Specialty Crops

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Blog Posts
two rows of apple trees with red fruit hanging and the words illinois beginning orchard academy surrounded by a light yellow oval
Illinois Beginning Orchard Academy (IBOA)
I'm pleased to share that registration is now open for the Illinois Beginning Orchard Academy (IBOA), a six...
tiny yellowing shriveled up pumpkin fruit with brown flower still attached on pumpkin vine
Why are my pumpkin fruit dying after bloom?
Often, I get the question: “My pumpkins bloom, but then the female fruit just shrivel up and die. Why is this happening?”There is no one...
a field with strawberry plants set out in rows of black plastic mulch
From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Summer harvest might be slowing but your irrigation needs to stay steady
The determinate tomato crop from the high tunnels at DSAC was picked out by the second week of August, which is a bit earlier than normal. A few late...
field of healthy dark green pumpkin plants
From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Keep your guard up, crop scouting is important for fall crops too!
I had forgotten that it could actually rain in August!  After the last few years of late summer droughts, the timely rainfall this year in our...
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News Releases
A group of participants walking in a pumpkin field.
Local growers get fresh research and production strategies at Pumpkin Field Day
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Attendees from across the Midwest braved the triple-digit temperatures to attend Pumpkin Field Day. The biannual event welcomed growers, educators, and industry partners for a hands-on pumpkin field day that highlighted the latest research, production strategies, and on‑farm...
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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...
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