Hillsborough County Extension Opens Minds With Open House

Hoping to open some minds, the Hillsborough County Extension office in Seffner opened its doors to the public June 11 for an event featuring everything from free lectures on water conservation to building your own worm farm.

The open house at the Extension office, 5339 County Road 579, drew more than 150 people, a pleasant surprise for Lynn Barber, who is responsible for the programs at the center.

“I was hoping for perhaps 100 but we have already topped that,” said Barber, the extension’s Florida Friendly Landscaping Agent.

A joint venture between Hillsborough County and the University of Florida, the extension is known for its environment and agricultural programs, lesser known, and the real purpose behind the open house, are the free help offered on everything from money management to parenting.

“We want to educate the public on all those things we have to offer,” Barber said.

Doing his part to help educate the public on water conservation was Gerard Watson who works with Hillsborough County’s public utilities department. Watson manned a booth at the open house where he gave out free low-flow shower heads and handed out leaflets on the best ways to save water.

“An older home might have a shower head that uses three to five gallons of water a minute during a shower,” Watson said. “Our free shower heads use two gallons a minute. That can add up over time. (With a low-flow shower head) you could save $5-$10 a month on water bills.”

The event also included plenty of hands-on activities for youngsters and adults, including free gardening and environmental lectures, guides on making compost, a table where children could create their own worm farms and several 4-H sponsored tables on nutrition, building your own robot and the science behind rockets.

Demonstrations of home canning, cisterns and micro-irrigation were also on the agenda.

For more information on the Extension and its service call 813-744-5519 or visit the organization’s web site.