Mary Concklin, Extension Educator – Fruit Production & IPM Proper planting of strawberries should include making sure the root system is not curled or ‘J’ planted. A study conducted in California showed an 18.5% reduction in fresh fruit yield with ‘J’ planted strawberries versus those planted correctly. If the root system is too long, you […]
Invasive Pest Month
April is Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month when USDA/APHIS highlights how invasive species affect the economy, the environment and human health. Visit Hungry Pests, available in English and Spanish, to learn more. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today proclaimed April as “Invasive Plant Pest and […]
When to Turn Under Spring Cover Crops?
by Eero Ruuttila, Sustainable Agriculture Specialist – Scaling Up Program, UConn Extension – Tolland County I heard the peepers last night for the first time this year. There have already been a couple of sunny, almost warm, spring-like weeks in my neighborhood. Recently the overwintered rye has switched its dull reddish-green color scheme to bright green. […]
UConn Study of Food Insecurity in Connecticut is New Tool to Combat Hunger
By: Sheila Foran & David Bauman for UConn Today 4/10/13 Connecticut residents generally have dependable access to food, but the picture is not all rosy. A recent U.S. Household Food Security study showed that about one in seven households in the state reported not having enough money to buy food they needed in 2011. And […]
New School Garden
Heather Pease from UCONN Hartford County Extension Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program and Food Corps member Deanna Lampo installed concrete block raised beds in the courtyard of Vance Village Elementary School in New Britain. Deanna teaches an after school garden and nutrition education class. The garden beds were built with concrete blocks that were purchased […]
4-H Work Readiness Program
Tolland County Extension partnered with EastConn on a 4-H Work Readiness program for three weeks in the summer of 2012. Two groups with fifteen students each met five days per week. The focus of the program was on garden and grounds maintenance. Students also learned to fill out applications, interview for a job, and create […]
Growing Nutrient-Dense Vegetables
Published by the University of Massachusetts Center for Agriculture Research and Extension Working to Curb Malnutrition From the Ground Up Empty calories. Depleted soil. Overproduction. By now, most Americans have heard reports that even as we’re eating more, we’re taking in fewer nutrients. Today’s ubiquitous fast foods and processed meals play a large part in […]
Salt of the Earth
Post updated 9/2025 UConn Extension’s Center for Land Use Education And Research (CLEAR) provides information, education and assistance to Connecticut’s land use decision makers, community organizations and citizens on how to better protect natural resources while accommodating economic growth. One of CLEAR’s focus areas is WATER. Learn more about CLEAR’s water resources. There are several […]
What the Heck Is Land Use Academy?
As a local land use commissioner you are faced with making decisions about how your community will grow, reviewing and approving applications for a variety of projects and balancing growth with natural resource protection. Sometimes court decisions change the rules, you receive conflicting advice, the information you have to work with is incomplete or you […]
Impacts of Hurricane Sandy to Connecticut Shoreline
By Juliana Barrett UConn’s Connecticut Sea Grant Program (CTSG) and Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) hosted a discussion of Hurricane Sandy impacts to Connecticut’s beaches and dunes on November 20, 2012. Several municipalities and private beach associations attended and provided insights into local shoreline changes. Many areas along the eastern part of […]
SNAP-Ed Program
Susan Beeman, RD of the SNAP-Ed Healthy Aging Program, and Erica Benvenuti RD of the SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education) /EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program), housed in the Norwich Extension Office participated in the holiday distributions sponsored by Groton Health & Human Services in southeastern Connecticut. They provided nutrition information and cooking […]
4-H Education Center at Auerfarm
The 124-acre 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm is located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut. Hartford entrepreneur and retailer Beatrice Auerbach deeded the farm to the CT 4-H Development Fund in 1976. Founded in the early years of the twentieth century, Auerfarm had been honored many times as a model site that included 60 […]
NEMO Monitoring Project Looks At Nitrogen Processing Through “Bioretention”
By Chet Arnold In January, CLEAR’s NEMO Program broke ground on a new monitoring project focused on the Low Impact Development (LID) practice of bioretention. Bioretention is the practice of reducing the quantity, and increasing the quality, of runoff by directing it to a depression filled with plants. This is the same concept as the more widely recognized […]
Sustainable Food Systems
UConn Extension has been adding new programs in Sustainable Food Systems over the past couple of years. Extension Educator Jiff Martin is helping to coordinate a team of talented individuals as they build these programs. “I am more of a generalist than a specialist, so for me teamwork is pretty essential to getting things done,” Jiff […]
New Rain Garden Smartphone App Helps Protect Water Quality
By: Sheila Foran, UConn Today & David Dickson, UConn Extension The Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR), a partnership between Extension and NRE in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and CT Sea Grant, has developed the Rain Garden smart phone app in Apple’s iTunes store. It is the University’s first mobile […]
Metabolic Family Day
UConn Extension Educator Sherry Gray coordinated a state-wide Metabolic Family day at Lyman Orchards on October 14, 2012. This event invited families of patients with metabolic disorders from the Genetics clinics at UConn Health Center and Yale New Haven hospital. The event included representatives from several metabolic companies including Nutricia NA, Applied Nutrition and Biomarin Pharmaceuticals. […]
CSA School: By Farmers for Farmers
UConn Extension (Jiff Martin, Jude Boucher, Joe Bonelli and Mary Concklin), the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) and CT NOFA sponsored a CSA School on November 28th, at the Middlesex County Extension Office. A total of 81 people attended the event and 49 (60%) filled out an evaluation form. Eighty percent of the participants grew […]