Hillsborough County - Programs
UNH Cooperative Extension (UNHCE) has been actively delivering research-based education and information to Hillsborough County residents since 1914. This nine decade partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture, the University of New Hampshire, and Hillsborough County has provided a sound mechanism for ensuring that county residents have access to knowledge that enhances their ability to make informed decisions that strengthen youth, families and communities, sustains natural resources, and improves the economy. A network of staff on the campus of the University, and in all ten counties linked together by technology, helps ensure Extensions ability to access and move resources quickly to identify and address societal and environmental issues.
This youth development program, 4-H, is the youth educational program of UNH Cooperative Extension, promoted as "Your First Class at UNH". 4-H helps young people to become creative and productive citizens – develop positive leisure time activities – create a lifelong desire for knowledge – foster positive self-esteem – build leadership potential – become involved in communities – and explore interests and try new skills.
The Head, Heart, Hands and Health expressed in the 4-H Pledge refers to the array of life skills that youth can learn as they become part of and participate in programs and activities of the University of New Hampshire. Over 3000 youth participated in 4-H in Hillsborough County in 2008 through some of the following programs:
NH 4-H Common Ground Garden Project
4-H Green Thumb Team
4-H Get Up & Go for Walk NH
4-H Gone Wild
4-H Entrepreneurship Program
County Horse Council
Statewide Sheep Clinic
State 4-H Horse Show
Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair
State Market Lamb Show & Auction
Marketing You
Agriculture is an ever-changing dynamic business. To keep local farmers on the leading edge, we provide information at informal meetings, farm meetings, personal visits, written recommendations, phone contact, and via email. Based on soil test results, commercial fertilization recommendations were made for full and/or part- time operations in Hillsborough County during the 2006 growing season. Twelve commercial agriculture meetings were organized and/or hosted in Hillsborough County with over 300 people attending and eight commercial agriculture jointly-hosted meetings were held outside of the county along with the New England conference for vegetable and fruit growers held in Manchester. Meetings and workshops in Agriculture cover the following areas:
Tree Fruit
Vegetables and Small Fruit
Ponds
Agricultural Business Management
Pruning
Nursery/Woody Ornamentals
Perennials
Garden Centers
Athletic Fields
Town Fields/Parks/Cemetaries
Community Development & Interdisciplinary Programming
Cooperative Extension is currently in year three of a five year Children, Youth & Families at Risk grant (CYFAR). The purpose of the grant is to provide increased access to high quality after school programs for children in grades 4 to 8, as well as support to the Project Genesis Program for teens, all in the town of Hillsboro. Extension also supports a Community Vision Team focused on long-term sustainability of these efforts, and is providing a Coordinator of Volunteers and a Vista volunteer working to build a volunteer management system and assist in strategic planning for long term sustainable community support.
Since 1997 UNHCE has conducted thirteen Community Profile or similar facilitated events designed to engage communities on issues of signifigance. These events, of one or more days, help to provide consensus and direction to groups large and small. UNHCE assists a local committee plan their event and train local volunteers as skilled small group facilitators and note takers/recorders. While typically 100-150 community members attend a profile, some, such as Pelham and New Boston, have drawn nearly 300 participants. Some communities have, as the result of a Profile, started local newspapers, community based websites, built hiking trails, and seen steering committee members rise to leadership roles in their communities, like select or planning board members.
Last year, Extension assisted in the planning and facilitation of a retreat for the Piscataquog River Watershed Association, and facilitated a series of stake holder meetings in the town of Goffstown as they considered 24/7 Fire and EMS services for their community.
FAMILY & CONSUMER RESOURCES
Family & Consumer Resource Educators deliver research-based information and education on quality child care for child care providers, parenting, money management, nutrition, and food safety.
Parenting & Childcare Education
Parenting education programs offered by UNHCE include one-time workshops, one-on-one teaching, and group class series. In addition, UNHCE offers publications, age-paced newsletters, WMUR parenting segments, and collaborations with other media sources. Examples of some of the classes/literature offered:
The UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition Connections Program provides food, nutrition and money management education for limited resource audiences in Hillsborough County and is available in both English and Spanish. The program goals are to support and assist the limited resource audience in acquiring the knowledge and skills to make informed positive life style choices. The new skills learned and positive changes made, can empower and contribute to positive personal development, improvement and overall well being of family and community. We partner with agencies that assist limited resource families and public schools to provide quality education programs without a fee. Hillsborough County is a growing community with multi-ethnic and multi-cultural populations, primarily in Nashua and Manchester.
In 2006 food safety programming reached 333 restaurant, nursing home, day care, school food service personnel, 4-H youth, Family Home and Garden Center volunteers and farm stand owners. Fourteen workshops on Making Healthy Food Choices were delivered to 206 adults and youth from the Nashua school district, Manchester and Nashua judicial courts, Pelham Senior Center, and other partnering organizations. For further food safety contact Alice Mullen at 629-9494 ext 150. Ongoing food safety courses include:
FAMILY, HOME & GARDEN EDUCATION CENTER
The Family, Home & Garden Education Center and its volunteers responded to over 6,700 information requests this year on such subjects as trees & shrubs, annuals and perennials, lawns, household insects, fruits, vegetables, food safety and food preservation, and wildlife. Many more requests are also received as a result of the 52 television spots called “Grow It Green” taped for WMUR/Channel 9. In addition to the more than 3,000 volunteer hours that Master Gardeners contributed at the Center, Master Gardeners volunteered well over 1,700 hours of time to gardening programs and projects across Hillsborough County. Landscapes were started or maintained in many public spaces in communities such as Manchester, Milford, Amherst, Peterborough, Weare, Francestown, Hancock and Nashua. The International Community Garden in Manchester served African and Turkish refugees again this year, questions were answered at Farmer’s Markets, a Garden Camp was run for 2nd and 4th graders in Amherst and workshops and classes were held in many locations around the county.
An Extension Forester and Community Forestry Educator provide educational and technical assistance to forest landowners in the better use of their forest resources for income production as well as recreation, wildlife, aesthetics, and watershed management. The forester also advises homeowners on urban tree problems as well as encourages youth groups such as 4-H, vocational agriculture, and scouting to become involved in learning and practicing good forestry. The Community Forestry Educator focuses on natural resources in cities and towns and coordinates the NH Community Tree Steward Program - educating volunteers to care for NH's natural environment. Some of the forestry focus areas include:
Community Tree Steward Education
Urban and Community Forestry
Rural Forest Management
Watershed Conservation
Timber Industry Assistance
