Maybe people are tired of looking back and even I have been cringing whenever I hear the words “flood anniversary.” Still, it’s remarkable to think five years have passed since my hometown of Cedar Rapids, and much of Eastern Iowa, were inundated with unprecedented flooding. I keep a
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Author: Cindy
Wet, cool weather delaying farmers; Iowa...
It was nice to see the sun today, after what has been an unusually wet and cool spring. That wet weather is keeping farmers out of their fields, as the following reports from Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and the Iowa Crops and Weather report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service show:
Viticulture: Japanese beetles and many, ...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Between the various vineyard diseases, voracious bugs, birds and other predators, I’m amazed that any grape can survive to maturity. At our most recent viticulture class at Kirkwood Community College, we learned about fungal diseases of grapevines, such as anthracnose or
Practical Farmers of Iowa Launches 100 D...
The age of farmers in this country averages in the 60s, so finding new farmers is an important task. Practical Farmers of Iowa has made numerous efforts with mentoring and other programs to forward that goal. The group is now launching a campaign to help with those efforts. Here is more about the campaign from […]
Keys to drought, flooding and climate ch...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Ray Archuleta and David Brandt could hold the keys to solving both drought and flooding issues and even climate change. Their sessions during the June 6 soil seminar at Coe College in Cedar Rapids were nothing short of jaw-dropping. It’s probably not often that ‘soil seminar’ and ‘jaw-dropping’ are used in the […]
Parallels seen between flooding in Iowa ...
I remember interviewing Petr Kolar, the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the United States, just a few months after floods devastated Cedar Rapids and other parts of Eastern Iowa in 2008. It was remarkable, I thought, that Kolar noted that good could somehow come out of something as tragic as the epic flood that inundated 10 […]
Find out on June 6 why Iowa soils are “n
CEDAR RAPIDS – You might think that unless you’re a farmer, this seminar does not pertain to you, but I’m told gardeners and anyone who could be affected by flooding or drought and basically everybody who eats would benefit from the information that will be presented June 6 at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.
Uptown Marion Market kicks off Saturday,...
The Marion Chamber of Commerce sent the following about the first Uptown Marion Market of the season, this Saturday, June 8, 2013: Uptown Marion Market kicks off this Saturday, June 8 in City Square Park. This year’s market will feature over 50 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods, honey, organic meat, eggs, Iowa wines, […]
Awesome mushroom photos
My good buddy, Dave DeWitte, is at it again. Dave wrote a “reely” excellent review of reel lawn mowers and now is offering his expertise in fungi. Here is what he has to say about his mushroom finds: Morel season was almost a washout this year at my homestead, but the recent soggy weather has […]
More Pi: Members of New Pioneer Co-op vo...
CEDAR RAPIDS – New Pioneer Food Co-op members in the Cedar Rapids area need to vote if they’d like to bring a store to the city. At a meeting Sunday at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, about 50 members were told that some of the membership might prefer not to expand outside of Coralville […]