May 11, 2021
The Delaware Department of Agriculture has received an additional round of funding to enhance the competitiveness of Delaware-grown specialty crops through USDA’s Pandemic Assistance Program.
USDA awarded each state department of agriculture an allocation based upon its recent available value of specialty crop cash receipts and acreage of specialty crop production in the state. As a result, Delaware received an additional $465,433 under H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 133 Stimulus Funding), to distribute through a competitive grant process.
Specialty crops cover agricultural products including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, nursery crops and floriculture. Projects should benefit the specialty crop industry as a whole, sustain the livelihood of Delaware farmers and strengthen Delaware’s economy.
Chicken farming manual published in Vietnamese, Korean and Urdu
Delmarva Chicken Association’s Jim Passwaters checks on the progress of a pollinator-friendly vegetative environmental buffer between two chicken houses on a Sussex County farm. SUBMITTED PHOTO May 4, 2021
Delmarva Chicken Association is publishing its reference manual for vegetative environmental buffers on chicken farms, the VEB Tool-Kit, in three new languages – Vietnamese, Korean, and Urdu – for an increasingly diverse audience of chicken growers on Delmarva who share a common goal of protecting natural resources and being good neighbors.
The VEB Tool-Kit, a free resource at dcachicken.com, is a widely used guide to planning, installing and maintaining ‘living fences’ of evergreen trees, shrubs, and tall grasses around chicken houses and chicken farms. Planting these buffers has both air quality and water quality benefits. Properly designed vegetative environmental buffers with farm-specific
Milton Garden Club to offer plants, raffles at Tour 684 events
Milton Garden Club will be selling a variety of plants at upcoming Tour 684 events on the first Friday of each month, along with raffle tickets. SUBMITTED PHOTOS May 4, 2021
Phlox is a popular perennial plant that offers many different types and characteristics.
The Milton Garden Club will be a vendor at the new Tour 684 event to be held from 3 to 7 p.m., the first Friday of every month from May through October.
Club members will be at two locations each month. The club will be selling some perennials, but the main focus will be to publicize club activities and sell 50/50 raffle tickets as a fundraiser. The tickets are $1 each or six for $5, and the winning ticket will be drawn at during Hollyfest, at 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 11. During the August and September events, the club will also be selling the 2021 Milton Garden Tour tickets.
Dagsboro Delaware 19939United States
The Delaware Botanic Gardens recently hosted a Frolic in the Folly, and while the weather was a little windy, the sun was out, which brought to life the plants in bloom and set the stage for what the rest of the gardens will look like in coming months.
In addition to being a time for people to see what’s blooming, the April 16 frolic allowed supporters to see the most recent version of the Meadow Pavilion, which will serve as a large indoor gathering and classroom space.
Sheryl Swed, DBG executive director, said she was excited about the future project and its possibilities. It will house offices and be able to accommodate 300 people when it’s done, she said.
A big plus is that Beit Alpha cucumber is one of the most disease-resistant varieties known.
Paul Barbano April 28, 2021
The beauty of a mixed garden is similar to the beauty of a mixed population of humans. As humans, we quickly take what is foreign and incorporate it into our lives. Take Yiddish, which most Americans speak without knowing it. So, an undesirable or foolish person is a “schmuck.” And we have all heard a salesman s “spiel” or talk. But when a man accused of murdering his parents asks the court to be lenient because the defendant is now an orphan, this is the epitome of “chutzpah,” one with no shame.