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Extension Express 

Summer 2023

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Flooding Resources

Find Resources for Farms and Homes

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Plant Clinics

Master Gardeners in the Community

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Upcoming Events

Join Us At An Event In Your Community

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Extension Interns

In Action Statewide

Meet our Interns

Welcoming New Team Members

Summer is in full swing, and our UConn Extension programs are actively serving your community. We are excited to welcome many new educators to our team. Some of these new hires have replaced retiring educators, while others are strategically focused on critical issues and challenges facing Connecticut.

Visit our Land Use Planning, Expanded Food and Nutrition Education, Sea Grant, 4-H, and Agriculture programs to meet just a few of our new educators. We also have several searches open and look forward to welcoming additional educators in the coming months.

New team members include:

  • Renata Bertotti, Land Use Planning
  • Talia Clarke, Sustainable Food Systems
  • Sarah Schechter, Sea Grant
  • Bonnie Kegler, UConn 4-H Windham County

We also have several team members starting later this summer:

  • New Haven County EFNEP Program Assistant
  • Fairfield County EFNEP Assistant
  • Sea Grant Resilience Educator
  • Sea Grant/Long Island Sound Study Outreach Coordinator

We invite you to join us at a UConn Extension program this summer. You can also reach out anytime and ask us a question.

Flooding Resources Available

Support and Information for Agricultural Producers, Residents, and Municipalities

Many of our communities are affected by the statewide flooding from the Connecticut River after heavy rains in New York and Vermont. There is more rain expected this weekend, and flooding conditions may continue. UConn Extension has the following resources to support agricultural producers, consumers, residents, and others affected. These include information on how agricultural producers can report crop losses, consumer information, and Extension resources for municipalities. We encourage everyone to stay safe and be proactive. Learn more at the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN).

Master Gardener Plant Clinic at the Darien Library

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Above (left to right): Betsy Bilus, Susan Vogel, and Joanne Gabriel. Photo: Betsy Barosky

The Master Gardener program offers a Plant Clinic at the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford, one of our program locations. Pat Carroll, Coordinator for the Bartlett Arboretum location, wanted to extend their reach since we have Master Gardeners and clients who live in communities ranging from Greenwich to Fairfield and as far north as Ridgefield and Redding.    

Pat met with Joanne Gabriel who is both a Master Gardener and a Darien Library employee. “Joanne shared my enthusiasm of offering Plant Clinic at the library. We decided to run a trial of eight sessions on consecutive Friday mornings in May and June,” she said.

They met with a small group of Master Gardeners to determine the necessary materials, a topic of the day for each session, and a plan for handing off cases that require further research.

“There was a lot of enthusiasm and positive outreach each Friday we were set up at Darien Library,” Joanne says. “Sometimes we had plant cases, sometimes we just talked gardening, garden design, or hot topics. Each week there was a different theme for patrons to learn something new about. Finally, it was a great way for Master Gardeners to socialize, talk and learn from each other, something I think that was lost a bit during COVID.”

The Plant Clinic provided information, pamphlets, live demonstrations, and samples. There are discussions to continue offering some programming for the community in conjunction with the Darien Library. Learn more about the program at s.uconn.edu/gardener.