|
|
| This Week's Titles: |
| Serious
Disease Stopped In Geraniums |
|
|
Donating Garden Vegetables
Takes Planning |
|
| Sweet
Year Possible For Vidalia Onions |
|
| Selecting
Low Calorie Healthy Popcorn |
|
| Natural
Way To Control Mole Crickets |
|
|
|
| Serious
Disease Stopped In Geraniums |
1:29 |
A disease that could cause
a lot of damage is getting nipped before it causes serious problems. |
Experts recently discovered
unrooted geranium cuttings shipped into the U.S. from Guatemala
were infected with the southern bacterial wilt pathogen. Jean
Woodward, a plant pathologist with the University of Georgia
Extension Service says only one Georgia greenhouse in North
Georgia received infected cuttings. She adds quick action in
Georgia and the nation kept the southern bacterial wilt pathogen
from spreading out and causing a lot of damage. "It appears
that this year the greenhouse growers who did receive shipments
were able to actually stop the spread of the bacterium and actually
destroy all suspect plants, so therefore there isn't a great
deal spread within any of the greenhouses." Jean Woodward with
the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Authorities
are in the process of notifying Guatemala that further importations
of geranium cuttings from the suspected facility will not be
allowed until further notice. It is believed these quick actions
will allow geranium producers to be back in business as soon
as shipments of diseased cuttings are located and destroyed.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
|
| |
 |
| Donating
Garden Vegetables Takes Planning |
1:34 |
Start making plans now if you
want to donate vegetables from a home garden to food banks or
soup kitchens. |
Food banks and outreach
services appreciate the vegetables from home gardens donated
every year. But many times people try to give away vegetables
and produce at the last minute, without advanced planning. Aaron
Lancaster, a county extension agent in Bibb County says vegetables
that are donated at the last minute often go to waste. "And
in that case it could be that the produce is too far gone, overripe,
it cannot be used efficiently because they haven't told the
food bank or the outreach service in advance. So they may have
already planned their menus or they don't have recipients to
receive it so it just ends up going to waste." Aaron Lancaster
with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
If you want to donate part of your garden to a food bank, Lancaster
says plan ahead. Decide how much space you can donate to the
project. Contact the outreach group and find out which crop
they need or can use most efficiently. If you grow storage crops
like squash, potatoes, onions, or carrots, find out the most
and least the food bank can store at one time. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
|
| |
|
| Sweet
Year Possible For Vidalia Onions |
1:38 |
If Mother Nature continues
to cooperate, 2004 should be a sweet year for Vidalia onions
in Georgia. |
Vidalia onion farmers started
placing their plants into fields around Thanksgiving, and most
finished transplanting in early January. George Boyhan, a horticulturist
with the University of Georgia Extension Service says warm weather
in late November caused some of the onions to grow too fast.
"The cold weather really hasn't, we've had some warmer temperatures
early on during the transplant production part of it and some
of those plants got a little growthy, a little bit larger than
they would have liked to seen, so they trans planted an onion
that was probably maybe a little bit larger than it normally
would be." George Boyhan with the College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences, who adds cold temperatures in the low
to mid twenties have not hurt the crop. Disease pressure has
also been light this year, but university scientists are closely
monitoring a new disease called the Iris Yellow Spot Virus,
to find out if it could cause widespread problems to Vidalia
onions in the future. John Harrell, University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
|
| |
|
| Selecting
Low Calorie Healthy Popcorn |
1:38 |
Many people are searching for
popcorn that won't fill them out. |
As more people watch movies
at home, popcorn has become more popular as a snack for munching
and nibbling. Kelly Cordray, a Nutrition Specialist with the
University of Georgia Extension Service says popcorn can be
a low calorie, healthy snack. But use caution when making a
selection. "If you're not careful you can choose a microwave
popcorn that's packed with over four-hundred calories and half
a days worth of fat and saturated fat, and a third of a days
worth of sodium." Kelly Cordray with the College of Family and
Consumer Sciences, who adds making your own air-popped popcorn
at home would be the healthiest choice. Air-popped popcorn by
itself is fat-free, and you can control what is added to the
popcorn. When choosing a popcorn, the nutrition specialist recommends
selecting popcorn that is light, or ninety-four percent fat-free.
Check the label to see how much "popped" popcorn is in one serving.
Then eat only one serving of the popcorn. Look at the sodium
content, and aim for no more than two-hundred milligrams of
sodium per serving. John Harrell, University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
|
| |
|
| Natural
Way To Control Mole Crickets |
1:30 |
College scientists are going
back to nature to stop a destructive insect pest that digs underground. |
Mole crickets dig around
and cause a lot of damage in pastures, home lawns, and golf
courses. Only a few chemicals are labeled for use, on mole crickets,
and the insecticides are expensive. Several years ago scientists
with the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences released beneficial nematodes into infested
pastures in several counties in South Georgia. The research
has centered on pastures for economic reasons. "Is a bio-control
approach particularly for pastures where we hope that some beneficial
insects and nematodes will reduce the problems in those areas
where you really can't afford to treat like you can on a golf
course or in a home lawn." That was Will Hudson with the College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In pastures where
the nematode has been present for at least two seasons, there
has been a significant reduction in damage, and forage production
has returned to near normal levels before mole crickets invaded.
John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
|
| |
|
|
|
