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Hillsborough County Extension

Her career touched many lives

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Officially, Betsy Crisp’s last day of work was Feb. 3.

But, based on her track record, it seems unlikely that the Land O’ Lakes woman will merely kick back and relax.

Betsy Crisp and her friends, colleagues and family members celebrated her retirement with a buffet of finger foods and a beautifully decorated cake. The celebration was at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.
(B.C. Manion)

Crisp retired after 29 years as the food and consumer sciences extension agent for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences – Pasco Cooperative Extension.

She is the woman who crisscrossed Pasco County preaching the gospel of good nutrition. She helped people to navigate through bureaucratic systems. She used elbow grease when a job needed to be done.

Crisp helped nurses learn how to balance the demands of their work and daily home life.

She taught classes on cooking with herbs and spices.

She provided pointers for stretching a food dollar.

She helped launch Pasco County’s first residential recycling program, and was on the ground floor 20 years ago establishing the Suncoast Harvest Food Bank, which is now part of Feeding Tampa Bay.

Over the years, Crisp’s work drew attention.

She was named the southern region’s Continued Excellence Award winner in 2013 for her many accomplishments on the job.

Colleagues, friends and family members dropped by to celebrate with Betsy Crisp, as she leaves a career spanning nearly 30 years as food and consumer sciences extension agent for Pasco Cooperative Extension. Crisp, center, laughs with her friends, as her brother, K.C. Nayfield (right), listens.

The licensed dietitian was honored for the nearly 150 programs she presented each year in the areas of food, nutrition, health and safety.

Her Family Nutrition Program also secured grant funding to support several program assistants and many volunteers, helping more than 136,000 people improve their eating habits.

That award was among numerous honors she picked up over the years.

She deserved the recognition because her work got results, said friends and colleagues who attended her retirement reception at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center on Land O’ Lakes Boulevard.

“Betsy has always gone above and beyond. She set high standards for herself and carried a very full workload,” said Mary Chernesky, former director of the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Office.

A proposal Crisp co-wrote in 2007 for the USDA SnapEd Family Nutrition Program received funding for $160,000 a year, and the funding has since escalated to almost $400,000 a year, said Chernesky, who is now retired.

“Betsy has helped people, counseled them, shared her knowledge, made a difference in people’s lives in the county and state,” Chernesky added.

Crisp paid attention to what her peers were doing, and when she recognized a program of excellence, she nominated it for an award.

“Many extension agents across the state have received recognition and awards, over the years … because when Betsy found programs that were good enough to be considered for nomination, she did it. Sometimes we didn’t even know it had been sent in,” Chernesky said.

Kurt Conover, who spoke at Crisp’s party, said he met Betsy about 30 years ago.

That’s when Crisp suggested that Land O’ Lakes get involved in the Coastal and Waterway Cleanup, Conover said.

He said Crisp told him: “Land O’ Lakes should get involved in that. We’ve got lots of lakes here.”

So, the pair became co-captains, and they organized the largest volunteer effort of any site in Pasco County, Conover said.

Conover said he handled the easy part: Getting donations of supplies and food for the cleanup crews.

Crisp took care of the logistics. She made sure that cleanup teams weren’t duplicating efforts.

Besides cleaning up the community, the annual effort has encouraged community involvement, Conover said.

It has had a generational impact, too, he said.

“There were children who came to this event that grew up to be adults, and they had their children there, participating,” Conover said.

He also noted that Crisp’s husband, Paul, and the couple’s children, Megan and Michael, were always there to pitch in.

Besides delivering at the professional level, Crisp is known for her personal touch, friends and colleagues said.

She remembers birthdays.

She asks about sick relatives.

She celebrates her colleagues’ joys and helps them shoulder their sorrows.

Crisp said her achievements came because of the people she was able to work with throughout her career.

At her reception, she made it a point to go around the room calling out people by name and publicly thanking them for their help. She had a kind word for practically everyone — if not everyone — in the room.

Crisp said she loved every minute of her career — except when she had to cut her staff because of budget reductions.

“I cried,” she said.

But, Crisp managed to keep her emotions in check at her retirement party.

One colleague, however, could not.

Her voice broke, as she bid farewell to Crisp — her trusted mentor and friend, someone she knows she will dearly miss.

