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Creating a Sensory Garden
A sensory garden is a garden that has a collection of plants that are appealing to one or more of the five senses; sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. Sensory gardens should be accessible for all people to enjoy - disabled and non-disabled. Sensory gardens are typically geared towards young children, but are enjoyed by people of all ages.
Garden Food Safety
Every so often we hear about people getting sick from eating raw produce that got contaminated somewhere on its path from the field to the consumer. Commercial growers are taking great care to keep your food safe, and there are new national rules to guide them. Following are some tips for home gardeners to help keep their fruits and vegetables safe.
Wasp Activity Is Ramping Up
With their distinctive black and yellow stripes and tendency to hang out in groups, wasps receive attention no matter the time of year. As the weather warms up and spring progresses, you may notice more wasp activity in your yard or around your house.
Growing Onions
Onions have been a commonly grown vegetable for thousands of years. They are easy to grow, nutritious and can be stored for months until they are needed as part of a meal. There are many different kinds of edible members of the Allium genus but bulbing onions are the most commonly grown.
Carrots: How to Grow It
Carrot is a hardy, cool-season vegetable. Carrots are eaten both raw and cooked and they can be stored for winter use.
Cucumbers: How to Grow It
Some cucumber varieties form long vines that may ramble or be trellised. Others are bush types that fit more easily into a small garden or even a large container.
What's That Vine?
One of the most frequently asked questions that I have gotten recently refers to a vining plant that looks like it is going to take over the world, or at least a few trees in the yard or a section of a shelterbelt.
False Chinch Bugs Back Again
False chinch bugs are active yet again in South Dakota. Although they are normally only a nuisance pest, their populations can become magnified during cool, wet springs.
A fly? A hornet? Nope, it’s a sawfly!
This spring, there have been multiple reports of people seeing large fly-like insects in their yards. These insects are sawflies, and all reports thus far have been the elm sawfly (Cimbex americana).
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle: A late-summer friend in the garden
A number of ornamentals are in full bloom, ablaze with colors and, in some cases, buzzing with insects. One such insect that you may have noticed in your lawns is the goldenrod soldier beetle or Pennsylvania leatherwing (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus).