Cooperative Extension - News

Community Tree Farm Field Day Set for June 1 in Durham

tly2 — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:02:21 +0000

05/15/2013 - 1:02pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2013

Community Tree Farm Field Day Set for June 1 in Durham

Walk and Talk Your Way through an Award-Winning Working Forest

DURHAM, N.H. — UNH Cooperative Extension and the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture invites the public to a Community Tree Farm Field Day on June 1 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. in the UNH woodlands in Durham. The field day will feature long and short tours, demonstrations, lectures, and lunch.

“It’s a great opportunity to experience these working forests,” says forester Steve Eisenhaure, land use coordinator in the UNH Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas.

Experts from UNH, UNH Cooperative Extension, and the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands will guide participants through the inner workings of several field sites, including a three-acre insectary where beetles that feed on the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid will be raised as a biological control; a New England cottontail habitat tract; a woodlot that supplies bedding for UNH Organic Dairy cows; a timber harvest area where researchers are testing controls for invasive buckthorn, and the renowned College Woods—a 250-acre parcel and popular recreation area with more than 10 miles of recreational trails, some of which are universally accessible.

Field day begins at 9:00 a.m. At 10:00 a.m., participants will have the option of joining a long tour to the insectary and cottontail habitat sites or short tours to the bedding woodlot and buckthorn sites. After lunch at UNH Holloway Commons, participants will take a guided tour through College Woods.

The 3,800-acre UNH woodlands comprise multiple parcels, with about half of the total acreage in Durham and about half in Carroll County. They serve as teaching grounds, research grounds, and recreation areas. In 2012, the New Hampshire Tree Farm Committee recognized UNH woodlands as the Outstanding Community Tree Farm of the year for its exemplary management and stewardship.

“The UNH woodlands are some of our state’s most actively managed forests,” says UNH Cooperative Extension forester and member of the New Hampshire Tree Farm committee Andrew Fast, adding that field day participants will learn why that is and will get a look at research that will ultimately have an impact on the state and its citizens. “These forests are a working laboratory,” says Fast.

The $18.00 registration fee includes lunch at UNH Holloway Commons. Register online at http://bit.ly/13YNvGl. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/15MxXJY.

About the UNH Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas
The University of New Hampshire Office of Woodlands and Natural Areas manages the University's woodlands for the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture and the NH Agriculture Experiment Station in support of the University's mission to provide areas for educational purposes, research opportunities, and public benefit for the students and citizens of New Hampshire and beyond. www.colsa.unh.edu/woodlands

About UNH Cooperative Extension
UNH Cooperative Extension puts trusted information and practical know-how in the hands of New Hampshire citizens and organizations. UNH Cooperative Extension is at work in every New Hampshire county, making the state’s critical industries stronger; developing vibrant communities and municipal leaders, and fostering healthy families and an informed and engaged citizenry. Celebrating 100 years in 2014
www.extension.unh.edu @UNHExtension

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Forest resources

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invasives

Yellow Rattle

ksy37 — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:40:53 +0000

05/14/2013 - 2:40pm

Have You Seen This Plant?

By Heather Bryant, Regional Field Specialist, Food and Agriculture

Nearly three years ago, I got a call from a farm with a hayfield weed problem that seemed to be spreading. So, I grabbed my favorite weed reference book and went out to take a look. It turned out to be a bit more complicated than I originally thought. I had never seen the plant before and it was not in my trusty book. Nor was it in any of the other three reference books on weeds I had back in the office. Without a name for the weed, trying to search for it on the internet was time consuming and not generally fruitful. So I emailed the pictures to my colleague Steve Turaj, in Coos County – he has a reputation within the organization as being the go to guy on weeds. And he came through – Yellow rattle.

Yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor, is not native, but it has actually been in New England for a long time; at least as far back as 1924, according to one of Steve’s reference books, “Vascular Flora of Coos County”. For some reason about 5-6 years ago farmers and landowners who don’t remember seeing it before, started finding it. In a few fields, like the one I visited, it seems to be spreading. To date, it’s been found along both sides of the Connecticut River, and in six New Hampshire counties.

