UConn Extension is excited about the #PutCTGrownOnYourTray campaign. Mary Concklin, Extension Educator for Fruit IPM and farmer at Raspberry Knoll Farm poses with her life-size farm cutout at Extension’s Build Your Network, Grow Our Future conference earlier in December.
Master Gardener Volunteer Wins Award
Congratulations to Advanced Master Gardener Ken Sherrick named “Outstanding CFPA Volunteer” for his work on the Connecticut Forest and Park Association grounds and gardens in Rockfall, CT.
Garden Programs in Fairfield County
Originally published by Naturally@UConn on December 16, 2014 Written by: Kim Markesich Fairfield County gardening programs teach nutrition, integrated pest management and life skills The Fairfield County Extension Center Demonstration Garden The Fairfield County Extension Center hosts a variety of gardening programs, and the season just past was a successful and bountiful one. With the support of […]
Controlled Environment Agriculture
CONNECTICUT FEDERALLY FUNDED STARTUP AIMS TO BRING OUT-OF-SEASON FARMING TO FINANCIALLY STRESSED NEW ENGLAND GROWERS; Connecticut Tech Business To Introduce Year-Round Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) To Area Strawberry Farmers; Recent CBS’ 60 MINUTES Segment Highlights California Drought Impact on Local Food Availability December 15, 2014 — As the outdoor farming season in New England is […]
Where to go for Food Safety Information?
By Diane Wright Hirsch UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety The late fall, early winter holidays can be a busy time for home cooks. Whether you are preparing a traditional holiday turkey, a favorite side dish of greens from your garden, or attempting something new like a goose or Connecticut oysters, the food safety implications of […]
PEP: Building Communities
People Empowering People (PEP) – Building Communities By Robin Drago and Cathleen Love for UConn Extension The People Empowering People (PEP) Program is a personal and family development program with a strong community focus. PEP builds upon individual life experiences and strengths to encourage growth in communication and problem solving skills, parent and family […]
Holiday Plants, Holiday Safety
By Dawn Pettinelli UConn Home & Garden Education Center As we decorate our homes for the holidays with cheery plants, evergreen boughs and berries, it is important to take into account which plants and materials might be toxic to young children and pets. Many plants can pose serious threats to the curious two year old […]
10 Tips for the December Gardener
1. Replace the plants in hanging baskets, containers, and window boxes with evergreen boughs, berries and pinecones. 2. Disinfect, oil, and sharpen lawn and garden tools. Keep them in a dry storage area. 3. Don’t use fertilizer to melt ice. This creates nitrogen runoff issues that could damage local bodies of water. 4. Recycle your […]
Master Gardener Project at Natchaug Hospital
Working With the Land Provides Solace, Sustenance Staff and volunteers throughout the Behavioral Health Network are always volunteering discretionary effort, and campus beautification has been one area of focus. At Natchaug Hospital, the Master Gardener Garden Improvement Team was started in April 2009 by Edward Sawicki, MD, a retired member of the Board of Directors. […]
Master Gardener Volunteer Recognition
As part of the national celebration of the 100th anniversary of Cooperative Extension in 2014, the UConn Extension Master Gardener Program is honoring the substantial contributions of its Master Gardener volunteers. This marks the commencement of an ongoing recognition program for the sizable volunteer time that Master Gardener volunteers invest in their communities. This recognition […]
World Soil Day
Today is World Soil Day! Did you know? Soil is the basis for food, feed, fuel and fibre production and for services to ecosystems and human well-being. It is the reservoir for at least a quarter of global biodiversity, and therefore requires the same attention as above-ground biodiversity. Soils play a key role in the […]
A Better Way of Farming
Vegetable Farmers Switch to Reduced Tillage/Deep Zone Tillage By Jude Boucher, UConn Extension Educator In 2006, after several 4 to 6-inch rainstorms, and having to contend with 4-foot deep erosion gullies in his sweet corn fields, Nelson Cecarelli of Cecarelli Farm decided he needed a better way to farm the rolling hills of Northford […]
Buy Local When Gift-Giving
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety No, I was not racing to the nearest “big box” or department store on Thanksgiving night to get in line for a 29 cent towel. I was, however, enjoying my family around a table full of Connecticut grown turkey dinner food. Apples from Hindinger […]
Growing Container-Grown Greenhouse Vegetables
