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A few years ago at a County-wide conference there were some citizens in attendance who wanted to have a place to grow vegetables for those who lived in apartments/campers/or houses with no backyard to do so. These citizens decided that a Community Garden would be the best possible solution to address this situation. The County Commissioners happened to be at the conference as well and decided that, of all of the issues that were raised at the conference, the Community Garden idea was one that could be fairly easily addressed. So with a...
When it comes to preparing an area for a vegetable garden there is one point that I cannot stress enough and that is to do whatever you possibly can do to limit the amount of “damage” to the soil. By damage, I am referring to soil compaction, breaking soil structure, robbing the soil of nutrients, and things like that. I know how anxious some people get when it finally warms up and conditions are starting to be right for working in the soil but sometimes waiting an extra day or two to let the soil dry out some or warm up a little pays off tre...
Most people will tell you that they can tell when spring has arrived by watching trees bud out or seeing the grass green up, and while that is true for me as well, there is one definitive item that signals to me spring is here, the greenhouses start to go up and fill up. Some businesses that specialize in other items the rest of the year start to roll out flat after flat of annuals, perennials, and vegetables for you to choose from. While I would agree that selecting plants to purchase from these retailers is not rocket science, there are a...
The MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show is happy to announce that we have secured our feature entertainer for the 2016 event. Damian Mason, renowned entertainer and agricultural humorist will be entertaining the crowd at the annual banquet on the evening of March 3, 2016. Tickets will be available for purchase soon. In the meantime, feel free to visit the MonDak Ag Days and Trade Show facebook page at www.facebook.com/mondakagdays. You may also want to visit Damian Mason's page at...
The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool has been a great asset to area producers for many years. In case you are not familiar with the reason for the existence of a pool, its sole purpose is to gather wool from area sheep producers in one central location, grade said wool, and then combine that wool with other producers’ wool to make a larger shipment. By combining these graded pools of wool together, instead of one person trying to market their product, there is now a greater amount of wool being marketed at one time. This process of combining and g...
The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool has been a great asset to area producers for many years. In case you are not familiar with the reason for the existence of a pool, its sole purpose is to gather wool from area sheep producers in one central location, grade said wool, and then combine that wool with other producers’ wool to make a larger shipment. By combining these graded pools of wool together, instead of one person trying to market their product, there is now a greater amount of wool being marketed at one time. This process of combining and g...
I just had a 4-day tree pruning class and was very pleased with the amount of participation and interest in the subject. Realizing though that not everyone who would have liked to have attended could, I figured I would try and sum up the most important points from the class. I want to start off by saying that there is no way you will be an expert pruner after having read this. There are so many different tips, tricks, and guides to pruning that I could never cover them all in the allotted...
The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool has been a great asset to area producers for many years. In case you are not familiar with the reason for the existence of a pool, its sole purpose is to gather wool from area sheep producers in one central location, grade said wool, and then combine that wool with other producers’ wool to make a larger shipment. By combining these graded pools of wool together, instead of one person trying to market their product, there is now a greater amount of wool being marketed at one time. This process of combining and g...
The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool has been a great asset to area producers for many years. In case you are not familiar with the reason for the existence of a pool, its sole purpose is to gather wool from area sheep producers in one central location, grade said wool, and then combine that wool with other producers’ wool to make a larger shipment. By combining these graded pools of wool together, instead of one person trying to market their product, there is now a greater amount of wool being marketed at one time. This process of combining and g...
I guess the most appropriate word to use for the 2014 harvest in Richland County is interesting. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good, just interesting. When the barley harvest started in July, it looked like everything was going to be good and maybe even terrific. The winter wheat that actually made it through the winter was looking good and for the most part the barley could have been classified as phenomenal. I remember visiting fields to certify them for the noxious weed seed free...
Recent weather fluctuations have driven home the point for me that fall is definitely upon us which means that winter and those dreaded four-letter words, cold and snow, are soon to follow. However, we can hope that those two things are still more than a few weeks away and enjoy what is left of the fall season. One way to do just that is to start preparing for next spring in the yard and garden. To help you get a head-start, here are a couple of tips for fall garden maintenance and clean-up. In...
Recent weather fluctuations have driven home the point for me that fall is definitely upon us which means that winter and those dreaded four-letter words, cold and snow, are soon to follow. However, we can hope that those two things are still more than a few weeks away and enjoy what is left of the fall season. One way to do just that is to start preparing for next spring in the yard and garden. To help you get a head-start, here are a couple of tips for fall garden maintenance and clean-up. In the vegetable garden- fall is a great time to add...
