Remove non-productive plants from the vegetable garden and sow cool weather crops for fall harvesting. Renovate strawberry beds by mowing to a height of 1 ½ inches, thinning plants and side-dressing with a balanced fertilizer. Stop pruning evergreen trees and shrubs to avoid promoting new growth that will not harden off by the first frost. […]
Greenwich PEP Graduates
Congratulations to our UConn Extension People Empowering People (PEP) graduates from Greenwich! They graduated in a ceremony on May 11th.
CT Envirothon
Several UConn Extension educators worked at the Envirothon Event on May 21st. It’s a great event and well worth all the effort that goes into it. UConn Extension’s Donna Ellis made a presentation at the teacher’s workshop (as the technical expert) during the event on invasive species which is next year’s current issue challenge. This year’s current […]
Fun at 4-H Camp
Camp Counselor Delaney works with a group of 4-H members at camp on equine fitting and grooming techniques.
Proven Biological Controls for Ornamentals
Photos from our Biological Controls Workshop on June 18th. We had a fabulous turnout and great speakers, thank you everyone.
Highlights of Extension
The Highlights of Extension showcase our program achievements from the past year. Learn more about our various programs and how they tie research to real life.
Late Blight Now in CT
Article and update by Joan Allen for UConn Extension. Tomato and potato growers and gardeners: Protect your crops NOW from late blight infection. The disease has been reported in Litchfield County, Connecticut on July 18, 2015. With moist weather conditions the pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, will sporulate prolifically and spread rapidly on wind currents. Fungicide products can […]
First Place in Storytelling with Maps
Last week at the Esri International User Conference in San Diego, UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research‘s Emily Wilson and Chet Arnold received the First Place Award in the Science/Technology/Education category of the Esri Storytelling with Maps Contest. There were over 400 submissions to the contest and only 5 first place winners. Over 16,000 […]
Different Perspective
This photo mosaic was taken by #UConnExtension’s Joel Stocker with his quadricopter of the field burn conducted in early May at the Middlesex County Extension Center. Burns like this are conducted periodically as a training exercise for Junior Firefighters and as a management/maintenance practice to sustain the population of native warm-season grasses we encourage as […]
Eat Smart Live Strong
UConn Extension’s SNAP-Ed Food Security partnered with Elmwood Senior Center in Danbury to offer the USDA Eat Smart Live Strong program this summer. Programs are led by Heather Peracchio, Extension Educator and Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Seniors are provided $15 vouchers towards fresh produce and round-trip transportation to the Farmers Market twice per month thanks to a […]
CLIR Annual Meeting
Our Center for Learning In Retirement (CLIR) held their annual meeting in June with music and plans for upcoming courses. Visit their website for all of the latest news.
Living Shoreline Workshop
Connecticut Sea Grant and Extension’s CLEAR hosted the second Living Shoreline Workshop in June as part of the Climate Adaptation Academy. This workshop brought over 100 participants together to hear experts from Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and other states including Connecticut talk about different aspects of living shorelines including on the ground examples and what has […]
Bristol PEP Graduates
Congratulations to our UConn Extension People Empowering People (PEP) graduates from Bristol. Four groups: South Side FRC, West Bristol FRC, Bristol Head Start/FRC and Greene Hills FRC graduated on June 4th.
Sugaring Manure
Connecticut has more manure nutrients than we need for our crops. UConn Extension Educator Rich Meinert and two summer interns spent Friday “sugaring” manure. Just like maple growers sugar sap by boiling away the water we will be sugaring liquid dairy manure from a screw press separator to remove the water so that we […]
4-H Microwave Magic
The New London County 4-H program was at Norwich Summer Jam & Learn last week. This cooking project 4-H Microwave Magic. The 4-H program will be there every Wednesday with the youth.
Windham Extension Council
The Windham County Extension Council hosted their Annual Meeting in May, and included a presentation from UConn Extension’s Joyce Meader on livestock.
10 Tips for the July Gardener
Do not prune rhododendrons and azaleas after the second week of July as they will begin setting their buds for next year’s blooms. Put netting on fruit trees and bushes a few weeks before the fruit begins to ripen to protect it from birds and squirrels. Fertilize roses for the last time in mid-July. Pinch […]
UConn Extension Interns Tie Research to Real Life
Each year, UConn students apply and compete for paid internship opportunities with UConn Extension, whose mission is to connect the power of UConn research to local issues by creating practical, science-based answers to complex problems. This summer, 13 students are tying research to real life in our UConn Extension offices across the state. Santiago Palaez […]
Give to UConn Extension
Support UConn Extension! Visit our online donation page, or you can also text your donation: 1. Open your text messaging app on your phone. 2. Text 50555 the following: “UConn Extension (your name).” For example: “UConn Extension Jonathan Husky.” Unless you specify an area of support by including 4-H in the text, the donation will go […]
Hartford County Urban 4-H
The Hartford County Urban 4-H after school programs are free for children age 7-19. Youth enrolled in Urban 4-H receive effective hands on STEM related activities which include but not limited to: health and nutrition, science related activities, social skills, and work force readiness courses. On May 26th at the Boys and Girls club in Hartford […]
IPM at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford
Through its offices located throughout Connecticut, UConn Extension connects the power of UConn research to local issues by creating practical, science-based answers to complex problems. Extension provides scientific knowledge and expertise to the public in areas such as: economic viability, business and industry, community development, agriculture and natural resources. This post, written by Mary Concklin […]
The Untimely Death of a Worm
By Catherine Hallisey Connecticut FoodCorps As I was kneeling by a raised garden bed, planting snap peas with a couple of students, I heard a third grader scream “NOOOOOO!” from the other side of the garden. An array of thoughts immediately sped through my mind in the split second it took me to get over to […]
Deformed Spinach? Could be Crown Mites
By Joan Allen for UConn Extension Some spinach cultivars are expected to have pretty bumpy, puckered leaves. If your plants are not that type, but the leaves look like that or have small holes in them when they expand, crown mites (Rhizoglyphus sp.) are a possible cause. Conditions that favor mite activity and damage are […]
Tools for Healthy Living
“Tools for Healthy Living,” a curriculum about healthy homes and food safety, has been accepted as a national peer-reviewed curriculum by the National 4-H Council. The curriculum, designed for students in grades four through six who are in afterschool 4-H programs, was developed by UConn Extension as part of a 5-year Sustainable Community Project grant […]
Common Blue Violet: Wildflower or Weed?
