News Stories - Page 203

Once a top agricultural commodity in Georgia, the Southern pea’s presence in the state is now minimal. Growers are reluctant to plant the crop due to a tiny weevil, the cowpea curculio.

On Valentine’s Day, the demand for cut flowers, especially for roses, is high. This year, Keith Fielder, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agent and rose grower, suggests giving a rose plant along with those fresh cut roses so your sweetheart can enjoy roses almost year-round.

Students in Georgia’s elementary and middle schools are invited to compete in Georgia Saves’ second annual Make Your Own Piggy Bank Contest.

Georgia saw a cooler-than-normal start to the year, and most of the state posted average temperatures between 2.5 and 4 degrees below normal. With cool, dry air expected to dominate Georgia’s climate in coming weeks, there is a chance that drought could continue expanding across the state and may persist through the spring.

Families struggling to beat cabin fever this winter can take to the trees at Rock Eagle 4-H Center on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The key to managing Exobasidium leaf and fruit spot disease in blueberries, which makes the fruit unmarketable, is one application of lime sulfur approximately two weeks prior to bud break, according to Jonathan Oliver, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension fruit pathologist.

Rice has been a staple food crop around the world for millennia, but little was known about the wild origins of the world’s most widely produced crop until the recent mapping of the genomes of 13 ancestral rice species. Scott Jackson, director of the University of Georgia Center for Applied Genetic Technologies (CAGT) in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, helped to map these genomes as part of The International Oryza Map Alignment Project.

An upcoming Small Engine Maintenance and Repair Workshop will teach attendees how to properly select, troubleshoot and maintain common garden and landscape equipment; sharpen hand tools, knives and chainsaws; tune motors; and properly prepare engines for long-term storage. Offered by the University of Georgia, the class will be held on the Griffin, Georgia, campus.

February has arrived. Cue the hearts, flowers and Valentine’s Day festivities. While we have love on the brain, I would like to challenge you to change your perception of love by caring for your heart. February is American Heart Month.

February is here and, even though it is cold outside, many garden tasks can be completed now in preparation for a successful growing season. From starting seeds indoors to cleaning and sharpening garden tools, there are plenty of garden chores to do before spring arrives.