Environment Blogs

During the recent warm period in January, I checked the status of my bees. As you can see in the above photo, the bees seem to have survived the very cold temperatures of late November and the first half of December just fine as of the first 10 days of January. What surprised me was the...

Fall leaves represent a valuable resource for your lawn and garden. According to Rhonda Ferree, retired University of Illinois Extension educator, “Adding a two-inch layer of leaf mulch adds approximately 150 pounds of nitrogen, 20 pounds of phosphorus, and 65 pounds of potassium per acre (...

The secret to having a live Christmas tree staying fresh and keeping its needles is to start fresh and take the steps necessary to keep it that way. Step 1 Buy a fresh tree. The easiest way to ensure a fresh tree is to go to one of our local tree farms and buy freshly cut...

Well, Christmas is over, and it is time to decide what to do with that fresh-cut Christmas tree that has been sitting in your home for the past several weeks. Did you know that how you dispose of your tree can have an environmental impact? A live Christmas tree disposed of in a landfill is...

I have been noticing tree frogs for the past month and a half. First, I saw a green one back in September on the porch door and then several on the kitchen window in the evening. This past Sunday, I noticed a gray tree frog sitting inside a storage shed. Locally, I have heard reports of people...