Lily Leaf Beetle Biological Control 2016 – Looking for Volunteer Gardens in Connecticut Researchers at UConn are conducting a lily leaf beetle biological control project during the summer of 2016. If you grow lilies in Connecticut, have a minimum of 12 plants in the lily family (e.g., Oriental lilies, Asiatic lilies, Turk’s Cap lilies, or […]
10 Tips for the May Gardener
Plant tomatoes, peppers and melons after the danger of frost is past and the soil temperature is 65° F, usually the last week in May. Plant tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant in different locations each year to reduce insect and disease problems. Keep mower blades sharp and set your mower height at 2-3 inches. Remove no […]
UConn EDEN
The UConn Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) website is live. Check it out and discover the resources available for families, communities, workplaces and agriculture.
Is Mold Causing You Health Problems?
Does your home have a mold problem? Visit the Healthy Homes Partnership for more information on keeping your home safe.
Don’t Spread Lead
Are you a home improvement do-it-yourselfer? If your home was built before 1978, watch this informative video before starting any projects.
Guidance for Recreational Shellfish Harvest
Are you a recreational shellfish harvester? Check out the 2016 guide from Connecticut Sea Grant.
Energy Efficient Homes are Green
Energy efficient homes are green? Visit the Healthy Homes Partnership for more information on making your home energy efficient.
Paper Envelopes in your Mother’s Day Hanging Basket?
What are those paper envelopes in my Mother’s Day hanging baskets? By Leanne Pundt, UConn Extension Educator These small paper “envelopes” are slow release “sachets” that contain beneficial predatory mites that attack young thrips larvae. (Thrips are very small insects (1-2 mm. long) with narrow bodies and fringed wings. As they feed they can deform flowers, […]
Highlights of Extension
Learn how UConn Extension is tying research to real life in your community through our 2015 Highlights of Extension.
Obscure Mealybug Confirmed in CT Nursery
By: Joan Allen UConn Plant Diagnostic Lab The obscure mealybug (Pseudococcus viburni) has been confirmed for the first time in Connecticut. High populations were present on numerous host plants in a Connecticut nursery in the fall of 2015. Samples were submitted to the UConn Plant Diagnostic Lab for identification by Donna Ellis, UConn Nursery […]
Carbon Monoxide: The Silent Killer
Carbon monoxide is a silent killer? Visit the Healthy Homes Partnership for more information on keeping your home safe.
Be a Smart Consumer: Buying Local Eggs
Buying Eggs From Your Local Farmer or Backyard Producer By: Diane Wright Hirsch, Senior Extension Educator, UConn Extension Having back yard chickens has become quite the trend. In Connecticut, many towns have instituted ordinances where none existed or where backyard farm animals were not previously allowed. In Hamden, for example, an ordinance was passed […]
Asthma and Allergies
Are asthma and allergies a problem in your home? Visit the Healthy Homes Partnership for more information on keeping your home safe.
Connecticut Dairy Leads New England
By Bernard Dzielinski President, Fairfield County Extension Council Hoard’s Dairyman recently provided a comprehensive review of total milk production in the United States. The data is summarized in the report by region. Milk production in 2015 was a new record of 208.6 billion pounds, a modest gain of 1.3 percent. The story of the […]
10 Tips for the April Gardener
Continue to apply horticultural oil sprays to control insect pests on fruit trees if temperature is over 40°F. Sow peas, carrots, radishes, lettuces, and spinach. Plant seedlings of cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli, weather permitting. For an instant spring show, fill containers with forced spring bulbs from supermarkets and garden centers. Prune back bedraggled looking ground […]
Growing True Leaders
Every child has the potential to be a true leader. However, kids today say they are missing experiences that grow the life skills they need – like confidence, responsibility, independence and compassion. It is a serious problem now that will lead to a severe leadership void in the years to come – impacting […]
Is Your Home Well Ventilated?
Is your home well ventilated? Visit the Healthy Homes Partnership for more information on keeping your home safe.
Oh Nuts!
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 […]
Thank you Volunteers!
During National Volunteer Week, we thank all of our Connecticut 4-H, UConn Extension Master Gardener Program, People Empowering People (PEP), and other volunteers who make our programs so successful each year! Our volunteers contributed over 100,000 hours, or $2.4 million to their communities served last year.
