News Stories - Page 249

At one time, an almost unlimited number of wild blackberries and dewberries – the blackberry’s trailing cousin – grew along fencerows and in abandoned fields. Many of these sites have been destroyed or now have “No Trespassing” signs posted on them, but each spring I still see couples on roadsides picking berries.

It’s cold outside, and it’s much easier this time of year to sit inside on a frigid, blustery day and read a book under a blanket while sipping a mug of tea. It’s often difficult for us to find the motivation we had on Jan. 1 to exercise and get fit.

For decades, farmers who have embraced conservation production have seen increased soil health, reduced irrigation demands and lowered economic risk. For the past 17 years, Georgia farmers interested in adopting new conservation practices for their farms – including those looking to swap best practices with other conservation tillers – have gathered at Georgia’s annual Conservation Production Systems Training Conference.

Three Georgia middle school students will meet Gov. Nathan Deal later this month in recognition of their work to alert Georgians to the dangers of radon.  

Residents of south Georgia counties are discovering what it means to live in poverty through simulations administered by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.

The University of Georgia is looking for high school students, ages 16 and older, who are looking for hands-on research experience. The UGA Young Scholars Program (YSP) is a paid, six-week summer research internship in agricultural, food and environmental sciences.

As counties across Georgia continue to develop, wildlife habitats are disturbed and destroyed. This drives deer, and other wildlife, into home landscapes, where they feast on plants. Deterring them can be a challenge.

While the rain in December 2016 eliminated abnormally dry conditions along the Georgia coast and reduced drought conditions in southern Atlanta and south Georgia, only limited relief was seen in north Georgia.

Welcome rains during December 2016 and the first week of 2017 are providing hope for Georgia farmers looking for relief from a statewide severe drought, according to Pam Knox, University of Georgia agricultural climatologist and UGA Cooperative Extension specialist.

January is typically a self-induced holding pattern when it comes to gardening. But if you find that you failed to get cool-season containers planted, then take advantage of fresh shipments of pansies, violas, petunias, dianthus and all the other component plants, like lamiums, as they arrive at your garden center.