Joseph Elkinton of UMass Extension, discusses the emergence of winter moths in part of Massachusetts. He says scientists think the weather prompts the emergence of the insects.
News from the Media
Duane Greene, comments in a story about a local company that makes and sells hard cider.
Ruth V. Hazzard, UMass Extension, says this year’s pumpkin crop is turning out to be excellent and high quality.
Robert Childs is interviewed for the “Connecting Point” program about the emerald ash borer, an invasive insect that has been discovered in trees in the Berkshires. The borer is a destructive insect that is moving into the region from the Mid West where it was first discovered.
The Ethnic Crops Program is growing and selling dozens of crops popular among many ethnic groups to markets across the state and has added chipilín, a leafy green loved by Latinos. Frank Mangan, director of the ethnic crops initiative at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture, says farms in Methuen, Dracut, Lancaster and Amesbury shipped 2,000 pounds of chipilín in recent weeks to the Boston area, where the fresh, locally grown greens are snapped up by people hungry for familiar vegetables and produce.
Boston Globe Magazine story: "Carolyn DeMoranville, the second-generation director of the UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham, has spent a lifetime studying the little red fruit.
Nutritionally, cranberries are really good for you, but in the sense of what I’ve done in my career with them, we’re looking at the nutritional requirements of the plant, what’s needed for it to grow and thrive and produce a crop. I spend most of my time here thinking about what will make the cranberry industry more sustainable. Specifically, I look at water and nutrient use and how those two interact."
D. Julian McClements, UMass Amherst food scientist, comments in a story about why cutting the fat content in foods sometimes doesn’t work because consumers say it tastes different and doesn’t make them feel full.