By Joan Allen – Assistant Extension Educator, UConn Home & Garden Center Insects and pests are a fact of life in the home vegetable garden, but sustainable practices can keep them at tolerable levels. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is the use of a combination of tools to manage pests while minimizing the use of chemicals. […]
Annual Benefits
By Dawn Pettinelli for UConn Extension While there are many spectacular perennials that come back year after year, I really love annuals for that splash of long-lasting color they impart to the landscape. Fiery salvias, soft celosias, autumnal hued sunflowers and brilliant white cosmos are just a sampling of the huge selections of annuals […]
Soil Testing
By Dawn Pettinelli – Extension Instructor Plant Science & Landscape Architecture Saves Money & The Environment! A soil test is an inexpensive and valuable tool to help determine what will grow best in your soil, and what it might need to boost its fertility. It’s a smart decision to test the soil every three to […]
Saving for a Rainy Day
By Faye Griffiths-Smith Extension Educator, Family Economics and Resource Management Though we can’t accurately predict the future in detail, we can anticipate that there will be events in our lives that will be challenging. The loss of a job, home repairs such as a leaky roof or the need to replace a furnace, major car […]
Rain Forests, Intelligent Consumption
By Thomas Worthley-Assistant Extension Professor, Forestry Stewardship Recently an article on the environmental information website Environmental News Network caught my attention because it advocated the slowing of tropical deforestation as a key action to “significantly cut the amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere”. As a professional forester, I am always heartened […]
Create a Worm Farm
Photo and article by Carol Quish for UConn Extension The basics of keeping a worm farm are easy. Explaining why you would want to have one is a little harder to justify to people, particularly family members. Having been a worm farmer for over twenty years, my family finally just accepts and then ignores the fact […]
10 Tips for the April Gardener
1. Choose planting areas based on exposure to sun, shade, wind and distance from water source. 2. Purchase onion sets for planting and set 1 inch deep and 4 to 5 inches apart when soil can be worked. 3. Get the jump on weeds in garden beds by pulling out any that overwinter and applying […]
Touring UConn’s Green Infrastructure – From Your Desk!
Anyone who has been to the UConn campus in the last few years has likely noticed a lot of changes. Beautiful new and renovated buildings are remaking the campus. Along with those changes are a lot of more subtle changes that you might not notice – namely the integration of green infrastructure. As discussed in previous […]
Monitoring the Weather – For More than 125 Years
By Sheila Foran for UConn Today Every day at 8 a.m. for the last 45,625 days (give or take a day or two), weather information at UConn’s Plant Research and Education Facility on Agronomy Road has been recorded and sent to the National Weather Service. That’s every day for 125 years. It’s a long time […]
Is It Time for a Rain Garden?
Jen McGuinness who blogs at Frau Zinnie wrote an excellent blog post about the rain garden presentation Dr. Mike Dietz of UConn Extension presented at the Master Gardener Symposium in March. In Jen’s words: MANCHESTER, Conn. – With April showers imminent, you’ll soon be reminded of how much stormwater leaves your property. Water rushing through […]
Egg Safety
Take Care With Eggs—No Matter Where You Buy/Gather Them By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety Spring is here (at least officially) and it is always a good time to remind ourselves of how to safely handle eggs. Whether you are hard-boiling them for an Easter or Passover celebration, or looking forward […]
A Climate Adaptation Academy for Connecticut
Modeled after CLEAR’s highly successful Land Use Academy, we are embarking on a new forum for land use officials and other interested professionals, a Climate Adaptation Academy (CAA). The CAA, sponsored by Connecticut Sea Grant and CLEAR, will serve as an outreach arm of the recently announced Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation. We […]
Environmentally Friendly Lunches
by Sherry Gray – Extension Instructor Nutrition Educator, EFNEP Supervisor Foods and Nutrition They’re Healthy & Affordable With a little thought and preparation, it’s not hard to pack an eco−friendly lunch from home. You’ll end up with less waste and a healthier lunch. You don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive lunch containers. Pack […]
Community Gardens
