Happy New Year! I truly hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season. In spite of having to replace a water heater and having to make an unexpected trip to the dentist for a chipped tooth, I really enjoyed the last couple of weeks. Now that we’re into the new year by a few days already, I suppose this would be a great time for me to call attention to some of the items on the calendar for this month. Please jot down some of these programs and attend the ones that interest you.

For those of you who love working in the yard and growing plants, you can begin the year by attending the one-hour First-Tuesday Gardening series, taught by our Extension Horticulture Agent Donna Beliech at noon Tuesday in the Extension office. Beliech has this entire year’s monthly gardening series planned, and her topic this month is Basic Landscape Design.

Gardening enthusiasts interested in learning more about the Extension Service’s Master Gardener Volunteer program should make plans to attend the monthly Master Gardeners’ meeting at noon on Jan. 20 in the Extension office. Those monthly meetings are generally reserved for already-certified Master Gardeners and interns. However, guests can get a first-hand view of what the Master Gardener program is about before signing up for this year’s training, which is scheduled to being in late-February.

January is normally a pretty active time for farmers to get updated information about their professions and to prepare for upcoming crop season and this year is no exception. Soybean growers can attend the Tri-State Soybean Forum Friday at the Thomas Jason Lingo Community Center in Oak Grove. The morning-long session will feature speakers from the University of Arkansas, Louisiana State University and Mississippi State University. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the forum concludes with lunch.

Jan. 16, crop farmers can attend a general crop production meeting at the Battlefield Inn in Vicksburg and hear MSU Extension crop specialists cover topics on producing all of the major row crops in Mississippi. Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the program concludes with lunch. 

Farmers needing to become certified to purchase restricted-use pesticides can attend the Pesticide Applicators’ Training and Exam on Jan. 20 in the Extension office from 9 a.m. until noon. The fee is $10, and certification is valid for 5 years.

The Mississippi Farm Bureau will host its winter commodity conference for farmers at the Hilton hotel on County Line Road in Jackson on Jan. 22-23.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get your finances under control, you might consider attending “Making Ends Meet in Trying Financial Times” at our office at noon on Jan. 15. Two of our Extension Family Resource Management agents will share tips and tools on taxes, prioritizing bills and using debit cards wisely.

John C. Coccaro is county Extension director. Write to him at 1100-C Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39180 or call 601-636-5442. E-mail him at jcoccaro@ext.msstate.edu