Hernando County Extension Services

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Hernando County
Cooperative Extension Service

1653 Blaise Drive

Brooksville, Florida 34601
(352) 754-4433

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Stacy Strickland, Ph.D. Welcome to the Hernando County Extension Website. The Cooperative Extension Service is a partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture, University of Florida Institute Of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the Hernando County Board of County Commissioners. The extension service is divided into four programmatic efforts. Horticulture is a very popular program that instructs homeowners on growing vegetable gardens, and growing lush green lawns. 4-H Youth Development is one of the most recognized faces of the extension service. This program continues to reach out to youth in new ways to produce quality citizens. Agriculture is a driving force in Florida’s economy. The agriculture program works with producers of blueberries, cattle, citrus, nursery, horse farms, and natural resources. Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) is now a financial management/sustainable building position.

We are diligently working on our web development and new and innovative methods of delivering our programs in a cost-efficient way to the citizens of Hernando County. One way that we intend to accomplish this is to update the website to include videos that are shortened versions of many of the classes that you will find at the extension office.

Dr. Stacy Strickland
County Extension Director

Extension Blog

Aug. 9, 2010 - I have a bee hive on my property. Will a beekeeper be interested in coming to get it?

Click here to find out that answer and to learn about African Honey Bees

What's New

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Be sure to check out the new Video Classroom to answer some of the most common questions. Also take a look at the Calendar of Events to find a class near you!

4-H Teens Learn to Lead

Hernando County 4-H takes great pride in their teen leadership program. This year, youth attended 4-H Legislature, 4-H Congress and then served as counselors for weeks of day camps and residential camp. Together, they teamed up and provided many hours of recreation, games, educational activities and singing to others. While in Tallahassee for Legislature, Delaney Ahrens, Kayla McAndrew and Nathan McAndrew lobbied for legislation important to today's teens and learned how our Florida government works. In Gainesville for Congress, Kayla and Nathan earned first place in their public speaking category with their illustrated talk on Teen Depression, a very important subject these days. Lisa Mahler participated in the state Fashion Review after earning the honor at the district level.

Upcoming Events

Master Gardener Fall Plant Sale

Saturday, October 9, 2010

9:00am - 12:00pm

Hernando County Master Gardener Nursery

19490 Oliver St., Brooksville, FL 34601

AGRItunity

Planning is well under way for AGRItunity 2011, the annual conference and trade show designed to meet the needs of farmers large and small, scheduled to take place in January, 2011. This year the popular event will be returning to its original venue at the West Central Florida Agricultural Center near Bushnell, Florida. The AGRItunity 2011 planning committee has designed educational sessions along with trade and equipment show exhibits of interest to agricultural producers of the region. Please check back soon for the date and class list.
Registration for attendees is available on line at http://sumter.ifas.ufl.edu and over 4,000 direct mailings to farm families in the west central Florida region will be sent out soon. Anyone interested in further information or being placed on the contact list for registration materials, as well as companies or other groups interested in being a sponsor or exhibitor please contact:

Gary K. England (Chair) gke@ufl.edu
OR
Susan Kelly (Trade Show) sakelly@ufl.edu

AGRItunity 2010
7620 SR 471, Suite 2
Bushnell, FL 33513
(352) 793-2728

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Florida Gardening Calendar

Florida Gardening Calendar - Central Region

The Gardening Calendar gives Florida gardeners a monthly guide for what to plant and do in their gardens and includes links to useful gardening Web sites, all based on University of Florida research and expertise. Three different editions provide specific tips for each of Florida’s climate zones--North, Central, and South.