The purpose and responsibilities of the St. John the Baptist Parish Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Nutrition Advisory Council is to provide direction for educational based programs in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Healthy chocolate does sound like a dream come true, but chocolate hasn't gained the status of health food quite yet according to the Mayo Clinic.

Crape myrtles need only occasional pruning, in most cases, to obtain the desired landscape effect.

Information on upcoming events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers, Leaders and Volunteers.

Creeping silently through your home, there's a killer that gives no warning. You won't know that you have a carbon monoxide leak without a working detector. If you burn any fuels for heat or cooking, be sure that you have a working carbon monoxide detector and deter this silent killer.

It is important to not leave the fruit on the trees for too long. The citrus tree needs time to rest before it blooms and starts producing another crop. Make sure that during the month of January the fruit on your tree has been eaten or removed from the tree. Citrus will stay fresh in the refrigerator for three to four weeks or more.

If everyone puts in 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times a week it would cut the amount of chronic diseases and health costs by almost half. That's how powerful physical fitness is, according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Information about the LSU AgCenter's 4-H Youth Development Program for St. John the Baptist Parish.

The LSU AgCenter in St. John the Baptist Parish, along with the Bayouland RC&D Council, a United States Department of Agriculture 501c3 non-profit organization, has partnered with the St. John the Baptist Parish School System to teach gardening to students at three of the parish's public schools.

The 2012 Get It Growing Lawn & Garden Calendar offers beautiful photos of plants, flowers and gardens from Louisiana garden scenes as well as monthly gardening tips from LSU AgCenter Horticulturist Dan Gill.

Choosing a real Christmas tree is fun for the whole family and it is easy to do. There are a few simple steps when selecting and caring for your tree.

Pine needles and other dropping leaves are an excellent opportunity to improve the soil in your garden or in your landscape beds. Composting and returning this organic material to the garden maintains natural biological cycles and is an ecological means of recycling organic waste.

Information on upcoming activities and events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers, leaders and volunteers.

December, January and February are excellent months to plant trees. Deciduous trees are leafless this time of year, so when you go to the nursery to make your selection, expect to see bare branches.

The vegetables we grow in Louisiana during the cool season are some of the most delilcious and nutritious that our home gardens can produce. Fresh vegetables are one of the benefits of growing your own garden!

If you are wanting to improve your landscaping including planting trees, flowers, shrubs or even a garden, most of the information needed to do these things can be found at the LSU AgCenter's website for free.

Information about upcoming events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers, leaders and volunteers.

The purpose and responsibilities of the St. John Parish 4-H Advisory Council is to provide direction for educational based programs in St. John Parish.

The purpose and responsibilities of the St. John Parish Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Advisory Council is to provide direction for educational based programs in St. John Parish.

The leaf-footed plant bug may be attacking your citrus trees. This bug is attracted to citrus, especially satsumas, when they begin turning orange.

On Saturday, October 15, 2011, the St. John Parish4-H office hosted the 4-H Cookery Contest at the Andouille Festival. The results are listed here.

Your outdoor container plants have likely outgrown their pots and have become pot-bound. September and early October are ideal times for repotting tropical container plants that have lived indoors during the summer.

The LSU AgCenter's 4-H Youth Development Program in St. John the Baptist Parish involves more than 300 youths annually.

Information about upcoming events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers: LSU AgCenter Junior Broiler Show, School Garden Project, 4-H Day with the Tigers, District and State Livestock Shows and Challenge Camp.

Some of our favorite vegetables can only be grown in Louisiana from October through April. Here are recommendations for what vegetables to plant and how to plant them.

Information about upcoming activities and events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers, leaders and volunteers.

How to identify brown patch disease in your lawn and how to treat it.

Information about upcoming events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers, leaders and volunteers including: Welcome 4-H'ers, Cookery Contest, Food Focus Workshop, School Garden Project and Annual 4-H Day with Tigers.

The pecan tree is prevalent in Louisiana as a shade tree in the landscape and also as a source of nuts for home use. Learn what variety of tree to plant and how to store pecans, shelled and unshelled.