Published February 15, 2017

Sowing new seeds of inspiration

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For gardeners who are looking for some new ideas, the Bette S. Walker Discovery Garden in Seffner provides inspiration — and information.

Nicole Pinson is an Urban Horticulture Agent in Hillsborough County. (B.C. Manion/Staff Photos)
Nicole Pinson is an Urban Horticulture Agent in Hillsborough County.
(B.C. Manion/Staff Photos)

The garden, at the Hillsborough County Extension office, gives growing enthusiasts a chance to see the variety of plants that will thrive in a Florida landscape.

It also showcases the various ways plants will grow — in raised beds, on trellises, in containers, or in the ground.

And, it demonstrates how to essentially create “garden rooms” through the selection of plant materials, mulch, garden furniture and other features, such as waterfalls, bridges and stages.

If that’s not enough to stir your imagination, check out the pollinator and perennial gardens out back.

In the pollinator garden, visitors can see plants that attract butterflies, bees and flies.

This fuzzy flower is a magnet for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Select the dwarf form for most yards, as the non-dwarf plant can grow to be very large. The dwarf powder puff grows best in sun to partial shade. It is about a 5-foot shrub. Be sure to protect it from freeze when the temperatures dip. It is a great perennial plant and makes a nice specimen in the garden.
This fuzzy flower is a magnet for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Select the dwarf form for most yards, as the non-dwarf plant can grow to be very large.
The dwarf powder puff grows best in sun to partial shade. It is about a 5-foot shrub. Be sure to protect it from freeze when the temperatures dip. It is a great perennial plant and makes a nice specimen in the garden.

The perennial garden is filled with thriving plants of different shapes, sizes and colors.

“What we’re doing is demonstrating to people that you can plant different kinds of hardy perennials that will last year after year in Florida,” said Nicole Pinson, urban horticulture agent for Hillsborough County.

If you need specific information on when to grow what and where to grow it, ask inside. The extension office staff and volunteers are helpful and knowledgeable and there’s a multitude of informational handouts on a wide array of gardening topics.

Hillsborough County Extension is a partnership between Hillsborough County and the University of Florida. Pasco County Extension operates through a similar partnership between Pasco County and the university.

What: Bette S. Walker Discovery Garden is a great place for gardeners to pick up ideas for rejuvenating their outdoor spaces.
Where: 5339 County Road 579 in Seffner (It’s at the Hillsborough County Extension office)
When: The garden is open week days, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
How much: Free
For information: (813) 744-5519

Published October 5, 2016

 

Make your own vegetable stock

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I love to cook, and this year I am trying to cook more meals at home.

I find chopping vegetables — like weeding — to be truly cathartic, and preparing a tasty, elegant meal for myself is one of life’s simple pleasures.

While recently cooking a mushroom barley soup, I thought of making my own stock.

Celery stalks and leaves add flavor to soups and stocks. The leaves can also make an interesting garnish. (Courtesy of Nicole Pinson)
Celery stalks and leaves add flavor to soups and stocks. The leaves can also make an interesting garnish.
(Courtesy of Nicole Pinson)

We chop our veggies and add them to meals. And, some of us are smart enough to save those kitchen scraps and throw them on the compost pile, with the understanding that our kitchen scraps will add nutrients to the compost pile, rendering them into a rich, fertile soil we can later add to our vegetables or our landscape beds.

To make those kitchen scraps go even further, use them for stock first and then compost them. This provides two uses for the same valuable “scraps.”

Making stock is easy, and it lends a delicious base to soups.

When I cook, I keep a zip-top bag next to the wood chopping block for tops of carrots, onion skins and tomato cores.

For my soup, the bag was stuffed with onion and garlic skins, carrot tops and bottoms, celery stems and leaves, and mushroom stems. (As an aside, I love to use celery leaves in dishes and as a garnish.)

If you have space in the freezer, you can gradually accumulate a good mixture of vegetable scraps over time, to get a better blend of flavors.

Remember: vegetables in the cabbage family in particular – turnips, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli – are quite strong-flavored and can be overpowering.

