Click here for details on this workshop

HOT OFF THE PRESS:

January 21, 2009
4:15 p.m.
ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The Alachua County Extension Office is pleased to offer the following free Spring Gardening Programs.
All classes will be presented by Wendy Wilber, Environmental Horticulture Agent at either the Alachua County Extension Office (2800 NE 39th Ave., in Gainesville), or the Newberry Branch Library (110 South Seaboard Drive, in Newberry). To pre-register, leave a message at 352-337-6209. For more information, call 352-955-2402.
• Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening- Alachua County Extension Office, February 4th,
6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Learn about an innovative way to grow vegetables. You will be amazed to learn how you can grow your own produce within limited space. Demonstration garden located on site. Will cover vegetable gardening basics and teach you how to use raised beds for increased efficiency.

• Vegetable Gardening Basics- Newberry Branch Library, February 10th, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Learn the right vegetable varieties and times of planting for vegetable garden success. Also cover site planning, maintenance and harvesting.

• Perennials for Your Landscape & Butterfly Garden- Alachua County Extension Office, February 13th, 3 p.m. - 4 p.m. This class will teach you to select great perennials to attract butterflies and caterpillars.

• Growing Fruit in North Central Florida- Alachua County Extension Office, February 18th, 6:30 p.m. ¬¬- 8 p.m. Learn to grow citrus, peaches, persimmons, blueberries and more in your own backyard.

• Groundcovers for Your Landscape- Alachua County Extension Office, February 26th,
6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Learn how to choose the right groundcover for a low maintenance landscape.

Now that the inauguration has finally happened and we can stop pinching ourselves at what we have come together to acheive, I wonder...what will we acheive?
The US Green Building Council hopes that at least some of the answer for an economic recovery is a collective green economy spuring innovation, creating jobs and led with conviction by the Obama administration. Read the full story from USGBC.org As for my spelling in these blogs, I always have liked another president's take on creative lingustics- Andrew Jackson- when he said "It is a dammed poor mind indeed that can't think of at least two ways to shpell(sic) any word".

Brrr...it's cold outside for even northern standards, for in fact my cold-weather collards and kale were frozen in their hardy garden tracks this morning. Here is a great link to our friends over at Drops and Watts for their advice on their taking control of your thermostat inside the home. Let's face it folks, as Floridians, we haven't really been challenged to regulate our thermostat when it comes to our heat pumps so here's a few tips.

Click here to view our January 2009 DIG newsletter