Extension Perspectives

December		ARCHIVES
		PDF (printer friendly version)
		Subscribe, renew, or update your address

There will be no December meeting, next meeting: Monday, January 12, 2009 at 6:30 pm

WERU 89.9/102.9 FM Live broadcast encourages listeners to phone the station with comments, reactions, & questions.

Designed for farmers and others interested in home-food processing for resale. Licensing requirements, food safety and liability insurance will be covered by panel members. After a local, seasonal, organic luncheon, participants will tour MOFGA's Common Kitchen. The afternoon program will focus on: labeling requirements; organic certification requirements, with Kate Newkirk, Associate Director of MOFGA Certification Services, LLC; and a round table sharing of experiences. Registration fee (including lunch): $35 for MOFGA members, and $40 for non-members. A work-study rate is available. Register online or call 207-568-4142.

Registration is required by Friday, January 9. Visit www.umext.maine.edu/Waldo/business/workshops

For more info. A $5.00 donation per session, or $10.00 for all three sessions, is requested for the series to help cover the cost of refreshments, publications, and resource materials.

As the season turns colder, we hope that you can make use of our “Keep Maine Warm” initiatives. In late October we distributed nearly 100 kits to needy Waldo County homeowners to help with reducing heating costs. For loads of tips and information about insulation, heating and energy conservation, check out the University of Maine Cooperative Extension energy website at www.umext.maine.edu/energy. This site also features “how to” videos for insulation tips for attics, windows and doors. We also have DVDs available for free at the office.

As you know, everyone seems to be doing some belt tightening and budget review to see where agencies and organizations can save money. We are not immune from this.

One way we have been trying to save is by reducing postage. In that aspect, we will be asking all of you who have email to let us send you Extension Perspectives electronically. While we do this for some of you, we are requesting that more of you please send us you email address so we can save additional funds.

We are also asking that you send us a request to continue receiving Perspectives. We are required by law to renew our subscription lists on a periodic basis. Therefore, please respond to us so we can continue sending the newsletter. As always, your suggestions are also important to us and we welcome your input.

The conference will be held on Saturday, December 6 at the Waterville Elks Banquet Center. It will begin at 8 am with registration and an agricultural trade show.

Maine’s 21st Annual Beef Conference “Livestock Facility Fundamentals” is designed to address livestock housing, handling and waste management. This year’s conference will offer basic, practical information to producers both new and established.

The conference is organized by University of Maine Cooperative Extension, with the generous support of industry sponsors. The keynote speaker is Dr. Stephen Boyles, Associate Professor, Animal Science, Ohio State University. Currently Dr. Boyles’ area of focus in extension programming is Beef Quality Assurance, Animal Handling and Facility Design. As keynote he will discuss “Facility Components and Design”; providing information on the siting of facilities, layout and the principles behind the designs. He will also offer a hands-on exercise on corral design.

Other speakers include Susan Arrants, Resource Conservationist, NRCS discussing “Conservation Program Opportunities Under the 2008 Farm Bill”. University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Educators Mark Hutchinson will present “On Farm Composting”; Dr. Richard Brzozowski, “Resources For Beef Producers”; and Dee Potter, a “Virtual Tour – Maine Beef Facilities”.

For more information contact Dee Potter or Sharon Voisine, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, at 1.800.287.1421 (in Maine) or 207.834.3905.

Vermont Technical College in Randolph, VT on Saturday, January 17, 2009 - 13th Annual Vermont Grazing Conference, titled Managing Animal Behavior: It’s Not What You Do, It’s How You Do It, will feature grazing behaviorist and NY-NRCS State Grazing Specialist Dr. Darrell Emmick as keynote speaker. . The schedule includes themed tracks for dairy, beef, small ruminants, animal behavior, poultry & small animals, research, grazing partnerships, technical and on-farm energy options. A full day kids’ conference will take place on site. Pre-conference workshops on Friday, January 16 will focus on winter livestock management.

