(Distributed 09/27/07) Rebuild on piers or a pad? That question was a priority for Pamelia Villa of Moss Bluff who came to a recent LSU AgCenter Tour of Homes in Cameron Parish. Villa’s home had been smashed by two trees blown down during Hurricane Rita.

(Distributed 09/27/07) The LSU AgCenter continues to encourage Louisiana gardeners and others to “Get It Growing” in 2008 with the publication of this year’s edition of its calendar. The Get It Growing 2008 Lawn & Garden Calendar, like the previous three annual versions, provides gardening enthusiasts with opportunities to learn more about their craft and to enjoy beautiful garden photos.

(Distributed 09/26/07) It has been the scene of fun-filled summer days for many generations of Louisiana youth. And on Oct. 27, the LSU AgCenter’s 4-H Camp Grant Walker will celebrate its 85th birthday with an open house.

(Distributed 09/25/07) A rainy weather pattern has soaked fields, wet down cotton fiber and slowed the cotton harvest in the central and northeast parts of Louisiana. Only 7 percent of the cotton has been harvested in Louisiana as of Sept. 24.

(Distributed 09/24/07) With this year’s dove season in full swing, LSU AgCenter faculty hope past wildlife field days and workshops will decrease the number of citations written this year.

(Distributed 09/21/07) An additional 14 square blocks of the historic French Quarter have been added to a federal program to combat Formosan subterranean termites in this city, officials announced here on Sept. 20.

(Distributed 09/21/07) Many questions remain unanswered about a new pest that has been found in rice in Louisiana called the panicle rice mite. But work is ongoing to learn more about it. This is what officials with the LSU AgCenter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry told more than 50 county agents and crop consultants gathered in a Vermilion Parish rice field on Sept. 19.

(Distributed 09/20/07) The LSU AgCenter will conduct an ornamental horticulture and turfgrass field day for lawn and garden professionals on Oct. 9 at Burden Center Station in Baton Rouge.

(Distributed 09/19/07) “Good plants gone bad” is how an LSU AgCenter urban forester describes plants that have invaded the Louisiana landscape and created problems for farmers, forest owners and homeowners. Hallie Dozier, an assistant professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, says the introduction of foreign plants often causes problems because they don’t have natural enemies to control their spread.

(Distributed 09/17/07) Deer food plot management is the topic of a seminar on Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the Natchitoches Art Center, 716 2nd St., according to Hubert Wilkerson, LSU AgCenter extension educator in Natchitoches and Sabine parishes.