Plants or Crops

Aquaculture Comes to South Dakota: Part 1

Aquaculture has expanded beyond Asia, Central America and the farm ponds of southern states up north to South Dakota. Of course, fish production in South Dakota opens a new market for the state’s soybean farmers.

Cranberries: A colorful and nutritious fruit

Fall is a busy time for farmers in the northern Great Plains, harvesting thousands of acres of corn and soybeans. Not too far away, in central and northern Wisconsin the harvest was in full swing too, but the crop they are harvesting is a small fruit called the cranberry. Wisconsin is the leading state in cranberry production, growing 60% of all of the cranberries consumed in the United States.

Choosing Vegetable Varieties for Your Area

Spring is coming and will be here before we know it. Gardeners are reading through catalogs, looking at that new variety of green bean, or maybe a gorgeous new tomato. The catalogs are written to hook you in by making these varieties look as good as possible. The photos are generally mouthwatering and the descriptions often seem a bit over-the-top.

Choosing the Perfect Christmas Tree

Christmas tree lots are already beginning to spring up around the state and Thanksgiving marks the start of the Christmas tree season, with more than 30 million trees being sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Asparagus

One of the keys to growing healthy asparagus is to allow the plants plenty of time to develop the big ferny stems, starting about the first of July. This ferny growth produces the carbohydrates that the plant needs to grow and also store up for the winter and next year’s initial crop of spears.

Aronia: Beautiful and Healthy

Aronia melanocarpa, or simply “aronia,” is an attractive shrub that has recently been gaining more attention in the Midwest – its berries are very high in antioxidants thought to be beneficial for human health.