Pass the sweet potatoes. Or is it pass the yams? We often use these names interchangeably, but in reality, they are two very different plants. So, what is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?
True yams are monocots (like grasses and lilies) in the family Dioscoreaceae that are native to...
I love parsnips. But have you ever bought parsnips at a grocery store? Let me share my experience. At the checkout lane, the cashier always has a befuddled look when parsnips are up for scanning. A look that I know all too well.
“Oh, those are parsnips,” I tell the cashier.
Satisfied the...
Cranberries are a common sight this time of year. Americans consume nearly 400 million pounds of cranberries per year, and we consume about 20 percent of that during Thanksgiving week! Whether you eat them fresh, dried, as sauce or jellied or drink them, they are staples at many holiday meals. They...
By mid-November, the last of the leaves float down to the ground and the landscape appears stark. All is quiet and nothing is growing as our gardens have been put to bed. Or are they? As I walk outside in the frigid cold, it is obvious my body has yet to adapt to colder temperatures, yet the turf...
Halloween is a time of trick-or-treating, witches, ghouls, and ghosts. When it comes to plants, we typically think of pumpkins. Carnivorous plants may also come to mind, what could be scarier than a plant turning the tables and eating insects? There are plenty of other ‘spooky and scary’ plants out...
Woolly bear caterpillars are hurriedly crossing the roads this time of year. I have always been fond of the woolly bear caterpillar. As a child, the name woolly bear reminded me of the Muppet Fozzie bear. I imagined the woolly bear caterpillar has the same loveable optimism as Fozzie despite being...
Want to get a head start on planting your vegetable garden for next year? Then garlic is the plant for you! Garlic (Allium sativum) has been grown for thousands of years as food and for medicinal purposes. It has a long growing season, which may seem daunting. Fortunately, it is relatively...
Planting a vegetable garden doesn’t just have to occur in the spring. Many of the vegetables that we grow in the spring can be also planted in late summer or early fall.
By the time summer rolls around many of our cool season plants that were planted in the spring are past their prime. They become...
As summer kicks into high gear, we often start to see more pest problems. An important and often overlooked part of pest management is scouting. It can help you figure out...
While attending Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, one of my favorite classes had nothing to do plants. It was Personal Finance 101. The professor, Dr. Ted Pilger, spent an entire semester giving out some of the best advice I've ever heard in a classroom. From selecting a retirement plan...
