Going back to your roots…or tubers…or bulbs…or corms Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator Corms? What are corms? This time of year, those of us who make an attempt to eat seasonally, “root” vegetables are a mainstay. Though most are available year round, roots are something that you can continue to find at […]
Education
Attending the Inauguration with 4-H
I recently returned from Washington D.C. where I joined 4 fellow Connecticut 4-Hers to attend the first ever Citizen Washington Focus Presidential Inauguration. It was held in conjunction with the Presidential Inauguration. We were there with 500 4-Hers from all across the country who all shared the same interest in democracy and politics. We stayed […]
Hydroponics at UConn Extension
Hydroponics is a growing area of agriculture that uses mineral nutrient solutions in a soilless system to grow plants. Rosa researches chemistry and water clogging of hydroponics in her greenhouse. “With the CARE project, a set of growers in Connecticut have problems with low quality water clogging systems,” Extension educator Rosa Raudales mentions. “Samples are […]
Partnerships Create a Food Safety Culture
Extension educators from throughout the Northeast consider collaboration essential to the success of their work with fruit and vegetable growers. In 2012, regional food safety specialists from the Universities of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Cornell received a NEED-NERA (Northeast Extension and Experiment Station Directors) planning grant focused on coordinating efforts to […]
NEMO Program to Help Communities Navigate the New Stormwater Permit
By Dave Dickson CLEAR’s venerable, award-winning NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) Program is embarking on a five-year program to assist Connecticut communities in complying with the state’s revised “General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems,” or the MS4 permit. Stormwater runoff is a major source of flooding, […]
Drought in Connecticut? Who Knew?
By Mike Dietz Connecticut is not the first place that would likely come to mind if I asked you to come up with a part of the country that experiences drought; the desert southwest and California might typically be first on the list. However, southern New England has received less than normal amounts of precipitation […]
Oak Wilt: A Threat to Our Oak Trees
Oak wilt is an important disease to be on the lookout for in New England. This is especially true for Connecticut because it has been confirmed in three locations in our neighbor to the west and south, New York. The disease is important because it kills trees in the most susceptible red oak group (northern […]
Low Impact Development in Connecticut
Connecticut towns are increasingly recognizing the impact of stormwater runoff on water quality. Low impact development (LID), also called green stormwater infrastructure, is a major strategy to address these issues. The Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program at the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) has been working with towns on these […]
Put Local on Your Tray
To our neighbors across the ocean, lunch in American schools is evidence of our culinary inferiority. The fact that one third of the nation’s children are growing up overweight and obese leads many to point a finger at school food. But in reality, the age of sloppy joes and tater tots is steadily giving way […]
Making a Better Cheese
UConn Extension’s Dennis D’Amico works with Arethusa and other small businesses on food safety in their cheese and dairy production plants. Watch this short video from USDA Rural Development to learn more.
Water Solutions
Irrigation and plant pathogens, or infectious organisms, in water are recurring themes for Rosa Raudales, an Assistant Professor of Horticulture and Greenhouse Extension Specialist. Rosa’s first job was on a plantain irrigation project in Honduras. As an undergraduate, her thesis focused on pathogens in hydroponic systems, where plants are grown in a soilless system. Rosa […]
CYFAR Summer Experience at Auerfarm
By Sherry Gray The Auerfarm is a 4-H Education Center with 120 acres located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Farm was deeded to the non-profit Connecticut 4–H Development Fund in 1976; however; has a rich history dating back to the early years of the 20th Century. The farm served as a model […]
Creating a Food Safety Culture
A report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published in 2013 described the increasingly evident relationship between produce and foodborne illness: over a ten year period, from 1998 to 2008, produce was responsible for 46% of diagnosed foodborne illness where a source was determined. This often surprises consumers who normally consider meat and poultry […]
Pumpkins are a Terrible Thing to Waste…
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety Pumpkins are thought to have originated in North America. Early colonists learned of pumpkins from Native American Indians for whom pumpkin was a dietary staple. They would often cut strips of pumpkin and roast them on an open fire before eating. These resourceful people also dried […]