Photo and article by Joan Allen for UConn Extension The common blue violet (Viola sororia), also known as common meadow violet, purple violet, woolly blue violet, or wood violet, is a native perennial plant found throughout eastern North America. Some references give woolly blue violet (a variety with fuzzy leaves) its own species name but […]
Healthier Food at the Right Price
Moms from Grassroots Academy learned about saving money at the store while feeding their family healthier foods during a grocery store tour at Price Rite in Danbury last week led by EFNEP educator and dietitian Heather Peracchio and extension aide Juliana Restrepo-Marin. The tour was in partnership with the Cooking Matters at the store program.
Mmmm…Strawberry Season
By Diane Wright Hirsch, Extension Educator, Food Safety One of the best things about early summer in Connecticut is strawberry season. I will never understand why folks buy California berries at the supermarket in June. I recently saw a post on a local farm’s Facebook page where a customer shared a picture of two […]
National Adaptation Forum
By Juliana Barrett Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension In early May, over 700 people gathered in St Louis, MO for the second National Adaptation Forum (NAF). The purpose of the NAF is to promote and share climate adaptation research, issues, tools and strategies. Participants gathered from across the United States and Canada including federal, […]
Microbes Make the Cheese
Dennis D’Amico of the Department of Animal Science and his colleagues produced the booklet, Microbes Make the Cheese. It contains useful information such as the art of making cheese, history, and the use of microbes.
Enfield & Worcester PEP Graduations
Congratulations to our People Empowering People (PEP) graduates from Enfield and Worcester. Both classes graduated in early May. At the Enfield graduation, the mayor was there, and the Police Department as they are working alongside the PEP program in a project. For the project, police and PEP graduates exchange phone numbers and when an emergency happens […]
Students First Funds Golf Tournament
The UConn Extension team had a great day at the 7th Annual UConn Students First Funds Golf Tournament on Monday. Left to right: Paul Gagnon, Career Consultant for the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources; Steve Geary, Department Head of Pathobiology; Bill Field, Division of Environmental Health and Safety; and Mike O’Neill, Associate Dean and Associate […]
Build a Rain Garden
Want to build a beautiful garden that also helps to protect local waterways? Let the NEMO Rain Garden App show you how. Spring means the urge to create gardens. Spring also means rain and polluted runoff flowing into the street, down the storm drain, and into the local brook or wetland. Why not solve both […]
10 Tips for the June Gardener
Control and reduce aphid numbers on vegetables, roses, perennial flowers, shrubs and trees with a hard spray from your garden hose or two applications of insecticidal soap. Plant seeds of bush beans every three weeks for a continuous harvest. Heavy rains encourage slug problems. Check for slugs during rainy periods and hand pick the pests. […]
Barnum School in Bridgeport
Barnum School 4-Hers in Bridgeport celebrated Earth Day on April 25th. Parents, students and community volunteers celebrated with a Garden clean up. Twenty-seven beds were cleaned, wood chips laid, and eight new beds were built.
Using Water Wisely
By Faye Griffiths-Smith UConn Extension Educator Family Economics and Resource Management With the recent water restrictions in California, we all need to consider our water use, and what steps can be taken to reduce our consumption. Did you know that the average person in the U.S. uses 100 gallons of water every day? Drinking, […]
Biological Control Programs for Ornamentals
Proven Biological Control Programs for Indoor and Outdoor Production of Ornamentals UConn Extension and UMass Extension are sponsoring, Proven Biological Control Programs; for indoor and outdoor production of ornamentals. This one day educational program will be held on Thursday, June 18, 2015 in Room 100 of the WB Young Building, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. The […]
More PEP Graduates
Congratulations to our most recent UConn Extension People Empowering People (PEP) graduates from Meriden! The People Empowering People Program is a personal and family development program with a strong community focus. Created by Cheryl Czuba, UConn Extension Educator, the PEP program builds upon individual life experiences and strengths to encourage growth in communication and problem solving skills, parent/family relationships and […]
The Season for Strawberries
Photo and article by Susan Pelton for UConn Extension We moved into our home in December of 1996 and by June of 1997 I had broken through the sod, tilled the soil, fenced in an area, and planted a new garden. One of the first additions to that garden was a strawberry bed. Even […]
Grow a Safe Salad
By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD UConn Extension Educator – Food Safety Year round farmers markets are already selling early spring greens to those of us who have been craving the fresh, locally grown stuff during the long winter months. The use of greenhouses, cold frames and hoop houses and other season-extending contraptions make it possible for […]
Making Soup
At St. Luke’s food pantry in Bridgeport UConn Extension reaches SNAP recipients with healthy eating tips and recipes. Heather Peracchio made minestrone soup with attendees. Canned vegetables are best for our health when labeled “no salt added,” or if you have regular or reduced sodium rinsing and draining the veggies or beans can help to […]