Reports Ideas, Tips & Guides

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Cucurbit downy mildew was found in the state this past week on cucumbers in Charleston. All commercial cucurbit growers need to be on the lookout and start preventative fungicide applications, if not already started.

Spritz Society

Georgia has many different red mushrooms, growing on the ground or trees and having all kinds of shapes and sizes. We’ll help you distinguish these properly.

Check out the latestepisode of the SC Grower Exchange Podcast below.

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Ruby-throated hummingbirds: “Glittering fragments of a rainbow” John J. Audubon

At the end of February, the town board of Lind, Wisconsin voted against changing the zoning laws to allow a nearby 600-cow dairy to install an anaerobic digester. These digesters are becoming more common, particularly at larger dairy operations housing thousands of cows, called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This is partially because they have been included as a key ingredient in the Biden administration’s pledge to reduce methane emissions in animal agriculture.

Etsy just released a brand new report for shoppers—this year, it’s the brand’s first time highlighting spring and summer design trends (though they've already taken a peek into holiday aesthetics and predicted 2024 design trends).

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Our Spring meeting season is starting to wind down, but keep an eye on the Upcoming Events tab periodically so you don’t miss anything. Coming up this week is the Upstate Vegetable Production Meeting in Spartanburg.

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We have lots of meetings coming up over the next few months, so be sure to keep a close eye on the Upcoming Events tab so you don’t miss anything. Coming up this week, we have the Upstate Apple Meeting in Walhalla and the Midlands Strawberry Meeting in Saluda.

Richard Hawke is the Director of Ornamental Plant Research at Chicago Botanic Garden, where he oversees comparative evaluations of ornamental plants. The CBG Plant Evaluation Program has included 117 distinct trials over the past four decades, with 26 comparative trials currently underway in three evaluation areas. In 2011, Richard began reporting trial results in Fine Gardening magazine, and has since written dozens of feature articles that can be found by visiting his author page.

Check out the latestepisode of the SC Grower Exchange Podcast.

Jeff Herr

KitchenAid

Matt Armendariz

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Where are the fish? You walk outside to feed your fish one day and when you reach your pond you find all your beautiful fish gone. How can this be? You look for Fred, Lucy, TA, and all your other fish but can’t find them. Your heart races to your mouth, you run around your pond, you check your skimmer, you want to scream but can’t, and you search your yard. Where or where can they be? Did a neighbor take them; did your wife sell them? Did a thief come during the night? There is a good chance that a thief did come during the night. That thief even wears his mask all the time.

The news has been awash with UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson’s issues in relation to the badger cull. There has been fierce opposition to this issue. No one seems certain whether this strategy will help make a positive impact on the reduction of bovine tuberculosis in cattle. With fierce protests and ongoing issues yet to be resolved, it seems this is far from over.

The housing market is finally starting to loosen up a little in 2024. But if you’re looking to get the most value out of your home before putting it on the market, you might want to consider a remodel.

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It is essential to support the health of your Monstera plant to enhance its beauty, complementing your home or garden’s style. So, selecting the Best Pot For Monstera is a way out.

Ann VanderWiel Wilde

When you think of a gothic aesthetic, you likely think dark and moody colors, low lighting, all-knowing crows, and a dusty collection of antiques. The style probably doesn't make your mind automatically go to a flourishing garden—but that could change in 2024.

These days, home renovation projects are often discussed in terms of your return on investment or how quickly a project can speed up the selling process. It’s widely agreed upon that renovating a kitchen or bathroom is typically a financially responsible choice if you plan to sell because these projects typically see a great return in the form of a higher sale price—or a quicker sale.

With 2024 around the corner, we at Modern Farmer are looking ahead to a whole new year of stories and reporting that will help inform and enable people to get involved and help build a more equitable and resilient food system.

Before you list your home for sale, you must be aware of all its potential problems. Major and minor issues inevitably crop up on inspection reports, and fixing the big ones (and some of the small ones) will help you get your money’s worth on a home. 

Winter heath (Erica carnea, Zones 5-8) is surprisingly absent from our Northeastern gardens. Species in the heath genus (Erica) are often confused or lumped in with heather (Calluna vulgaris, Zones 4-7). While heather cultivars can still be found at many garden centers and online nurseries, you may wish to avoid planting them. This species has been reported as invasive in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest. While it may not appear to spread around one’s garden, in wild areas, especially alpine, high-elevation, and coastal areas, heather has been documented as impacting the displacement of some native plants. Learn more about heaths and heathers.

The Haw River cuts through North Carolina’s Piedmont region from its source in Forsyth County. Below Jordan Lake, it joins the Deep River to form the Cape Fear River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the southernmost tip of the state.

It’s the classic January flex when we start looking forward to the end of winter and the re-awakening of the garden.

Anthony Masterson

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