Vegetable growers who sell produce at farmers' markets, at roadside stands, to restaurants and to local supermarkets may find that they can bring in additional income by adding fresh cut flowers to the inventory of products they sell.

The need for child care has been documented nationally through state and national efforts, publications, and demographic studies by public, private, and federal agencies and organizations that serve the interests of children and families.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder of childhood, estimated to affect 3 to 5 percent of school age children.

As adults, we are usually busy as parents and workers and often feel stressed and experience burn-out at times, but would you ever think that children can experience stress too?

Communicating positively with young children helps them develop confidence, feelings of self‑worth, and good relationships with others. It also helps make life with young children more pleasant for children and parents.

Helping children learn to handle their angry feelings can be a frustrating problem for most parents and teachers.

Child care providers who are good facilitators of the social development of young children also understand the relationship between child care curriculum, care giver demeanor, and discipline in promoting responsibility and a sense of community among young children.

Most brothers and sisters argue and fight and most parents feel it is their duty to find out who is guilty of starting the conflict and then punishing him or her.

Discipline is one of the biggest problems that every parent faces. You probably have wondered: “Was I too harsh?” “Did I do the right thing when I spanked Thomas?” “Am I being too easy on my children?” or “What on earth am I going to do now!”

Effective discipline helps children learn to control their behavior so that they act according to their ideas of what is right and wrong, not because they fear punishment. For example, they are honest because they think it is wrong to be dishonest, not because they are afraid of getting caught.

Sometimes parents are forced to take action despite all their efforts to prevent misbehavior. They may have tried changing the setting, using more “do’s” than “don’t’s,” checked on the child’s health needs, and still be faced with quarreling, misbehaving children.

It is easier on the parent and the child to keep misbehavior from happening than to deal with it afterward.

Children misbehave for many reasons. Once you understand why they misbehave, it is easier to know what to do about it. Ask yourself, “Why are they acting this way? What are they trying to gain by misbehaving?”

I received several calls, last fall and winter, about problems with greenhouse tomatoes related to heaters. Some symptoms described by growers were: "the plants are drooping but aren't wilted", "the flowers on a cluster are falling off", "the plants have a twisted appearance", and "the plants don't look like they did last year". These symptoms coupled with other factors such as: a new heater was installed, using a very old heater, and using an unvented heater could mean ethylene damage.

Guiding the behavior of young children involves establishing mutual respect and expecting cooperation. Effective
discipline is positive and child focused. It encourages self-control and appropriate behavior. Through effective
discipline, children can learn to make positive choices, learn problem-solving skills, and learn values of respect
and responsibility.

Your family’s health is very important. Lifestyle choices greatly affect your family’s health. It is up to you to
make wise nutrition and health choices for yourself and your family.

There is a set of principles that characterizes the pattern and process of growth and development. These principles or characteristics describe typical development as a predictable and orderly process; that is, we can predict how most children will develop and that they will develop at the same rate and at about the same time as other children. Although there are individual differences in children’s personalities, activity levels, and timing of developmental milestones, such as ages and stages, the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns.

A wildflower known in certain western states as Prairie Gentian has fallen into the hands of plant breeders to become a really hot new cut flower species - lisianthus. This flower is beautiful. The blooms are graceful and refined. They resemble rose buds on long sturdy stems. I

In August of 2005, the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States Department of the Interior enacted a new regulation that affects persons who dig wild ginseng roots and for persons who buy wild ginseng roots in Virginia. The new law requires wild roots of American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, to be 10 years of age or older to be exported from Virginia.

Seedless and seeded watermelons can be grown without the use of agricultural chemicals, for organic markets. Compared to many other fruit and vegetable crops, watermelons are not heavily attacked by either insects or diseases.

Years ago staying active was not an issue. But today, in our world of technology and new conveniences, most of the physical activity has been taken out of our lives. Most Americans (about 60%) no longer break a sweat on a daily basis. This lack of physical activity is having a profoundly negative effect on the health of children and adults.

Beginning cut flower growers, dazzled by brilliant photographs, often order dahlia tubers from bulb company catalogs for Spring planting. The hopeful grower normally pays five or six dollars per plant and either receives one single tuber or a small clump of tubers that resemble little brown yams. The grower carefully plants the tubers six inches deep in early May in full sun and hopes for the best.

Commercial producers of field-grown flower cut flowers generally have a wide selection of crops to sell in April, May and June. Many species of annual and especially perennial cut flowers bloom during these three months. A group of plants that may offer new opportunities for sales of cut flowers during mid-summer are summer-flowering bulbs.

Cantaloupe or muskmelon (Cucumis melo) production is an important vegetable crop in Virginia. In 2001, Virginia producers grew 800 acres of cantaloupes valued at $1.4 million.

Injury prevention and your kids-The biggest threat to the health of children over age one is not some dread disease. It is accidental injury. More children are seriously hurt or killed by accidental injuries than by anything else. And many childhood injuries can be prevented by parents who know how.

The first five years of life are a time of incredible growth and learning. An understanding of the rapid changes in a child’s developmental status prepares parents and caregivers to give active and purposeful attention to the preschool years and to guide and promote early learning that will serve as the foundation for later learning.

Talking with children involves the exchange of words, ideas, and feelings between two people. Communication is what we say and how we say it. We communicate with looks (scowls and smiles), with actions (slaps and hugs), with silence (warm or cold), as well as with words (kind and unkind).