I’m adding these to the events calendar, but wanted to provide this overview of Coe College’s upcoming Thursday Forum classes. The focus of the March lecture series will be on contemporary energy issues, including topics such as solar and wind energy, fracking, climate change and oil reserves.
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Author: Cindy
Iowa’s only urban farm planning tours in
CEDAR RAPIDS – Hope has been growing in the northwest Cedar Rapids Time Check neighborhood that was ravaged by floods nearly five years ago. Matthew 25 began planting seeds for the idea of an urban farm shortly after floodwaters receded and now the 2-acre gardens near Ellis Boulevard and F Avenue NW have become a […]
Homegrown Lifestyle 12-week course begin...
Besides an awesome name, I’ve heard good things about Iowa State University Extension’s Homegrown Lifestyle course. Homegrown Lifestyle is a 12-week spring short course for folks who want to reconnect with the land, grow food for their own use and create a sustainable landscape. Find out more about the program and how you can get […]
How do you squirrel-proof a bird feeder?
My late grandmother – an avid birdwatcher – had a somewhat elaborate system rigged up to deter squirrels from her bird feeders. She could pull a wire strung through her kitchen window that attached a line to the feeder. The pulled wire would shake the bird feeder and scare off the little critters, at least […]
A nutty situation in Iowa
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 […]
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. […]