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Preventative care for financial wellness goals

Improving financial wellness takes some effort. Keeping your bills organized can help get a better understanding of where you are spending money. Do you know where all your money goes each month? Are the majority of your expenses fixed or variable? When occasional expenses come around, is your budget ready?According to the...
Two tornadoes touch down over plains

Watch out for Twisters! (Not the movie)

At the time I’m writing this, Twisters, the sequel to the cow-flying film Twister released in 1996, just hit the movie theatres. Luckily, I didn’t make a spectacle of myself during the original, shouting out about all the scientific inaccuracies. While I have not yet seen the new movie, I do want to talk about the weather of twisters, as in multiple funnels. Multiple vortex...
Recent Blog Articles

Test Your Knowledge about Health Insurance

Just how well do you understand health insurance policies? It's a challenging topic! Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed people about health insurance terms and concepts; only 4% answered all of the 10 questions correctly. However, that quiz is from 2014. With the Health Insurance Marketplace (...
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Late Season Vegetable Storage Tips

Many Master Gardener Help Desk calls at the end of this growing season have been about garden cleanup, as would be expected. Yet other calls have been about handling expected or bonus yields of late season produce, especially root crops and the hard rind squashes. Q: We still have...
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Extend Your Growing Season with Low Tunnels

One of my favorite times of year to garden is in the fall. Growing vegetables during autumn in Illinois as the weather cools and daylight dwindles, can be a bit of a challenge, but the reward is quite sweet. The fall and winter garden is not a place for tomatoes, peppers, or many of our favorite...
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Hardy Pampas Grass

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator After 30 years of being a horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension the towering pampas grasses still amaze me each fall. What energy and power that plant must have to grow over 12 feet tall each summer, just to die...
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Mission: Feeding a Growing Population

When your survival depends on feeding a growing world population, who better to call than a 4-H alum who has spent his professional career working to maximize crop outputs on every acre. Sam Eathington's connection to agriculture started young growing up on a grain and livestock farm in west-...
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Are We There Yet?

As a group we Master Naturalists are a hopeful bunch. Just about all of our work anticipates future rewards. And so it is with the "pollinator pocket" my wife Cathy and I began two years ago. First, of course, we had to go to the Grand Prairie Friends plant sale. We got a Missouri ironweed, a...
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Sticky Plants are Annoying

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator While hiking recently I got to thinking about the various plants that stick to our sock and pants. Certainly, they are frustrating; but, as a plant geek, I wanted to know more. Sticky plants attaching to clothes, hair, fur, and...
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A look at some Illinois native trees

The other day I was teaching a group about native Illinois trees and of course I was all excited because I was teaching about trees which is my number one passion. I know in the past I've talked about native plants and have of course mentioned my number one favorite tree that just happens to be an...
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2018 Crop Management Conferences Save the Dates

The 2018 University of Illinois Crop Management Conferences will be held as follows:January 24- Holiday Inn, Mt. VernonJanuary 31- University of Illinois SpringfieldFebruary 7- iHotel and Conference Center, ChampaignFebruary 21- Kishwaukee College, Malta Look for registration information in early...
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Fall Garden Tasks

Don't let recent cool temperatures make you think that the gardening season is over. Fall is a great time to get a few last chores done and get a head start on next spring. Here are a few items to add to your fall garden "to do" list. It's not too late to plant spring bulbs. While bulbs should be...
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We Have Blogs on Many Different Topics

Personal Finances

Illinois Extension can guide your family through all of life's stages.
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Great retirements don't happen by accident. Tips for saving and investing your money.

Plan Well. Retire Well.

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Money talk by college students, for college students.

Be Centsible

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Develop and maintain thoughtful and effective financial behaviors using these trusted methods.

Fearless Financial Future

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Find the financial balance that fits your personal budget and financial planning goals.

Finding Financial Balance

Family

In today's hectic lives, families find themselves raising children, caring for elders, and working.
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Read these timely resources for wellness across the lifespan.

