Gardening ideas & tips for the average gardener.
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From The Ground Up

As temperatures fall, home-invading insects come knocking

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Boxelder bugs, both young (red) and old (black) cluster on buildings on warm days. Chilly mornings and shorter days signal to humans an impending winter. Bugs get the same message, and they head out to figure out where they’re going to...

Will apple tree stumps grow back?

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu A new grafted apple tree seedling, with the rootstock and scion fused together One frequently asked fruit tree question is: If I cut down an apple tree, will a new tree grow from the stump? The short answer is: Yes, but it probably...

Keep 'snirt' out of your garden this winter

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Eroded soil and snow, aka “snirt” Before we know it, we will be in “snirt” season. Snirt is what we call a mix of snow and soil. You might see snirt in the road ditch, where it looks like someone poured cocoa mix on top of snow. Despite...

Use FarmLink to help with farm transition

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu FarmLink is a tool to help retiring farmers find buyers or renters, and to help beginning farmers find land to transition into. The MDA, along with a group of reviewers, has updated the FarmLink online tool. It is a list of Minnesota...

When to mulch strawberries this fall

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu The point of spreading straw over strawberries in the fall is to protect them from harsh winter temperatures. Straw does not need to go on this early, but rather growers should make plans now to do it in a couple of weeks. In fact, straw...

Look to spinach for nutrition and flavor

Spinach packs quite the nutritional punch, making it a favorite of people who want to eat healthy without sacrificing flavor. Spinach contains carotenoids such as beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin which can help to prevent inflammation, reduce cancer risk and prevent potentially harmful eye...

Fall yard and garden checklist

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu Warm-weather plants like jasmine should be brought indoors before temperatures fall below 50 degrees. Friends in the northern part of the state may see snowflakes or wintry mix drizzle soon and temperatures are in the 30s and even 20s...

Caring for fruit plants after a frost

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu A grapevine after most of the leaves froze and fell off of the plant As we look toward frost events this fall, there are some things you can do for your fruit plants before and after a frost or freeze. There are two different types of...

Bee, wasp or hornet nest: Which one is it?

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA EXTENSION - www.extension.umn.edu One of the most common questions Master Gardeners get during the fall is how to get rid of a bee’s nest. Before you go about destroying a nest, you need to determine whether it is a nest of bees, wasps or hornets. While all of these...

Crop yields remain volatile this year

Harvest seasons vary depending on the crop that was planted, but late summer and fall are busy times of year for farmers. And since the pandemic began, farmers have been working overtime to ensure that their goods make it to market on time. The agricultural sector is affected by a number of...