- Author: Chris M. Webb
Started in 2003 as a means to extend information about fire recovery and diabetes in Spanish, UC ANR’s AsisTel now covers more topics in both English and Spanish.
Written in an easy to follow format, much can be learned online. In addition to the website, downloadable brochures and recorded education messages can help reach others without internet access.
At the home page visitors choose to view the site in English or Spanish. After choosing the preferred language, viewers can click on:
- Preventing diabetes
- Healthy weight management
- Farm and worker safety
- Disaster preparedness
Each topic covers a wide range of issues and suggestions for safe and healthful living. Click here to access the AsisTel home page.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The California Poison Control System (CPCS) is in place to provide free, professional, emergency poison control information. This service is provided to the general public, health professionals, educators, businesses, public agencies and others within California.
Their emergency information number is 1-800-222-1222. This number will connect you to trained health care professionals with experience handling poison cases 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Poison cases handled by CPCS can include:
- Swallowing poison
- Eye or skin irritation from toxic substances
- Inhalation of noxious fumes or vapors
- Animal, insect, snake and spider bites
- Food or mushroom poisoning
- Drug reactions
- Attempted suicides or drug overdoses
- Pet poisoning exposures
They have a 24-hour interpreter service, allowing them to provide this important service in over 100 languages 24 hours per day. Free downloadable materials and bulk hard copies (also free) are available in a wide variety of languages.
An important section of the CPCS covers information related to plant poisoning. From their site:
“Indoor and outdoor plants are responsible for a rising number of accidental poisonings. Plant ingestions are among the top five causes of accidental poisonings in children younger than 5 years. Pets are also frequent victims of plant poisonings.”
Take some time today to learn how to minimize or eliminate the potential for poisoning at home, at play, and in the workplace.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
UC’s Nursery and Floriculture Alliance (UCNFA) has a variety of trainings, workshops, and webinars on topics of importance to the nursery and floriculture industry. Some of the education opportunities are free and others at a cost. Workshops and trainings are held throughout the state.
In November the ABC’s of Fertilizer Management will be held in Ventura County. On November 1 the topic will be taught in English and on November 2 in Spanish.
Education credits will be offered for the conditional waiver programs for the Central Coast and Ventura/Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Boards and for Certified Crop Advisors.
Click on the above links for details and to register.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
We often have people call or stop by our office asking if we have copies of brochures or pamphlets from years gone by. Many of our brochures originate from the USDA. The USDA’s National Agricultural Library Digital Repository is a wonderful place to find an assortment of information – including older brochures and pamphlets.
From their website:
"The National Agricultural Library Digital Repository (NALDR) provides access to primarily historical USDA publications either digitized by NAL or through NAL’s partnerships with other institutions."
The resources go back over 100 years. Newer resources are available too.
The NALDR subjects include:
- Agriculture Handbook
- Agriculture Information Bulletin
- Books, Manuscripts, Miscellaneous Articles, Reports and Images
- Circular
- Farmers’ bulletin
- Home and Garden Bulletin
- Journal of Agricultural Research
- Leaflet
- Miscellaneous Publication
- Technical Bulletin
- USDA Bulletins
- Yearbook of Agriculture
Some of the resources are available in Spanish.
- Author: Chris M. Webb
The national Cooperative Extension System has an incredibly informative and interesting website. From their site:
“eXtension is an interactive learning environment delivering the best, most researched knowledge from the smartest land-grant university minds across America. eXtension connects knowledge consumers with knowledge providers – experts who know their subject matter inside out.”
Current resource areas are broken down in the following way:
- Alerts
- Community -- including planning, zoning, geospatial technology
- Disaster Issues -- including agrisecurity, floods, wildfire
- Energy -- including farm, home and wood energy
- Family -- including food safety, parenting, personal finance
- Farm -- including bee healthy, dairy, organic agriculture
- Pest management -- including pest management in and around structures, wildlife damage management
- Youth – science, engineering and technology for youth
In addition to a wide assortment of articles, an Ask the Experts section is also available for people to ask questions. Some of the resources are also available in Spanish.
