You may be familiar with its name from the bottle of astringent found in your home medicine cabinet or for sale on pharmacy shelves near rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. What you may not know is that the leaves, bark and twigs from American witch hazel, a small native tree, are used in the man...

Snow days always bring to mind Mama’s cozy pine-paneled kitchen and the familiar wintertime aromas of roasting peanuts, beef stew and cherry pie. Being cooped up in the house (except for outside chores and feeding) meant Mama had to get creative to keep us from driving her up the wall. She had a sur...

With National Reading Month taking place in March and Read Across America Day quickly approaching on March 3, Discover Dairy has a new book available – “Curious Clover” – to help bring dairy farming to life for elementary and middle school students. The book is available in both English and Spanish ...

After providing a safe home, veterinary care and nutritious food, the best thing a pet owner can do for a dog is provide adequate behavioral training. Some of the issues that result in pet surrenders can be traced to behaviors that might have been quashed had the dog undergone thorough obedience tra...

Valentine’s Day is steeped in tradition. Giving flowers is a popular tradition each Feb. 14, and the National Retail Federation estimates that people spend around $2.6 billion on flowers for Valentine’s Day, when an estimated 250 million stems of flowers are sold globally. Valentine’s Day is the mos...

Compost, the dark, crumbly, earthy-smelling material produced by natural decomposers, provides many benefits to gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Converting garden waste, kitchen scraps and various paper items into compost at home reduces the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and saves hous...

Efforts to revive small business sectors have helped countless communities regain their prosperity and sense of community pride. Those efforts have been wildly effective in many urban areas, and they also can help rural economies recover from the many challenges they’ve been confronting. Rural commu...

The middle of winter, with snow covering brick-hard, frozen ground may seem like an odd time to plan a new garden bed, but it’s the best time. If you make decisions now, you’ll be ready when the weather warms and the ground is workable. Putting in a new garden bed takes a lot of effort, and nothing ...

The African swine fever (ASF) “I Protect Pigs” photo contest is back and now accepting entries. Brought to you by USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS), this contest promotes the importance of good biosecurity behaviors by encouraging the public to submit a photo of owner/pig safe...