By Jiff Martin – Extension Educator Sustainable Food Systems All this talk about checking out the latest seed catalogues, de-wintering the garden and predicting the date of the last frost can be frustrating for the land-poor gardener wanna-be. If you are an apartment dweller, a condo resident or simply garden-plot deprived, you may not be […]
Bluebirds
By Julia Cencebaugh Kloth for UConn Extension Beautiful and beneficial the population of the Eastern bluebirds declined in numbers from the late 1800s through the 1980s. One significant contributing factor to this decline was the lack of suitable nesting cavities. Competition for nesting cavities from introduced European starlings and house sparrows, the loss of open field […]
A New Focus on Communities & Climate Change: CIRCA 2014
January saw the announcement of a new institute at UConn dedicated to providing answers and assistance to the state’s communities as they struggle to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Connecticut Institute for Resiliency and Climate Adaptation, or CIRCA, is a partnership of UConn and CT DEEP, and its creation is in direct response […]
Pest Forecasts Come to Connecticut
It hurts when codling moths riddle your apples, powdery mildew blasts your grapes, or anthracnose takes over your turf. But it’s really nettlesome when growers or groundskeepers mere miles away get off without a snag. Blame it on the weather: on a multitude of variables that we barely notice. Sophisticated weather stations can pick up […]
Wash Your Veggies (And Fruits)
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety In recent months I have been reminded again that there are still many eaters and handlers of fresh fruits and vegetables who still do not take the risk of foodborne illness from these foods very seriously. Despite the fact that produce accounts for nearly half […]
Build Your Network, Grow Our Future Event
How do we build our networks and help grow the potential for success in the future food economy? By bringing together farmers and service providers to meet each other, ask questions, listen and discuss. On February 19th, the New CT Farmer Alliance (NCTFA) did just this, in collaboration with several organizations and agencies: UConn Extension, […]
Eat Like A Bird
As a life-long New Englander I find that one of the most enjoyable parts of the winter season is watching birds at the feeder. We all know the importance of providing easily available food sources for the many avian species that remain in the area during the cold winter months but there are also species […]
Eat locally grown, even in winter….
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator, Food Safety Photo: Tomatoes at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford. Credit: Jude Boucher, UConn Extension After a food-filled holiday season (including, I must confess, raspberries, grown somewhere in South America, in a fruit salad…), it is time that many of us resolve to eat healthier and, perhaps, to attempt […]
Pruning Blueberries
By Mary Concklin, Visiting Associate Extension Educator – Fruit Production & IPM I have heard the question many times, when is the best time to prune blueberries – fall, winter or spring? To answer that question let’s take a look at what is going on with the plant at these different times. I am […]
Connecting Sustainable Woodland Management and High School Technical Arts Programs: An Initiative Creating Educational Opportunities for Local Wood Utilization
-Article by Tom Worthley, Extension Forestry- During a conversation in 2010 between myself and a teacher from the industrial arts department at Haddam-Killingworth High School, the suggestion was made that the School District could continually grow, harvest and process a portion of the annual lumber needs for the shop class from part of of 150 […]
Where in Connecticut?
Connecticut (and the rest of the world for that matter) looks so different from above than from the ground. I spend a good deal of time looking at aerial imagery of Connecticut including different color combinations, times of year (leaves or no leaves) and different years to see change. There are many places that I […]
Keeping Food Safe During a Power Outage
Read our fact sheet on food safety during a power outage. When the power flickers and then completely goes out, your first instinct is to find a flashlight or light candles. Being able to see is a priority but, what you may not know is that bacteria will begin growing in perishable foods when the […]
10 Tips for the February Gardener
1. Visit our booth at the 2014 CT Flower and Garden Show, Feb 20-23 in Hartford. Bring ½ cup of soil for a free pH test and your garden questions for free advice. 2. When buying houseplants in winter, be sure to wrap them well for the trip home and, if possible warm up the […]
Reba Wishes Extension a Happy Birthday
We’re celebrating Extension’s Centennial in 2014! It’s going to be a great year, stay tuned for more details.