The symptoms include scarring, drying, hardened, pitted sections of the fruit, sometimes affecting almost half of the surface of the fruit. Some of the fruit may even have lesions or scabs about the size of a nickel on the surface of the fruit.

Tips on how to determine the causes of lawn damage and how to remedy the damage.

Most vegetable crops are fast growing plants with lush vegetation and high nitrogen requirement. Coupled with the extreme mobility of nitrogen in the soil, it is necessary to split applications of the nutrient on most vegetable crops into a pre-planting application and one or two post-planting fertilizations known as "side dressings."

Catherine O. Pedescleaux, a deceased resident of St. James Parish and a retired teacher from West St. John Elementary School with 34 years of service, was inducted into the 2011 Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame on August 13, 2011, at the Louisiana 4-H Museum in Mansura, Louisiana.

Remember to follow the recommedations from your soil test when fertilizing and liming your plot. When the seedbed is ready to plant you need to decide what plants you want to plant.

With fall fast approaching it is time for deer managers and hunters to start working on their deer food plots. Presently female deer, does, are dropping and raising their fawns while the bucks are growing their antlers.

Tips on how to repair lawns damaged by drought.

Most vegetables that were planted in the spring can be planted again in August or September. Learn more here.

How to water plants effectively while saving money on your water bill.

This article gives tips on how to properly plan for a successful garden.

The purpose and responsibilies of the St. John Parish Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Advisory Council are to provide direction for educational based programs in St. John Parish. As a grass roots organization, the LSU AgCenter bases it programming on the people and needs of the parish. Our goal is to focus on how we can accomplish positive results in the parish.

A Child Safety Seat Check-up Day was held on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at the Wal-Mart in LaPlace, La. Aproximately 22 child care seats were checked at this event.

River Parishes Hospital and the LSU AgCenter sponsored a Safe Babysitting workshop on June 2, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

This report provides information about funding sources, program highlights for the area and local issues that are being faced by the parish with assistance from the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service.

The responsibilities of the members of the Joint Advisory Leadership Council for St. John Parish are to represent their peers, identify needs and issues, identify opportunities for collaboration, be active in sharing their skills and knowledge to help the parish and understand Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service as a community resource.

Information on upcoming activities for St. John Parish 4-H'ers: Adopt-a-Soldier, 4-H Achievement Day, 4-H University, 4-H Day at the Capitol, and 4H L.O.S.T. Camp.

The responsibilities of the Horticulture Advisory Council is to provide leadership and support in planning and carring out the LCES programs in the parish.

This article gives tips on how to properly plan for a successful garden.

This article gives tips on how and when to use granular and liquid herbicides.

The purpose and responsibilities of the St. John Parish Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Advisory Council are to represent their peers, identify needs and issues, identify opportunities for collaboration be active in sharing their skills and knowledge and to provide direction for educational based programs in St. John Parish.

Ms. Evelena Conerly, an advocate with the Metropolitan Center for Women & Children was the guest speaker for the Parenting with a Plan! Program at East St. John High School on Feb. 11, 2011. Her presentation helped participants learn to honor themselves.

This article gives instructions on how and when to have your soil tested.

This article indicates which shrub to plant in which area of the landscape.

Information on upcoming events for St. John Parish 4-H'ers: 4-H Food and Fitness Camp, 4-H Co-Op Camp, 4-H Camp, 4-H Project Runway, 4-H Pet Show, 4-H Photo Contest, 4-H Achievement Day, Frisco Fest, and State Livestock Show.

Come and spend a week at 4-H Camp with St. John Parisb 4-H members, May 30-June 3, 2011. Camping is a learning experience that helps boys and girls appreciate the outdoors, live together as a group, get along with others and appreciate people with different interests and backgrounds.

Mrs. Edward's and Ms. Scott's Head Start and Pre-K students at West St. John Elementary held a Family Float Contest.

This article give information on how to control johnsongrass in sugarcane.

Included is the table taken from the 2011 Sugarcane Weed Management Guide showing expected weed control from herbicides used in sugarcane. Also provided are herbicide costs and information for planning weed control programs.

This article give information on how to control johnsongrass in sugarcane.