Once you have a bag of frozen scraps, follow these directions, by Dr. Mary Keith, an expert in nutrition and health, to make your stock:

  • Place clean kitchen scraps in a pot and cover with water.
  • Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered from 15 minutes to 1 ½ hours. (The longer cooking will release more flavor if you have the time).
  • Squeeze or strain all the water out of those vegetables. (Just straining them makes a clearer stock, while pressing them will often make a cloudy but thicker stock.) You can use a wooden spoon in a sieve for pressing, but a potato masher would work well, too.
  • Use the stock immediately in soups or freeze and save for later.

Stock will keep for three days to five days in the refrigerator or eight months in the freezer. Freeze it in quantities that you will use at one time, so that you can thaw just enough for your next recipe.

After you’ve made your meal with fresh vegetables, use the pieces to make your stock.

By making homemade stock, you’ll create delicious meals, add more minerals and maybe a few vitamins to your food, and use more of the produce you’ve purchased. You will also be able to make it with little or no salt, a big benefit since most commercial stocks and broths are very high in sodium.

Once you’ve made stock with your veggies, you can discard them on your compost pile — giving you more bang for your buck.

You can also enjoy enjoy a trio of accomplishments — cooking meals at home, making fresh stock and composting.

Bon appétit!

For additional information, contact or (813) 744-5519, ext. 54145.

Nicole Pinson is an Urban Horticulture Agent in Hillsborough County. Dr. Mary Keith is extension agent emeritus, Foods, Nutrition and Health, University of Florida, Hillsborough County Extension.

Published July 20, 2016

Veggie Van to deliver fresh produce in East Pasco

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For many low-income families, putting fresh fruits and vegetables on a grocery shopping list is a luxury out of reach.

They live in what are known as food deserts, where the only choice for buying groceries is a corner store or a convenience shop.

The Veggie Van is a point of pride for Tom Looby, left, president of the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA; Kelley Parris, executive director of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County; Ann Shafer, loan officer at Bank of America; Lakeisha Hood of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; and Michelle Maingot, chairwoman of the YMCA’s board of directors. (Kathy Steele/Staff Photos)
The Veggie Van is a point of pride for Tom Looby, left, president of the Tampa Metropolitan YMCA; Kelley Parris, executive director of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County; Ann Shafer, loan officer at Bank of America; Lakeisha Hood of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; and Michelle Maingot, chairwoman of the YMCA’s board of directors.
(Kathy Steele/Staff Photos)

Fresh produce is either nonexistent or so costly families can’t afford it. Catching a public bus to a grocery store isn’t always a satisfactory answer.

“You can only carry so much on a bus,” said Mike McCollum, executive director of the Bob Gilbertson Central City Family YMCA in Tampa.

So, the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA came up with a solution – the Veggie Van.

The program operates on a two-week rotation, delivering seasonal produce to families in need. The refrigerated truck, loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables, will be parked at the Lacoochee Community Center in Stanley Park on Aug. 4 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Other participating communities are Sulphur Springs, Wimauma Village and Tampa Heights, in Hillsborough County. The Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, the Bank of America and the Joy McCann Foundation are among the sponsoring partners.

On July 10, McCollum and other dignitaries, including Tom Looby, president of the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, officially rolled out the yellow and orange van.

The vehicle sparked interest from passersby while parked for a week in the lot across from the Central City YMCA on Palm Avenue in Tampa.

“It just looks cool,” said Looby. “We will go to (families) in this visually, appealingly colorful van. But instead of the ice cream truck, it’s the Veggie Van.”

A summer youth camp for children ages 5 and 6 hiked over from the Bob Gilbertson Central City YMCA in Tampa to get bags of vegetables to take home.
A summer youth camp for children ages 5 and 6 hiked over from the Bob Gilbertson Central City YMCA in Tampa to get bags of vegetables to take home.

As many as 50 food deserts have been identified including the Lacoochee community, said Elizabeth Roman, the mobile food market director for the Tampa area YMCA.

In the future, more communities in Hillsborough and Pasco counties could become stops for the Veggie Van.

“There are many families not able to access fresh fruits and vegetables,” Roman said. “We’re trying to eliminate the gap, if we can.”

Children and families who qualify for free or reduced meals at schools automatically qualify and only need to sign up for the program. Families in Lacoochee can sign up at local Boys & Girls Clubs or on the day the van comes to the community center.