Yellow rattle is a hemi-parasitic annual plant. This means it can meet its own needs with photosynthesis, and it can also gain nutrients by invading the roots of other plants, particularly grasses. It flowers in late May, early June, and then propagates by seed which can survive in the soil for 3 years (Magda, 2004). It has toothed, opposite leaves, and yellow flowers that look a bit like snap dragons (see photo).

While we’ve found no North American references that say yellow rattle is toxic to livestock. Steve did find references from Europe, where yellow rattle is more common, that say it contains glycosides which can be toxic in the right quantities. I have heard from one farm that their horses spit it out.

Yellow rattle seems more common in fields where early cutting isn’t an option, either because the field is being managed for baled hay, or because it stays wet late into the spring, delaying mowing. It first shows up on the edges of fields or in disturbed areas, and seems to be most common in fields with orchard grass and timothy. Yellow rattle populations decreased in two heavily infested fields in Strafford County after application of wood ash, but it is not known if that was due to the impact on pH, or the potassium, or some other factor (Eaton, 2013).

There are no herbicides registered for use on yellow rattle, so for the time being, the best management strategies we can offer are cultural. Where feasible, early mowing, after the weed has started to flower, but before it sets seeds, will help. So will cleaning equipment before moving from one field to another. Testing your soil and maintaining pH and potassium at the recommended levels will also help because it gives the grasses a competitive advantage. Yellow rattle seems to like orchard grass and timothy which are bunched grass species, so when reseeding, consider sod forming species like bromegrass.

If yellow rattle is causing headaches in your hayfields or you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 603-787-6944 or heather.bryant@unh.edu

The information in this article was compiled using two newspaper articles written by Steve Turaj and the following resources:

- Eaton, Alan, 2013. Yellow Rattle (http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource002756_Rep4057.pdf)

- Magda, Dura, Theau 2004. Defining Management Rules for Grasslands using Weed Deomgraphic Characteristics. Weed Science 52:339-345.

___________________________________
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. University of New Hampshire, U.S. Department of Agriculture and N.H. counties cooperating.

For more information view our Yellow Rattle fact sheet.

Photo: Yellow rattle: Note the air filled bladders, yellow flowers, and saw-toothed leaves growing opposite each other. As the flowers begin to dry, the seeds inside the bladders will rattle in the wind, hence the name.

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Grafton

UNH Cooperative Extension Awards Nine Grants to Program Teams

hyp — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:06:19 +0000

05/13/2013 - 2:06pm

UNH Cooperative Extension awarded nine mini-grants to program teams, funded through Extension’s first fundraising campaign.

The initiatives that received funding address creative ways of meeting the goals of UNH Cooperative Extension’s ReExtension plan. This plan outlines innovative approaches related to issues-based programming, use of technology, alternative revenue generation, new funding partnerships with counties, specialization of field staff, and increased engagement with UNH faculty.

The following teams received funding:

Community Coalition Work: An Emerging Community of Practice—training for Extension staff who work with coalitions on how to evaluate outcomes and establish a baseline inventory of Extension’s coalition work. The $1,500 mini-grant will support trainings on evaluation tools. The proposal was submitted by Extension field specialists Thom Linehan, Sue Cagle and Mark Wiley.

E-Tutorial Series: Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses—purchasing software and equipment to develop e-learning materials. The $600 proposal was submitted by Extension Field Specialist Kelly McAdam.

Interdisciplinary Proposal to Reach Stakeholders through Multimedia—purchasing a high definition camcorder, video editing software, and providing training to reach stakeholders through innovative multimedia efforts. The $500 proposal was submitted by Extension Field Specialist and Hillsborough County Office Administrator Dan Reidy and Hillsborough County staff.

4-H and Nutrition Connection—purchasing food supplies for cooking demonstrations for limited and non-limited income audiences. The $1,000 proposal, submitted by Extension Field Specialist Deb Luppold, also will provide meals.

Youth leadership/youth voice—funding three leadership symposiums for teen leaders from across the state. The $2,400 proposal was submitted by Extension Field Specialist Rick Alleva.

4-H Animal Science Program—purchasing an iPad for a pilot project to help manage field-based youth and family Extension events. The $800 proposal was submitted by Extension Program Coordinator Rhiannon Beauregard.

