URBANA, Ill. — Take a break from summer garden care and watering for a conversation about native bees and crop rotation. Two new sessions from the Four Seasons Gardening series will have attendees exploring more about native bees and ways to implement crop rotation to strengthen any size garden.
University of Illinois Extension horticulture experts will present tips, how-to's, and answer questions about each monthly topic. The series focuses on home gardening, environmental stewardship, and backyard food production. Sessions are free and presented live online beginning at 1:30 p.m. on select Tuesdays. Registration is required.
Summer Session Schedule
Get to Know Native Bee Neighbors | June 17
When was the last time you invited a wild animal over for a meal? It's probably more recent than expected. Native bees are wild animals often overlooked in favor of larger animals or suffer from being mistaken for another insect. Learn how to identify some valuable pollinator neighbors, where to look for them, and what they can do for everyone.
Crop Rotation: Building Resilient Gardens | Aug. 19
Learn how crop rotation can improve a garden’s soil health, reduce pests and diseases, and even boost overall productivity. This presentation will cover techniques for rotating plant families, even in small spaces like raised beds or containers. Discover how to plan a garden for long-term success with crop rotation.
Extension educators Sreelakshmi Suresh and Nicole Flowers-Kimmerle will lead the summer series sessions. To find more information and to sign up for each session, visit go.illinois.edu/FourSeasons.
Can’t make a session? Every program is recorded and available on the Illinois Extension Horticulture YouTube channel. Videos are available about two weeks after the live program.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate, please contact the series coordinators by session: Native Bees – Andrew Holsinger, aholsing@illinois.edu, and Crop Rotation - Gemini Bhalsod, at gbhalsod@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting access needs.
SOURCES: Gemini Bhalsod, Nancy Kreith, and Andrew Holsinger, horticulture educators, Illinois Extension
WRITER: Jenna Braasch, media communications coordinator, Illinois Extension
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.