Family Files

Health

Living well means taking time for ourselves so we can be healthy for others who need us. 
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Take steps to living a healthier life.

To Your Health

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Genuine, sustained self-care is an art.

Refill Your Cup with Self-Care

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A journey of wellness dedicated to awareness and the power of knowledge to help you on your health and wellness journey.

Walking the Line to Wellness

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Empowering people to make healthy, respectful and responsible choices.

Community Health: Empowering People

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Working together to address social and structural health inequities

Health Insights Illinois

Nutrition and Wellness

Eating healthy shouldn't be this hard.
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Healthy information for better living

Live Well. Eat Well.

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Nutrition information you can use.

Be Smart, Eat Well, Get Healthy

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Highlighting food, recipes, and ideas for a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Eats and Repeat

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Helpful tips to make meals easy, healthy and tasty!

Simply Nutritious, Quick and Delicious

Community and Economic Development

Illinois Extension helps communities develop strategies to thrive.
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Strategies for strengthening local economies.

Building Entrepreneurial Communities

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Participants in Illinois Extension Illini Science Scholars Program share their experiences in this unique opportunity. 

Scholars Speak

Natural Resources

We have one planet. Let's work together to ensure its future and ours.
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Dig deep into the types of grasses and their uses in our world.

Grasses at a Glance

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Read the latest news in natural resources.

Naturalist News

field buffer

The Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy guides efforts to improve water quality at home and downstream.

Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy

tornado

Weather impacts food production, transportation, homes, and lives.

All About Weather

Horticulture

From the flowers you enjoy to the produce you eat to the plants that add value to our life, we offer help for growing strong.
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Keeping you (and your garden) growing with good ideas.

Good Growing

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Gardening in Illinois including everything from vegetable gardening to native plants.

The Garden Scoop

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Where northern Illinois gardeners come to find out what's happening out in the yard.

Over the Garden Fence

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Local and statewide information on a variety of current topics for home gardeners and market growers.

Flowers, Fruits, and Frass

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Helping new and experienced gardeners develop their skills and knowledge while encouraging everyone to enjoy the outdoors.

Illinois River Horticulture

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Archive of the most popular blog articles from Illinois Extension

Our Greatest Horticulture Hit Blogs

Local Food Systems and Specialty Crops

Growers are diverse, from urban agriculture and beginning small farmers to farmers markets and organic agriculture.
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Learn new resources for urban growers.

Local Foods | Local Farms | Local People

strawberries

The "Jungle" refers to Elizabeth Wahle's personal St. Louis Metro East garden and it provides the backdrop for her writings about building and sustaining viable food webs and ecosystems within the home landscape.

Welcome to My Jungle

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A blog for growers, consumers, and backyard gardeners to grow, eat, and connect in the local food system.

Raise, Grow, Harvest, Eat, Repeat

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Connecting you with your food, farmers and community.

Know How. Know More. Connecting Food, Farmers, and Community

carrots in the ground

Ramping up local food production in the second-most populous county in the US.

Cultivate Cook County

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Conditions can change quickly. As a commercial fruit and vegetable grower, get the latest information as it is available.

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

 

Agriculture

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The cattlemen's connection to timely topics, current research, and profitable management strategies.

The Cattle Connection

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Whether you're a farmer or landowner, trust the advice from Extension's farm coach.

Farm Coach

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Emerging news and best practices for pesticide use and testing.

Pesticide News

corn

All issues concerning Small Farms, Agriculture, Local Food Systems, and the Natural Resources.

Acres of Knowledge

crops

Current topics about crop production in Western Illinois, including field crops research at the NWIARDC in Monmouth.

Hill and Furrow

Youth Development

We're the friend you've been looking for.
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4-H’s learning opportunities are intentionally designed around four essential concepts necessary for positive youth development: a sense of belonging with a positive group, independence and self-determination, a spirit of generosity toward others, and a wide variety of opportunities to master life challenges.

Our Stories from Illinois 4-H

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Timely information, activities, and resources to help you stay connected to loved ones, the world around you, and yourself.

Connection Corner: Activities for Families