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Whoever said ‘silence is golden’ was not working on a committee or serving on a board. Silence isn’t golden when a community group is at work. In fact it can be toxic.
Come and join us for 9th Annual Dauphin County 4-H Benefit Auction on April 20, 2013, 9:00 a.m. at the Middle Paxton Municipal Building - Fire Station (Dauphin Fire Company), 10 Elizabeth Avenue, Dauphin, PA 17018. Also new this year we will have Kids Activities from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Including: 4-H Animal Learning Center, carnival games, pony rides, and crafts.
Penn State Master Gardeners in Cumberland County will provide free “hands-on” training as part of their Workday Workshop at Lemoyne’s Streetscape Rain Gardens along 300 to 500 Market Street on Saturday, March 30, 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. In case of rain, the workshop will be held the following Saturday, April 6.
New partnership enables farmer to cut processing costs in half.
Penn State Extension ‘s Certified Food and Wellness Volunteer Training Program is in its second year. It’s a great opportunity to learn and grow, while giving back to the community. We are looking for people with some knowledge and interest in foods, nutrition and food safety who want to become more involved with community wellness. This is an exciting opportunity to join the growing program, which began in early 2012! Graduates have been active presenting to library groups, the PA Farm Show, schools and Kitchen Garden Day.
Experience 4-H for the summer, Dauphin County 4-H will be offering several day camps for students ages 6 - 12. Come and join us for this summer camp program and learn skills that will last a lifetime.
One of the pleasures of early spring, for a gardener weary of winter, is watching herbaceous perennials emerge from the bare ground, with lengthening stems and unfurling leaves often changing color as they develop into the full-grown plants that will add color, form, and texture to the garden during the growing season.
4-H will be taking orders for high quality strawberry plant bundles. These plants come from virus indexed, tissue cultured mother plants. Plants come in bundles of 25. Each bundle contains a single variety. The cost per bundle is $6.00. Sales tax is included. Orders and payment are due by Wednesday, March 20, 2013.
Here are some practical tips when looking to manage pastures this spring.
Moss is one of the first plants to green-up in Pennsylvania lawns during early spring, and many homeowners consider it an annoying weed. This year, moss has made an early arrival, and homeowners are looking for answers on how to keep it from taking over their lawns.
Before farmers start their spring planting in March, they complete their winter planning in February. There is plenty to do on a farm — even when the ground is covered in snow. Pennsylvania was home to 62,100 farms in 2012, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
To remind us that spring will return, snowdrops poke their heads out of the ground, sometimes as early as Groundhog Day; but they are prettier than groundhogs, smell nicer, and stick around longer, even under a blanket of snow.
EPHRATA, Pa. -- In many parts of Pennsylvania, getting a cover crop seeded after corn or soybeans can be difficult, especially if it gets cold too soon. And while a cover crop interseeder may provide a way to get seed in when a crop is standing, it's not a perfect solution. Greg Roth, professor of agronomy at Penn State, talked about cover crop interseeders Monday during a webinar on cover crop management.
Penn State Extension has nine educational meetings planned this winter for tree fruit growers throughout Pennsylvania. The meetings are designed to address current challenges with the latest research based information
Last season, we at Penn State Extension started getting calls about Impatiens losing their leaves and collapsing long before frost. The best calls were requests for bunny rabbit control as gardeners thought that rabbits had eaten all of their Impatiens’ leaves. It turns out that we have a new disease, Impatiens Downy mildew, that specifically hits what most of us know as the “Common Garden Impatien.”
Penn State Extension will be offering StrongWomen in several locations this winter and spring. This strength training program is geared for middle-aged to older women and men and is based upon years of research on how strength training and proper nutrition improve the health of all ages. The program was developed to help women and men increase their strength, bone density, balance and energy and help them look and feel better. Participants meet two times a week for one hour sessions and there is a fee to participate in this program. Participants may want to provide their own hand weights and ankle weights.
Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Dauphin County will be presenting Vegetable Gardening Class on Saturday, April 20, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Dauphin County Agriculture & Natural Resources Center, 1451 Peters Mountain Road, Dauphin, PA 17018.
Unsuspecting woodland owners selling timber often fall victim to the practice of "high-grading" or cutting the best trees and leaving the rest. Where this practice has occurred, there generally has been a decline on long term forest health and productivity. How can woodlands impacted by this practice be restored? On Thursday, February 14th at the Cumberland Woodland Owners’ Association meeting, Dr. James Finley, Penn State Professor of Forest Resources, will speak on the “Restoration of High Grade Forests in Pennsylvania.”
A workshop for young, new, and minority farmers to gain insight into ag loans and business management. Guest speaker is Clark Seavert, Oregon State University Agricultural Economics Professor.



