Month: January 2015

Reducing Storm Damage to Your Greenhouses

By John W. Bartok, Jr. Agricultural Engineer, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. 2013 39 pounds per square foot – That’s the weight of snow I had in my yard in Ashford after the January 2011 snow and rain storms. The Connecticut Building Code calls for a design load of 30 pounds per square foot (psf) […]

Soil Workshop

UConn Extension‘s Richard Meinert and Dawn Pettinelli attended a soil workshop on the west coast in November.  Dawn writes: the 2014 International Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) was in Long Beach, California. The theme of this year’s […]

International Year of Soils

The U.S. Department of Agriculture kicked off its celebration of the International Year of Soils  to highlight the importance of healthy soils for food security, ecosystem functions and resilient farms and ranches. “Healthy soil is the foundation that ensures working farms and ranches become more productive, resilient to climate change and better prepared to meet the challenges of […]

Trees Rock

The town of Hamden was a recipient of a weather station available through a partnership with UConn Extension, as part of a pilot program that UConn is developing for school grounds managers. Middle school science teachers were excited to hear about the weather station and asked if they would be able to access the weather […]

Three Connecticut Projects Selected for RCPP Funding

“More than 600 pre-proposals were submitted nationwide. With so many strong proposals, the project selection process was extremely competitive,” said Lisa Coverdale, Connecticut State Conservationist for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. “We are so very proud that three from Connecticut have been selected for funding. This is such an amazing opportunity to work with some […]

10 Tips for the January Gardener

1.      Check out the Garden Master classes that are available throughout the state at http://mastergardener.uconn.edu/. Most classes are open to both Master Gardeners and the general public. 2.      If driveways or sidewalks have been treated with a de-icer that contains sodium chloride do not pile this snow on plants or in areas where the melting […]

Vegetable Workshops

UConn Extension will offer two workshops on pests and diseases of vegetable crops this February.  These workshops will cover common and important pests and diseases of four vegetable families: Cucurbitaceae (cucumber, squash, melon and pumpkin), Brassicaceae (cabbage family), Solanaceae (tomato, potato, pepper and eggplant), and Fabaceae (legumes/beans and peas).   The emphasis will be on identification […]

State’s Aquaculture Industry Nets Benefits from Changes in Federal Plan

By Sheila Foran for UConn Today Commercial shellfish farmers who use the ocean to grow their crops off the nation’s coastline now have the same kind of protection against crop losses as do people who farm on land, due to a recent change in federal policy. The new language providing coverage was added to the […]