What's New
NH Chronicle featuring Integrated Landscaping (Video)
An Internet WebQuest on Getting Started with Chickens
You and your family are thinking of keeping chickens in order to have a supply of fresh meat and eggs.
Got Outside Questions?
Call Us:
1-877-398-4769
Family, Home and Garden Education Center
The
Family, Home & Garden Education Center at UNH Cooperative Extension
in Manchester provides practical solutions to everyday questions for the
citizens of New Hampshire . It is staffed by professionals and intensively
trained volunteers who are available to answer your questions about gardens,
lawns and landscapes, fruits and vegetables, pest problems, household food safety and food preservation, tree planting and care, backyard livestock and more. We
offer written information, programs or referrals on family finances, nutrition,
parenting and child development, and 4-H youth development.
The center is staffed 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Wednesday evenings 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Toll free number: 1-877-EXT-GROW (1-877-398-4769) OR E-Mail your questions
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
Question of the Week ?
Q: My tomatoes are getting black spots at the blossom end. These spots enlarge, become sunken, turn black and leathery and often develop mold. What is going on?
A: Your tomatoes have blossom-end rot, caused by a lack of calcium in the developing fruits. The first-formed fruits usually are the most seriously affected. The disorder starts at the blossom end of green fruit and first appears as a dark green, water-soaked spot. It may enlarge to cover half the tomato.
Environmental or cultural factors are usually responsible for the onset of this condition. Extreme fluctuations in soil moisture and extended periods of wet weather coupled with high humidity can encourage blossom-end rot.
Rapid vine growth early in the season, often promoted by excess nitrogen fertilizer, can divert calcium from the developing fruits and bring on this condition. Poor root growth also can reduce water and calcium uptake, encouraging blossom-end rot. It can be caused by cultivating too deeply around the plant or by planting seedlings too early in the season in cold soils.
The following guidelines help prevent blossom-end rot a s well as other problems: Improve soil moisture. Maintain even soil moisture levels by applying mulch, such as black plastic, straw, or newspapers. Water regularly and deeply, avoiding frequent, shallow watering. One inch of water a week is adequate for most situations. Fertilize moderately. Maintain good overall soil nutrient levels through good fertility management and regular soil testing. Avoid excessive nitrogen fertilization. Cultivate carefully around plants to avoid damaging roots.
Got questions? UNH Cooperative Extension's Family, Home & Garden Education Center Info Line offers practical help finding answers for your lawn and garden questions. Call toll free at 1-877-EXT-GROW (1-877-398-4769) M-F, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. & W 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. OR E-Mail your questions
posted 07/23/2008
(previous questions of the week)
This Week's NH Outside
The State Bacterium
By
Suzy Martin, Master Gardener
Why not? New Hampshire has a state bird, flower, tree, mineral, gem, even an insect. Why not a bacterium?
All that is needed is a proposal to the legislature, a committee to select the potential candidates, the selection, and a photo contest. The ultimate recognition might come with all the votes cast and a species chosen, published and posted on the state Web site: a U.S Postal Service stamp bearing an image of the New Hampshire state bacterium.
(Full Story) posted 07/23/2008
Big Tree of the Month
"Flowering Dogwood
New Hampshire’s Big Tree for May”
By Anne Krantz, NH Big Tree Team
The elegant simplicity of the clear white flowers of native dogwood trees (Cornus floridia) that grow along forest edges and wooded roadsides in southern New Hampshire, brighten up dark woodland settings to create stunning natural scenery in May. The long lasting blossoms, that open just as the leaves begin to emerge, are technically four bracts or bud scales that unfold to reveal the cluster of real flowers in the center.
The state champion dogwood grows along a roadside in Amherst: 30 feet tall with 31 inch trunk circumference. The former owner of this champion tree, renowned gardener Wally Alberts and her husband Bob, discovered a group of native dogwood trees growing in the woods on their forested property. To enjoy these beautiful trees, Bob successfully moved a few from the rear of the property to the front, including the champion tree. They located it next to a stone wall near the road and Wally created a fabulous rock garden underneath. This was perfect for the tree which has obviously thrived as surrounding trees grew up providing afternoon shade. (more)
Suggested from Extension
Interactive CD on Lawn Care Available
Interested in getting a greener, healthier lawn and having fun learning how?
UNH Cooperative Extension Educator Sadie Puglisi and WWW & Media specialist Faye Cragin have teamed up to produce Integrated Pest Management for Turfgrass, an interactive CD and website about caring for grass in home lawns, as well as in municipal and commercial landscapes such as athletic fields, cemeteries, golf courses and office parks.
The CD and website offer information on the basics of integrated pest management, how grass grows, identifying and managing turf diseases, scouting for grubs, an herbicide glossary, and interactive decision tools about herbicide use. Quizzes at the end of each section will test your knowledge.
The website is available to everyone at extension.unh.edu/agric/turf/turfipm.htm. For those who don’t have Internet access, the CD comes ready with Macromedia Flash that can download onto your computer in just seconds.
CDs cost $5 each. Click here to order. Payable to UNH Cooperative Extension and mail to: UNH Cooperative Extension Publications Center, Nesmith Hall, 131 Main St., Durham, NH 03824.
These publications can be ordered on line. Click here for the order form
