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Senior 4-H’er Maggie Payne poses with her first-place winning 650-pound pumpkin at the Union County Extension Office. CAES News
4-H Pumpkin Contest 11/08/21 Josie Smith
More than 30 4-H’ers from across Georgia competed in the 2021 Georgia 4-H Pumpkin Growing Contest, with the winning pumpkin weighing in at 650 pounds. The Pumpkin Growing Contest offers students the opportunity to learn and utilize knowledge of agricultural and environmental sciences to produce prize-winning fruit.
Don't toss your decorative pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns in the trash this year, use these tips for sustainable disposal. CAES News
Pumpkin Recycling 10/26/21 Leslie Matos
Every year after the autumn holidays, more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkins are thrown away. National Pumpkin Day, Oct. 26, kicks off a week of multiplying cucurbit decor, so celebrate this year by learning how to dispose of your pumpkins in a more sustainable way.
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Pumpkin Breeding 10/21/21 Carly Alyse Mirabile
The quest for the perfect pumpkin each fall doesn’t start at the local patch. In fact, it starts up to 10 years prior for researchers like University of Georgia plant geneticist Cecilia McGregor. McGregor leads breeding efforts in the selective pumpkin variety called the ‘Orange Bulldog’, following the retirement of the program’s founder, horticulturist George Boyhan.
Peyton Collins of Union County had the prize-winning pumpkin, weighing 548 pounds. CAES News
Georgia 4-H pumpkin-growing contest 11/09/20 Austin Clark
More than 25 pumpkins were submitted to Georgia 4-H's 2020 statewide pumpkin-growing contest, with the largest pumpkin, cultivated in north Georgia’s Union County, weighing in at a whopping 548 pounds.
‘Orange Bulldog’ is an improved pumpkin variety developed by UGA scientists from germplasm collected in the jungles of South America. It has greater levels of resistance to viruses than conventional pumpkins. ‘Orange Bulldog’ made its debut in 2004 and has consistently produced yields of 13,000 to 20,000 pounds per acre in north and south Georgia. CAES News
Pumpkin Pointers 10/18/19 Sharon Dowdy
Georgia farmers devote about 900 acres to growing pumpkins — technically a squash and a cousin to the cucumber. Most Georgia-grown pumpkins come from the northernmost part of the state where the climate is cooler and there is less disease pressure. UGA-bred ‘Orange Bulldog' is disease resistant.
University of Georgia graduate student Zach Matteen conducted trials on 11 varieties of winter squash at UGA's Durham Horticulture Farm in Watkinsville, Georgia, on land used to grow organic crops. Matteen tested winter squash varieties 'Waltham' butternut, 'Zeppelin' delicata, 'Metro PMR' butternut, Seminole pumpkin, Choctaw sweet potato, 'Thai Kang Kob' tropical pumpkin, 'Thelma Sanders' sweet potato and a fifth-generation cross of 'Waltham' butternut and Seminole pumpkin. He found that the two sweet potato squashes and Seminole, tropical and tan cheese pumpkins held up best against squash pests and diseases. CAES News
Winter Squash 05/24/17 Sharon Dowdy
By determining the varieties best suited for the area, University of Georgia graduate student Zach Matteen is on a mission to convince more backyard gardeners and farmers to grow winter squash. He has found that Seminole, tropical and tan cheese pumpkins, as well as Choctaw and 'Thelma Sanders' sweet potato squashes, hold up best against squash pests and diseases.
GM crops chart CAES News
GMO Safety 08/18/16 Wayne Parrott
Genetically modified foods are tested for safety testing before they reach the marketplace. It can take over a decade and cost tens of millions of dollars, and as a result, GMOs are the most safety-tested foods in history, says University of Georgia plant breeding and plant genetics expert Wayne Parrott.
UGArden manager JoHannah Biang teaches Andy Myers, Lipscomb University student of sustainability and environmental agriculture, how to drive a small tractor as part of a workshop at the 2015 Georgia Organics Conference, Feb. 20-21, in Athens. CAES News
Organic Farming Classes 03/31/16 Merritt Melancon
University of Georgia organic agriculture experts and economists are teaming up to present the Organic Farming Workshop to provide farmers with new ways to maximize the ecology and economical sustainability of their farm.
A syrphid or flower fly hovers over a swamp sunflower bloom. The tiny insect is sometimes called a hover fly because its flight pattern resembles that of a hovering hummingbird. CAES News
Pollinator Plan 03/23/16 Sharon Dowdy
Many food items, including fresh fruits and vegetables, would never make it to grocery store or farmers market shelves without the help of beneficial insects like honeybees and butterflies. The number of these pollinating insects in the U.S. is declining, and to help, Georgia agricultural experts developed a statewide plan to teach gardeners and landscapers how to care for their plants and protect these vulnerable insects that are vital to food production.
Mike Doyle, director of UGA Center for Food Safety, holds a bowl of spinach. CAES News
Produce and Pathogens 03/03/16 Sharon Dowdy
Mike Doyle doesn’t eat raw bean sprouts, medium-rare hamburgers or bagged salads. He isn’t on a special diet, but as director of the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin, Georgia, he studies the food pathogens that sicken thousands of Americans each year. For a time, foodborne illness was most often connected with undercooked meats; today, 33 percent of cases are tracked back to raw produce.