University of Illinois Extension

Events (20)

Growing Great Vegetables: Diseases and Disorders

6-7PM

Tue, 03/02/2021 - 12:00

Online

Growing Great Vegetables

2021 Virtual Weekend Gardener

9 am - 1 pm

Sat, 03/06/2021 - 12:00

Virtual Program via Zoom

Weekend Gardener

Growing Great Vegetables: Attracting Pollinators and Controlling Pests

6-7PM

Tue, 03/09/2021 - 12:00

Online

Growing Great Vegetables

2021 Garden Learning Series - Successful Vegetable Gardening

6:00 - 7:30 PM

Wed, 03/10/2021 - 12:00

ZOOM

Successful Vegetable Gardening

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Seed Starting Introduction

10 - 11 AM

Mon, 03/15/2021 - 12:00

Online webinar

Cartoon house with vegetables, text saying Vegetable Gardening Made Easy, Mon & Wed 10 am, March 15-31 via Zoom

Think Spring Gardening Series: Designing a Garden to Attract Birds

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Tue, 03/16/2021 - 12:00

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Germination & Seedling Growth

10 - 11 AM

Wed, 03/17/2021 - 12:00

Online webinar

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Germination & Seedling Growth

Think Spring Gardening Series: Lessons from the Red Oak Rain Garden

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Thu, 03/18/2021 - 12:00

Kendall Master Gardener Seed Swap 2021

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Sat, 03/20/2021 - 12:00

7775B IL Route 47, Yorkville, IL 60560

decorative element

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Blueprint to Gardening & Planning & Prepping

10 - 11 AM

Mon, 03/22/2021 - 12:00

Online webinar

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Blueprint to Gardening & Planning & Prepping

Think Spring Gardening Series: Bulb Lasagna - Creating Layers

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Tue, 03/23/2021 - 12:00

Think Spring Gardening Series: 50 Shapes of Shade

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Thu, 03/25/2021 - 12:00

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: / Hardening off and Transplanting & General Care

10 - 11 AM

Mon, 03/29/2021 - 12:00

Online webinar

Cartoon house with vegetables, text saying Vegetable Gardening Made Easy, Mon & Wed 10 am, March 15-31 via Zoom

Think Spring Gardening Series: Succulent Wreaths

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Tue, 03/30/2021 - 12:00

Vegetable Gardening Made Easy: Pest control considerations, and tips to garden safely

10 - 11 AM

Wed, 03/31/2021 - 12:00

Online webinar

Cartoon house with vegetables, text saying Vegetable Gardening Made Easy, Mon & Wed 10 am, March 15-31 via Zoom

Think Spring Gardening Series: Starting Seeds Successfully

6:30 - 8:00 pm

Thu, 04/01/2021 - 12:00

Virtual 2021 Gardenfest

9:00 AM to Noon

Sat, 04/10/2021 - 12:00

ZOOM

Garden Fest

Master Gardener Summer 2021 Self-Paced Online Training Registration Closes

Mon, 05/10/2021 - 12:00

Online

Black and white photo with cabbage, flower, 2 groups of people.

Master Gardener In-Person Training Registration Closes

Mon, 09/06/2021 - 12:00

Macon County Extension Office
3351 North President Howard Brown Blvd
Decatur, IL 62521

Black and white photo with cabbage, flower, 2 groups of people.

Master Gardener Fall 2021 Self-Paced Online Training Registration Closes

Mon, 09/06/2021 - 12:00

Online

Black and white photo with cabbage, flower, 2 groups of people.

Blog Posts (93)

How to make homemade seed cards for Valentine’s Day

pink seed cards made for Valentine's Day

Seed starting woes? Ask the pros

seedling under plastic lid. creative commons.

When You Seed Vegetable Transplants Matters

2021 Garden Planning

Delicious and sweet ‘Sungold’ tomatoes were hard to find in 2020 since an unusually large number of homebound gardeners bought up seeds and plants at unprecedented numbers.

Do you know when to plant in Illinois?

Seedlings growing in paper eggshell cartons

Edibles or ornamentals? Container trends for 2021

growing crops in bags

Vermicomposting: A Composting Option for the Winter

worms feeding on food waste creating compost

Ordering seeds from garden catalogs

New plants for a new year - try growing something new in 2021

2021 All-American Selections winners

Get your seeds early in 2021

Gardening grew in 2020

Garlic goes in the ground now for a savory summer

garlic harvest. photo by Bill Davison.

Ornamental Brassicas

Strategic Garden Plantings

2019 Gardening Goals

Home Composting

American Ginseng

Garlic Planting

Cabbageworms

Wild Ramps

Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest

Planting Potatoes

Thyme

High Tunnels

The History of Squash

Cover Crops

Plant Your Fall Garden Now!

French intensive gardens root well in Central Illinois

full season french intensive garden

Cover Crops for Home Gardening

This bumble bee dangles from a flower of crimson clover, which is an attractive and valuable soil-building cover crop that can be easily hand-seeded into vegetable garden beds.

Landscaping Fiction: Don't believe it

tomado demonstrating blossom end rot

Growing and Harvesting Okra

The okra plant produces cream colored flowers. Once pollinated, these will produce the okra pods to harvest and cook.

Hornworm caterpillars on tomatoes

a large tobacco hornworm feeding on a tomato leaf

Tomato Care

Tomatoes are one of the most planted garden crops in the US, with several common problems here in central Illinois that can be managed through fairly simple cultural practices.

