Blogs

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Consider adding fish to your diet

Fish is a great source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that can promote health. Fish contain choline, which has been found beneficial in brain development and function. Consider adding more fish to your diet, not forgetting the food safety practices below. Reduce food safety risks associated with eating fishFish can be obtained all year round as raw (frozen or...

Embrace fall: Seasonal gardening tasks

As September ushers in the changing seasons and offers a period of rest for the garden, there are still a few essential tasks to complete this fall. Taking these steps will help ensure your garden thrives with health and beauty come spring.Cut back plants (or not!) Any diseased or insect-infested plants should be removed and destroyed (not composted) before winter to avoid spreading in the...
Recent Blog Articles

Recipe Rescue: Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Today we're making over an all-American summer side dish – pasta salad! Mayo-based dishes like potato salad or macaroni salad can be filled with fat and calories. I think summer food should be light and tasty, so I took on the challenge of making over this Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad recipe. ...
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Student Loan Repayment: 5 Key Things to Know

Congratulations to all new college graduates! Your accomplishment is significant and wonderful! Once you've had a chance to celebrate your accomplishment, the next step is to figure out how you plan to repay your student loans. Even if you can't repay now, you need to take steps so that you don't...
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Hmmm Good - Triple M Farm

There is a new CSA in DeWitt County and its name is Triple M Farm. Greg and Mariah Anderson are the owners and have been in business since 2008. They started by raising fall mums and this year they have expanded to growing bedding plants, and fresh local produce. Greg grew up on a farm that grew...
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Are Ants Really Required to Help Open Peony Buds?

As gardeners I'm sure many have heard the folk tale that ants are needed to help open up the buds on your peonies. I've always heard this as well, but logically, never believed that to be true. In my head I just always pictured muscled up ants prying open the peony buds. Not very likely. Well...
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Strawbales Revolutionize Vegetable Gardening

Last spring, Joel Karsten wrote a book called "Straw Bale Gardens" that has taken the gardening world by storm and given growers a new media to grow vegetables, herbs and annuals. The science behind the decomposition of the straw bale is what makes it the ideal growing media for vegetables....
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Growing Salad Greens by Nancy Pollard

Mesclun is a mixture of assorted small, baby salad leaves also known as a mesclun mix. You can purchase mesclun bagged in cellophane at your grocer. Yet freshly harvested from a few square feet in your patio, garden, or front stoop, mesclun is an easy tender treat, said a University of Illinois...
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Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Remember Chia Pets? What ever happened to those things? Nowadays chia is having a second life as a nutritional "it" item. Recently there has been a surge in cia products- Whole and ground chia seeds are being added to fruit drinks, snack foods and cereals; baked in cookies and sprinkled on yogurt...
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How Johnny Appleseed would operate in 2014

If Johnny Appleseed were planting apples in 2014, he would be planting dwarf or semi-dwarf trees grafted onto disease-resistant rootstocks instead of apple seeds from a leather satchel. Grafting is like plant surgery for horticulturists, connecting the growing tissues of one plant to another....
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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

Read the latest news in natural resources.

Everyday Environment

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

Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy

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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

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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