Education Center and Master Gardener Programs—a grant to purchase volunteer management software to provide a tool to efficiently schedule, manage, and track volunteer efforts. The $2,700 was submitted by Extension Program Coordinator Marcy Stanton.

Natural Resource program teams—employing new digital technologies to enhance public participation and outreach programming efforts. The $2,000 grant will be used to purchase two iPad minis for workshops or individual use. The emphasis will be to explore use for hands-on training or group collection of field data. The proposal was submitted by Extension Field Specialist Amanda Stone, with input from Chris Keeley, Shane Bradt, and Matt Tarr.

Market Analysis Education—funds will bring a marketing expert, Bridge Behe, to work with farmers and Extension staff. The presentation will be filmed and posted on Extension’s YouTube channel and website. This proposal, submitted by Seth Wilner and Brian Krug, received $790.

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Awards

Brown Marmorated Stinkbug now in 11 New Hampshire communities

tly2 — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:58:39 +0000

05/13/2013 - 10:58am

The emerald ash borer has been getting a lot of press since it was detected in New Hampshire in late March. It’s a big deal. The EAB kills true ash trees within three to five years of infestation, and six percent of our state’s northern forests are ash. State officials are eager to prevent or at least slow the spread of EAB for good reason. A quarantine on ash and ash materials in Merrimack County remains in effect, and the firewood quarantine that has been in place for two years also persists.

While the EAB has, deservedly, been capturing most of the attention of late, another bug has been expanding its presence in our state. It's neither green nor as destructive as the emerald ash borer, but the invasive brown marmorated stinkbug has been confirmed in 11 New Hampshire communities: Chichester, Concord, Dover, Durham, Greenland, Nashua, Newington, Newport, Portsmouth, Rochester, and Stratham.

UNH Cooperative Extension entomologist Alan Eaton says New Hampshire is probably years away from experiencing significant agricultural damage from this bug, but it has damaged apples at a southwestern Massachusetts orchard. Researchers are experimenting with monitoring techniques and lures.

Read more from in the April 3 edition of the NH Integrated Pest Management Newsletter.

Get to know the brown marmorated stinkbug.

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News

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Insects

invasives

Discover & Learn 4-H Club Brings Food to the Table

jai796 — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:55:05 +0000

05/10/2013 - 1:55pm

The Discover & Learn 4-H club of Strafford, NH is helping put food on the table this growing season by creating a loan-out bucket garden program. After developing a project with 4-H youth, local club leader Indra Edmonds successfully applied for a $250 grant from GenerationOn’s What Will You Bring to the Table grant program to help alleviate food insecurity. With help from Lowe’s Garden Center in Rochester, Barrington Food Pantry and the Strafford Hill Library, the 4-H group devised a take-home bucket garden program which will debut this spring. Families who sign up through the Barrington Food Pantry or Strafford Hill Library will take home their very own tomato plant in a specially constructed bucket. Bucket gardens will include care and harvest instructions, tasty recipes and a “plant 911” hotline! Approximately 20 families will be served by this anti-hunger initiative.

4-H’ers developed the bucket-to-table concept by learning from past obstacles. In previous years, the club had tried to grow vegetables to donate to the food pantry. Unfortunately, they found that by the time they pulled themselves away from Bow Lake, their veggies were often past their peak ripeness. The youth decided that creating a take-home garden bucket would allow for families to learn new skills in the garden, keep vegetables fresh, and maybe even give 4-H’ers more time at the Lake.

4-H is the positive youth development program of UNH Cooperative Extension. The mission of 4-H is to help youth acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes to enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. A core principle of 4-H includes engaging in service activities for the betterment of one’s community. For more information about joining 4-H in Strafford County, please contact Program Coordinator Jillian Hall at jillian.hall@unh.edu or 603-516-8112.

The mini-grant was awarded by GenerationOn, which is a global youth service movement providing tools and resources to youth, families and educators to help kids change the world and themselves through service. The What Will You Bring to the Table initiative is a mini-grant program funded by GenerationOn and directed at alleviating childhood hunger in the US.

Discover & Learn made a video about their project, which can be viewed by clicking here.

They also have a project page as part of the GenerationOn website, which can be viewed by clicking here.

