Extension Connections
Franklin County eNewsletter

August 2015

Dear Friend of OSU Extension,

We hope you are enjoying these beautiful days of summer, perhaps taking some time to rest and recharge and spend time with family and friends. Looking for something to do this month? Then check out our events calendar below. Your Franklin County Extension team looks forward to having you join us for these and future planned events. In our Program Updates, we are also pleased to highlight several of the educational, yet amazingly fun events we have been involved in over the past month.

Until next time, be well.

Sincerely,

Laquore J. Meadows, Ph.D.

County Extension Director, Franklin County

Program Updates

4-H Youth Development

Last month, over 800 youth concluded their 4-H project experience at the Franklin County Fair. Youth complete their projects over several months by first selecting a topic of interest from over 200 options, then participate in learning activities such as field trips and experiments, perform leadership and citizenship duties, create a project display, participate in an evaluation interview with a judge (pictured below), and lastly culminate this experience by exhibiting their final projects at the county fair. Winners in many of the project areas go on to represent Franklin County at the Ohio State Fair where they compete with other youth from around the state.

This young lady completed her quilting project and is being interviewed by a knowledgeable judge.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Franklin County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers spent two days in July working to maintain and expand the educational gardens at the Ohio’s Governor’s Residence in Bexley. These gardens include native plant materials from all geographic regions of the state and provide education for many groups that tour the gardens each year. The Master Gardeners also participate in continuing education presentations when they work in the gardens.

The 2015 Columbus Urban Farm Tour Series sponsored by the Franklin County Office of OSU Extension kicked off in July with a tour of Franklinton Gardens in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, where more than 2 acres are under production with food crops. The Urban Farm Tour will continue throughout the month with visits to the Swainway Urban Farm, St. Stephens Community House – Project AquaStar and Clarfield Farm. For more information please visit us here.

Mike Hogan, Franklin County Extension Educator for agriculture and natural resources, recently completed serving a term as President of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. Hogan’s term concluded at the Centennial Annual Meeting of this national professional association.

Community Development

For the past ten weeks, Corey Greenblat and Melissa Niece served OSU Extension – Franklin County as AmeriCorps Vista participants. Through this experience, both worked closely with Weinland Park area residents, met with local legislators, and fully engaged in the work of OSU Extension in communities across Franklin County. The OSU Extension team is grateful for their service and wishes them much success in the future.

Family and Consumer Sciences

Marilyn Rabe, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, was recently featured in the July issue of Columbus Parent. In the article, "Slow-Cooker Nutrition for All-Day Sports Events," Marilyn shared the importance of food safety at community events and provided helpful tips and guidelines to minimize food-borne illnesses. The full article is available here.

Upcoming Events

July 29-August 08 – Ohio State Fair

August 09 – Urban Farming in Small Spaces Tour

August 09-15 – Ohio Local Foods Week in Franklin County

August 12-16 – COSI Farm Days Co-Sponsored by OSU Extension

August 14 – Aquaponic Fish Production Tour

August 24 – Large-Scale Urban Farm Tour

Master Urban Farmer Workshop Series Kicks Off in September

Enrollment deadline is August 28 for the Master Urban Farmer Workshop Series scheduled to be held in Columbus starting September 10. This ten week workshop series (which includes a bus tour of urban agricultural sites in Columbus) prepares participants to be successful in producing and marketing food products in an urban environment. Enrollment is limited to 40 participants. For registration information, go to: regonline.com/masterurbanfarmer2015

Franklin County Extension connects with people in all stages of life, from young children to older adults. We work with families and children, farmers and business owners, community leaders and elected officials to build better lives, better businesses and better communities to make Ohio great.

How may we help you? Please contact our office.

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Our mailing address is:

The Ohio State University Extension Franklin County

2105 South Hamilton Road, Suite 100

Columbus, OH 43232