New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and New Jersey Equestrian of the Year Kirsten Jeansson kicked off June as the Month of the Horse in New Jersey with a visit to Hidden Acres 4-D Farm in Burlington County, a thoroughbred breeding fac…
Rutgers Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Hunterdon County Welcomes New Graduates
The Rutgers Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program of Hunterdon County welcomes 13 new graduates to the volunteer program. On May 28, thirteen Hunterdon County residents graduated from the Rutgers Master Gardener training program and will begin …
Was Heavy Rain Enough to Wash Away Drought Fears?
With the scenes that unfolded in parts of New Jersey Sunday night, it would be easy to say the drought facing New Jersey has been washed away… “Absolutely it has put the brakes on the deterioration of the drought situation in northern and central New Jersey,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “But has it remedied the situation? Does it remove the (drought designation) in northern New Jersey? No.”… May was the third warmest and third driest on record, Robinson said, while data from the National Weather Service shows the northern half of the state was operating at a four to seven inch rainfall deficit over the last 90 days.
Is N.J. on the Verge of its First Drought in a Decade?
No alarm bells are sounding, not just yet. But with each passing day of dry and hot weather, anxiety grows among New Jersey farmers and officials who fear the state may be on the tipping point of its first drought in more than a decade… “A worrisome situation is becoming all the more so each day,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “The next two weeks are likely a critical juncture for us. If we get into the second and third week of June without some regular rainfall we’re going to start to see impacts multiply pretty quickly.”… Things are particularly concerning in northwestern New Jersey, where groundwater and stream flow have been exceedingly low for several weeks. Robinson said this may not produce immediate impacts, but it severely restricts the amount of water flowing into reservoirs as the state moves into its peak water usage months.
Seeing Eyes: Furry Graduates at Rutgers
It’s graduation season, and, with it, appear profiles of promising graduates, sketches of the families who provided encouragement and support and now, at Rutgers, specifically at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences on the University’s C…
Planning Your Summer? Here’s the Best Guess at the Weather N.J. Can Expect
As Memorial Day heralds in the unofficial start to the summer season in New Jersey, the outlook for beach season is, well, hazy at best. But the best guess for what’s going to happen lies in the Pacific… Unlike winter, which delivered on its promise of cold and snow, an analysis of long-term forecast data shows that there isn’t a clear signal of what the summer weather will bring to the Garden State… “There’s nothing screaming for a continuation of warm, dry conditions, but there isn’t really anything to the contrary either,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University.
WATCH: Taste Testing the New Rutgers Strawberry [VIDEO]
Anyone who’s ever bitten into a deep red flavorful New Jersey tomato knows the dramatic difference between a freshly picked local tomato and the sad specimens shipped in from afar and sold at your local supermarket. Well, the difference is almost as dramatic when it comes to strawberries… And this year, researchers at Rutgers’ New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station are releasing a new berry, dubbed the “Rutgers Scarlet” designed to be even more bountiful and delicious when grown on Garden State farms… Bill Hlubik, of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, said researchers worked to develop a berry that had “exceptional flavor” that would draw more customers to local farms.
Little Sprouts in Newton Welcomes Celebrity Reader Barbara O’Neill
Barbara O’Neill, a CFP, Distinguished Professor, and Specialist in Financial Resource Management at Rutgers Cooperative Extension, recently paid a visit to the preschool classroom at the Little Sprouts Early Learning Center to read several children’s books about the importance of being responsible with money as part of Project Self-Sufficiency’s Celebrity Reader program… “As a financial educator at Rutgers University, I wanted to read a book that teaches children a lesson about money,” said Barbara. “The moral of the story was that you’ll always be broke if you spend every penny that you get. Hopefully, the children will remember that. It is a very important life lesson.”
Here’s Where to Find That New Rutgers Strawberry
Soon to be the star of strawberry shortcakes throughout the Garden State, the “Rutgers Scarlet” strawberry debuting this spring will be available at 13 test farms… The berry, created by agricultural researchers at Rutgers University, was bred to be grown in Jersey climate and consumed soon after being harvested. That should make it taste better than plants bred to grow in California and survive the lengthy shipping delay to get them here… Home gardeners will be able to buy plants for their own use at the August 15 open house at the EARTH Center in South Brunswick… Bill Hlubik, of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, said the berry was produced by conventional hybridizing, not genetic modification.
Here’s the World’s Newest Strawberry, Bred in N.J. and Coming This Summer
The Rutgers Scarlet strawberry doesn’t like road trips. It’s designed to be grown – and eaten – in the Garden State… A new breed of strawberry is the product of years of cross-breeding by the folks at Rutgers’ New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. It was designed to be superior to all those berries that were bred to be grown in California then trucked to New Jersey… The 10-year project comes to fruition – literally – later this month when test plots at over a dozen Jersey farms will produce the berries. Supplies will be scarce this season, according to Rutgers, but consumers and gardeners will be able to buy their own plants at an August 15 open house at the EARTH Center in South Brunswick…”If you have something that is only sweet, it can be bland,” said Peter Nitzsche, associate professor and agriculture agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “But the combined sweetness and acidity is what really creates that excitement in your tongue.”
