By: Kevin Brown, Ag Team Leader
So, in part one I outlined how easy things are to garden this way. I would like to explain a few reasons why in this article.
The comment I finished with last week was that most people plant too early. Now, if you are having great luck with your garden, then don’t change anything.
However, if you aren’t, this could be one reason. I looked up planting times for our area for different things and they were way later than what I have seen people plant at.

​By: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth boundaries encompass at least 85,568 miles of streams and 242 major publicly accessible lakes comprising 125,119 surface water acres. Section 303 of the Federal Clean Water Act requires that states, territories, and authorized tribes, collectively referred to in the act as "states," prepare water quality standards and assess all streams and lakes. Since1972 enactment, each water body is to have calculated an upper pollution limit that maintains water quality meeting state standards for each pollutant present. Standards vary among the states depending on each state’s protected uses. In Pennsylvania, these protected uses are listed as fish consumption, recreation, public water use, and biological life.

By: Kevin Brown, Agricultural Resource Specialist 
We all know people who strive to have the best lawn in the neighborhood.  If that is you, I am going to give you all the secrets you need to get you there.  First off, have you ever thought, “what makes it the best lawn in the neighborhood”?  Is it look?  Is it because it is level and you can use it for many different things?  Is it because it allows water to infiltrate into the ground which not only replaces the groundwater that you use for drinking and bathing, but also reduces flooding downstream?  Is it the best based on functionality?  I am not talking about what you can use it for.  I am talking about how many life functions are going on in the lawn.  What?  What are you talking about?  You have lost your mind?  Stay with me a minute longer because I am first going to tell you that if you are one of the quintessential “best lawn in the neighborhood” people, you are probably doing just about everything wrong for the environment that you could do.  Ouch, that hurt.  Let me explain.

​By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, Bradford County Conservation District
Bradford County Conservation District (BCCD) welcomes Adam Chorba as the new Forest Specialist.
With forest land being the dominant land cover of Bradford County, the need for someone to be available to assist landowners with questions on how to manage that land is critical. To fill that need, BCCD recently hired Adam Chorba. Adam is a Penn State graduate with an associate degree in wildlife technologies and a bachelor's degree in wildlife & fisheries management with successful completion of extensive forestry- related coursework. Adam is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting, fishing, and most any other outdoor recreation, but he favors waterfowl hunting most. Adam also helps manage his family's beef farm with a focus on wildlife habitat improvement. Adam's favorite part about working in this field is being able to help improve the quality of nature and to help others do the same. Adam feels “the forest is a key component of nature and an important resource that must be managed wisely because, without it, life couldn't sustain”.

By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, BCCD
Mud Creek, Fall Brook, Bull Run, the list of stream names goes on and on, but have you ever given any thought to how streams get their names?
First off, what’s the difference between a stream, creek, brook, run, or river anyway? Well, nothing really. The terms stream, creek, brook, or run generally refer to smaller free flowing bodies of water. Many people may consider a brook or run to be smaller than a stream or creek. Whereas, the term river is used for larger bodies of flowing water, however, at their headwaters (where they start) they are often small as well. For example, here in Bradford County, we are familiar with the Susquehanna River and recognize it for its size (width, depth). Near its headwaters in Cooperstown, NY though, the Susquehanna is no bigger than many of our smaller streams.

​By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, BCCD
What is a watershed? For some reading this article, a definition or explanation may be easy to come by either due to where you live, your profession, or what your hobbies may be. For others, maybe it’s a word you hear on the nightly news or on social media around discussions led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and regulations associated with the Chesapeake Bay. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve heard it.

​By: Cathy Yeakel, District Manager, BCCD
Pennsylvania and neighboring states are working at local levels to clean up our state’s waterways that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) submitted the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), which established tangible nutrient reduction goals based on locally-led initiatives to reduce water pollution, improve quality of life, address flooding problems, and obtain credit for previously installed best management practices.  Within the Phase III WIP, all 43 Pennsylvanian counties within the Chesapeake Bay watershed were tasked with developing their own Community Clean Water Action Plan (CAP).