News Stories - Page 245

More than 300 faculty and graduate students from agricultural colleges across the nation will gather at the University of Georgia this week to learn about the latest research in teaching and mentoring students in agricultural, food and environmental sciences.

Summertime is synonymous with cooking outdoors, taking a dip in the pool and cranking up the lawn mower to begin the arduous task of caring for your home lawn. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has made the task a little easier through a few mobile apps for Georgia homeowners and green industry professionals alike.

For many Indian families, “pulse” crops – lentils and other legumes that are eaten as porridges – are essential. Not only are they an important source of protein, but these pulse crops can also grow on poor soil and produce lentils and legumes even with limited and erratic rainfall.

University of Georgia Cooperative Extension’s Walk Georgia program invites Georgians to “move more and live more” at Walker and Dade counties' Cloudland Canyon State Park on from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

State, industry and University of Georgia officials will take shovel to soil on June 24 at 2 p.m. as they officially break ground on three new turfgrass research and education facilities. The largest of the facilities will be located in Griffin on Higgins Road just west of the main parking lot, where the ceremony will take place. UGA campuses in Athens and Tifton will house additional structures.

Warm and dry conditions during most of May allowed many Georgia farmers time to get in the fields and finish planting that had been delayed by a wetter-than-normal April. The lack of rain left some areas with severe drought conditions, even at the end of the month after rains soaked most of the state.

Traditionally, Cooperative Extension has served the nation by bringing sustainable, science-based agricultural practices to farmers in rural areas. Today, in cities throughout the nation Extension agents are being called on the assist community farmers and gardeners to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, okra and even chickens on abandoned lots, church and school yards.

If you’ve driven down the road alongside an overgrown fence or forested area in north Georgia lately, you were likely overwhelmed with a combination of fragrance from wild Japanese honeysuckle and Chinese privet. Many people assume they are native because they are so common, but neither one belongs on this continent. Both originated in Asia and were introduced to North America in the 1800s for ornamental uses in landscaping.

Spread it on fresh, fluffy biscuits, stir it into a steamy cup of tea or use it to soothe a sore throat. Honey has been used for a variety of culinary and medicinal applications for centuries, and it’s still in high demand today.