Brooke Beam, PhD

Agriculture and Natural Resources/Community Development Extension Educator

Ohio State University Extension, Highland County

April 7, 2020

Local Food Producers List

There has been an increased interest in local foods, local products, and gardening due to COVID-19. There are many local food producers and specialty producers located in Highland County. However, there is no concise directory for consumers to be able to locate or purchase from these farms.

The OSU Extension office is in the process of developing a list of local food producers to help connect agricultural producers with consumers in our community. If you are a local food or specialty item producer, please complete the survey at: go.osu.edu/LocalFoodsProducersSurvey

An online, public directory will be published once local producers complete the survey. An update on this project will be published in the paper when the site is active.

Nighttime Education Programming Opportunities in Your Backyard

As the weather has become increasingly warmer, I have been enjoying going outside in the evenings on clear nights to look at the stars and to see the International Space Station (ISS). You can see the ISS without a telescope, and it is a great activity to learn about the solar system and constellations.

NASA provides the approximate time, length of visibility, and the coordinates of where the ISS will appear in the sky on spotthestation.nasa.gov.

You can even sign up for notifications for when the ISS will be visible in your area. The ISS will appear as a fast-moving light in the sky that is constantly moving in one direction. You may also be able to see satellites orbiting Earth as well, which will also appear as fast-moving lights.

Being outside after dusk also lends itself to the opportunity to learn about nocturnal animals. Owls, bats, raccoons, opossums, and skunks frequently come out at night. So, be sure to take a flashlight with you when you are outside looking at the stars as one of these animals may decide to join you.

Ag Madness Tournament and Gardening Webinars

OSU Extension is hosting a series of webinars on topics related to agriculture, natural resources, gardening, and horticulture. These webinars are hosted live online and are also available in an online archive. To learn more about these educational opportunities, visit go.osu.edu/AgMadness and go.osu.edu/horticulturewebinars

For more information about OSU Extension programming, contact the Highland County Extension Office at 937-393-1918 or visit our social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.