‘Honeycrisp’ is usually known not to color well in the warm climes of southern Illinois, but not this year!  Across the board, red-colored apples are putting on a show this year.  Early apple cultivars like ‘Sweet Maia’, ‘Blondee’, ‘Buckeye Gala’, and ‘Grand Gala’ have already been harvested, and current harvest is on cultivars like ‘Jonafree’, ‘Honeycrisp’, and later maturing ‘Gala’ cultivars. Peach harvest is coming to a close with final pickings of late maturing cultivars like ‘Autumnstar’, ‘Laurol’, and ‘Victoria’.  Beds have been pulled and/or covered in preparation for strawberry transplanting the first week of September.  Sweet corn is still in harvest but coming to a close.  Tomatoes and peppers are still going strong.

The St Louis Metro East could use some rain.  July came with an above average amount of rain, but the tap has been off for much of August so far.

The 2025 Southern Illinois regional winter schools are being planned, so save the date by marking your calendars now. Details for registration will be shared at a later date.

• February 11 Southwestern IL Tree Fruit School, The Barefoot Restaurant, Hardin
• February 12 Southern IL Fruit and Vegetable School, DoubleTree, Mt. Vernon

Registration is now available for the 2025 From Food to Flowers: Everything Local conference which is being held at a new venue, the Bank of Springfield Conference Center, January 29-31.  Details for booking your lodging are also available by clicking the registration link.