Telling Stories With Maps
Most people like to look at maps. How many times have you looked at a map just to figure out where you’re going, and then become distracted by towns, rivers and mountains off to the side? And in this day and age, maps—including satellite imagery—are all around us, on our phones and in our cars. […]
A Foundation in 4-H
Solomon “Sol” Boucher of Tolland exemplifies the 4-H motto of making the best better. Sol has taken the foundation in leadership and citizenship skills developed through the 4-H program to a global stage, impacting his community, and a wider audience. In 2003, 10-year old Sol joined the Mighty Mix 4-H Club. Deb Couture and Felicia […]
Conversations Around Food
Imagine running out of food, with small children to feed, and no food stamps for another week. Friday’s paycheck has to pay your utility bill, or they will cut off your electricity. Feeling panicked yet? Picture what it was like, over 40 years ago, to have someone from UConn Extension knock on your door and […]
4-H Volunteer Marcia Johnson
Twenty-eight years as an elementary school teacher has not dampened the enthusiasm of 4-H volunteer Marcia Johnson. She’s upbeat, energetic and clearly excited about teaching. Five years ago, Johnson created a school gardening program for her students at John Barry Elementary School in Meriden. When Johnson took a position at Meriden’s Nathan Hale School, she […]
Master Gardener Volunteer Tracy Burrell
We have 1,587 active Master Gardener volunteers in Connecticut. In 2015, they donated 34,555 hours of community service to towns and cities throughout the state, with an economic value of $797,183. Master Gardener offices are in each of the county offices, on the Storrs campus, and the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. Tracy Burrell of Mystic […]
Wind Firm Forests
Driving down a Connecticut road with a canopy of green overhead delights Connecticut residents. But when a storm strikes, those same trees frustrate residents by blocking roads and causing power outages. Connecticut is the fourth most densely populated state in the union, and with 75% of the land covered by trees, power outages frequently occur. […]
Auerfarm: Growing Opportunities
The 120-acre 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm is a private, non-profit education center located in Bloomfield. Over 15,000 students and family members participate in year-round 4-H curriculum-based school science programs, animal clubs, and Junior Master Gardening projects annually. Hartford entrepreneur and retailer Beatrice Fox Auerbach and her husband purchased the farm in 1925. Beatrice took […]
School Districts Invited to Put Local on Your Tray This Fall
Just in time for National Farm To School Month in October, UConn Extension and its partners at the Connecticut State Department of Education, FoodCorps Connecticut, and the New England Dairy and Food Council are excited to announce an opportunity to participate in a new program called Put Local On Your Tray. Put Local On Your […]
PEP Graduate Impacts Community
Daniella Pierre was recently recognized at the United States of Women summit in Washington DC, and is currently being nominated for an award from Legacy Magazine, all this because of her dedicated work in affordable housing for middle class families and empowering young women. She currently works as an academic advisor at Miami-Dade and is […]
Where DOES That Waste Go?
By Karen K. Filchak, Extension Educator, Family and Community Development, Residential Water Quality, UConn Extension If you are a property owner with a septic system, it is important to know some basics about the care and management of this waste treatment system. You can be best prepared to maintain it and prevent problems down the […]
What You (Probably) Did Not Know About Food Recalls
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety Food recalls have become so commonplace that most consumers no longer pay attention. In the month of July alone, there were 46 recalls by food processors who are regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the US Food and […]
An Opportunity to Explore Outside the Box with UConn Extension
By Tom Martella UConn Extension Summer Intern Often times students at my age find themselves concerned that the subject matter they have been studying for the past two, three, or even four years is not what they see themselves doing for the rest of their lives. Numerous questions begin to arise: Is it too late […]
Citizen Science & the CT Woodland Owner
Written by Nancy Marek Scott Matties was checking his mailbox one late winter afternoon when he saw three shadowy figures cut across Ridge Road heading for his property. The shadows did not move like dogs. Domestic cats are not that big, he thought. He dashed to the back of his house and froze: three young […]
UConn Climate Corps
