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Installing a rain water gauge on your property will help you determine how many inches of rain have fallen.  Knowing the average weekly precipitation amount helps gardeners apply the correct amount of water with automatic irrigation systems.  Drought stress can hurt landscape plants, but over-watering can also kill plants by depriving the roots of oxygen. [...]

Mulch is any covering placed around plants. Mulch conserves water because and prevents erosion by slowing runoff and permitting your landscape to better absorb and retain water from winter rains. Mulch also suppresses weed growth, shelters the soil from temperature extremes and improves appearance of your landscape. Viewer Tip: Apply a two- to three-inch layer [...]

About 80 percent of the United States’ pumpkin supply is available in October, but pumpkin makes an appearance year-round in pies, breads and other foods. Weather can have a big impact on the yearly pumpkin harvest. Wet and soggy: Too much rain can cause crops to rot. Mildews, which thrive in wet conditions, can damage [...]

Farmers and ranchers throughout the United States are using solar power to pump water for their livestock and irrigation.  Solar pumping works anywhere the sun shines and most parts of the United States have plenty of sunlight to run these pumping systems. Solar pumping is a natural match for summer grazing applications, since the solar [...]

Did you know that many of the insects in your garden are more beneficial than harmful? When gardeners see insects or insect damage on their plants, many reach for pesticides in an effort to eliminate harmful pests. Unfortunately, pesticides can kill valuable garden insects – like ladybugs, assassin bugs and praying mantis – and may [...]

Compost is a great way to enrich your soil and maintain a sustainable turf. Mature compost provides turf plants with a balanced source of nutrients that are released slowly into the soil. Unlike soluble synthetic fertilizers that immediately release nutrients into the soil, the organic residues used to form compost must decompose before their nutrients [...]

Want to have great soil and save money in the process? The good news is that the natural process for making good soil has little or no cost. Good soil management produces crops and animals that are healthier, less susceptible to disease and more productive. Earthworms are a sign of good soil health – and [...]

Just because winter is here doesn’t mean you can’t shape up your trees for the coming growing season.  Pruning your fruit trees in winter can lead to healthier trees and higher-quality fruit production.  Winter pruning can also reduce the amount of chemicals used for promoting a better harvest. Viewer Tip: Prune dense fruit tree branches [...]

Bulb growth in garlic is dependent on the warmth and the length of the day.  In northern part of the United States, most growers plant garlic in October before the ground freezes. This gives the garlic plant time to develop good roots but not enough time to encourage leaf growth before coolder weather hits.  Where [...]

Keeping stock watering tanks from freezing in cold, wintry weather is a real challenge for ranchers in northern states. Much of the heat loss from a watering tank occurs at the surface of the water. You can reduce this heat loss considerably by placing an insulated cover over a large part of the surface area [...]

The end of pumping season for livestock watering systems usually occurs in the fall, before temperatures reach freezing. At the end of the pumping season, and long before freezing weather occurs, turning off your pump and closing the hydrant provides basic freeze protection. Viewer Tip: For a watering system with a surface pump, any above-ground [...]

Winter might be the last thing you think of when you’re enjoying fresh summer produce, but with a little planning now you can enjoy fresh food from your own garden all year long. The key to a fall or winter harvest is to seed crop in July and August to achieve adequate growth by the [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 128 lakes in the Southern Plains Region (covering central and northern Texas, western Kansas and Oklahoma, and parts of Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico) to characterize the condition of more than 3,100 lakes throughout the area. What did researchers find? Only 34 [...]

As part of the National Lakes Assessment, the U.S. EPA selected and sampled 137 lakes in the Temperate Plains Region (covering eastern North and South Dakota, Iowa, western Minnesota, parts of Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, western Ohio, central Indiana, Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin) to characterize the condition of more than 6,300 lakes throughout the area. [...]

Did you know there are about 2,000,000 farms in the United States?  Soil erosion, which can be a problem on farmlands, occurs in three different ways: wind, water and tillage – the agricultural preparation of soil by plowing or turning the land.  When soil is carried away from farmlands, phosphorus and nitrogen can be carried [...]

You might think the vegetables growing in your garden can’t get enough of the sun’s rays and warmth. But did you know that too much sun can hurt certain plans? Heat-sensitive crops like lettuce and spinach are susceptible to bolting, which can cause vegetables to taste bitter. Shade over a garden bed can create a [...]

Did you know that you can help the Gulf of Mexico without traveling beyond your driveway? Our region is part of the Texas Gulf Coast watershed, an area of land that drains rain water and river water into the Gulf of Mexico. When it storms here, rainwater carries pollutants like fertilizer from farms and lawns, [...]

Did you know that you can help the Gulf of Mexico without traveling beyond your driveway? Our region is part of the Mississippi River watershed, an area of land that drains rain water and river water into the Gulf of Mexico. When it storms here, rainwater carries pollutants like fertilizer from farms and lawns, motor [...]

Did you know that weather has a large influence on seedling establishment and crop growth? If you enjoy eating peas from your garden, you can plant peas early in the spring, plant another batch of peas a few weeks later, and both batches will be ready to harvest at  almost the same time.  That’s because weather [...]

Grasshoppers are an all-too-common invader of gardens across the country. They’re difficult to control because they are highly mobile and can do large amounts of damage in a very short period of time. You might think grasshoppers are just a summer problem, but there’s plenty you can do this spring to gauge what this year’s [...]