The 2013 school year in Connecticut is turning out to be an interesting one. In New London, a giant apple showed up to a cafeteria to hand out apple chips, apple cider, and applesauce from apples donated by Palazzi Orchard in Killingly. At North Windham Elementary, 4th and 5th graders were seen standing outside on a […]
America Saves Week 2014
America Saves Week 2013 Campaign Led by UConn Extension America Saves Week (ASW) is an opportunity individuals and families to assess and improve their own savings status as well as a special time for organizations to promote good savings behavior. Nationally, it is coordinated by the Consumer Federation of America and the American Savings Education […]
Gift-Giving Simplified and Easy on the Wallet
As the holidays approach, are you concerned about keeping spending on gift giving in line with your other financial responsibilities? As this is a time when many people may be facing the same concern, it’s a good time to rethink your holiday gift purchasing habits. Here are ten ideas for gift giving that celebrates the […]
Vexing Voles
I’ve always rather liked most rodents. There’s a shy rabbit that we see in the back yard at times and sometimes I find a white-footed mouse or two in the garden shed or in a birdhouse. As both a child and a mom, I was charged with taking care of several guinea pigs and found […]
Talking Turkey
Tips for an unstuffed Thanksgiving: Eat breakfast and a light lunch if you are eating later, to ward off uncontrolled hunger. Have a plan. If you have been working on improving your eating habits, think of your meal just like any other. Use a small plate and take small portions. Be mindful of what you […]
10 Water Conservation Tips
Even with yesterday’s rain, it will take a while for water levels to catch up. There are many small steps we can all take to conserve water in our homes. UConn Extension has these ten tips for your lawn and garden. Take shorter showers Run dishwashers and washing machines with full loads Use water only […]
Demystifying the Annual Rites of Turkey
Preparing a Thanksgiving turkey—whether it’s your very first or you are a (poultry) seasoned veteran—can be scary. There are so many ways to prepare a turkey. Brining and deep frying have become popular lately, but many still prefer a simple, old fashioned, golden roasted turkey. Buy/store your turkey Whether you buy a locally produced fresh […]
Extension Assists with 1st CT Grown Forest
UConn Extension Educator Tom Worthley recently assisted the Crescent Lake Recreation area in Southington to become the first Connecticut Grown Forest. The Hartford Courant wrote about the work being done at Crescent Lake.
Connecticut Food Justice Youth Corps
The Connecticut Food Justice Youth Corps (CTFJYC) is a team of five AmeriCorps VISTA’s increasing the collaboration and coherence of non-profits working the field of Food Justice. The strength of this collaboration begins and ends with an understanding of what each of these separate organizations seek to create: a community movement, driven by youth, to […]
Congratulations Dr. Bull!
UConn Extension is proud to congratulate Dr. Nancy Bull on her recent induction into the National 4-H Hall of Fame. Dr. Bull has been an integral part of UConn Extension and Connecticut 4-H for many years.
Spooky Science
UConn 4-H hosts Spooky Science activities at Community Event In Griswold More than 100 kids and their families stopped by the UConn 4-H booth at the Spooktopia day at Veterans Memorial Park in Griswold, CT on Saturday, October 26th to learn a bit of Spooky Science from 4-H STEM educator Marc Cournoyer. Dressed as a mad scientist […]
10 Tips for the November Gardener
1. Be sure not to store apples or pears with vegetables. The fruits give off ethylene gas which speeds up the breakdown of vegetables and will cause them to develop a strange taste. 2. Bring out the bird feeders and stock them with bird seed for the birds. Remember to provide fresh water for them […]
Hartford Job Corps Learns about FoodChoice
UConn Extension’s Heather Pease did a Food Day Photovoice Project on October 24th with Dr. Debarchana Ghosh from the Geography department at UConn as part of Extension’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. The program was conducted at the Hartford Job Corps program and is the second Photovoice project the team has completed for Hartford […]
Fall Scenes
UConn Extension’s Jude Boucher, who specializes in Integrated Pest Management in Vegetable Crops took these pictures. The pumpkins are a Hijinks variety that are a past winner in the All-America Seed Trials. The tomatoes are packaged and ready for sale at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford. We also had a chance to enjoy some fall […]
Praying Mantis
Our Tolland County Extension office has had a lot of praying mantis in the gardens this year. Three more egg cases were found earlier this fall. Each case takes about five months to hatch, waiting for a few weeks of warmer weather, when they sense “summer.” The cases can hold anywhere from 100-200 tiny Mantises. […]
Fall Foliage Color: How it Happens!