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News

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Youth

Gearing up for the Summer Canning Season

ksy37 — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:28:18 +0000

05/10/2013 - 10:28am

By Deb Maes, Regional Food Safety Specialist, UNH Cooperative Extension

The snow is finally gone from my backyard and my garden is clear. Gardening enthusiasts are reading through the latest edition of the seed catalogues, and I know that some gardeners have already planted their seeds indoors. For them, planting time can’t come soon enough.

Just as you plan what you are going to plant, purchase a fresh pair of gloves, and get ready to create miracles from soil, water, light, you also need to do some planning before the start of the food preservation season.

Check your canning jars to make sure there are no nicks on the edge, and that there are no cracks. Jars purchased specifically for canning are designed to be used repeatedly. Jars that have held food that you purchased from the grocery store are not designed to stand repeated uses and are not a good substitute for commercial canning jars.

Check the band rings that you have saved. If they are free of rust, use them again. If you saved the lids from last year’s efforts, they should be thrown away. The sealant used to secure the lid was used in the canning process and the Center for Home Food Preservation recommends that you purchase new lids each year to make sure the seals haven’t dried out.

The two piece lid is the only way that we currently recommend sealing jars. Newer products are on the market but they haven’t been adequately tested to make sure they produce the type of seal needed for a safe canned product.

Checking out your canning equipment should also be part of your routine. Whether you use a water bath canner or a pressure canner now is the best time to give everything a once-over. Is there any visible rust? Can it be cleaned? Is the rubber ring in your pressure canner free of cracks? If not, you have plenty of time to purchase a new one. Your local hardware store should be able to help you find the correct size. If you still have your original papers, you might even be able to order parts directly from the manufacturer.

Look at the vents in the cover? Are they clear? If not, use a pipe cleaner to make sure that nothing is stuck in them that could cause a problem.

If you haven’t checked out new canning equipment lately consider purchasing a wide-mouth funnel and a jar lifter to make your canning easier. You might be able to find starter canning kits in stores.

Now is the time to check out your recipes. Our food preservation section of the Food Safety website provides links to the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and the University of Georgia’s Center for Home Food Preservation. Both of those sites will provide you with recipes that have been thoroughly tested for quality and safety. They will also include low-sugar recipes for some jellies and jams as well as some low-sodium pickle recipes if you are looking for those.

Finally, look at your calendar and make time in your schedule to do some food preservation. There’s nothing like pulling a package of frozen strawberries out of the freezer and making strawberry shortcake in January. How tasty is that jar of home-made salsa when you watch next years’ Super Bowl? Remember the great taste of eating green beans that you planted, picked and canned for your family? Just make sure you do it correctly and the pleasure will be all yours.

So, with spring here, the soil warming up and gardens starting to grow, your first canning chance might be fresh strawberry jam toward the end of June. If you need recipes or help, contact UNH Cooperative Extension’s Education Center at 1-877-398-4769 where trained volunteers can answer your food preservation questions.

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Grafton

Teaching Tomorrow’s Scientists is Focus of Issues and Ice Cream Event May 22

hyp — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:02:09 +0000

05/10/2013 - 9:02am

UNH Cooperative Extension continues its “Issues and Ice Cream” series May 22 at the Chase Ocean Engineering building on the UNH campus.

UNH students, faculty and staff are invited to learn more about “UNH and the STEM Workforce: What is Our Role?”

The presentation and discussion, from 12:30 to 2 p.m., will focus on efforts at UNH and throughout New Hampshire to address Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) literacy and how to build a STEM-literate workforce.

Join your colleagues from UNH Cooperative Extension, New Hampshire Sea Grant, the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, and other campus departments to

share what you and your program do;
learn about the SeaPerch program;
find out about STEM-NH, a statewide effort to facilitate collaboration among STEM programs to increase their impact;
hear about the ways that animal science excites kids about STEM in 4-H—the youth development program of Cooperative Extension, and
share your ideas on what could be done to expand this effort.

This Issues & Ice Cream event is coordinated by UNH Cooperative Extension’s Youth and Family Science Literacy Team, partnering with the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping.

The dates for the fall semester Issues & Ice Cream events are available here.

Make sure to save room for some ice cream from the UNH Dairy Bar.

