. In addition, they are […]
New Rules for Corralling Runoff Require Local Actions
By JUDY BENSON Haddam – As the state gets wetter, Connecticut cities and towns have little choice but to take better control of the water that flows over streets, parking lots and fields from rainfall and snowmelt. “There are two drivers related to stormwater,” said David Dickson, faculty member of the UConn Center for Land […]
Poop In The Garden
By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Extension Educator/Food Safety Over the weekend, before the most recent snow, I looked out my kitchen window to see my dog squatting over the chive patch in our vegetable garden. It was too late to stop him. I spend a lot of time with Connecticut farmers, talking about producing safe […]
Salmonella Awareness is Key to Good Health
Salmonella are bacteria that can live in the intestinal tracts of animals. There are many different types of salmonellae, some are found solely in animals and others can cause disease in both animals and people. Salmonellosis in humans can occur if they consume foods contaminated with Salmonella or have contact with animals or their environment. […]
Basic Food Safety Practices at Home
What made you sick? Is it food you cooked at home? By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety As winter wanes and we begin to eat more seasonally—perhaps eat more salads, raw fruits and veggies, using the barbecue—it may be a good time to take stock of our safe food preparation skills. Many […]