UConn Extension is sponsoring, Growing Container-Grown Greenhouse Vegetables on Dec 16, 2014 at the Litchfield County Extension Center, 843 University Drive, Torrington, CT. The speakers featured at this educational program include: 9:00-9:30 Registration 9:30 – 10:30 Growing Greenhouse Tomatoes and Cucumbers in Soiless Media […]
UConn Extension Receives Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Award
The UConn Extension Agriculture Team was the recipient of the Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Education Leader Award at the Working Lands Alliancee Annual Meeting on Tuesday, November 18th at the State Capitol in Hartford. The award recognizes significant contributions in the area of educating the public about the importance of farmland preservation. UConn Extension connects […]
Celebrate a CT Grown Thanksgiving
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator – Food Safety The origins of the American Thanksgiving celebration can be debated. For early settlers, the occasion was often religious in nature, offering thanksgiving and praise for many blessings, not just a bountiful harvest. But, traditionally, we are taught that the Pilgrims celebrated the […]
10 Tips for the November Gardener
Ten Tips for the November Gardener: 1. Once the ground has frozen (but before it snows), mulch fall planted perennials by placing 3 to 5 inches of pine needles, straw, chopped leaves around them. 2. Continue to thoroughly water trees, shrubs, planting beds, lawn areas and recently planted evergreens until a hard frost. Plants should […]
Safe Food Handling from Farm to Table
Written by Patsy Evans for Naturally@UConn and originally posted on October 14, 2014 Hearing the word ‘outbreak’ makes many people anxious. E. coliO157:H7, spinach, 2006. Salmonella, peanut butter, 2009. Listeria, cantaloupe, 2011. Diane Hirsch, UConn Extension educator for food safety, easily lists previous food-borne pathogen outbreaks. But, fear does not paralyze her. Instead, she works in classrooms and […]
Make Your Landscape Sustainable
By Joan Allen – Assistant Extension Educator – UConn Home & Garden Center A sustainable landscape incorporates a holistic approach of functionality, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic sensibility. These principles are tied together in the design and maintenance of a landscape in order to maintain and preserve natural ecological habitats. Your Landscape Impacts The […]
Is your garden bursting with fall tomatoes?
By: Diane Wright Hirsch, UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety It has been a great year for growing tomatoes in Connecticut, but the season is rapidly coming to an end with the change to cooler temperatures. As much as we love our delicious vine ripened summer-red tomatoes, it is time for a reality check—summer is over. […]
UConn Extension Centennial Video
UConn Extension Ties Research to Real Life for citizens of Connecticut every day. Join us as we take a tour of some of our UConn Extension programs.
Blue-Green Algae
Prolonged dry conditions can cause problems; one of these is blue-green algae, which can overgrow in a stagnant pond. Aerating a pond can prevent blue-green algae, but if this is not possible the pond should be fenced off from livestock and avoided by humans and companion animals. Examining a water sample under a microscope can […]
Keep Phosphorus Out of Our Waters
By Dawn Pettinelli – Extension Instructor Plant Science & Landscape Architecture Phosphorus is an essential element for plant growth and as such is a component of many fertilizers. Many may not be aware that phosphorus pollution is the number one cause of declining water quality in fresh water lakes and ponds in Connecticut and other […]
Reusable Grocery Bags
By Diane Hirsch, Extension Educator Food Safety A Good Idea, But Are They Safe? Is that reusable grocery bag really such a good idea? Many of us have finally been won over to the reusable grocery bag culture. But, as a food safety educator I have often wondered, how sanitary are these bags that are […]
Save Summer Flavor: Freeze Fruits and Vegetables
How to save summer flavor for winter: freezing fruits and vegetables By Diane Wright Hirsch UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety It has been a wonderful year for growing fruits and vegetables in Connecticut. A trip to your backyard vegetable garden, local farmers’ market or maybe the nearby pick-your-own orchard, even late in the season, will […]
Biological Controls for Greenhouse Growers
UConn Extension hosted a workshop on Thursday, July 31st at the Tolland Extension Centeron Biological Controls for greenhouse growers. The workshop was attended by a diverse group of 80 greenhouse growers, retailers and educators from across the state, and organized by Leanne Pundt of UConn Extension. Dr. Rose Buitenhuis from the Vineland Research and […]
What Every CT Resident Needs to Understand About UConn Extension
