About now, gardeners are beginning to get the annual itch. Catalogs can keep the urge down, but eventually it comes back, growing stronger and stronger – that absolute need to get your hands dirty. To satisfy the craving, we can do some gardening activities inside right now.
If you start your own...
Pesticides are used every day, but many people are not aware of their properties and that they may even be using them. A pesticide is any chemical (synthetic or natural) that is used to repel, control or kill a pest; this might be weeds, pathogens that cause plant diseases, insects or rodents.
The...
Collecting, storing and using rainwater is a great way to maintain beds and landscape during those times when Mother Nature is not giving us enough water. A rainfall of one inch per hour on a 1,000 square foot surface will yield 10 gallons of water per minute, so it is possible to fill that barrel...
Boy, there has certainly been a lot of news coverage this past week or two about our higher than usual and even record-setting temperatures. Just about every arboretum and botanic garden, and even Extension, has been called on for interviews.
No one's gardening crystal ball has been very clear,...
I just attended an Illinois First Detector workshop that addressed several invasive pests, insects and diseases, and even certain kinds of wildlife. Some made their way into Illinois, some just over the state line, and others are in other states that grow food crops we eventually eat. The First...
Back in December, this column talked about doing our best to prevent an outbreak of any one of several kinds of pantry pests in the home. Some of what was shared included sealing bulk amounts of dry pet foods, including the birdseed used all winter for outdoor feathered friends, and limiting,...
February finds us thinking we already have had our share of wintry weather this year. So far more cold perhaps than the white stuff. The bit of sunshine in all of this is the colorful gardening catalogs keep us thinking about spring. The vegetable and flower gardens are certainly asleep until...
Warmer temperatures this past week have brought out a variety of insects that would have otherwise stayed hidden. Visits to our Extension offices, photos sent by email, and phone calls have been constant.
At the top of the list are stink bugs, also known as squash bugs if you are a gardener. There...
At some point, every gardener has had leftover seeds after sowing the vegetable garden or flowerbed. In addition, saving vegetable and flower seeds is one way to save some money each year (or use that money to feed your gardening habit in other areas).
Saving "store bought" seed is the easiest...
Garden catalogs begin to show up in early January and will continue for the next few weeks. Each picture looks better than the next and promises to be bigger or better than last year. Those photos and headlines are exciting, but as you pour over the pages, it is helpful to know how to decipher the...
