Recent Posts
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Living plants are popular as holiday gifts and decorations, but I wait until the last minute to purchase poinsettias, because they always seem to drop leaves as soon as I bring them into my house. I’ve learned a few tricks, however, that help seasonal gift and decorative plants survive through the holidays and become enduring…
Posted in: Uncategorized -
In just a few days, school will be out for the holidays and many of us will be preparing to travel to see family and friends. Growing up in a family that loved cooking (and eating!), I learned that two key ingredients are essential to a memorable holiday gathering: good food and good company. In…
Posted in: 4-H -
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States has 45 million “birders” over the age of 16. If you’ve traveled at least one mile from home to watch birds, or if you’ve spent time trying to identify birds around your home, you qualify as a birder. Eighty-seven percent of birdwatchers fall into…
Posted in: ANR -
Wednesday morning, the outside temperature was 23 degrees Fahrenheit. The furnace at my house stopped working on Sunday, so the inside temperature was 56 degrees. This was an unpleasant reminder that it’s time to do all the winterizing tasks that help keep our homes comfortable during cold weather and potential winter storms. Task 1 –…
Posted in: ANR -
Forsyth County has undergone tremendous growth and change since 1987. The completion of Georgia Highway 400 in the 1980s turned Forsyth County into a suburb of Atlanta, encouraging population growth. Along with this growth, many locals have watched the county go through significant amounts of change, including a decrease in farmland within the county. In…
Posted in: 4-H -
Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday. Family, favorite foods, fall weather, football, and a fridge full of leftovers – other than a nap on the sofa, what more do you need? Answer: a plan for safe food preparation and handling. Every year, one in six Americans comes down with a case of foodborne illness,…
Posted in: ANR -
Crape myrtles are popular ornamental trees throughout Georgia. Properly pruned, they’re elegant flowering trees with relatively few pests. In our highly mobile society, however, pests get opportunities to spread across natural barriers, like oceans. Such is the case with crape myrtle bark scale (Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae), an insect native to Asia that has invaded several southern…
Posted in: ANR -
The Georgia National Fair Livestock Shows are hosted annually in Perry, Georgia, at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter. The show ring can teach several life lessons and introduces youth to competition at a young age. Youth can begin showing certain animal breeds with 4-H when they are in first grade. Healthy competition teaches young…
Posted in: 4-H -
At the end of October, bats get a week of recognition. The timing coincides with Halloween, but we should really celebrate bats all year long. Why? Because bats are very cool, very unique, and very important to ecosystems around the world. With more than 1,300 species of bats, there’s a lot of diversity, but the…
Posted in: ANR -
Believe it or not, most households have vampires greedily drinking energy and driving up electric bills. They may look small and harmless, like that little light on the cordless tool battery recharger or the idling computer waiting to be stirred to life. But collectively, energy vampires can increase monthly household electric bills by a monstrous…
Posted in: ANR