Dr. Emmick has worked for over 25 years promoting grazing-based dairy production systems in the northeast region of the U.S. This work includes the development of practical application guidelines and the provision of on-farm technical assistance. His primary research interest is in the foraging behavior of lactating dairy cows and the influence of supplemental concentrate feeds. In an exciting new partnership, the VT Beef Producers’ Association will be sponsoring a beef-themed track as a concurrent conference, and will be holding its annual meeting on site. The beef conference title: Improving the Quality of Our Beef.

The conference is co-organized by the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Vermont Grass Farmers Association, with major support from the VT Beef Producers’ Association.

? Save newspapers (not glossy sheets) to use as a weed barrier beneath newly mulched paths

? Save gallon sized plastic milk bottles to cover early spring broccoli and cabbage transplants

? Hang fragrant soap and hair in mesh bags to deter deer from browsing on fruit trees

? Try amaryllis “kits” - easy to grow holiday gifts for people who love flowers

? Gardening books - how to guides photo collections, gardening essays - are for everyone

Researchers with the Agricultural Research Service may have found the best way to entice consumers to eat their veggies: Surprise them. They're breeding carrots that come in a palette of totally unexpected colors including yellow, dark orange, bright red--even purple.

With their flashy colors, these conventionally-bred carrots could dress up any dull meal. But what's getting scientists' attention is finding that the bright veggies are full of pigments with impressive health-promoting properties.

Xanthophylls give the yellow carrots their golden hues and have been linked with good eye health. Red carrots contain lycopene, a type of carotene also found in tomatoes that's believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers.

Purple carrots owe their color to anthocyanins. In a class all by themselves, these pigments are considered to be powerful antioxidants that can guard the body's fragile cells from the destructive effects of unstable molecules known as free radicals.

At first, Philipp Simon--the carrots' breeder who works at the ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wis.--was unsure if these complex vegetables could provide nutrients in a form that the human body can use.

But in studies with nutritionist Sherry Tanumihardjo from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Simon found that yellow carrots' lutein was 65 percent as bioavailable as it is from a lutein supplement. The two also discovered that lycopene from red-pigmented carrots is 40 percent as bioavailable as it is from tomato paste.

And for consumers who don't like tomatoes, having another food source of lycopene would be good news.

Despite their nutritional and culinary appeal, Simon's carrots haven't yet caught on in growers' circles. But that could change as consumers create a demand for these strange, but good-for-you veggies.

Read more about the carrots in the November issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

By Erin Peabody. RS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This research was funded in part by the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, a program of USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. 11/15/04

Look to leaves! Leaves that drop in the fall can supply all the nutrients needed in a vegetable garden. They'll even supply a wider range of essential nutrients than a bag of 10-10-10 synthetic fertilizer, because tree roots draw over a dozen plant nutrients up from the soil and deposit them in leaves. Bags of synthetic fertilizer, on the other hand, often contain just three essential plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

So, instead of thinking of leaves as waste that needs to go "away," think of your yard as a source of nutrients, a green manure crop, for your garden.

The University of Florida (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG323) found that "good yields of such crops as cucumbers, tomato and greens can be expected after 2 to 3 years of applications of at least 20 tons [of oak leaves] per acre annually." That's a little under 5 pounds per 100 square feet.

Some people worry that adding leaves to the garden will tie up nitrogen that crop plants need. This won't be a problem if you add leaves as a mulch in the fall (especially if you've shredded the leaves by running over them with a lawnmower), so that soil organisms and weather move them into the soil slowly. Also, including grass clippings with leaves adds nitrogen to the mix, further reducing the chance of nitrogen deficiency, as does mulching the garden with additional grass clippings throughout the summer.

If you don't have a garden to receive leaves, or you don't have a lawn mower that catches clippings and leaves, just leave the leaves on the lawn, mowing them a few times during the fall to shred them. Denise Ellsworth of Ohio State University Extension writes, "Research has shown that lawns can absorb many pounds of shredded leaves with no detrimental effects." She says that Purdue researchers mowed 2 tons of leaves per acre into turf grass annually for five years. They saw no increase in disease or weed problems and no pH or nutrient-availability issues. Microbial activity did increase-a sign of improved soil quality. ("Leaves benefit gardens as compost and mulch," Akron Beacon Journal, Nov. 10, 2007).