A nutritionist, with the local extension agency, will work with families on food preparation, tips for shopping, food safety, nutrition plans and the need for physical activity.

“We strongly believe the Veggie Van will change the face of hunger in the Tampa community,” said Jacqueline Hunter who will work with the Veggie Van program in Hillsborough. She works for Hillsborough County Extension.

In Lacoochee, an extension program, Family Nutrition Program of Pasco County, will partner with the Veggie Van. The county program has been providing nutritional and educational services at Lacoochee Elementary School for about eight years.

The first three years of the Veggie Van will cost about $200,000 from a combination of funds from the YMCA and grants from the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County and Joy McCann Foundation. In addition, Bartow Ford donated the van and CGM Services provided the van’s cooling system.

Representatives of Florida’s Department of Agriculture are serving as advisors for the mobile market.

The idea for Veggie Van had been percolating for more than a year. The agencies found common concern about giving families more access to healthy, nutritional food.

And, Looby said the Joy McCann Foundation already was supporting a food program in Lacoochee. The YMCA itself has ongoing programs in Pasco. “It made sense for everyone to make the connections,” he said.

Interested families can contact Elizabeth Roman at (813) 229-9622, ext. 1729, or email to ">.

Published July 22, 2015

What are those patches on my trees?

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They’re likely lichens, and they’re not harmful

It’s spring, and you’re out in your garden enjoying the flowers and making plans — and then you begin noticing problems.

When you glance at a nearby tree, you may see patches all over the trunk, bark and stems. These patches, or spots, are commonly white or green, but sometimes they are gray, pink, red, yellow or lime green. They may appear crusty, shrubby or leafy.

These lichens are sometimes called British soldiers, because they resemble the red uniforms worn by soldiers during the Revolutionary War. (Courtesy of Nicole Pinson)
These lichens are sometimes called British soldiers, because they resemble the red uniforms worn by soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
(Courtesy of Nicole Pinson)

Although they look like some type of harmful organism, they are, in reality, harmless lichens, pronounced lī-kens.

Lichens are not plants. They do not have a vascular or circulatory system that moves water and nutrients. They do not have roots, stems or flowers, either.

Actually, lichens are made up of two organisms that live together: an alga and a fungus. The lichen relationship is unique. The alga makes food for the lichen through photosynthesis, but it cannot live on its own.

The fungus provides protection and helps anchor the alga. The fungus also prevents the alga from being damaged by too much light.

Lichens are able to live in diverse, even difficult, places. You can find lichens attached to rocks, cliffs, tree bark, bare soil, fence posts, concrete walls and gravestones.

Since they lack a vascular system, lichens get their nourishment from rain, fog, dew and moisture released by plants and debris.

Lichens do not parasitize or harm the structures or plants they are living on. The common “deer moss” found on bare soil in natural areas, such as in state and county parks, is actually a lichen.

Lichens grow slowly, only a few millimeters per year, and they can live for thousands of years. Because of their long life spans, scientists measure lichens and use this information to date rocks and events.

Lichens provide many benefits. They are a food source for animals. They provide protective camouflage. They are useful in tanning and dyeing cloth. In some parts of the world, they feed large herds of caribou. Lichens supply nesting material for birds and mammals. In some cultures, lichens are used for medicine and as a minor food source.

As they grow over bare rock, they help collect organic matter, which builds and replenishes the soil over time. Lichens are also associated with good air quality. Lichens reproduce asexually, most often when pieces break off and start new lichens. Or, they reproduce sexually through spores. Because pollution can affect their growth and reproduction, lichens may not grow in highly polluted environments. For this reason, they are at the center of worldwide research studying the relationship between lichens and air pollution.

Although lichens are often mistaken as disease or fungus, they are harmless.

As we always say in Florida Friendly LandscapingTM and pest management, identify the “pest” first before selecting controls.

If your tree appears stressed or unhealthy, consider other factors such as planting depth, drought, disease, insects or water. And if you see a lichen, remember you don’t need to do anything to “treat” it.

For additional information, contact or (813) 744-5519, Ext. 54145.

Nicole Pinson is an Urban Horticulture Agent in Hillsborough County.

This column used information from “Lichens” by Gary H. Brinen of Alachua County Extension, http://alachua.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/fact_sheets/lichens.shtml.

Published April 22, 2015