News & Updates

Doveweed: A Pesky Weed that may Destroy Your Lawn

Typically, this time of year many homeowners are tackling a variety of weeds in their landscapes. One of those weeds may very well be the invasive and aggressive weed known as Doveweed (Murdannia nudifflora). Doveweed emerges when average temperatures reach 65-70 degrees daily and germination continues into late fall. Doveweed is easily mistaken as St.…

Celebrate the Blues July is National Blueberry Month

Blueberries were once known as star berries because of the pointy flower calyxes on top of the berries. Blueberries have grown in North America for thousands of years. Native Americans dried the berries in the sun and crushed them into a powder to be used as a rub on meats. Whole berries were added to…

Memories of Muffins: A Reverie for National Berries Month

Growing up, every July my family would take a long road trip to visit family. One activity we always did together was go blueberry picking with my grandpa at a U-pick farm a short drive from his house. Everyone would fill a bucket—though we always joked we ate more than ended up in the buckets—then…

Sustainable Summer Activities

Longer and warmer days are here, it must be summer! There is so much to love about this season. Schools are out, the ocean is warm, and the roads are slightly less congested. If you’re feeling stuck on ideas for things to do this summer, try some of the following sustainable options. It’s important to…

DIY Salad Dressings: Adding Health and Flavor

It’s recommended that half our plates are fruits and vegetables and to include 2-3 different colors of produce each day to soak up a variety of health benefits. To add a little flavor, we may crack open a bottle of our favorite dressing and pour it on well past the serving size. Suddenly our salad…

A native plant with pizazz – tropical sage

A mass planting of tropical sage – eye appeal in the landscape Some native plants do not have the “pizazz” that many of our more exotic plants possess. However, one native that does give a show is the tropical sage. Also called wild sage, fireweed, scarlet salvia, or scarlet sage, this relatively small, Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ plant,…

Understand Food Labels

Reading time: Approximately 5 minutes Do you know how to interpret food labels? Imagine you are grocery shopping and whether you stop by at the yogurt section, or the oatmeal section, there are so many options there, which ones to choose based on the nutrition facts? Nutrition facts are not difficult to understand, and are composed of…

Let’s make some buzz on National Honey Bee Day! August 20th

A ripe fig with its large signature leaf. Photo credit: Carrie T. Stevenson, UF IFAS ExtensionSummer is full of simple pleasures—afternoon rainstorms, living in flip flops, and cooling off in a backyard pool. Among these, one of my favorites is walking out my door and picking handfuls of figs right from the tree. Before we planted…

Let’s make some buzz on National Honey Bee Day! August 20th

The UF/IFAS Social Media Committee is enlisting your participation in the National Honey Bee Day Social Media Blitz on August 20, 2022.  Participants of this social media event can be from inside UF/IFAS or community supporters with an interest in honey bees.  National Honey Bee Day takes place on Saturday August 20, 2022. National Honey Bee…

Gardening can cultivate better mental health

Horticultural therapy has long been used to improve mental health in those with existing medical conditions. Scientists wanted to know if healthy people could also reap mental health benefits from gardening. The study’s results suggest that gardening can help many people improve their mental health, though more research needs to be done to…
to top