2016 Turfgrass Field Day
The 2016 Turfgrass Field Day at the University of Connecticut offers exciting educational opportunities for turfgrass professionals of all levels. The date of the Field Day has been selected in order to provide the best opportunity to view the research plots when they are under the greatest summer stress. Cutting edge research in the areas […]
Did You Know: Burgdorf Community Garden
Burgdorf Community Garden is a signature outreach project for Hartford County Master Gardener volunteers. They helped plant and maintain a garden on the grounds of the Burgdorf/Bank of America Health center, a clinic for the underserved in Hartford’s North End. The garden is used to teach nutrition to clients and also provides healthy produce for […]
Live Local UConn Trail
Live Local Connecticut is a UConn Extension program encouraging residents to live locally through food and gardening, and ties into our Live Local app. The Live Local UConn Trail highlights a few locations in and around UConn’s Storrs campus where you can live locally. UConn Trail: Dog Lane Cafe – the menu and daily specials […]
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 […]
Jude Boucher: A Lasting Impact
By Stacey Stearns The name Jude Boucher is synonymous with vegetable production in Connecticut. Since joining UConn Extension in 1986, Jude has made a profound impact on the industry as the Extension Educator for vegetable crops Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Jude received his bachelor’s degree in Entomology from the University of New Hampshire, his […]
Nutrition Education for Students
UConn Extension’s Heather Pease recently educated students enrolled in a child development class at CREC’s Medical Professions and Teacher Preparation Academy on how to make baby food.
Greenhouse Growers Prepare for Spring
Greenhouses growers across Connecticut were busy this past week shipping Easter flowers to local garden centers. Photos were taken by Leanne Pundt of UConn Extension at Geremia Greenhouses in Wallingford.
New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference a Success
2015 NEW ENGLAND VEGETABLE AND FRUIT CONFERENCE Summary of Activities and Impacts The 2015 New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference (NEVF) and Trade Show took place December 15, 16, and 17 in Manchester NH. It was organized over two years by a committee of 41 people from 7 states […]
Did You Know: Mapping the Industry
Shellfish aquaculture is a large and growing part of Connecticut’s agriculture sector, but site selection is a major challenge. Farmers cultivate oysters, clams and scallops in designated areas of Long Island Sound. Those sites are considered public property and are leased from the state. Farmers need to identify growing areas that are biologically productive […]
Spraying Nematodes
Watch the video that shows a grower (Michael’s Greenhouse in Cheshire CT ) http://www.michaelsgreenhouses.com/ applying the insect killing beneficial nematodes are applied thru their automatic watering system onto their hanging baskets on a cloudy day. The nematodes are in the bucket you see and then they use the fertilizer injector (with the screens removed) to apply the […]
10 Tips for the March Gardener
Make plans to attend the UConn Garden Conference on March 18, 2016. Carefully remove winter mulches and leftover debris from planting beds to reduce the presence of overwintering diseases and pests. Get your soil tested through the UConn Soil Nutrient Analysis Laboratory before any major planting or fertilizing venture. Soils sent in before April 1 […]
Did You Know: Drones at Work
Mapping Great Gull Island with an Unmanned Aircraft Assistant Extension Educator Joel Stocker spends a lot of his work and personal time documenting changes to the shoreline. In 2010 he contacted Helen Hays, asking if he could capture photographs over Great Gull Island with his homemade drone. She agreed. While on the island, Helen told […]
Welcome John Bovay
Dr. John Bovay will join the ARE Department in August 2016 as Assistant Professor with 60% extension, 25% research, and 15% teaching responsibilities. Since June 2014, John has been an agricultural economists in the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics Branch of the Food Economics Division of ERS/USDA. His work there has focused on the interactions […]
“Ruins Reborn” – Revitalization Strategies
“Ruins Reborn”, Hugh Bailey offers revitalization strategies Posted on September 26, 2015 By John McDonald, Extension Intern Hugh Bailey, urban planner, columnist for the Connecticut Post, and member of UConn class of 1999, will be speaking on the issue of the post-industrial challenges posed by the numerous abandoned buildings in Connecticut’s urban areas. His presentation, “Ruins […]
Did You Know: Climate Adaptation
One Size Fits All Won’t Work When the subject of climate change comes up, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the impact of sea level rise on coastal communities. While the impacts of Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy grab the headlines, with dramatic pictures of flooding, collapsed houses and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Did You Know: Lily Leaf Beetle
A Sustainable and Viable Non-Pesticide Alternative Release and monitoring of two distinct biological control agents (the parasitoid wasps Tetrastichus setifer and Diaparsis jucunda) for biological control of lily leaf beetle began in Connecticut in 2012 under the direction of Extension Educator Donna Ellis. These beneficial insects have also been released in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, […]
Get Healthy Connecticut
UConn Extension SNAP-Ed partnered with the Get Healthy CT Know Your Numbers campaign at Iglesia ‘El Olivar’ food pantry in Bridgeport, CT. Heather Peracchio provided healthy eating tips and recipes as folks were being screened for elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. For more info about upcoming screenings in Bridgport this month visit, http://gethealthyct.org/know-your-numbers/
Let’s Talk Trails
Originally Posted on October 23, 2015 By John McDonald, Extension Intern The Let’s Talk Trails event held in October at Torrington City Hall was arguably a gathering of the most important people involved in trail development, construction and maintenance in the state of Connecticut. Bruce Donald, Chairman of the Connecticut Greenways Council and President of […]
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 […]