The training for People Empowering People (PEP) facilitators was on June 22 & 23rd and there were 18 participants from Waterbury, CRT Hartford, Torrington, UConn Health, New London Youth Affairs, and CREC. We’re looking forward to seeing these facilitators work with new groups of PEP participants.
10 Tips for the September Gardener
1. Remove bagworm egg masses from evergreen shrubs to eliminate the spring hatch from over-wintered eggs. 2. If rain is lacking, continue to thoroughly water trees, shrubs, planting beds, and lawn areas. It is especially important to keep newly planted evergreens watered. 3. Plant shallots and garlic outdoors. 4. Use a mulching blade to finely […]
Healthy Eating Grocery Tour
On Thursday, June 4th UConn Extension partnered with Big Y and Cooking Matters at the store to offer Torrington’s Even Start parents a healthy eating grocery store tour.
Wintonbury Land Trust
Wintonbury Land Trust: Supporting and Improving Land Access to Local Farmers By Rachel Murray for UConn Extension Land trusts are at the forefront of reshaping the agricultural landscape in Connecticut. They can be a leader supporting and promoting new and beginning farmers by providing access to farmland. Wintonbury Land Trust and Hawk Hill Preserve […]
Green Chile Queso Blanco Wins Award
For the second year in a row the new cheese line from the UConn Dept. of Animal Science Creamery has won a national award. The Creamery’s Green Chile Queso Blanco took third in it’s category in the 2015 American Cheese Society Judging & Competition! The cheese was recognized by the judges for excellence amongst 1,779 products from 267 entering […]
Fairfield County 4-H Horse Show
The Fairfield County 4-H Horse Show was held in May, and a great day was had by all.
Vegetable IPM Program
Jude Boucher of our Vegetable Crops Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program has had a busy summer. He helps commercial vegetable growers find sustainable solutions to pest problems. The program emphasizes healthy soils, balanced plant nutrition, proper pest and beneficial identification, scouting and monitoring techniques, preventative management strategies, reduced-risk pesticide selection and application, and resistance management. This […]
Blossom End Rot of Tomatoes
By Carol Quish for UConn Extension August is supposed to be the month of non-stop tomatoes. Occasionally things go awry to interrupt those carefully laid spring visions of bountiful harvests, sauce making, and endless tomato sandwiches. Blossom end rot can appear to put an end to the crop production by damaging the ripening and […]
4-H Recognition Night
The Fairfield County 4-H Recognition Night was held on June 4th. Congratulations to all of the 4-H members who received awards.
Metabolic Family Day
A Family Day was held for patients with metabolic disorders and their families at Rock Cats Stadium in New Britain on May 17, 2015. Sherry Gray from the UConn Extension – Hartford County coordinated the event. The event was hosted by UConn Health Center, UConn Extension and Yale New Haven Hospital and was sponsored by […]
Home Canning, Food Safety, and Botulism
Home canning, food safety, and botulism—don’t freak out, but do process safely By Diane Wright Hirsch As an Extension educator, I have been teaching folks how to can for more than thirty years. And still, what worries folks the most is botulism poisoning. While it continues to be very rare, when it does occur, it […]
Jolly Ranchers 4-H Club
The Jolly Ranchers 4-H Club of Durham celebrated Memorial Day by participating in the town parade again this year. Photos by Len Baginski.
Using a Drone for Research
UConn Extension has a Hex Coptor that we are using in agriculture and land use research. Here is a photo from a flight in early June, looking over some agriculture fields. The Hex was flying at 100 feet, on an FAA approved flight.
10 Tips for the August Gardener
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 […]