oin Grant McCarty, Illinois Extension Local Foods and Small Farms Educator, for the Get Growing Webinar Series. The series will be held on Thursday evenings beginning April 22 and going through May 13. The presentations will be from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. each evening and will be held via the Zoom platform. You must pre-register to receive the Zoom link to join the presentation. The series is being held free of charge, but donations are being accepted to help offset the cost of Extension programming. To register or for more information visit us online at go.illinois.edu/jsw or call us at 815-858-2273.
April 22: Growing Perennial Vegetables (Rhubarb, Asparagus, Horseradish)
Rhubarb, asparagus, and horseradish are the main perennial vegetables that are the first to yield in the early spring in Northern Illinois. These crops can grow successfully for decades. Topics will include varieties, general management, harvest, and other issues that you might encounter in adding perennial vegetables to your garden.
April 29: Raspberry and Blackberry Production for the Backyard
When it comes to growing fruit in the backyard vegetable garden, brambles like raspberry and blackberry can fit in well. They consistently yield with few disease issues. However, like all fruits, they do require some needed attention such as pruning and trellising. Variety selection, pruning, insects, and basic management will be covered.
May 6: Raised Bed and Container Vegetable Gardening
Raised beds and containers have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. Both can work well for growing almost all vegetables with some troubleshooting while also producing vegetables for you if you do not have the space. This class will go into the basics of creating a raised bed, selecting material, and general management. Container vegetable gardening will further be addressed and revisited from last year’s Get Growing webinar to include suggestions of varieties that work well in containers, selecting the right size, and weekly management.
May 13: Weed Management in the Vegetable Garden
After planting of the spring and summer vegetables, weeds are notorious for moving in. You may have selected an area that already has an established weed problem and are wondering how you need to go about removing them. This class will look at some basic recommendations on weed management, IDing some very common weeds you might be encountering, and preparing your growing area to keep weeds from becoming a problem.