Gardens

Soil Testing for Lawns and Gardens

By Dawn Pettinelli for UConn Extension Soil testing is an inexpensive, yet valuable, tool for assessing the fertility of lawn and garden areas. Test results indicate the soil’s pH level, the amounts of available plant nutrients, and the existence of nutrient imbalances, excesses or deficiencies. WHY SHOULD I HAVE MY SOIL TESTED? Soil testing eliminates […]

Mix Some Whole Grains with Local Fruits and Veggies

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator, UConn Extension Lest this article appears to be written by the food police, I confess I am a real fan of a plate of regular, white flour pasta, ciabatta bread, and, once and a while a fried bologna sandwich on good (well, maybe not so good) old […]

Looking for Volunteer Gardens in Connecticut

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 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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Volunteer Spotlight: Marcia Johnson

Teacher and 4-H Volunteer Brings Gardening, Nutrition and Fitness to Students in the Classroom and Beyond By Kim Markesich Originally published by Naturally@UConn on January 26, 2016   Twenty-eight years as an elementary school teacher has not dampened the enthusiasm of 4-H volunteer Marcia Johnson. She’s upbeat, energetic and clearly excited about teaching. Five years […]

Year of the Pulse…As in Legume Seeds

By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD Senior Extension Educator, Food Safety The 68th UN General Assembly declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations will conduct a variety of activities in support of this focus on a food product that is nutritious and sustainable. According to information on […]

FoodCorps Making an Impact

Our FoodCorps Connecticut service members are making a large impact across the state! Since September 1st: The 15 superstar service members have interacted with  6257 students!  They have harvested 355.25 lbs of produce from school or community gardens! They have worked with 545 volunteers! CT Service members have also worked with 40 farmers! What amazing numbers!!!!

Warm December Weather May Spell Trouble for Plants

By Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home & Garden Education Center   Usually this time of year the UConn Home & Garden Education Center is flooded with calls about the care of holiday plants. Not so this year. Instead many of the calls have been about the unusual plant behavior Connecticut residents are noticing in their gardens […]

Cross Pollination Adventure for Hartford County 4-H

By Stacey Stearns Hartford County 4-H members will have the unique opportunity to participate in a Cross Pollination Adventure this summer. They will partner with a Costa Rican outdoor education center as part of a Cooperative International Learning Experience. UConn Extension has partnered with CIRENAS (Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales y Sociales) in Costa […]

10 Tips for the December Gardener

Check for spider mites on houseplants by misting plants. If mites are present you will see water droplets clinging to the mite’s webbing. Control them by misting daily to keep humidity high after giving them a thorough drenching in the sink. Store your opened bags of fertilizer in a sealed plastic bag or plastic waterproof […]

Fermentation: Preservation with Benefits

By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD Senior Extension Educator – Food Safety Believe it or not, winter is coming. This is a good time to think about preserving some of the vegetables that you may find in your cold cellar or at the fall farmers’ market. Cabbage, of course, but really, that is just the […]

Sustainable & Climate Smart Agriculture

The White House recognized UConn Extension educator Jiff Martin as a Champion of Change for Sustainable and Climate Smart Agriculture in October. The program features individuals who are doing extraordinary things to inspire and empower members of their communities, Martin was one of 12 individuals from across the country selected for this honor. Jiff reflected […]

Pledge to go 10% Local

​ The Live Local! App invites consumers to discover and experience Connecticut’s local food and agriculture. Take the pledge to spend ten percent of your food and gardening dollars on locally grown products. With the Live Local! App you can: Find out the season’s top ten Get the lowdown on food and farm events Share […]

Meet German Cutz

Dr. German Cutz is an Associate Extension Educator for Sustainable Families and Communities with a statewide appointment for UConn Extension. Dr. Cutz develops, conducts, and evaluates Extension outreach education programs. He is fully bilingual (English and Spanish) with more than 20 years experience working in community development in both developing and developed countries. In addition, […]

Pumpkin Season

Not only is it pumpkin flavor season….it’s real pumpkin season By:     Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH, RD             Senior Extension Educator/Food   Pumpkin flavored lattes, candy, breads, donuts…just about everything seems to be available in the pumpkin variety at this time of year. But what if you are craving the real thing? Yes, the flavor […]

Is Home Vacuum Packaging a Safe Way to Preserve Food?

By: Diane Wright Hirsch, Extension Educator/Food Safety   Whether you are someone who wants to store away a cache of food in case of an emergency or weather disaster or if you simply want to preserve some green beans from your garden or freeze some chicken from the farmers’ market, you may have considered purchasing […]

New Greenhouse Teaches Science of Gardening

New Greenhouse helps 4-H Center at Auerfarm Teach Youth the Science of Gardening By Sarah Bailey, Master Gardener Coordinator, Hartford County Extension Center   Winter may have been unusually cold and long this year, but there was a sunny and green oasis at the 4-H Center at Auerfarm. Spinach and herbs grew throughout the winter, […]

International Experience at Auerfarm

UConn Students from UConn’s Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Social Entrepreneurship and participants from either North or Sub-Saharan Africa came out to 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm camp in July. After a morning in the garden, everyone ended up in the shade sharing information about themselves and showing the campers where they came […]

Post-Harvest Handling Workshop

In June, UConn Extension hosted a Small-Scale, Low-Cost Facility Design for Post-Harvest Handling, with Robert Hadad, Cornell Cooperative Extension Vegetable Specialist.  Connecticut and Rhode Island farmers from smaller fruit and vegetable operations learned low-cost ways to address food safety of fresh produce through cooling, washing, use of sanitizers and packing area sanitation. Robert is shown with his […]

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 […]

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 […]