Skip to main content

Search

a garden with several different areas and types of plants growing

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.

Two adult wasps side-by-side. The left is black and yellow and is resting on a green leaf. The right is black, yellow and burnt orange in color and is resting on a piece of wood.

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.

onions still in the ground with their tops bending over

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.

Several bundles of fresh carrots on display at a farmers market.

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 growing on a vine in a garden.

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.

Numerous grayish-brown bugs gathering on a green stem.

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.

Black insect with a white spot on the back and orange tipped legs and antennae.

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).

Adult goldenrod soldier beetle sitting on a yellow/orange flower

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).

A field of flowering alfalfa.

Precautions for Grazing Weevil-Infested Alfalfa

Alfalfa weevil populations are high this year, creating challenges for producers. Questions have arisen on how to get some value out of the forage by grazing it rather than putting it up for hay.