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Ag and Extension

Composting

Living on a farm, it is easy for me to do. If anyone who owns their own home or maybe if you are renting a home or if you live out in the country and don’t farm, you can do this too. Composting. The No. 1 way methane gets into the environment is from people throwing away food or organic materials into their trash. We are also losing a great opportunity to use these materials to help out our soils in our gardens whether they are vegetable or perennial gardens. You really don’t need any fancy equipment but it is out there if you want to build it or purchase it. You really only need ...

Ag and Extension Briefs

PQA and TQA certification sessions scheduled University of Minnesota Extension, in partnership with Minnesota Pork Board, will offer Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Plus and Transport Quality Assurance (TQA) certification sessions Wednesday, March 4, in Marshall. The quality assurance sessions will be at the AmericInn (1406 E. Lyon St., Marshall). The PQA Plus certification session is scheduled from 9 a.m.–noon. The TQA certification session is scheduled from 1-4 p.m. All certification sessions are free. Registration is requested by contacting Minnesota Pork Board at 1-800-537-7675 ...

Growing vegetables in containers

I think as the weather seems to be going, we are all wondering how quickly our gardening season will take off this year. I am not even betting that my vegetable garden will be wet because there were portions of it still under water from last fall yet. I am pretty sure that I will need to move operations farther into the garden and a piece of the vegetable garden that I was planning on using for a native prairie restoration, will have to wait until the end of the year as I will need that piece in order to have a vegetable garden. There are other things that we can do if you have ...

Pruning shrubs

As the snow melts, and we know it will, we may have some interesting things going on with our buried trees and shrubs. Mice, voles and other small animals may have been using the cover of our deep snow to get at some of our plants. The tricky part about pruning shrubs, especially flowering shrubs, is that we don’t want to prune off the flower buds. This can be particularly tricky when you start talking about hydrangea plants. They are not all the same. Generally speaking, spring blooming shrubs should be pruned right after they have flowered and then left alone for the rest of the ...

Winter Crops Day & Small Grains Program in Slayton Feb. 20

SLAYTON — The 2019 growing season was one of the most challenging years that many farmers can remember, and one that all of us are eager to forget. If you farm or work with farmers, the Winter Crops Day and Small Grains Program in Slayton is a great opportunity to hear the latest University-based research and information about corn, soybean, and small grain production and management strategies. The morning program will focus on corn and soybean management topics and production economics pertinent to our area. Following lunch, the Southern Small Grain Winter Workshop will be held, where ...

Growing lavender

I usually compile a list of must-haves for my garden each year. Last year, for some reason, I had lost three lavender plants that I had for almost four years. Lavender can be a tricky one to grow in our area. I have used some tamed varieties of catmint (or cat nip — you choose) for their place instead but once in a while, I can get lucky and can grow actual lavender. This past year would have been a good time to do it but who can predict how much snowfall a person gets each year. The snow acts as wonderful insulation. You can still grow lavender to your hearts content here but it just ...