Fall in New England. Even those of us who have lived here for years or grown up here look forward to the annual brilliant display of color. The duration and intensity of color and even the proportion of reds vs. yellows changes from one year to the next. What are the factors that initiate and […]
Will Halloween Be Ruined Again?
“Dad, is Halloween going to be cancelled again this year because of the weather?” It’s not a pleasant thought for kids dreaming of bags full of candy. Well, we are approaching the end of October, and for those of us who have been in Connecticut for the past few years, it seems appropriate to discuss […]
Danbury 4th Graders & Root Vegetables
“1…2…3…crunch!,”was the sound of children at Morris Street school in Danbury as the 4th graders bit into a fresh crispy radish slice followed by a soft sweet sliced beet. Students enthusiastically described the colors, tastes and textures of the root veggies as they explored new flavors this Fall at the Farmers Market. Heather Peracchio, Registered […]
UConn Extension and Next Gen
UConn Extension’s Joel Stocker visited with Governor Malloy yesterday at UConn’s Next Generation Connecticut Event.
4-H Mentor Memos
Fairfield County 4-H offers the following recommendations to adults who mentor youth. What are ways we can capture that spark that leads to a successful future? Mentoring adults need to take this information and capture a way to spark the teens we lead, to engage them in something they enjoy and want to learn about. […]
2013 Green Pastures’ Dairy Farm of the Year for Connecticut
The Green Pastures Award judging team visited three Connecticut farms on Friday, September 13, 2013 before making their decision to choose Arethusa Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut as the 2013 Dairy Farm of the Year. The annual award is presented at the Big E Green Pastures’ banquet where each New England state presents their winning farm. […]
Smartphones and GPS
by David Dickson Smartphones are the swiss army knife of the digital world. They have replaced countless single-function gadgets from calculators to cameras to pagers to, um, phones! But for mapping geeks, one of the gadgets they have not quite been able to shake is the handheld GPS unit—at least until now. The Geospatial Training Program […]
Fall is for Puffballs
Fall is the best time of year to go mushroom and fungus hunting. Among those you’ll find are different types of puffball. The fungi commonly referred to as puffballs fall mostly into three genera, Calvatia, Calbovista and Lycoperdon. When young and before spores begin to form inside, the flesh of a puffball is white and uniform, […]
10 Tips for the October Gardener
1. Use dried herbs to make fragrant fall wreaths and dried flower arrangements. 2. Pick bagworms from evergreen shrubs to eliminate the spring hatch from over-wintered eggs. 3. Cut down stems and foliage of herbaceous perennials after two or three hard frosts or when leaves begin to brown. 4. Squash and pumpkins should be harvested […]
Mulch Volcanoes: A Growing Problem
UConn Extension has noticed a growing problem in Connecticut landscapes – tree volcanoes. A tree volcano occurs when mulch is piled around the base of the tree and climbs up the trunk. The shape of the mulch resembles a cone or a volcano. Mulch volcanoes waste money and damage trees. Mulch is useful at the […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 8
Saturday, 8/24/2013 This week has gone by so fast; it’s my last day in Colombia. It has been an awesome opportunity, where I have learned about myself, the Colombian government, culture, nutrition views, entrepreneurship, and where partnerships can begin. I made my last trip to the University of San Buenaventura. Today, the outreach office offered […]
Learning Sustainability with Extension Forestry Program
Tom Worthley of UConn Extension’s Forestry Program spent Tuesday, October 1st at Crescent Lake in Southington teaching agricultural education students from Southington High School about forestry management. Crescent Lake has experienced problems with the invasive insect emerald ash borer. Worthley felled a damaged ash tree on Tuesday and used a portable sawmill to make lumber. […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 6 & 7
Thursday, 8/22/2013 Today I got to visit la Universidad de San Buenaventura Cali, where Ginna received her degree. I could see Ginna’s pride while she gave me the tour, along with a colleague. The campus was environmentally friendly; it was surrounded by beautiful natural landscapes. I had the opportunity to present to a group of 30 […]
Praying Mantis
As summer winds down, pay close attention to your garden and other areas of woods and open space – you might see a Praying Mantis. We have had several of these at the Tolland County Extension Center lately. The European praying mantis is found throughout the state and is also the state insect. They are […]
Buy Local
Senator Richard Blumenthal learns the 10% pledge at the Live Green Connecticut family festival in Norwalk on Sunday, September 15th. The Buy 10% campaign asks residents to spend 10% of their food and gardening dollars to locally grown produce. Find out more and take the pledge at buyctgrown.com – a partnership between UConn Extension and Cityseed.
