What do you do with too much of a good thing? Dell Lawrence of the Iowa Nut Growers Association is looking for an answer. I met Dell at his group’s booth at Saturday’s Winter Gardening Fair in Cedar Rapids. He grows and harvests black walnuts at his place near Marion, where he turned the past […]
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Month: February 2013
Drought superheroes and blueberries; mol...
How I wish I had taken Linn County Master Gardener Deb Walser’s blueberry workshop 10 years ago. I planted two blueberries back then and the plants languished until last spring, when I finally decided to relocate them. They probably just needed more sun, I decided. That was, of course, the lead-off to Iowa’s drought. As […]
Photo Gallery: Winter Gardening Fair 201...
Saturday’s Winter Gardening Fair, hosted by the ISU Extension Linn County Master Gardeners, attracted more than 500 people to Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here are some of the classes and people I saw at the event. I’ll post more about what I learned in coming days and hope that if you were […]
See you at the fair!
I’m looking forward to Saturday’s Winter Gardening Fair and hope to meet many of you at Kirkwood. I’ll be taking classes on Lawn & Garden Myths; Drought Superheroes; Blueberries and Vertical Gardening.
Viticulture 101
We’re only at the PowerPoint stage, but I have a feeling that the Vineyard Management courses I’m taking at Kirkwood Community College will turn into an incredible hands-on experience. Classes, which run from February through September, cover the basics of establishing a vineyard; costs; planting; pruning; trellis construction and more.
Master gardener classes open at Winter G...
UPDATE (Feb. 14, 2013): Kirkwood has closed the online enrollments so they can send confirmations to the enrollees. However, people can walk in on Saturday and register for the classes. There will be a registration desk with a Kirkwood representative to help. One of the biggest gardening events of the year happens this Saturday, Feb. […]
Iowa apple losses detailed in new USDA r...
Remember last spring’s wacky weather? Iowa apple growers would probably rather not. Warm weather early in the spring that prompted trees to bud was followed by frost and a summer drought that devastated many orchards. Proof of the losses came in this report just issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The statistics show the […]
Iowa’s Endangered Species
Friend and fellow gardener, Orlan Love, put together a list of Endangered Species in Iowa, with the status of the stately Northern Monkshood, pink-lipped Indiana bat, pretty Piping Plover and more. If you missed it in today’s Gazette, find it here.
Making (mystery) tracks in Cedar Rapids,...
Squirrels and rabbits are common visitors in my neighborhood in northeast Cedar Rapids, along with the occasional raccoon or opossum. But these tracks through the snow earlier this week surprised me. They seemed quite deep, so I wondered if it could have been a heavier animal, such as a deer. In more than 15 years […]
Farmers Market reminder
Lena Gilbert, market master for the Springville Farmers Market, passed along a reminder about this Saturday’s market, which runs from 9-11 a.m. Feb. 9 at the Springville Community Center on Broadway Street. The location is easy to find by following the signs in Springville. There will be live harp music and items for sale include: […]