I wish UConn Extension was not the best-kept secret in the state. It’s time everybody knew what a tremendous resource Extension is. Congress established the Cooperative Extension System as a national network in 1914 to tie university research to real life. UConn Extension programs have evolved over time, and as our state has changed, so […]
10 Tips for the September Gardener
1. Get a jump on next year’s lawn and gardens by having a soil test done through the UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory. 2. If the pH of garden and flower beds needs to raised, wood ashes may be used. Wood ashes have a pH of 11.0 and also contain phosphorous, potassium, and calcium. […]
Using Water Wisely
By Faye Griffiths-Smith – Extension Educator Family Economics and Resource Management Did you know that the average person in the U.S. uses 100 gallons of water every day? Drinking, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, gardening and lawn care — with its many uses, water is essential to our lives […]
The Basics of Composting
By Dawn Pettinelli – Extension Instructor Plant Science & Landscape Architecture Did you know that almost 25 percent of a typical household’s waste can be recycled right in the backyard? Recycling reduces the amount of solid waste being trucked and dumped into landfills, and the end product of this process, compost, is beneficial to the […]
New Guide to Help Fish, Shellfish and Seaweed Growers Manage Risks
New Guide to Help Fish, Shellfish and Seaweed Growers Manage Risks GROTON CT—A new 285-page illustrated manual, the Northeastern U.S. Aquaculture Management Guide, has just been published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center. Edited by Tessa L. Getchis, Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension aquaculture specialist, the manual is a […]
CLEAR Keeping Track of Stormwater on UConn Campus
Although UConn is in the midst of a pastoral setting in the quiet corner of northeast Connecticut, we sometimes have problems like a big city. This is because the buildings, roads, parking lots and sidewalks that make up the core of campus do not allow water to pass through into the ground. Instead, rainfall is […]
Fighting the Good Food Fight
Connecticut Farmers, UConn Fighting The Good Food Fight By Jessica Griffin On August 24, 2014 As processed foods loaded with fat, sugars and salt, become increasingly cheap and convenient for Americans, the fight to maintain health and nutrition becomes more and more relevant. In the spirit of spreading awareness for the importance of making good […]
Barnum School Garden
The Barnum School 4-H Garden Club in Bridgeport built a compost bin for their garden:
Get Your Money’s Worth in Food
By Sherry Gray – Extension Instructor Nutrition Educator, EFNEP Supervisor Foods & Nutrition In many urban and very rural communities, there are fewer supermarket choices making it even more difficult to buy nutritious foods at affordable prices. Food prices have been going up dramatically over the past few years, making it hard for anyone to […]
Scaling Up Farm Visits
UConn Extension’s Scaling Up Team visited Southbury Farms on July 10th. Left: Kip Kolesinskas checks soil. Center: Kip, Cam Weimar of the Department of Agriculture, and Eero Ruuttila of UConn Extension look at a soil sample. Right: Kip goes over a soil map with the Scaling Up team.
Urban Agriculture Program
A group of 13 Hispanic adults from Danbury and Bridgeport are participating in an Urban Agriculture program. This UConn Extension program has been designed in a way that students learn the science behind agriculture (botany, soils, vegetable production, integrated pest management, etc.), apply their knowledge by producing vegetables, and promotes entrepreneurship by allowing students sell their […]
Cohen Contributes to Tolland County 4-H as State Corn Yield Contest Winner
Ellington, CT – Harris and Louise Cohen of Ellington have contributed $150 to the UConn Extension Tolland County 4-H program as a result of winning first place in the state of Connecticut 2013 National Corn Growers’ Association’s (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest. The contribution was provided by DuPont Pioneer on behalf of first-place winners. Sanford Cohen […]
Water Conservation Tips
Source: UConn Photo: Illinois Extension As we experience seasonally dry conditions, conserving water is important to maintain an environmentally sustainable water supply. You can help by conserving water voluntarily at home. Please consider the following: Taking shorter showers; Running dishwashers and clothes washing machines with full loads; Shutting off water while washing dishes, shaving, brushing […]
Should I eat that?
When what your garden produces is less than perfect: Should I eat that? By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator, Food Safety It is common practice for the supermarket shopper and the farmers’ market customer to pick up every pepper and head of lettuce for closer inspection. When we buy produce, we do not want […]