USU Extension Offers Online Courses to Assist Utahns
Utah State University Extension provides an array of research-backed online courses, many of which are free or offered at a discount, as a way to assist Utahns as they navigate the challenges of COVID-19.
Current concerns for many Utahns include keeping relationships strong – especially in times of stress, activities to engage youth while they’re not in school, and gardening for beginners and professionals for both enjoyment and self-sufficiency. Extension’s online resources address these and associated topics and are included below.
Healthy Relationships Utah offers free online relationship education coursesfor people of all relationship and family statuses. Each course is research based and has been created as a way to help develop and improve important relationship skills. Course topics include smart dating, couples, fatherhood and parenting. For more information or to enroll in a course, visit healthyrelationshipsutah.org.
Utah 4-H offers a variety resources for hand-on, at-home activities to help keep youth occupied and engaged. The free Discover 4-H curriculum provides 82 topic areas to help keep kids busy – from 3D derby cars, astronomy, food science and animal care to surviving a zombie apocalypse, cake decorating and coding. Many of the activities can be done with items most likely already in the home. Visit Utah4-H.org to download the activities.
For both beginning and professional gardeners, garden.usu.edu offers an extensive library of information and fact sheets, podcasts, how-to videos, monthly tips and checklists and the chance to opt in for automated gardening updates. Also available are online courses that include: container vegetable gardening, controlling and managing pests, creating perfect soil, growing a healthy lawn, growing annuals and perennials, growing fruits and nuts, cultivating vegetables, planting and maintaining trees and shrubs, and the basic botany of plants. Gardening courses are $25 each, but are currently offered at a reduced rate of $15 with code SPRING20.