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News

4-H Teaching Garden Receives $32,500 in Grants

tly2 — Mon, 06 May 2013 16:24:04 +0000

05/06/2013 - 12:24pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2013

4-H Teaching Garden Receives $32,500 in Grants

Garden at Massabesic Audubon Center will use funds to forward mission

AUBURN, NH –The 4-H Teaching Garden at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn has received one of the top five grants awarded nationally by the 2013 Youth Garden Grant Award, which is sponsored by The Home Depot Garden Club and presented by the National Gardening Association.

The garden has also received grants from the Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire, the Muhammad Ali Center, and the Danny Simons Foundation.

All totaled, the 4-H Teaching Garden has received $32,500 in new grants.

UNH Cooperative Extension and New Hampshire Audubon are cosponsors of the garden.

“These generous awards will support the garden’s mission to teach youth about gardening, nutrition, and the environment, and to feed the hungry, teach adults about sustainable agriculture, and build connections within the community,” said Michael Young, UNH Cooperative Extension youth and family program team leader. Young noted that since 2006, the garden has served more than 1,300 inner-city, under-served youth and has donated more than eight tons of fresh produce to the New Hampshire Food Bank.

About the grants:

The Youth Garden Grant provides curriculum from the National Gardening Association and gift certificates from The Home Depot and Gardening with Kids Shop.

The Bishop’s Charitable Assistance Fund will help fund the Garden Manager position.

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation grant will help the 4-H Teaching Garden become a hands-on hub for a statewide gardening community of practice. Funding will enable a series of 20 organic gardening workshops, two workshops for school-community garden leaders, development of school-community garden “learning groups,” and the growth of produce for the New Hampshire Food Bank.

The 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire grant will fund the purchase of garden supplies.

The Danny Simons Foundation grant will fund a pre-season art program and the purchase of plants.

The Muhammad Ali Center Peace Garden Grant 2013 funded the National Gardening Association’s contribution of funds that will be used to purchase garden supplies.

The 4-H Teaching Garden provides an intergenerational, hands-on, garden-based program for diverse youth from the Greater Manchester/Merrimack Valley area during an eight-week summer session where youth plan, plant, and tend their own garden beds and garden-wide theme beds. They take home the produce they grow. Remaining produce is donated to the New Hampshire Food Bank.

To carry out its mission, the 4-H Teaching Garden relies on dedicated volunteers who teach the youth, prepare the garden beds, plant, tend, mulch, harvest, or help with special projects. Area corporations and nonprofits such as Stonyfield Farm, the United Way, and the Student Conservation Association also assist during the growing season.

To volunteer at the garden, visit www.volunteernh.org and see the listings under “4-H Teaching Garden.” For more information, go to http://extension.unh.edu/4-H-Teaching-Garden or e-mail carol.martin-ward@unh.edu.

About UNH Cooperative Extension
UNH Cooperative Extension puts trusted information and practical know-how in the hands of New Hampshire citizens and organizations. UNH Cooperative Extension is at work in every New Hampshire county, making the state’s critical industries stronger; developing vibrant communities and municipal leaders, and fostering healthy families and an informed and engaged citizenry. www.extension.unh.edu
Celebrating 100 years in 2014

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Gardens

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Volunteer Opportunities

Where do your vegetables and fruits come from?

ksy37 — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:27:09 +0000

05/02/2013 - 10:27am

Submitted by Lisa Ford, Youth and Family, Nutrition Connections

Where do your vegetables and fruits come from?

The store
Seeds
A can
The farmers’ market
The freezer

Sometimes there can be more than one answer.

It is spring and Mother Nature is certainly toying with me! One day it’s cold and I’m thinking jacket and boots; wondering when I’ll be able to get out in the garden. Then along comes a warm, beautiful day and I’m ready to get outside and start planting. I realize it’s still early to plant, but that doesn’t mean I can’t think about what we’ll be growing in the garden this season.

I am involved with the Eco-Learning Gardens. This is a place where youth and parents or individuals of any age come together to learn about gardening. It’s a place to learn and grow.

