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Tips for gardening with nature: fall edition

August 13, 2026

I used to think fall was the time to clean up. Now I know fall is the time to prepare. When I was very small, I remember the leaves dropping everywhere in the fall. We lived in a rural area on a quarter acre overlooking Queensland Beach, and when the leaves fell, my mother would get us outside...

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A field with piles of dirt and a close up of a gopher in a burrow

Digging into the plains pocket gopher, Illinois’ hidden soil builder

October 16, 2025

Everyday Environment

In the underground world of any prairie, root systems crisscross and extend downward to create an underground maze. As the roots of grasses and flowers grow and search for nutrients, they may find themselves exposed and no longer surrounded by soil, but rather growing into an underground opening....

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tallgrass prairie restoration bison on prairie

Return of bison revives biodiversity of one restored Illinois prairie

September 18, 2025

Everyday Environment

Tallgrass prairie is one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world, and yet there is hope for the future of the ecosystem that defines Illinois, aka the prairie state. Tallgrass prairie is an open grassland ecosystem characterized by abundant tall grasses like big bluestem, Indian grass, and...

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Taking Care of Water is a Community Effort

May 22, 2025

Everyday Environment

When the Everyday Environment team first looked at water as our season two topic, we brainstormed a lot of different approaches. Unlike our first season, where we covered climate change, water is an overarching part of our environment. Yes, water can be a challenge, flooding for example, but it can...

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Tips for creating a rain garden to protect water, nature, and communities

April 17, 2025

Everyday Environment

Rain gardens are bowl-shaped landscape features that capture and absorb rainfall and snowmelt. These nature-based solutions can help to reduce local flooding issues while improving downstream water quality and recharging groundwater. They also provide a variety of other benefits, like habitat...

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picture of a street with rain drops and text overlay stormwater management

Using stormwater to your advantage

March 27, 2025

Everyday Environment

As a child, my friends and I played in a neighborhood stream, catching crawdads. What I didn’t know then was this small waterbody was mainly comprised of stormwater runoff and was connected to everything on our landscape.What is stormwater runoff?Stormwater is rain or melted snow that flows off...

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Southern Illinois field trip to the 2023 Master Naturalist Conference inspires community and new ideas

September 29, 2023

Everyday Environment

Every fall, nature lovers from around the state lace up their hiking boots and head out into the field for the annual Master Naturalist State Conference. The gathering is a chance for Illinois Extension staff and volunteers to share ideas and gain new skills, tools, and programs they can bring home...

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green leaves, black berries, red/purple stems

Pokeweed teaches us to ask questions about the natural world

November 17, 2021

Everyday Environment

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) is a showy plant that makes you stop and ask questions about it whenever it is stumbled upon - whether in your garden or along a hike. From its impressive height, sometimes up to 10 feet tall, to its distinctive reddish-purple stems - you stop and ask...

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Edible wild mushrooms are more than just your next meal

March 26, 2021

Everyday Environment

“Forty-two pounds of Edible Fungus In the Wilderness a-growin’ Saved the Settlers from Starvation, Helped the founding of this Nation.” - Robert McCloskey, 1943...

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Species Profile - Harbinger-of-Spring

February 18, 2021

Everyday Environment

By the time February rolls around, many of us are longing for springtime. Spring brings a renewal of plant life in our forests, the arrival of the first batch of neotropical birds migrating back from their southern winter homes, and the awakening of reptiles and amphibians that have been long...

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