By: Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Extension Educator/Food Safety Over the weekend, before the most recent snow, I looked out my kitchen window to see my dog squatting over the chive patch in our vegetable garden. It was too late to stop him. I spend a lot of time with Connecticut farmers, talking about producing […]
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Garden Master Classes Available
Garden Master Classes are offered through the UConn Extension Master Gardener Program. For Certified Master Gardeners they provide continuing education as part of the Advanced Master Gardener certification process. These classes are also open to the general public. Anyone with an interest in gardening and horticulture is welcome! The UConn Extension Master Gardener Program is […]
Join Us at the CT Flower & Garden Show
FREE Soil Testing and Gardening Advice at the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, February 22 – 25, 2018 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. The University of Connecticut Soil Testing Laboratory will offer free soil pH testing each day of the show. Bring in ½ cup of soil and we will test it and […]
New London County Master Gardener Signature Projects 2017
Master Gardener Signature Projects 2017 Camp Harkness for the Handicapped, Waterford. People with disabilities spend time at the Camp during the summer months. Master Gardeners assist the clients with gardening activities and maintain the wheelchair accessible plants. In the winter, they work with seniors in the greenhouse. This project has been ongoing for a long […]
Cold Storage: A Sustainable Way to Preserve the Harvest
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety A young couple I know if looking to buy their first house. She prefers older homes with character, he wants space for a big garden. They came upon an older home with a dirt basement floor….I immediately thought that it might be a good candidate for a […]
Windham Master Gardener Program
By John Lorusso We have had a great year educating our new crop of Master Gardeners in Brooklyn this year. The group began classes in the dead of winter in January and have been diligently working on their plant identification and diagnostic abilities all summer. In addition to those actions, they have been very busy […]
Join the Big Bug Hunt to Beat Garden Pests
Major citizen science project tracks garden bugs to identify when and how they spread Key points The Big Bug Hunt is an international research project to track when and how garden bugs spread. Participants are helping to create a pest-alert system that will warn gardeners when pests are heading their way. Anyone can take part […]
Getting Ready for Home Preservation Season
By Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator/Food Safety As the end of June looms, back yard gardeners and farmers alike are beginning to see the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. Already we are enjoying locally grown spinach, lettuces, herbs and other greens, peas, and perhaps locally grown broccoli and cabbage. Asparagus season is over, […]
Going Back to Your Roots, or Tubers
Going back to your roots…or tubers…or bulbs…or corms Diane Wright Hirsch, MPH Senior Extension Educator Corms? What are corms? This time of year, those of us who make an attempt to eat seasonally, “root” vegetables are a mainstay. Though most are available year round, roots are something that you can continue to find at […]
CYFAR Summer Experience at Auerfarm
By Sherry Gray The Auerfarm is a 4-H Education Center with 120 acres located in the northwest section of Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Farm was deeded to the non-profit Connecticut 4–H Development Fund in 1976; however; has a rich history dating back to the early years of the 20th Century. The farm served as a model […]
Auerfarm: Growing Opportunities
The 120-acre 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm is a private, non-profit education center located in Bloomfield. Over 15,000 students and family members participate in year-round 4-H curriculum-based school science programs, animal clubs, and Junior Master Gardening projects annually. Hartford entrepreneur and retailer Beatrice Fox Auerbach and her husband purchased the farm in 1925. Beatrice took […]
Deadline Extended – Become a UConn Extension Master Gardener
UConn Extension is accepting applications for the 2017 Master Gardener Program. Master Gardener interns receive horticultural training from UConn, and then share knowledge with the public through community volunteering and outreach efforts. Enrollment in the UConn Extension Master Gardener program is limited and competitive. “Gardening and the study of it is something we can do […]
Tips for Donating Extra Garden Produce
Many of you are growing your own food this summer at home or in a community garden. Do you have an abundance of vegetables – more than you and your family can consume? Here are some tips from Maine Extension on donating your extra produce: Home Gardeners Growing extra food in your own garden, or […]
10 Tips for the February Gardener
Visit our booth at the 2016 CT Flower & Garden Show in Hartford, February 18th to 21st. Bring ½ cup of soil for a free pH test and your garden questions for free advice. Turn the compost pile during any stretches of mild weather. Surprise your favorite relative or friend with a floral […]
Saving Digitalis Seeds
Learn how to save seeds from your Digitalis with our UConn Extension Master Gardener program volunteers from Fairfield County.
10 Tips for the November Gardener
Drain hoses and sprayers before cold weather sets in to prevent them from freezing and bursting. Wait to spread winter mulch until after the ground has frozen. Mulching beforehand can delay dormancy and makes a good home for voles. Do not store apples or pears with vegetables. The fruits give off ethylene gas which speeds […]
Squash Problems Gone Wild
Squash Problems Gone Wild, Or yes, Scouting in the Garden Matters By Joan Allen This week’s blog photo is from my vegetable garden. I give lectures on the fundamentals of integrated pest management (IPM) and one of the first practices on the list is to scout or monitor your garden or field frequently to catch problems […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Season for Strawberries
Photo and article by Susan Pelton for UConn Extension We moved into our home in December of 1996 and by June of 1997 I had broken through the sod, tilled the soil, fenced in an area, and planted a new garden. One of the first additions to that garden was a strawberry bed. Even […]
10 Tips for the May Gardener
Thin or compacted turf will benefit from core aeration and over-seeding. Keep new seed moist until germination. Remove spent blooms on tulips, daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs to focus its energy on growing new bulbs rather than producing seeds. Plant tomatoes, peppers and melons after the danger of frost is past and the soil […]
10 Tips for the April Gardener
Purchase onion sets for planting and set 1 inch deep and 4 to 5 inches apart when soil can be worked. Early spring is a great time to spot spray or hand-dig dandelions. If spraying, choose a product that won’t kill grass. If digging, wait until after a rain, when soil is soft. Apply […]
Winter Vole Damage to Trees and Plants
By Joan Allen for UConn Extension A lot of snow cover during the winter can be both good and bad. Good because it’s beautiful and nice for winter sports. It also insulates overwintering perennial roots from temperature fluctuations and extremes. One of the negative impacts is that the snow provides cover for the activity […]
Connecticut Seeds for Connecticut Gardens
Photo and Article By Dawn Pettinelli About now, many of us gardeners have a stack of seed catalogs several inches high and have started combing through them acquiring all kinds of ideas and a long wish list. Before finalizing you orders, spend a bit of time going through any leftover seeds from the previous year. […]
10 Tips for the February Gardener
Visit our booth at the 2015 CT Flower and Garden Show, February 19th-22nd, at the Connecticut Convention Center. Bring ½ cup of soil for a free pH test and your gardening questions for free advice. Provide houseplants with increased humidity by misting often or placing plants over a tray of moist pebbles. Clean the leaves […]
10 Tips for the October Gardener
Prepare houseplants to come inside before the first frost. Scout for insects and rinse foliage and containers. Pot up tulips, hyacinths and other pre-chilled bulbs and store in a cool, dark place until ready to force. To begin pre-bloom dormancy for amaryllis, stop watering it and place in a cool, dark place. Pot up some […]
Barnum School Garden
The Barnum School 4-H Garden Club in Bridgeport built a compost bin for their garden:
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 […]