Dried egg shells – check. Fresh, still-in-the-unsealed potting soil bag so it’s still moist – check. Empty toilet paper rolls….darn, where did I put that stash, it takes me a long time to collect enough!
I don’t make a lot of rules for myself but this one I insist on. I am not allowed to go [...]

can hardly wait to get into my garden when it’s snowing, or after the first snow. The landscape I thought I knew so well becomes brand new, and I’m reminded how snow contributes to my garden’s health in surprising
ways.
According to Taylor’s Encyclopedia of Gardening, snow is called “the poorman’s fertilizer.”
As it falls, a small [...]

Happy new year!
To keep basic gardening chores organized, I developed a gardening calendar associated with major holidays.
You can use any calendar but I like to use a Missouri Department of Conservation Natural Events Calendar, which includes other major events, such as when hummingbirds migrate, chiggers start biting, etc.
Here’s my calendar for 2013:
New Years [...]

Mom blamed us kids but we knew better. Our family dogs ate a good half of the fresh cranberry and popcorn garlands we made for our Christmas trees but we never could quite catch them at it.
If you have pets, you know decorating for the holidays can be a delicate balance between keeping the holiday [...]

Russ and Linda Gehrlein do it every year. Every weekend after Thanksgiving, the Gehrleins pick out their cut Christmas tree.
I met the Rolla, Missouri family November 24, 2012, the first day Rolla Optimist Club had their Christmas tree lot open in Kroger’s parking lot off Highway 63 and 6th Street.
“We come every year,” said Linda [...]

By Tim Banek, Missouri Department of Conservation
Invasive plant species threaten the stability of ecosystems by reducing biological diversity and replacing beneficial native species. Overall, invasive species are the second largest threat to Missouri’s native plants and animals behind habitat destruction. However, they can be the primary threat in local instances
One of Missouri’s worst invaders is [...]

Gloria sounded very worried when she called about how long to feed her hummingbirds this fall.
Hummingbirds migrate to summer breeding grounds in Central and South America. Our winters are their summers and vice versa.
Hummers move back to Missouri mid-April, stay through our summers, and normally head back south mid September to miss our cold weather.
Hummingbirds [...]

Difference between good, chewy honeycomb and honeycomb you don’t want to eat.