The community is welcome to visit, look, lend a hand, or just say “Hi!” Our teaching garden is located on the grounds of Whole Village Family Resource Center in Plymouth. This summer, Master Gardner Bob will once again be at the garden on Tuesday mornings from 9:00 – 10:30 to share his thoughts and knowledge for anyone who would like to stop by. Last summer, Master Gardener Joan and our friends Joyce and Judy joined us on Tuesdays to maintain the gardens. I’m hoping they will be joining us again this summer.

I ask a lot of questions. This summer I plan to learn about pruning tomatoes. What’s nice about the teaching garden is we have knowledgeable Master Gardeners to talk with and share skills on vegetables growing in the garden. Since we grow tomatoes in the teaching garden, I will be able to be shown how to prune a tomato plant and will be able to practice with my teachers close by.

Why the garden? Whether I’m with adults or youth, being in the garden gets us outside. We’re moving our bodies: bending, stretching, pulling, pushing.... We’re exercising our bodies and our minds. I like to say, ‘the garden nourishes our soul, as well as our bodies’. Sometimes going out to the garden can be so quiet and peaceful. Maybe there’s some weeding to do. Sitting and pulling weeds is a good way to relax and relieve tension.

For children, being in the garden has so many benefits. They get to see where food comes from. Starting from when the seeds are first planted, the children are involved with watering, weeding, harvesting and eating the produce. There are garden rules including: learning about where to walk (on the paths, not the plants) and watering the roots of the plant; they learn about cooperation, helping one another, respect and manners. They gain independence and self-confidence.

From what we have noticed, the children tend to eat more vegetables when they are the ones who have harvested them. One teacher commented that the children who started eating the vegetables at a younger age, tend to eat them more often. The other night I was with a family at a community event. During the evening I learned that their son will only eat lettuce from Mrs. Ford’s garden. At first I laughed! Then I realized what an accomplishment that was. When I first met him he wouldn’t touch a vegetable. This summer we’re going to let him bring home lettuce from the garden and see if he will eat it.

One group who will share in this summer’s harvest is the child care center that is located on site. It will be another way to introduce vegetables to the children at mealtime. For example, the children will be able to pick the green beans, bring them inside, and eat them for lunch. Could it be any more fun than picking green beans? They get to make a choice about which green beans they’ll pick- but there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’- there just ‘is’.

What about growing your own garden? What do you need? In simplest terms, you’ll need a place to plant, soil, seeds, sunlight, and water. How do you find a place to plant? It can depend on what kind of space you have available to you. Maybe you start with a container or bucket growing beans, peas, lettuce or spinach.

If your living arrangement is such that you may not have room outside for a container, many towns have community gardens. A community garden is a piece of soil, where everyone has their designated area to plant in. There is generally a fee to be part of a community garden. Getting a friend or group of friends together to split the fee may have its benefits.

What about seeds? What if everyone sharing the fee in a community garden brought a different type of seed or seedling to plant? One package of seeds can produce more crop than one may want to enjoy by themselves. Not only can you share the cost of the space, but if everyone decides what’s going to be planted, there could be a greater variety to plant and share.

Did you know? “Households can use SNAP benefits to buy: Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.” (United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service website (http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailers/eligible.htm, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program section, What can SNAP Benefits Buy?) Keep in mind that you will need to go to a store that accepts SNAP (food stamps) benefits to purchase your seeds or plants.

To my friends who have said to me, “you’re a gardener, we can ask you…” Thank you for the compliment. I love to go outside to garden but there is so much I don’t know. I want to keep it enjoyable, to have fun with it, and keep it relaxing.

A great big “Thank you!” to all of our local growers who provide produce in the community! We look forward to seeing you at Farmer’s Markets this summer.

May 11, 2013, Saturday, 9:00 until we’re finished;

Whole Village Family Resource Center, 258 Highland St., Plymouth, NH

Interested in learning about preparing your garden- getting it ready to plant? Please stop by. You can join the work or just ask questions.

June 1, 2013, Saturday, 9:00 until we’re finished;

Whole Village Family Resource Center, 258 Highland St., Plymouth, NH

Planting day! Join the fun!!

For more information on either event or to ask questions, please feel free to call me at 603-536-3720 ext. 103. Please leave a message if I am not in.

Coming this summer: “Cooking from the Garden”

If you’re interested please call for more information.

