Extension News: April 2007 Archives

We have lots of species of bees in New Hampshire that dig solitary nests in soil. Many started digging just this week.

They prefer sandy soil that has a bare surface, but tolerate some sparse vegetation. Each female bee builds one burrow for herself, in which to store food and rear young. If a patch of ground is particularly attractive, lots of bees may build burrows close together there. They are not particularly aggressive.

If their presence is objectionable, you can cover the soil with mulch, or grow grass or other thick ground cover. Adding mulch is a quick solution; growing plants takes time to work.

Alan Eaton, UNH Cooperative Extension Professor/Specialist, Entomology, says pesticides are NOT recommended; these are valuable pollinators, and honeybees (closely related species) are having serious problems here in New Hampshire.

Here's a fact sheet to learn more.

UNH Cooperative Extension launches statewide program to support "Kinship Caregivers"

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, about six million children across the nation live in households headed by grandparents or other relatives. In New Hampshire, 12,458 children live with such "kinship caregivers," 3,869 of them in households without either parent present.


"Kinship caregivers and the children they care for have needs and concerns that go beyond the usual challenges of childrearing," says Thom Linehan, a UNH Cooperative Extension parent educator. Linehan heads a new Extension initiative called NHRAPP (Relatives as Parents Program), aimed, he says, "at helping connect people, ideas, and information in a fragmented system."

"Many kinship caregivers are older; they have significant medical or financial concerns of their own. They may have health concerns and financial of their own. The kids may have disabilities, mental health needs, attachment disorders, and they're often acting out, engaging in risky behaviors, or suffering attachment disorders. Both the children and the kinship caregivers may find themselves involved in legal difficulties. Each situation is unique.

Supported by a grant from the Brookdale Foundation, "NHRAPP has three components to address this universe of needs." says Linehan, "Our Web site will collect and organize informational resources and create interactive online forums for kinship-care families and the professionals who work with them. We'll also establish a statewide coalition of professionals and families working together to identify the needs and improve the systems that support kinship care families. Third, the project will help incubate new support groups by training new facilitators."

"So many glitches, so many roadblocks, so few places to go for help"
Pauline Smith of Somersworth has cared for two of her 11 grandchildren off and on since 1990--full time since 1995, when it became evident that neither her son nor the children's mother could do so.

"I've spent 50 years as a parent," says Smith, who adds that she's raised her grandchildren as a single parent, working full time managing the Rochester toll plaza until she retired in 2000.

"It's been very painful," Smith admits. "Sometimes people question whether we're even fit to raise our grandchildren."

"The children were four and five when they came to me," she says. "They had no health records, and I couldn't get access to them. Without the health records, I couldn't even enroll the children in school. [Kinship caregivers] have no legal rights--it took six weeks to get legal guardianship."

"There've been so many glitches in the road, so many roadblocks. There were so few places to go for help," says Smith. "Nobody seemed willing to give me information I didn't know enough to ask for; if I had known enough to ask for it, I wouldn't have had to ask."

"I'm so excited about this new program," Smith says. "I've signed up to join the [NHRAPP] Coalition and to be trained as a support- group facilitator."

Energized and ready for action
Smith was among the 34 caregivers and professionals who attended RAPP New Hampshire's first public event, a "community dialogue for kinship caregivers" March 13 in Concord.

"We had a great conversation and got great feedback," says Linehan "It was a chance for people to step back a bit from issues they face every day but rarely have a chance to reflect on or share in a public forum. One important thing we learned was that, while everyone has access to some specific information, there's a lot people don't know.

"For example, we have a lot of professional resources for kinship families here in New Hampshire, but they're distributed through a wide variety of agencies. It's very clear we some means of bringing all the information and all the people who care about these families together.

"People told us they felt the community dialogue was an important first step," says Linehan. "They left energized and ready to take action."

The recent Nor'Easter wreaked havoc in every part of New Hampshire. Not only was there extensive flooding in the southern part of the state, but high winds and heavy rainfall caused extensive damage to the northern forests.

The amount of tree damage in our forests varies greatly. Some forests experienced a few broken limbs; in others, trees were uprooted, leaving the entire tree lying on the ground. Each situation is unique and each may pose potential dangers. Use common sense before entering any property.

• Don't enter your woodlot alone.
• Don't enter the woodlot during high wind conditions.
• Wear a hard hat.
• Watch for hanging limbs and leaning trees.
• Seek professional advice before you attempt any salvage or clean up activities.
• Remember that trees and branches may be unstable and pose considerable risk.

For more information about woodlot damage
UNH Cooperative Extension County Foresters
Directory of Licensed Foresters
Selecting a Forester
Selecting a Logger
Forest Laws
Timber Sale Guidelines
Timber Tax Questions: Frequently Asked About Timber Salvage Cutting Operations

For more information about damage to single trees
County Extension Foresters
Certified Arborists
Selecting an Arborist
Pruning Storm Damaged Trees

Technical information for foresters
Estimating Volume of Downed Trees Using Perpendicular Sampling

For general information about forests and trees, contact your county Extension forest resources educator, or visit the UNH Cooperative Extension Forests & Trees Web pages.

View slide show: After The Storm: Tree Damage in Grafton County

Extension launches interactive turf-management Web page

Interested in getting a greener, healthier lawn and having fun learning how?

UNH Cooperative Extension educator Sadie Puglisi and Web specialist Faye Cragin have teamed up to produce Integrated Pest Management for Turfgrass, an interactive Web site about caring for grass in home lawns, as well as in municipal and commercial landscapes such as athletic fields, cemeteries, golf courses and office parks.

"I wanted to create an alternative to flat fact sheets for teaching people about managing pests in lawns," says Puglisi. "I wanted them to go beyond simply buying and applying lawn-care products--to understand why they need a product and how the product is going to work. Armed with that understanding, they can move on to ask another question: Do I really need this or that product?"

The pages offer information on the basics of integrated pest management, how grass grows, identifying and managing turf diseases, scouting for grubs, an herbicide glossary, and interactive decision tools about herbicide use. Quizzes at the end of each section will test your knowledge.

"The information on the site is easy to follow and helpful to anyone who wants to know how to have healthy grass," says Puglisi. "Come have a look for yourself."

A good forest management plan can help landowners generate more income, enhance wildlife habitat, and leave the forest in better shape for the future

If you're one of the 84,000 people who own a piece of New Hampshire's forest, you're a steward of our clean water, beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, fresh air, and natural and cultural heritage, not to mention the basis of our forest industry and much of our recreation.

Owning land gives many rewards and, as with most precious things, the more you pay attention to your land and care for it, the greater those rewards.

"It's important to think about what you really want from your land," says Wendy Scribner, UNH Cooperative Extension forest resources educator in Carroll County. "You can grow firewood and timber, create a haven for wildlife, cut trails--the list is endless," she says. Steve Roberge, her colleague in Cheshire County, agrees. "Owning land gives you many options. I'm here to help," he says.

You don't have to go it alone. Start with an Extension forester.
There are Extension forestry educators like Scribner and Roberge in each New Hampshire county. Their job is to help and advise forest landowners. If you don't know your local Extension forester, a call to the UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry Information Center at 1-800-444-8978 will connect you.

In addition to these forestry educators, more than 200 licensed foresters statewide offer a variety of services, including forest stewardship planning, current use assistance, forest inventory and appraisal, buying and selling standing trees, nurturing young trees (weeding and thinning), wildlife habitat management, marking trees to cut for regenerating the next forest, and laying out trails and other recreation improvements.