Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension

08/22/2026

Stop on over to Main Street in Ovid at Friends of the Three Bears 🐻

Farmers Market every Saturday through end of September from 9am - 12pn

08/21/2026

Human Ecology/Nutrition Educator, Christina Ehlers along with Master Food Preservers Brian, Pam, and Tricia proved wholeheartedly that “Life is a Peach” at last evenings’ workshop.

Participants learned how to prepare peaches for cold-pack hot water bath canning and went through the entire process during class. They discussed other methods as well, including pressure canning and steam canning. 3 winners in the drawing took home the preserved peaches!

Each participant also tasted and received their own peach jam and low-sugar peach jam. There were varying opinions as to which one was their favorite. They also learned of a peach salsa recipe.

These classes are so informative and so much fun! Be sure to join us for next weeks class “It’s Time to Salsa”. You do not want to miss it. If you received one of our Home Garden kits this Spring we will be using those ingredients to put together our fresh and preserved salsas on Wednesday, August 26 at Lodi Fire Hall, 6-8 pm.

https://pub.cce.cornell.edu/event_registration/main/events_landing.cfm?event=salsa2026_245

08/21/2026

CROP ALERT – August 19, 2026 Soybean Update White mold is really starting to show as the disease has gone systemic in the plant and we can see the wilting leaves of the dying plants on top. Below the canopy, the white fuzz and black sclerotia (“seeds” for future infections) are rapidly develop...

08/21/2026

Keep your community poison safe with this short survey from the Upstate New York Poison Center! 📋✨

The Upstate New York Poison Center provides free, confidential, 24/7 guidance for poison emergencies and questions through their helpline, 1-800-222-1222.

Take the survey here👉:
https://redcap.upstate.edu/surveys/?s=DLCARNT7X8TTF9AP

Your answers will help improve poison safety education across Upstate New York. This survey is anonymous and takes about 5 minutes. You will be entered to win a gift card when you complete the survey!

08/19/2026

We enjoyed the opportunity to tour Seneca Lake farms last night during our annual Seneca County Drive Yourself Farm Tour 2026. We appreciate the collaboration between so many different agencies each year in sponsoring and organizing this event.

We started the afternoon at Walnut Ridge Farm, where we learned about growing mushrooms commercially in hoophouses. We were thankful to have Lori Koenick from the CCE Cornell Vegetable Program speak to us on different mushroom varieties, how they each are grown and challenges that both farmers and home growers can face. We were appreciative to hear from John Mietz from the USDA Farm Service Agency on sustainable farming practices and the importance of agencies coming together to educate and support farmers to better protect our waterways.

We traveled a little further down Seneca Lake to tour the Citadel Ranch, where we learned about prescribed rotational grazing and manure management. Alex McGraw and Erin Peruzzini from Seneca County Soil & Water Conservation District did an excellent job of highlighting the work and process that goes into addressing water quality concerns originating from agriculture activities and sharing the importance of organizations like Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association in funding these initiatives to be better land stewards. The owner of Citadel Ranch, Nick Scott, was able to share how influential the Agriculture Environmental Management (AEM) program was in being able to operate an environmentally sound and economically viable beef farm.

Our last stop of the farm tour was Wagner Farms, where owner John Wagner was able to share how beneficial grape growing can be on sloped land, but the challenges of soil erosion that come along with these growing practices. He shared how influential Seneca County Soil & Water Conservation District was in mitigating soil erosion in the vineyards to preserve our water quality in Seneca Lake.

The tour concluded at The Ginny Lee at Wagner Vineyards, where we enjoyed tasting local cheeses and a delicious dinner prepared by Chef Mitch made from locally sourced beef from Autumn's Harvest Farm, sh*take mushrooms from Walnut Ridge Farm, and green beans from Stoltzfus Family Farms. The peaches from Stoltzfus Family Farms and vanilla ice cream from Cornell University Dairy Bar made for a yummy treat along with the wine and beer offered from Wagner Vineyards Estate Winery.

Thank you to Sam Peachey, John Wagner, and Nick Scott for opening your farms up to the public for this wonderful learning opportunity. We are fortunate to have the support of Seneca County Farm Bureau and to have been joined by Amy Pyra of the NWNY Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team. We appreciate all of our partners in our efforts to help protect our waterways and thank everyone who was able to join us.
We hope you can join us next year as we tour Cayuga Lake!

08/18/2026

Here until 6pm today at the Seneca Falls Farmers Market at Seneca Falls Recreation!

Our summer intern, Remy, is celebrating her last day with us this summer with sweet potato brownies (and recipes of course). She has recycling swag and lots of upcoming events to share so stop over and say hi👋

Cassim Farms, Six Pints Farm, and Angelo Farms are all here with fresh fruits and vegetables 🍅🥒🫐 🌽

The Quarters Kitchen is here with her famous bagels, and Shrubs bakery has her delicious bread 🥖

Linda trout is here with all the yummy baked goods and of course The Sprinkle Starship is here to cover all your ice cream needs 🍦

Grab a treat for the pup while you’re here from Mo Treats or a homemade craft for a friend or yourself from Thymeless Textiles!

08/15/2026

During the recent Soil Health Field Day Event on August 13th our staff joined forces to work to divert waste to compost and more through our Reduce, Reuse, Recycle station. We happily worked with the caterers of event to reimagine the use of compostable utensils, plates etc. in order to reduce waste. We have worked on this project for 3 years and successes grow with each year.

This year we were able to collect a 55 gallon totes worth of compostable materials, 1 1/2 bins worth of other recyclable materials, and a 28 gallon tote of returnable cans and bottles. Somehow a few styrofoam cups snuck there way in and were the very few items making their way to the landfill.

Are you seeking opportunities to learn how you too can work to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…Compost? If so contact our new Environment/Natural Resource Educator Brad Ellis, [email protected]. We are happy to be able to provide this education for the residents of Seneca County. You can also visit senecarecycles.org for information on how and what to recycle.

Thank you to our wonderful partners SenecaCounty SoilWater ConservationDistrict as we move forward with these efforts.

08/13/2026

08/13/2026

Stop on down to Gems Waterloo today and every Thursday for Waterloo Farmers Market from 2-6pm.

Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension has sweet potato brownie samples , recipes and recycling swag to give away . Stop and say bye to Remy, our summer intern from Cornell University, who was here educating on recycling and composting all summer.

Angelo Farms and The Rusty Tiller are both here to cover your produce needs.

Grab a sweet treat from Diane’s Desserts and some crafts from Whimsy on the Wine Trail. Support your local neighbors 😊