Lisa Ford, Program Associate

Youth and Family, Nutrition Connections

UNH Cooperative Extension, Grafton County

Phone 603-536-3720 xt103

Email lisa.ford@unh.edu

_____________________________________
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer. University of New Hampshire, U.S. Department of Agriculture and N.H. counties cooperating.

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Grafton

New Hampshire 4-H Horse Judging and Hippology Competitions Draw 100 from Four States

tly2 — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:05:49 +0000

04/29/2013 - 12:05pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 29, 2013

New Hampshire 4-H Horse Judging and Hippology Competitions Draw 100 from Four States

Several New Hampshire Competitors Take Home Top Honors

DURHAM, N.H. — More than 100 contestants and volunteers from four states participated in the 2013 New Hampshire 4-H Horse Judging and Hippology Contests at the University of New Hampshire Skoglund Livestock Activities Arena and Thompson School of Applied Sciences on Saturday, April 20.

During the New Hampshire 4-H Horse Judging Contest, competitors from four divisions—Junior 4-H, Senior 4-H, High School, and College and Young 4-H Alumni—took on the role of judge, assessing the animals’ characteristics as a professional would.

“This competition really helps kids learn how to discriminate and make key decisions,” says Rhiannon Beauregard, New Hampshire 4-H animal and agricultural science education coordinator. “They learn how to judge horses in hand, and they get great practice in paying attention to detail.” She says the older competitors also hone their communications skills, as participants in the senior division must orally defend their scoring.

Beauregard says one of the purposes of this competition is to open 4-H members’ eyes to the fact that professional judging is a career option.

The contestants judged six classes of horses—Pony Hunter Pleasure Class, Quarter Horse Halter Class, Pinto Color Class, Pony Halter Class, Hunter Pleasure Class, and Reining Class. Horses were trucked in from locales across the state, and several UNH students participated with their horses.

Youth from Manchester and Chichester were among the top award winners in this contest.

Horse Judging Contest first-place division winners:

First place overall for the 4-H Junior Division: Karrie Cormier of Manchester, NH
First place overall for the 4-H Senior Division: Holly Testerman of Chichester, NH
First place overall for the High School Division: Destinee Parkinson of Worthington, MA
First place overall for the College and Young 4-H Alumni Division: Brittany Smith of Lyndonville, VT

The New Hampshire 4-H Hippology Contest featured junior individual 4-H contestants (ages 12-13) and 4-H senior (ages 14-18) teams competing in a series of events called “phases,” including a written exam, an anatomy exam, participation in the judging contest, an oral and written problem-solving phase, and a visual exam where competitors identified hippology-related objects at 20 different stations.

Youth from Goffstown, Kingston, Fremont, Brentwood, and Northwood were among the top winners in the 4-H Hippology Contest.

4-H Hippology Contest first-place division winners:

First place overall for the 4-H Junior Division: Ainsley Miles of Goffstown, NH
First place overall for the 4-H Senior Division: Maggie Kenter of Kingston, NH
First place senior team overall: Combined team from Rockingham and Merrimack counties: Maggie Kenter, Fremont, NH; Courtney Schrempf, Fremont, NH; Jackie Johnson, Brentwood, NH; Ashley Foss, Northwood, NH

The 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire and UNH Cooperative Extension sponsored the competition. The UNH Thompson School of Applied Sciences, the Rockingham County 4-H Horse Leaders Association, the UNH Equine Program, and UNH Parking Services also provided support.

The top eight 4-H senior individual contestants in the judging and the hippology contests will have the opportunity to practice and compete as the 2013 NH 4-H Horse Judging and Hippology Teams at the New England Regional Horse Contest and potentially the Eastern National 4-H Horse Round-Up in Louisville, Kentucky.

To find out more about future competitions, contact Rhiannon Beauregard at Rhiannon.Beauregard@unh.edu or (603) 862-2188.

About New Hampshire 4-H
The UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development program brings positive learning experiences to New Hampshire youth between the ages of five and 18 through after-school activities, camps, teen conferences, and other events and activities aimed at expanding knowledge and encouraging community engagement and leadership. For more information, visit www.extension.unh.edu.

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[photo caption]

4-H members assess the characteristics of a horse during the New Hampshire 4-H Horse Judging Contest held at UNH on April 20.

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