Fall Soil Testing
Fall is the best time of year for testing your garden or lawn soil. Limestone and organic amendments can be mixed into the soil now, as they need time to breakdown and be incorporated into the soil. Come spring, only a planting fertilizer will be needed and you will have the recommendations in hand. Plus, […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 5
Wednesday 8/21/2013 Ginna works as mentor to entrepreneur students at ICESI University. Every year ICESI hosts a competition for entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses’ plans. The winner has the opportunity to showcase his or her business at the national level. The presentations I viewed were very impressive; all of the business plans and concepts were […]
Where are the Monarchs?
By Pamm Cooper Most people who are butterfly aficionados have noticed that the Monarchs are few and far between this year. I have only seen two all year, and I am always out and about on power lines, in meadows, and walking trails where there is plenty of milkweed for the caterpillars to eat and […]
8 More Tips for the September Gardener
1. Now is the time to de-thatch and aerate lawns to promote root growth if necessary. 2. Remove and compost spent annuals and fallen leaves. 3. If frost threatens, bring houseplants indoors. Keep in mind that Sept. 16- 22 is National Indoor Plant Week! 4. Pot up or propagate herbs to bring indoors for winter […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 4
Tuesday 8/20/2013 Today I visited Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali, where I met with the director of the university’s social responsibility office. During this meeting, I learned about current programs established to target social issues in different communities throughout Cali. A two-week program has been created in collaboration with Gonzaga University (Washington) to focus on production of agriculture […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 3
Monday 8/19/2013 The day has finally arrived; I was able to visit the San Jorge community. San Jorge is a community composed of displaced families. The community is comprised of 400 peoples, 125 being youth of diverse ages. Ginna has been working with this community to empower the women and children economically. There are three lines to […]
A New Pear Disease in Connecticut
By Joan Allen Pear trellis rust is a new disease of pear and juniper in Connecticut this season. The fungus that causes pear trellis rust is Gymnosporangium sabinae. It requires two unrelated host plants, pear and juniper, to complete its life cycle. This disease is common in Europe and has been present for some time […]
10 Tips for the September Gardener
Mid to late September is a great time to plant accent plants, like mums and asters, that will provide autumn colors in the landscape. Rake up leaves, twigs, and fruit from crabapple trees and throw them in the garbage to help control apple scab disease. Wood ashes contain potassium and calcium and can be used […]
Rineicha Otero in Colombia – Day 2
Sunday 8/18/2013 I wake to find another gorgeous day in Cali. The clear skies and fresh air made it for a great day to have a walking tour. Ginna and I walk over to a near by lake known as Humedal El Cisne La Babilla Tomasa, where you can sit and feed the ducks or […]
5 Tips for a Successful Home Canning Season
Start with a research-tested recipe. Just because a recipe is in print, doesn’t mean it’s safe for you and your family. Start with a recipe that has been tested to make sure that the product is safe and high quality. A great place to begin is with the recipes from the National Center for Home […]