Good Growing 2015

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has recently been in the local news again. The City of Quincy began having city ash trees treated earlier this month and a comment was made by the applicator that they believed that EAB was already in Quincy. Since that time, I have been in contact with the Illinois...

All this wet weather is causing issues with many plants, especially the annuals. Root systems aren't able to function in anaerobic soils which cause a variety of issues, including poor growth and reduced nutrient uptake. Leaf diseases have never been higher. Nearly all leaf diseases require...

With a new year comes new changes.  Mike Roegge, Small Farms & Local Foods Extension Educator, and myself (Kari Houle, Horticulture Extension Educator) would like to welcome you to our new blog Good Growing and hopefully you will continue to follow along with us as we provide you...

Fall is a perfect time for gardening. And considering how the spring weather treated us I think we can be assured that fall has to be much better. The variety of crops is limited for fall planting, simply due to the length of the remaining season. And also due to the fact that unlike spring...

My son Wilson researched and wrote this up. Thought it was interesting. Mike     "If life gives you cabbage, make sauerkraut." - Dale Carnegie German for 'sour cabbage', the art of making sauerkraut was probably first practiced in the Far East thousands of years ago. The builders of...

For those of you growing winter greens in a high tunnel, be wary of aphids infesting your leafy greens, especially spinach and lettuce. These carryover pests from the summer crops can build up populations fairly rapidly in the confines of a tunnel, in the absence of predators. Plus these past few...

Purchasing and consuming locally grown products has been rapidly increasing in popularity recently. From fruit and vegetables to meat and eggs, more people are consuming more locally grown products today than anytime during the past several decades. They're doing it for several reasons; one of the...

The rain of last week was certainly welcome. Amounts varied but all was welcome. Lawns had begun to go dormant and many other plants were just hanging in there coping with the stress. All the rain we had during the summer weakened root systems and these plants just can't handle much stress. You may...

Don't forget that we'll be providing an opportunity for you to learn about apple and peach growing and pruning this weekend. Saturday, beginning at 9am, at Edgewood Orchards, the Zellerman brothers will talk about production practices and demonstrate proper pruning methods for several tree...

I'm not sure if the gnats that were bothering me this weekend were Buffalo Gnats or not, but now is the time of year when we can normally expect them. I started noticing them on Saturday and Sunday, but thankfully the winds were strong enough that they didn't bother me much. But this morning, when...

As I sit here and write this article I wonder where the summer went and where 2015 is disappearing too. It's now September and even though the temperatures in the first week have been in the 90s, September means cooler weather making it easier and more desirable to spend time in the garden. I know...

The 2015 edition of our Eat Fresh, Eat Local food guide is  now available. Use this guide to find farms in the area that sell directly to consumers. You'll find listings for fruit/vegetable, meat/eggs, honey/syrup, organic and specialty items. In addition we list every Farmers Market in the...

I'm sitting here writing and the high today is supposed to be 63 can you say I am more than excited? With spring quickly winging its way towards us my brain is already jump starting with ideas for this year's gardening season. Each year I like to try something new or different and experiment and in...

As I look out the window, the wind is blowing, leaves are slowly beginning to change color and float to the ground, the sky is overcast and it is officially fall as per the calendar and it is starting to feel and look like fall. I love fall for many reasons, the changing colors of leaves, cooler...

This upcoming conference combines the Ill Small Fruit/Strawberry School with the Southern IL Vegetable School. The dates are Feb. 10-11 and will be held in O'Fallon, IL (across river from St. Louis). It's an excellent program that will offer many folks an opportunity to learn more management...

It never seems to fail – once people know you're a horticulturist and you teach about plants, people always want to know what your favorite plants are. Often my reply is do I have to pick just one? There are so many amazing plants out there and depending on your garden or landscape some may work...

You may or may not believe in global warming, but I don't think anyone can argue that our climate has been changing of late. Whether climate change can be attributed to Mother Nature or to man or a combination, there's no doubt change is occurring. What is normal? By my count, there have been at...

We've certainly caught up with moisture for the year during this past month. I'm sure most would like to see some sunshine and warm weather. I'm not sure we've had the combination of these two for many days this spring. But the grass in the lawn is certainly enjoying the weather. For most crops,...

Before we know it we'll soon be seeing seed and garden catalogs in our mailboxes. If you're like me, you're also receiving emails with all the pretty pictures of new varieties of vegetables and flowers and of course you say you want them all. The choice to grow plants from seed is a fulfilling one...