It's Time to Plant a Fall Garden

Bag of potting soil with planer next to it

Start your fall garden

cool season crops

Garden in a bucket

basil and pepper sharing a five gallon bucket

Sow seeds for comfortable fall gardening

kohlrabi fall season garden delight

Tomato Origins

Domestication of the tomato was long believed to have happened from plants with cherry-sized fruits, but recent genetic research indicates otherwise.

Vegetable garden tips for after a rain

Harvesting garden vegetables

close up of a person holding freshly harvested onions

Hot weather in the vegetable garden

Handling your fresh-picked produce

Freshly harvested cucumbers, eggplant, beans, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, beets, & turnips.

Watering tips for hot weather

Top 5 early summer topics for gardeners

Garlic: So easy even I can grow it!

Growing Garlic

Tropical Tuber Thrives in Illinois Heat

sweet potato held in black containers

Garden Journal: A helpful gardening tool

Garden journal info graphic

Growing tender and warm-loving vegetables

How to Grow Sweet Corn

Sweet corn

Plan for Summer's Tomato Harvest Now

tomato trellised on straw bale garden

How to Grow Peppers

green, yellow, and red habanero peppers

The New Victory Garden

Tomato and Basil plants growing in a homemade container. Be sure to allow for drainage from any container.

Read and heed the seed packet

Trouble(s) with Cucurbits

squash bug nymphs feeding on pumpkin vines

Welcome to My Jungle - May, 2020

The Many Different Types of Cucurbits

The Many Different Types of Cucurbits

How to Grow Cucurbits

bright yellow flower

Trouble(s) with Tomatoes

a green tobacco hornworm on a tomato stem

Different Types of Tomatoes

different types, sizes, and colors of tomatoes

New Vegetable Garden Maintenance – Weed and Watering

New Vegetable Garden Maintenance

How to Grow Tomatoes

How to Grow Tomatoes

Planting the first-time vegetable garden

Even Gardeners Have Their First Days

LEGO art in the garden. Photo by Kelly Allsup.

How to Grow Lettuce

three lettuce varieties

How to Grow Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potato harvest

How to Grow Carrots

orange, white, purple, red, and orange circles arranged in a circle. Carrots still have leaves attached.

Selecting Plants for the Vegetable Garden

Beets are a cool-season vegetable that can be direct seeded into the garden now.

Starting a Garden: Irrigation

Sprinkler head

Starting a Garden: Fertilization

corn seedlings with fertilizer

Advantages of early vegetable gardening and other spring notes

Starting a Garden: Season Extension

Cold frame with vegetables growing inside in the fall.

Starting a Garden: Hardening Off Indoor Seedlings

basil seedlings in seedling flat

Starting a New Vegetable Garden

Starting a New Vegetable Garden

A Beginners Guide To Worm Composting

Fruit and vegetable scraps for composting

Starting a Garden: Weed Management

Weed free tomatoes

Starting Seeds in Spring

kohlrabi at Garden of Giving

Starting a Garden: Soil Management

Spade in garden soil

Starting a Garden: Types of Gardens

lettuce and potatoes in an in-ground garden, vegetables in a raised bed, and herbs in pots

More Early Spring FAQs: Lawns, Trees and Seeds

Starting a Garden: Warm Season Vegetables

basket with tomatoes, peppers and summer squash

Starting a Garden: Cool-Season Vegetables | And my top 5 cool-season crops to grow

Kale

Starting a Garden: Supplemental Lighting for Indoor Seed Starting

Lighting

Starting a Garden: Begin with a Plan

Vegetable garden sketch

Starting a Garden: Seed Starting

blazing star seedlings under grow lights

Beyond 'Yukon Gold': Growing Purple/Blue Potatoes

Don't grow distant from your garden!

beet greens and lettuce greens

Kitchen Scrap Gardening: Regrow Your Fruits and Vegetables!

base of celery stalk sitting in water

Vegetable Variety Recommendations for 2020

close up of cabbage

Answers for Early Spring FAQs

Creating an Edible Landscape

Scarlet runner beans growing on a fence

Illinois Vegetable Planting - Dates, Spacing, and Seeds

How to Achieve Asparagus's Perpetual Harvest

male asparagus ferns on left, female asparagus ferns with seed on the right

Homegrown: DIY Hydroponics for All Gardeners

Green herbs growing out of plastic tub in home hydroponic system

News Releases (24)

Small-batch culinary herbs add flavor to gardening menu

Small-space containers big with new gardeners

The time is right to plant cool season vegetables

Tips for starting your spring garden off strong

Gardening benefits body, mind and wallet

Make way for new award-winning garden plants of 2021

Illinois Extension & Rock Island Public Library offer free online series: Vegetable Gardening Made Easy

Get ready for spring with Gardening in the Air

Gardening interests bloom in 2020

Grow great vegetables with beginner gardening webinar series

Small, but mighty microgreens are easy to grow indoors

Falling into the Autumn Vegetable Garden

Fall Planting: Garlic program coming to Yost House in Pontiac

Harvest abundant squash for food, decoration

Benefit your health and environment by growing your own vegetables

Prolong shelf life of garden-fresh produce with good harvest habits

Color your garden with a rainbow of vegetables

Flavor summer with backyard basil

Vegetable Variety Recommendations

Enjoy home-grown asparagus with backyard gardening webinar

Starting a New Vegetable Garden

Improve your gardens: Four Seasons webinar offers tips

Get Growing webinar series announced for growing vegetables and fruit

The Cook's Garden

Staff (1)

Christopher Enroth

Christopher Enroth

Extension Educator, Horticulture