The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recently announced updates to COVID-19 testing sites in Hendry, Miami-Dade, Collier and St. Lucie counties for farmworkers. The effort to provide access to no-cost testing for farmworkers is part of a partnership with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the Florida Division of Emergency Management and county governments. Testing services will continue as …
Get Florida Freeze Updates With Winter Weather Watch
By Chris Oswalt There was a time back in 1962, on Dec. 12 and 13, when a devastating freeze in Florida decimated a significant portion of the state’s citrus industry. In Polk County, the freeze caused serious damage to 134,000 acres of citrus. In 1963, citrus growers were concerned about receiving timely weather information and frost warning bulletins. Back then, …
Popular UF/IFAS Vegetable Gardening Guide now Available in Spanish
(UF/IFAS) — With COVID-19 lingering, it might be a good time to use your green thumb to grow some vegetables in your garden. While you’re at it, you can get help from the UF/IFAS Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide — now also in Spanish — and as a downloadable web app. Because we’re nearing the holidays, let’s look at some vegetables you …
NCBA Highlights Beef and Produce Pairings on Healthy Plates with #UnitedOnThePlate Partnership
Beef Checkoff partners with Produce for Better Health Foundation to showcase how pairing beef with vegetables and fruits boosts flavor and health (NCBA) — In an effort to continue to highlight beef’s place on the plate, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, has partnered with the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) to celebrate how …
Plant Protection Today – Tracking the Elusive Asian Giant Hornet
PPQ Shares Cutting-Edge Methods with State Partner By Greg Rosenthal (USDA/APHIS) — After weeks of searching, Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) entomologists–—with some cutting-edge methods from USDA’s Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ)–—have located and eradicated the first Asian giant hornet (AGH) nest ever found in the United States. For months, WSDA had been trying to find the nest they …
Tips to Ripen Green Tomatoes Indoors
How to ripen green tomatoes. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Even if the tomatoes you’re growing are green, you can still pick them and after-ripen them indoors. Especially, if you live in a region with cold weather extremes. It’s perfectly ok to harvest tomatoes when the fruits begin to change color and soften to the feel. At …
Fruits and Veggies Easy to Grow in Your Garden
Some fruits and veggies that are easy to grow in your garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Covid-19 has forced us into the new normal of social distancing. And when it comes to grocery shopping, produce availability in stores is less consistent. There’s no better time than now than to learn how to grow our own fruit and …
Winterize Your Garden Doing These Must-Do Steps
Some things to do right now to winterize your garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. There are several must-do items that you must check off your garden to-do list before winter rolls around. First, pull all of your plants out. But, before you can do that, you should pull out any plant supports that they might be …
Florida Ag Expo Decides to Forego its 2020 Event
Florida Ag Expo, an annual trade show with educational seminars for vegetable and specialty crop growers, has decided to forego its 2020 event. “While we see businesses reopen and people are returning to a sense of normalcy, we know that has only been made possible by everyone doing their part. Therefore, we made the decision not to go forward with …
Recycling Your Pumpkins After Halloween
How to recycle your pumpkins after Halloween. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. Once all the trick-or-treating is over you may be wondering what to do with all your Halloween pumpkins. According to the Energy Department, about 1.3 billion pounds of pumpkins end up in landfills. When Jack-o’-lanterns may be looking a little shriveled and sunken but they can …