Looking for That Perfect Last Minute Gift?

Check Everyone Off Your List This 

Holiday Season! 

Our Winter Garden Workshops* are the perfect gift for the gardener (or wannabe gardener) in your life! 

Advanced Master Gardener, Rachel Ziesk, will teach classes that will help attendees prepare their garden for the upcoming spring season.

Each individual workshop costs just $20. OR pick up the entire series for $100! 

Soil & Season Extenders -- Saturday, January 28^th, 2017

The most important component for a successful garden is soil health. Learn how to make and keep your soil healthy, as well as how to use row covers and other techniques to extend your growing season.

Cool Weather Crops -- Saturday, February 11^th, 2017

Learn about starting your garden as soon as the snow is gone! Cool weather crops don’t mind the cold and give you a head start on the season. This class covers how to plant cold weather crops and manage the pests and diseases that plague them.

Warm Weather Crops -- Saturday, February 25^th, 2017

Everything you need to know about warm weather crops! Learn about how to make the best out of your growing season including which crops are best started indoors, what can be directly seeded into the ground and what conditions each crop prefers. This class also covers which fertilizers are best as well as common pests and diseases affecting warm weather crops.

Seed Starting & Garden Planning -- Saturday, March 4^th, 2017

Start your own seedlings! This class explores how and when to start planting indoors. Learn about using lights, watering and identifying common problems with seed starting. The class also covers planning your garden so you get the most out of your gardening space. Everyone attending will get to plant a six pack of seedlings to take home with them.

Essential Flowers & Herbs for Vegetable Gardening -- Saturday, March 11^th, 2017

Flowers and Herbs attract pollinators and beneficial insects to help keep your garden productive and healthy. Learn about the best flowers and herbs for your garden. This class will also identify some edible weeds and tell you what you need to know in order to protect your garden from invasive ones.

Preserving your Garden Harvest -- Saturday, March 25^th, 2017

Learn how you can eat from your garden all winter long. Simple methods can save your harvest for winter use. The class will cover techniques that you’ll need to know for freezing, canning, dehydrating, pickling and more.

 

For more information on each class, or to register for the series, visit: www.nhswintergarden2017.eventbrite.com

 

*This Program is a cooperative effort of NHS of New Haven, Common Ground, UConn Extension, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, and the Risk Management Agency/USDA. These institutions are equal opportunity employers and providers.

Five Tips to Empower Renters

Five Tips to Empower Renters (from NeighborWorks America and NHS of New Haven)

Renter households increased from 34 million in 2005 to nearly 43 million in 2015. With the probability that more families will seek this housing, planning ahead can make the process easier. Working with trained staff at NeighborWorks organizations such as NHS of New Haven can help people become informed consumers of rental homes. 

Following these five tips can make renting a lot less stressful: 

1. Avoid rental listing scams.Scammers often advertise rentals that don’t exist or aren’t available, often known as phantom rentals, to trick people into sending money before they find out the truth. Signs you may have encountered a scam include a person telling you to wire money or they want the security deposit or first month’s rent before you’ve met or signed a lease. Report a scam by contacting local law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

2. Get your finances and credit in shape.

Protect your money and pay as little as you can for the apartment you want by strengthening your credit. Nearly half of renters are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes in rent, according to arecent report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Financial counseling helps individuals strengthen their credit and establish savings goals. These habits can help you save enough money for a security deposit and help to improve your overall credit score. A good credit score is important because most landlords use a credit check to vet potential renters. Many NeighborWorks organizations offer financial coaching.  

3. Consider renter’s insurance.
Avoiding scams and strengthening your credit are essential. It’s also important to protect your belongings from loss or accidental damage.
Renter’s insurance protects the valuables inside your home whether you're living in an apartment or renting a house. If there were an incident like a fire or water leak, a landlord's insurance would cover the building itself but you would still need to replace your own belongings if damaged.

4. Select a moving company carefully.If your friends or family are not assisting with the move, research moving companies and find a trustworthy one. Read online reviews and check social media, along with asking friends and family for a recommendation. The right moving company can make your relocation go smoothly. Get estimates from a few moving companies to compare prices.            

5. Decide between a large managed property or apartment complex, or renting from an individual landlord.
Do your research and determine which one is best for you. Read online reviews, and if possible talk to current residents and ask what they like and don’t like about the property. Be sure to know your rights as a tenant, which can vary from state to state.

Loving Your House: Love Note #4

Loving Your House: Love Note #4

(Helpful hints for homeowners and homeowners-to-be from the Director of Design & Construction, H. Dynia)

July 2014

This is the time of year when we may not be fully done with recovering from or repairing the damage caused by last winter’s severe weather, and should be planning our defense for next winter. It was a terrible season for ice damming on roof edges, and rough on hardscapes (pavement areas) and landscaping.

Diagram from home-partners.com

Photo from home-partners.com

Usually by the time you realize that you have an ice-dam problem, it is difficult to do anything that stops or minimizes the damage. Now is the time to think about how to avoid this kind of problem for next winter, because we do not know how challenging or benign the next winter will be! Here are 3 possible strategies to deal with ice dams:

1.  If your roof is worn and ready for re-roofing, current building codes require membranes along the lower edges of the roof that greatly reduce leaks from ice dams.

2.  Place heat-producing cables along roof edges and gutters to melt away ice as it forms. These products are readily available at home centers and hardware stores, but can be challenging to install if you are not comfortable with heights and ladders. Follow the products instructions for installation and use. They will cost you some electricity to operate. 

3.  Acquire a roof rake and pull off as much snow from the roof as you can, if you can reach it with the extended handle of the roof rake. Especially concentrate on the eve (lower) areas. If the sun can reach the roof material, it often can warm it enough to defeat ice build-up. 

Another casualty of the past winter has been hardscape areas, which may have been damaged by snow plows, snow shovels, ice choppers, and ice melting chemicals. When using de-icing chemicals on concrete or concrete pavers, only use products that are labeled as “pavement friendly”. Sodium Chloride (rock salt) destroys concrete. Calcium Chloride is less destructive. Surface damage to limited areas such as steps, porches, etc. can be repaired with high-strength concrete repair and re-surfacing materials, a task within grasp of most homeowners.

Landscape plantings also were slow to recover from the rainfall deficit of last year, the prolonged low temperatures, and heavy snow loads thrust upon them from snow plows, snow throwers, and shoveling. Some trees and shrubs were very slow to recover and are still not yet fully leafed-out. Here are some steps to take to improve the survivability of your trees and shrubs year-round:

1.  Careful pruning can insure that the tree or shrub is structurally able to survive these loads without a lot of broken branches in windy storms and the coming winter. 

2.  Planning “snow storage” space should be part of your landscape plan to avoid burying your plants under glaciers of ice and snow. 

3.  Fertilizing at appropriate times will avoid late fall soft new growth that will not be survivable.

4.  Heavy mulch in late fall to keep their feet warm and moist, especially important for broad-leaved evergreens.  Mulch applied too early will trigger a growth spurt that will not be ready for winter.

5.  Timely applications of Wilt-Pruf, a sticky Elmer’s glue like anti-transpirant that is sprayed on will act as an overcoat to limit the plant’s need for water when the ground is frozen, minimizing desiccation.

6.  Plants should end the growing season with adequate soil moisture, since below ground growth continues during the winter.