“Shape” Up On Your Winter Woodland Walk
Lori Ann Trovato, a UConn College of Agriculture and Natural Resources student posted these great ideas for enjoying your next winter woodland walk. An unseasonably warm winter day has boosted your energy level and a woodland walk is in the course of events for the day. Surely a hike is great for shaping up, but […]
Snow Removal Tips
Photo and Article: West Virginia Extension Stay safe from slips and strains by following these recommendations for safe and effective snow removal. Shovel all sidewalks adjacent to your property to the bare pavement. This includes any sidewalks outside your fence lines and to the sides/rear of your property. Clear a path at least 36 inches […]
Bird Feeder Care While You’re Away
Many people enjoy feeding the variety of birds we have in New England and watching them fly around the yard, or sing a song. But what do you do with your bird feeder if you’re planning to be out of town? Keeping bird feeders filled is important. Birds depend on the feeder as a food […]
Road Salt Use in Connecticut: Balancing Safety & Water Quality
This conference is being organized by the NEMO Program, an outreach program of the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research. Additional support provided by the Connecticut Institute for Water Resources Friday March 28, 2014 8:30 am – 3:00 pm UConn Student Union REGISTER Chloride use in winter deicing has been steadily increasing. […]
Alumni Jennifer Cushman Honored
Jennifer Cushman, UConn Animal Science Alumni with a master’s in education, recently recognized with an “Outstanding Young Member” award by the National Association of Agricultural Educators. This award is one of six hundred given nationwide by the 8,000 member professional group for agricultural educators. Cushman is currently the head Agri-Science teacher at Glastonbury High School’s […]
NOAA and Sea Grant Announce Projects for $1.4M Coastal Storm Awareness Program
SILVER SPRING, MD, JANUARY 16, 2014 – Connecticut Sea Grant, New Jersey Sea Grant, and New York Sea Grant have awarded funds totaling $1.4 million to support ten social science research projects to improve community understanding and response to coastal storm hazard information as part of NOAA Sea Grant’s Coastal Storm Awareness Program. Despite the […]
Keep Your Butts Off Our Beaches
Recently a columnist in a local Southeastern Connecticut newspaper wrote about the things that bug him when driving. It included the usual gripes that we all have—people driving slowly in the passing lane, failure to use turn signals, merging on the highway with little consideration of the traffic already on the highway, able-bodied people parking […]
Ten Tips for the January Gardener
1. Protect your young fruit trees from hungry mice, who can chew the bark off at the soil line, weakening and possibly killing the trees Keep mulch several inches from trunks to keep the mice from hiding under it. Also, consider putting wire-screen mouse guards around the trunks of the trees. 2. Bring pruning tools […]
New Greenhouse Pest Guide Web App
Try our new mobile optimized website app for commercial growers that contains options for biological control and pesticides for management of insect and mite pests common in commercial greenhouse production. This app can be used on your computer, smart phone or other electronic device. This was a cooperative project between Leanne Pundt of UConn’s IPM […]
Barnum 4-H School Garden
This was originally posted by Organic Gardening 365. Question: What do you get when you cross the savvy leadership training skills of 4-H with a Bridgeport, CT school that wants to teach kids responsibility through gardening? Answer: The Barnum School 4-H Garden. The Barnum School 4-H Garden is a display of hard work and great […]
Pantry Pests and Their Control
Pantry or kitchen pests infest dry or stored food products in the home. Most are either beetles or moths. Infestations occur when these insects are found in some products, but more commonly when the adults are seen crawling or flying about the kitchen or pantry. The insects live and breed best under warm, humid conditions […]
Successful Year for UConn Dairy Program
Mary Margaret Cole, Executive Program Director of the Kellogg Dairy Center (KDC) at UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has had a very successful year. Cole and the KDC staff are setting the stage for top quality milk for Connecticut dairy producers. At the 2013 Eastern States Exposition Holstein Show, Cole was awarded champion […]
Watering Houseplants
By Dawn Pettinelli, Manager, Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory Watering seems like such a simple but many are surprised to know that improper watering is the main cause of houseplant demise. Excess water will drain away in outdoor garden soils. However, houseplants are confined to a container and excess water remains in the saucer or cachepot […]