UF/IFAS GLOBAL BLOGS
Walking through my neighborhood the other day, I noticed the live oaks along the path seemed overloaded with acorns. It got me thinking about the time several years ago when our back patio was so overwhelmed with acorns… Read More
I became familiar with the term “gabion” 20 years ago when I worked for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, when helping people manage ongoing erosion problems was an almost-daily task. Northwest Florida’s soils are often full of… Read More
I was walking up to one of the county office buildings when I noticed it on the ground—a dead oak leaf lying bottom-up, with marble-sized, fuzzy brown orbs attached. I picked it up to examine the leaf and… Read More
“Someone dumped oil in the creek behind my house!” I had dozens of people call with that exclamation when I was a field inspector for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) wetlands compliance program. A significant portion… Read More
Last month, I was walking the beach with friends who live out of state. Because I can’t help myself, I would stop periodically and point out random plants, shells, or washed-up sea creatures. While familiar with jellyfish, they… Read More
Extension work has its roots both literally and figuratively in agricultural soil. As I’ve written in previous blogs, we are the outreach branch of our state’s land grant university. The land grant schools (UF, FAMU, Auburn, UGA, Clemson,… Read More
Most of our grandparents could do this, and certainly our ancestors before them. For people more dependent on the land and water than a grocery store to supply regular needs, a keen awareness of one’s surroundings can mean… Read More
Over my years of leading people on interpretive trail hikes, I have learned it is particularly important to know the names of whatever happens to be in bloom. These flowers are eye-catching, and inevitably someone will ask what… Read More
Despite its name, giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta) is actually pretty small. The floating plant starts out with a cluster of leaves no bigger than a dime. They don’t stay that way, though, and perhaps their outsized influence and… Read More
Folks started bragging to me about East Bay oysters as soon as I set foot in Pensacola decades ago. While the world knows Apalachicola oysters, their salty cousins to the west were a bit of a locals’ secret…. Read More
