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Specialty Crops

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organic vegetables
Read article: Missouri webinar helps specialty crop growers with organic production
Missouri webinar helps specialty crop growers with organic production
University of Missouri Extension is offering a nine-part webinar series on organic production of specialty crops. The series, which runs Sept. 26 to...
people walking though pumpkin field
Read article: Dixon Springs Update: Hydroponic vegetables continue producing
Dixon Springs Update: Hydroponic vegetables continue producing
We had a break from the summer heat last week, but this week the heat dome has moved back over our region creating very hot, humid conditions. With...
pumpkin on vine
Read article: Southwestern Illinois Update: Pumpkin fruit accelerate growth
Southwestern Illinois Update: Pumpkin fruit accelerate growth
Pumpkins are doing well. I gave my pumpkins a side dress application of nitrogen the first week of August and they have really taken off we have...
Shiitake mushrooms growing on inoculated logs
Read article: Grow your favorite fungus at home: How to cultivate shiitake mushrooms
Grow your favorite fungus at home: How to cultivate shiitake mushrooms
Growing mushrooms is a time-honored tradition. Cultivation of shiitake mushrooms on hardwood logs dates back at least 1000 years in Japan. After...

News Releases

Miscellaneous herbs growing in a wooden container.
Keep growing with herbs indoors this fall, winter
URBANA, Ill. — Just because days are shorter and colder and the outdoor gardening days are over, that doesn't mean growing must come to an end. Indoor green houseplants are an option, so add some herbs to the mix this fall and winter. Whether growing indoors or outdoors, plants still...
Two row tunnels protecting plants in a garden
Tips for extending the garden’s growing season
URBANA, Ill. — Harvest season in a vegetable garden doesn’t have to end so soon. Stretch growth with techniques that extend the typical growing season past the point where crops would normally be grown outdoors. Protection from frosts can happen at either end of the growing season. A...
pumpkins and mums near wagon
Holiday favorite gourd is good to go for 2022
Few of us stop to wonder how that slice of pumpkin pie made it onto our plate, but if it weren't for the Illinois pumpkin industry and plant pathologist and Extension specialist Mohammad Babadoost, the classic fall dessert...

Videos

Mushroom Production on Small Farms

Direct market farmers, homesteaders, land-owners, hobby farms, and backyard growers can learn practices to improve production and increase profit.

Growing Shiitake Mushrooms

On this week’s Good Growing podcast we talk with Illinois Extension local foods educator Nick Frillman about growing gourmet shiitake mushrooms in your own backyard. Nick shows us the tools and methods used to turn fresh cut logs of white oak and sugar maple into inoculated “bolts” that will...