Category: Fruits & Vegetables

Panoramic shot of senior man and woman holding purple ribbon representing Alzheimer's. By LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS Dimensions 6922 x 2148px File Type JPEG Category People License Type Education License Education License - Standard Image (Included in your plan) (Licensed)

How healthy habits promote stronger brains: UF/IFAS expert focuses on Alzheimer’s prevention

by Lourdes Mederos
June 2, 2026

An estimated 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, highlighting the importance of Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month this June, a time dedicated to increasing understanding of brain health ... READ MORE

Category: Blog Community, Events, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Alzheimer, Blood Pressure, Brain, Brain Health, Chronic Diseases, Cognitive Health, DASH, Dementia, Diabetes, Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension, Español, Family And Consumer Sciences, FCS, Food Is Medicine, Heart Health, High Blood Pressure, Jessica Alfonso- Rodriguez, Mediterranean Diet, Mediterranean-DASH Intervention For Neurodegenerative Delay, Miami-Dade Extension, Mind, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Risk
Lake County MGVs

FIELD TRIP: Nehrling Gardens in Gotha, FL

by Maria Quirico
May 31, 2026

Fourteen Master Gardener Volunteers (and family) toured Nehrling Gardens in May 2026. Theresa Schretzmann-Myers (Board of Directors Vice President) was our excellent tour guide. Ms. Theresa fed us history, facts, stories, and anecdotes in ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Home Management, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Teaching, Water, Wildlife, Work & Life
Tags: Attract Wildlife, Botanical Garden, Conservation, FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Native Plants, Sustainability
Darrow's Blueberry Bush

Native Evergreen Blueberry Great for Home Landscape

by Lauren Goldsby
May 29, 2026

Darrow’s Blueberry (Vaccinium darrowii) is both a beautiful and edible edition to your garden! This time of year, the red, blue, purple, and green foliage plus the oncoming fruit crop really stand out. In shadier environments leaf color will ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables
Tags: Blueberry, Darrowii, Edible Landscape, Evergreen, Gardening In The Panhandle, Landscape, Panhandle
Spent tomato leaves add mulch underneath a Seminole pumpkin vine.

Chop and Drop Gardening: Turning Plant Waste into Healthy Soil

by Lauren Spaduzzi
May 29, 2026

Nature doesn’t waste nutrients, and your garden doesn’t have to either! What is ‘chop and drop’ gardening? Chop and drop gardening involves ‘chopping’ plant material, and then ‘dropping’ it in place, where it decomposes naturally ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Chop And Drop, Compost, Florida, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Gardening, Home Landscapes, Mulch, UF/IFAS Extension, Vegetable Gardening
Manos recolectando vainas verdes de okra directamente de la planta en un huerto, rodeadas de hojas verdes.

El okra pasa de ser un alimento básico en cocinas y huertos caseros a convertirse en parte fundamental del movimiento “La Comida como Medicina” en la agricultura de Florida

by Luz Bahder
May 28, 2026

Creado por Lourdes Mederos, gerente de relaciones públicas en español para el Departamento de Comunicaciones de UF/IFAS. ¿Qué hace que el okra, conocido también como quimbombó, sea una elección inteligente para los huertos caseros, las ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Blog Community, Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Health & Nutrition, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Agricultura, Alimentacion, Alimentos, Caracoles, Centro De Investigación Y Educación Tropical (TREC) De UF/IFAS, Chicharrita De Dos Manchas Del Algodón, Cultivo, Dakshina Seal, Demanda De Okra, Entomologia, Español, Germinación, Gusanos Cogolleros, Hortalizas, Huertos Caseros, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, La Comida Como Medicina, Manejo Integrado De Plagas, Monalisa Seaton, Mosca Blanca De Alas Plateadas, Okra, Produccion Comercial, Programa De Extensión De UF/IFAS, Pulgones, Quimbombó, Rendimientos, Salud, Saludable, Spanish, TREC, UF-IFAS, Valor Nutricional
A bin of UFBest peaches. Yellow and red plump fruit.

Suncoast Grown and Gathered: May Stone Fruit! Peaches and Plums in Abundance?

by Forest Hecker
May 27, 2026

At the Sarasota County UF/IFAS Extension Office, we've been cultivating a Food Forest to showcase the most productive, unique, and often underutilized fruits and crops suited to our distinctive southwest Florida climate. Through this ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Work & Life
Tags: FFL, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Garden, Horticulture, Landscape, Landscaping, Pgm_HortRes
Everglades tomato fruits

Growing Everglades Tomato

by Tia Saracino
May 26, 2026

Everglades tomato is a wild type of current tomato that thrives in Florida's hot humid summers. The small red fruits, about the size of a dime, are abundant and tasty. This is an indeterminate type of tomato and can easily grow 6 to 10 feet ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Central Florida, Edible Landscaping, Everglades Tomato, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruit And Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Tomato, Vegetable Gardening, Video
Pods of red okra of the cultivar ‘Carmine Splendor’ hybrid grown in South Florida. UF/IFAS photo by Vander Rocha Lacerda

Is okra rising from a kitchen, home garden staple to a ‘Food is Medicine’ star in Florida agriculture?

by Lourdes Mederos
May 26, 2026

What makes okra a smart choice for home gardens, healthier meals and Florida’s next great crop? University of Florida researchers from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) say this adaptable crop illustrates how ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Blog Community, , Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Antioxidants, Ask IFAS, Crop, Dakshina Seal, Digestion, Easy-to-grow, Español, Farmers, Florida, Food Is Medicine, Gardens, Health, Health Benefits, Healthy, Heart Health, Homestead, IFAS, Invasive Pests, Kitchen, Monalisa Seaton, Nutrition, Okra, Ornamental Plants, Peyton Ecklund, Plant-based Foods, Seed-borne Diseases, Seeds, South Florida, Staple, Tropical Research And Education Center, Two-spotted Leafhopper, UF/IFAS Research, Vitamins, Xiaoying Li

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