UConn Extension’s Chet Arnold, Juliana Barrett and Bruce Hyde are part of a team that received funding from the University as part of the Academic Plan Proposal Awards. Other team members include: Mark Boyer (Geography), Maria Chrysochoou (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Sylvain DeGuise (Pathobiology), and John Volin (Natural Resources and the Environment). This project will […]
Telling Stories with Maps
Emily Wilson wrote a blog post for Map@Syst on the story maps being created by UConn Extension: CLEAR’s Extension faculty have long used maps to educate land use decision makers and the public about Connecticut’s landscape and natural resources. The Connecticut’s Changing Landscape (CCL) research project has been the foundation of the education. CCL is […]
Mix Some Whole Grains with Local Fruits and Veggies
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator, UConn Extension Lest this article appears to be written by the food police, I confess I am a real fan of a plate of regular, white flour pasta, ciabatta bread, and, once and a while a fried bologna sandwich on good (well, maybe not so good) old […]
UConn Extension Tractor Course Has Lasting Impact
For the past two years, UConn Extension has offered a Tractor Operation, Safety, and Basic Maintenance Course for beginning farmers at the UConn Plant Science Research Farm in Storrs. This two-day class is designed to educate and empower current or future users of agricultural tractors and farm equipment. During the class, they demystified tractors to improve their understanding of […]
Oh Nuts: Pistachios
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety Eggs, chicken, lettuce, sprouts, and now pistachios. Some readers may think that this association of pistachios with a Salmonellosis outbreak is unusual if not rare. Well, though not likely to be defined as “common,” in recent years a number of outbreaks have been traced to nuts […]
Poop Happens
By Diane Wright Hirsch, UConn Extension Educator Farm animals poop. Why should that matter to me…a frequent farm visitor? We all poop. Dogs poop, cats poop, cows and even goats poop. It is a natural process that rids our bodies of indigestible food and waste products. Unfortunately, it is also a way to carry pathogens […]
Cut Food Budgets – Grow a Kitchen Garden
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator/Food Safety Though some economic indicators are showing that things are getting better, there are many Connecticut citizens who still find tough going. The result has been that more and more people are growing food in their backyards or on patios, and some are growing enough to need […]
Spirit & Sense of Place in Relation to the Naugatuck River Greenway
Posted on September 25, 2015 on Extension Community & Economic Development By John McDonald, Extension Intern The Romans advanced the concept of the genius loci, or protective spirit dwelling in a certain place. The same idea, minus the superstitious trappings of polytheism, is today reflected in the notions of spirit and sense of place. Spirit of place […]
Did You Know: Urban Agriculture
Learning in the Field and the Classroom Students in the Urban Agriculture and IPM Training program completed 180 hours of classroom instruction, and volunteered 1,603 hours. Volunteer time was spent working on the farm preparing the land, building raised garden beds, planting and maintaining an acre of organic vegetables, and selling produce at the Danbury […]
Volunteer Spotlight: Marcia Johnson
Teacher and 4-H Volunteer Brings Gardening, Nutrition and Fitness to Students in the Classroom and Beyond By Kim Markesich Originally published by Naturally@UConn on January 26, 2016 Twenty-eight years as an elementary school teacher has not dampened the enthusiasm of 4-H volunteer Marcia Johnson. She’s upbeat, energetic and clearly excited about teaching. Five years ago, […]
Fruit Flies Are Annoying!
By Carol Quish There is nothing more annoying than seeing tiny insects flying around inside your home. Fruit flies are one such insect commonly considered a pest by their mere presence sharing your living space, causing us to question where they come from and how to get rid of them. Fruit flies are attracted to […]
Teen Mentors Attend National 4-H Congress
CT 4-H FANs IM Teen Mentors, and Danbury High School seniors, Ciara Broggy and Yanis Aracena, were selected to participate in the National 4-H Congress held in Atlanta, Georgia, November 27th through December 1, 2015. Both attendees were required to submit an application and attend an interview. While at the National 4-H Congress, they enjoyed […]
Cushman Joins UConn Extension
Jen Cushman joined UConn Extension as the new 4-H Extension Educator in Harford County. Ms. Cushman has an outstanding background in STEM programming, specifically environmental and agriculture education, having served as a Regional Agri-science Head teacher in the Glastonbury school system. She organized recruitment to increase the diverse student base in nine towns and cities surrounding Glastonbury. Jen […]