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From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Fall season winding down with fall crops

October 29, 2026

We have continued to be warm for the month of October but have finally escaped the intense heat of September and early October. Temperatures have been in the 70s to low 80s during the day and dropping into the 50s at night. Mid-October saw a few nights around 40 degrees and some light patchy...

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tiny green seedlings growing in a raised bed with two black tubes running down the bed

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Fall cover crops up and growing

October 29, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

October is nearly gone, and we have yet to experience a frost event in our area. Our lowest temperatures arrived in mid-October, bottomed out at 37 F, and have been consistently in the mid to lower 50s most nights. Daytime temperatures in the 70s and low humidity have made for excellent days to be...

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group of orange pumpkins in field beside green plants

From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Fall pumpkin and apple season is upon us

October 2, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

We are finally starting to feel a little more fall like in the region. Up until the latter part of September we had maintained many days of temperatures in the mid-90s, but fortunately temperatures have started to drop, and the hot days are hopefully mostly behind us for this season. As...

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From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Summer annual vegetable crops in full swing

July 28, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Summer is rolling on, about like a steamroller at the moment! We are in the midst of a summer wave of heat and humidity. Temperatures starting this last week of July are pushing 100 degrees with very high humidity. While we have not had a lot of rain in the past week, the last month has been pretty...

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From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Storm damage from early March changes research plans

April 1, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

The mid March cold snap brought temperatures in the 18 to 22 degree range across southern Illinois. Double row covers on plasticulture strawberries did not provide enough protection to save flowers from popcorn up to full bloom in maturity. Flowers in tight bud were saved for the most part. As of...

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From Central Illinois (Bloomington): Cover crop residue and spring growth at Unity Community Center Research and Demonstration Area

April 1, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Over the last 5 years, efforts have been made at the Unity Community Center’s Research and Demonstration Area Garden in Normal, IL to rejuvenate garden soils used for food-insecure community food production through extensive cover crop utilization. This approach was taken due to the condition...

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From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Perennial fruit crops moving ahead despite cold weather

April 1, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

We have been on the spring roller coaster for temperatures in southern Illinois. March 15-17 saw temperatures plummet, with March 16 not even getting above freezing. We saw lows down to the upper teens across the area. However, by the weekend we were pushing 90 degrees for high...

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clear plastic tightly covering rows of plants inside a high tunnel

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Solarization started for overwintering cover crops

March 10, 2026

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

After the success of solarizing cover crops last year in our high tunnel, we will be covering all the beds with clear plastic mulch to achieve termination ahead of our April 1 target plant date for tomatoes and peppers. Plastic is stapled into the wooden side boards of the raised beds, spanning two...

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green seedlings next to black plastic irrigation tape growing in soil

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Late seeded cover crops catching up in high tunnel

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Two of the three high tunnels are completely cleaned out and have been winterized. The other tunnel has been seeded and is overwintering cover crops for the fourth winter in a row. Due to late-season tomato and pepper harvests, cover crops were seeded during the first week of November, about a...

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close up of young cover crop seedlings growing in a field

From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): December actually feels like December

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Our outdoor growing season has come to an end with a few subfreezing mornings, with the coldest I have seen so far being December 5, registering 16 degrees Fahrenheit. We got our first measurable snowfall on November 29, with about 3 inches of snow followed by 0.45 inches of very cold rain....

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