Good Growing 2015

Wondering what to do with fallen leaves? Consider compost. Some people call it black gold, most call it by its proper name: compost. This material provides so many benefits to the soil that all gardeners should strongly consider its use. The addition of compost can improve the soils ability to...

The days are finally longer and the weather is warming up. Gardens are in bloom and some of our spring blooming bulbs are finishing their displays. I always receive questions about what you should or shouldn't do after your spring blooming bulbs are done blooming – what can you do to help make sure...

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...

Monday night saw a large storm with extremely damaging winds blow through parts of the counties that I work in. The damage to trees was unbelievable, I saw pictures on Facebook and local media websites – trees ripped up from the ground, trees snapped in half, trees fallen on homes and vehicles,...

For over a century growers have been using steam to heat the soil to help eliminate many pests of soils. Many greenhouses utilized this method of sterilization in the early 1900's and before. Back then there weren't very many alternatives to eliminate pests other than steam heat. Today there are...

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...

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...

Putting Small Acreage to Work will be held on Saturday, Feb. 14th at John Wood Community College, 1301 S. 48th in Quincy. If you're looking for ideas on how to utilize smaller acreages for income producing activities or for fun and leisure, then this program will provide you with a number of...