Family Night Out!

Families in rural areas lack recreational and educational opportunities that strengthen family relationships. The Family Night Out! program uses the 4-H Challenge model to help families practice communication skills, solve problems and identify strengths. It also provides a safe and supervised atmosphere in which families can have fun together and learn at the same time.

This videotape shows real families participating in “Family Night Out!” activities and includes interviews with key program staff who describe the program to the viewing audience. It's a great tool for building enthusiasm to sponsor the program in your community. A companion manual called Family Night Out! 4-H Portable Challenge with Families discusses the use of the experiential learning model, facilitation skills for sequencing and debriefing activities, and contains descriptions of 27 group and family activities and initiatives. Book and video sold separately. $9.00, Book (MISC0287F); $25.00, Video Tape (VT0109F)

Living on the Edge: Grassroots Watershed Planning in the Pacific Northwest

Living on the Edge: Grassroots Watershed Planning in the Pacific Northwest is a videotape being produced by the Information Department in cooperation with WSU Cooperative Extension; the WSU Water Research Centers and Institutes of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington; the Western Rural Development Center; the Capital Press (the region's agricultural weekly newspaper); and the Rural Sociological Society.

The videotape is designed to educate audiences about local approaches to dealing with water resource issues. Case studies of six Pacific Northwest watersheds illustrate the difficulties, successes, and failures of citizens’ committees trying to reconcile disparate interests, gain public support, and overcome the tangle of governmental regulations. $34.00. (VT0102F)

Fresh Cheese Made Safely In Your Own Kitchen

In response to the continuing need to provide information about making queso fresco safely, Theo Thomas, Val Hillers and Brady Ratsch have developed a 10-minute video to teach the basics of making queso fresco at home.

Fresh Cheese Made Safely In Your Own Kitchen stars Anna Zaragoza and Frances Herrera, Yakima County Extension education assistants. Anna and Frances are experts at making queso fresco and have conducted many safe cheese workshops where hundreds of people have learned to make queso fresco. The video is available in Spanish(S) and English. $24.00. (VT0108SF, VT0108F)

Landscape Plant Problems

Historically our best selling publication, this updated edition features new and improved color photos and is full of new information designed to help you identify the cause of your plant problems—the first step in controlling the problem.

Vivid photos from real life gardens and landscapes are used to illustrate cultural, disease, insect or environmental problems as they occur on 78 popular ornamental and fruit-bearing plants. The introduction takes you step-by-step through a simple process to identify the plant and diagnose the cause of the problem. $30.00. (MISC0194F)

Pacific Northwest Landscape Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Manual

This manual focuses on 19 key groups of woody landscape plants common in the Pacific Northwest, providing in-depth information on what to do, and when. It is the companion volume to MISC0194, Landscape Plant Problems: A Pictorial Diagnostic Manual. $22.00. (MISC0201F)

Cee Dub's Dutch Oven and Other Camp Cookin' & Dutch Oven and Camp Cooking

This back country guide to outdoor cooking gives tips on outfitting the camp kitchen, introduces interesting and unique camp cooking techniques, highlights the use of the traditional Dutch oven and the use of charcoal as a fuel source. It also demonstrates the age-old method of oven cooking in the outdoors. The book and video include many mouthwatering recipes from “Baked Elk Heart with Sage Dressing” to “Warden Stew” and “Redhot Rhubarb Upside Down Cake.” The host is C.W. “Butch” Welch, a native Idahoan and a Conservation Officer with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game. $35.00. (VT0105F)

Some of Our Best Sellers

This gardening resource for Northwest gardeners provides information on basic botany, soils, fertilizers, houseplants, plant propagation, pruning, vegetable gardening, plant problem diagnosis, lawns, suitable landscape design, weed management, and eleven other topics. It is indexed, has a detailed glossary, and each chapter is separated by tabs. Published October 1999. $20.00. (OREM8742F)

The Columbia Gorge—A Unique American Treasure

This book highlights the only sea-level path through the Cascade Mountain Range, the spectacular 85-mile-long canyon carved by the Columbia River. Separate chapters are devoted to history, geology, the ecosystem, and development of land and water resources. Thirteen pages of detailed maps locate and describe 130 sites in the Gorge. Published January 1984. $10.00. (EB1193F)

Weeds of the West

This extensive, easy-to-use guide contains more than 900 color photographs showing the early growth stages, mature plants and features for positive identification of each weed discussed. Descriptions, habitats and characteristics of each plant are included in this 650-page book. Published 1996. $30.00. (WYWSWS001F)

Landscaping with Native Plants in the Inland Northwest

This publication provides information on many topics including: general information on native plants, planning a naturalized landscape, incorporating native plants into an existing landscape, native plant collection ethics, examples of native plant communities, and a list of nurseries and garden centers that carry native plants. Published June 2000. $6.00. (MISC0267F)

How to Identify Rhododendron and Azalea Problems

This book illustrates 30 common rhododendron and azalea problems. Reprinted October 1995. $6.00. (EB1229F)

Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms of North America

This book is an invaluable reference for anyone who has any connection with the outdoors. Each of the 150 plants in the book is illustrated by at least one color photo. Published 1997. $25.00. (MISC0202F)