Wise up: New classes to cover invasive species, canning, energy efficiency
Extension Wise
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Jessica Wiant -- jwiant@nvdaily.com
WINCHESTER -- Stink bugs? We've only seen the beginning. Xeriscapes? They aren't from another planet but something you can build in your own backyard. And Canning? You can can, really.
These topics and others are among the ones the Frederick County Cooperative Extension often gets calls about, according to Karen Ridings, a family consumer sciences agent.
A goal of the Extension office is to educate the public on topics that can improve their lives, she said. So, the agency has put together a series of free programs to be held on Thursdays this month at Handley Regional Library.
Extension Wise will be held in partnership with the Friends of Handley Regional Library beginning on March 10 with a program about invasive insects and plants by Agricultural Natural Resources Associate Laura Shifflett.
Each class will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Benham Room of the library -- at lunchtime so that people can come with a bagged lunch.
Shifflett said she plans to focus her program mostly on three invasive insects: the emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid and the brown marmorated stink bug.
Shifflett has attended a conference about invasive species recently and been involved with research in the area trapping and identifying the emerald ash borer.
Shifflett said she plans to show a video about how to clean gear while visiting different parks to prevent spreading invasive species.
Eradication techniques will also be part of the program.
"I think it'll be fun," she said. "Bring your lunch. Bring your slippers. You want to be comfortable."
For the next date, Master Gardener Lynn Hoffmann will cover "Is Your Garden a Water Hog?"
With last year being so dry, water use has been a concern for people, Ridings said.
After that, Karen Poff will talk about energy efficiency in a program called "Save Energy, Save Money."
Energy savings, Ridings said, is always a big issue.
The program is one that Poff, a senior extension agent for family and consumer sciences, developed and has presented many times.
Poff said she will cover eight specific ways to cut energy costs, including keeping things clean so they run more efficiently, insulating, turning off and unplugging appliances and doing an energy audit of your home.
Poff specializes in family economics.
"Can You Can? Yes You Can! Canning Basics for Beginners" will be the final class in the series on March 31.
Ridings, who will lead the program, said canning developed as a way for farmers to preserve their food, and recently it has seen a renewed interest as families are gardening more to save money.
"People have been trying to preserve food since the beginning of time," she said.
With canning, the main purpose is to kill microorganisms, mainly botulism, she said.
The unfortunate thing, according to Ridings, is that many who try to can go by the old standards from parents and grandparents, but procedures have been changed or updated -- and often people don't ask questions until after they have canned their food.
They have done all that work and the food ends up not being safe to eat, Shifflett said.
Ridings said she plans to cover the two types of canning: a boiling water bath for high-acid foods and pressure canning for low-acid foods.
People sometimes worry about the safety of canning or that the pressure canner will explode, but today's equipment is much safer, she said.
"Hopefully someone will feel comfortable enough to start," she said.
The Extension office hopes to offer a series periodically in the future, perhaps hosting another set of programs in the summer or fall, according to Ridings and Shifflett.
"I think these are a wonderful selection of programs and we're offering them at a great time in the season," Barbara Dickinson, executive director of Friends of Handley Regional Library, said in an e-mail. "They completely fit our goals of helping the library serve as an educational, cultural and social center of the community."
Extension Wise
• "We're Being Invaded: Invasive Insects and Plants in Frederick County," presented by Laura Shifflett, agricultural natural resources associate -- March 10.
• "Is Your Garden a Water Hog?" presented by Lynn Hoffmann, master gardener -- March 17.
• "Save Energy, Save Money," presented by Karen Poff, senior Extension agent -- March 24.
• "Can You Can? Yes You Can! Canning Basics for Beginners," presented by Karen Ridings, family consumer sciences agent.
All programs will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Benham Room at Handley Regional Library and are free. No registration is required. Participants are invited to bring a bag lunch.
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