Decomposing leaves improve soil structure so that it absorbs more moisture during rains and holds that moisture better during dry spells. Your lawn will stay greener longer in the summer.

If you don't want to mow and shred leaves, you can rake them into compost piles and make leaf mold-a good substitute for peat moss in the garden and in potting mixes.

This article is provided by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), PO Box 170, Unity, ME 04988; 207-568-4142; Joining MOFGA helps support and promote organic farming and gardening in Maine and helps Maine consumers enjoy more healthful, Maine-grown food. Copyright 2006. Please let us know if you reprint this article. Thanks!

Farmers, forest landowners, land managers and others interested in the Conservation and Commodity Titles of the 2008 Farm Bill will have the opportunity to attend one of many information workshops being held through the state. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the USDA Farm Service Agency will be providing up-to-date information on the Farm Bill and what assistance may be available to you, followed by questions and answers.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill), which became law on May 22, 2008, increases funding for conservation programs by 38%. This meeting will provide you the opportunity to hear about changes made from the 2002 Farm Bill and how it will benefit Maine farmers and forest landowners. Detailed information on the forestry aspects of the new Farm Bill will be further highlighted and discussed at separate meetings in 2009.

December 16, 2008 – 10:00 a.m.-12:00 n, Waldo Town Office, 127 Savage Road, Waldo; contact 338-1964

If you plan to attend one of these workshops and/or require special accommodations, please call the contact number indicated by no later than one week prior to the meeting.

These edible roots are usually labeled either sweet potatoes or yams but, unlike potatoes, they are members of the morning glory family. Calling these veggies yams is a misnomer. True yams are native to Africa and are from a different botanical group.

Selection: Choose firm, small- to medium-sized potatoes
with smooth skin. Avoid cracks, soft spots and blemishes.

Nutrition Benefits: Fat free; saturated fat free; low sodium; cholesterol free; good source of dietary fiber; high in vitamin A; high in vitamin C; good source of potassium. From Produce for Better Health Foundation

Smooth and richly flavored from roasting, these sweet potatoes are delicious served with any meal. Preparation time: 45 minutes or less, Serves: 4

Preheat oven to 375° F and place oven rack in middle position. Scrub sweet potatoes well, place on baking sheet and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until very soft to the squeeze. Baking time will differ depending on freshness and size of the sweet potatoes. Remove potatoes from oven; cool briefly to handling temperature. Cut both ends off each potato and carefully peel each potato. Place in a deep bowl and mash with potato masher, large fork, or back of a large spoon. Season with maple syrup, salt, black pepper, and ground cardamom or nutmeg, mixing well. If necessary, reheat briefly in microwave. Scoop into serving bowl and top with butter.

Credit: Recipe was developed for Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) by Chef Carmen I. Jones, CCP. This recipe meets PBH and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) nutrition standards that maintain fruits and vegetables as healthy foods.

Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) is sometimes called southern balsam fir because of its similarity to our native balsam fir. Balsam fir has more intense fragrance ,but Fraser fir has good form, excellent needle retention, and dark blue green color. These attributes, which have made it a popular holiday tree, also make it a good candidate for the landscape.

Fraser fir is hardy to USDA zone 4, tolerating average annual low temperatures of -20°F to -30°F. It performs best in climates with cool, most summers, like nothern New England. It is likely to reach a 40-foot height and 20-foot spread in the landscape. Fraser Fir is uniformly pyramidal in shape, and its branches tip up slightly, giving it a neat, full appearance.

In its native habitat in the mountains of West Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, Fraser fir is generally found in full sun, on fertile, rocky-to-sandy, acid soils. Its natural plant community partners are red spruce, beech, yellow birch and rhododendron.

Parents Are Teachers Too program
If you are expecting or recently had your first baby, call 1-800-287-1426 for more information or to enroll in the PATT program to help your child get the best possible start in life.

Eat Well program
Could you use help in stretching food stamps, cooking and shopping for one or two, providing snacks for children? Contact UMaine Cooperative Extension Eat Well Program for a nutrition aid to help you.

Extension Perspectives

Waldo County Cooperative Extension's Monthly Newsletter

Subscribe, renew, or update your address