Fruit leathers are easy to make and are enjoyed by many people. They can be healthy snacks and are a great way to use overripe fruit. You can start with simple fruit leathers or experiment with different flavor combinations.
Quick-process pickles differ from fermented pickles because the pickling process uses acetic acid from vinegar rather than lactic acid from fermentation. Quick-process pickles are ideal for those who want to make pickles, start to finish, in a few days. However, the flavor of fresh-pack or quick-process pickles is better if they are left to stand for several weeks after proper processing.
Bird flu is an infectious disease caused by the avian influenza A virus. It is known to primarily affect birds and dairy cows. The current bird flu outbreak began in February 2024 and continues to severely impact the U. S. poultry and dairy cattle industries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2025a). Occasionally, the avian influenza A virus can spread to humans, leading to serious-to-fatal illness (CDC, 2025b).
Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is an arboviral disease (arthropod-borne virus) found in the eastern United States. It is vectored by mosquitoes and is found in swampy coastal areas along the Atlantic seaboard, states bordering Lake Michigan, red maple swamps in the northern Atlantic states and in the southern and Gulf areas associated with cedar forests, salt-water marshes, and loblolly pines (Armstrong & Andreadis, 2002; Greenlee, 2014).
Picture this: You have just received a phone call you had been hoping for—the new sales manager you have been recruiting accepted your offer. You kick back in your chair and put your feet up.
Cicadas (order Hemiptera; family Cicadidae) are medium to large-sized insects that occur worldwide (Dietrich, 2009). Ohio is home to both “annual” and “periodical” cicadas. Periodical cicadas emerge as adults in the spring, 13 or 17 years after completing their development underground. Annual cicadas also develop underground but emerge each year in the summer.
Each landowner has their own goals for owning woodlands. Some desire habitat for a variety of wildlife while others desire recreation such as hiking, hunting, and bird watching. Still others want to harvest timber and non-timber products from their woods for home and farm use or to provide periodic income. Most aspire to maintain or improve the health, vigor, and attractiveness of their woodland.
The term ‘mast’ was probably first used to describe a food source for domestic livestock. Webster defines mast as “fruits, seeds, or nuts (such as berries, pine seeds, or acorns) of trees or shrubs that serve as food for wildlife or domestic animals and typically accumulate on the ground” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). When foresters and wildlife biologists use the term, they are referring to the woody plant (trees, shrubs, or vines) fruit used by wildlife for food. All woody plants produce some type of fruit.
The use of cover crops in Ohio has been an important focus of existing and newly created conservation efforts to improve water quality in both the Lake Erie and Ohio River watersheds. One of the more popular cover crop species is cereal rye. This fact sheet reviews cereal rye characteristics, such as the growth habit of the species, differences between cereal rye and other small grains, ideal growing conditions and tolerance for poor conditions, and how to identify the species and avoid its potential negative consequences.