As was feared, the Orange Wheat Blossom Midge has been found in Richland County. Pheromone traps that were placed in fields by staff at the EARC have been capturing an increasing number of this potentially serious wheat pest. The photograph below shows a trap taken from a field in Richland County. If you are a wheat producer, it is imperative that you scout your fields for the pest. A recommended method for scouting is to go into your field at dusk as the midge adults (if there are any present)...
For people younger than myself, it is hard to imagine a time when there was no search engine to go to when you wanted to know about something. It can also be hard for them to believe that, IF a person graduated from high school (and many times that was a big IF) there were not many career opportunities aside from staying at home and helping mom and dad make a living. In 1914, these were almost exclusively the conditions in our part of the country and across much of the rest of the nation. That...
As was feared, the Orange Wheat Blossom Midge has been found in Richland County. Pheromone traps that were placed in fields by staff at the EARC have been capturing an increasing number of this potentially serious wheat pest. The photograph below shows a trap taken from a field in Richland County. If you are a wheat producer, it is imperative that you scout your fields for the pest. A recommended method for scouting is to go into your field at dusk as the midge adults (if there are any present)...
The Richland County run and bike club will be hosting the Sidney Duathlon on Saturday, June 7. The duathlon will consist of a 5k run-10k bike-and an additional 5k run. This Run-Bike-Run will start at 8 am mountain time with registration from 7am to 7:45 on Saturday, June 7th at Meadow Park in Sidney. It is competitive with prize money for the top places for individuals and teams and many door prizes. The race will begin at Meadow Park with a 5k that will go through the northwest portion of Sidney. Single participants, teams of two, or teams of...
The Richland County run and bike club will be hosting the Sidney Duathlon on Saturday, June 7. The duathlon will consist of a 5k run-10k bike-and an additional 5k run. This Run-Bike-Run will start at 8 am mountain time with registration from 7am to 7:45 on Saturday, June 7th at Meadow Park in Sidney. It is competitive with prize money for the top places for individuals and teams and many door prizes. The race will begin at Meadow Park with a 5k that will go through the northwest portion of Sidney. Single participants, teams of two, or teams of...
The Richland County run and bike club will be hosting the Sidney Duathlon on Saturday, June 7. The duathlon will consist of a 5k run-10k bike-and an additional 5k run. This Run-Bike-Run will start at 8 am mountain time with registration from 7am to 7:45 on Saturday, June 7th at Meadow Park in Sidney. It is competitive with prize money for the top places for individuals and teams and many door prizes. The race will begin at Meadow Park with a 5k that will go through the northwest portion of Sidney. Single participants, teams of two, or teams of...
The Richland County run and bike club will be hosting the Sidney Duathlon on Saturday, June 7. The duathlon will consist of a 5k run-10k bike-and an additional 5k run. This Run-Bike-Run will start at 8 am mountain time with registration from 7am to 7:45 on Saturday, June 7th at Meadow Park in Sidney. It is competitive with prize money for the top places for individuals and teams and many door prizes. The race will begin at Meadow Park with a 5k that will go through the northwest portion of...
The Richland County run and bike club will be hosting the Sidney Duathlon on Saturday, June 7. The duathlon will consist of a 5k run-10k bike-and an additional 5k run. This Run-Bike-Run will start at 8 am mountain time with registration from 7am to 7:45 on Saturday, June 7th at Meadow Park in Sidney. It is competitive with prize money for the top places for individuals and teams and many door prizes. The race will begin at Meadow Park with a 5k that will go through the northwest portion of Sidney. Single participants, teams of two, or teams of...
I received a few calls last spring and throughout the summer from homeowners wanting me to look at their trees. Occasionally there was an insect or disease that could be easily found and corrected. However, that was not always the case. Quite often, when looking at tree issues, it is imperative to look back to weather conditions the prior fall or winter and think about what conditions the plant had to suffer through. In an effort to help trees get through the winter without too many problems, here are some tips from Toby Day, our Extension...
If you are like me, you are looking forward to putting the mower and the weed-eater in the storage shed about now. While it does make the lawn look nice, it is not my favorite chore to do. Although it does rate higher than using the snow shovel, which is what will come out of the storage shed when the lawnmower goes in. While we are rapidly approaching the time to put the mower away, I would not go as far as to say that lawn care is finished for the year. There are still a few things that can be done to make sure that, in the spring of 2014,...
Another year has passed and it is time to once again recognize our farmers and ranchers for all of the hard work and effort that they put into making sure that we have a wide selection of foods to choose from when we're sitting at a table and wondering what's for dinner. So, first and foremost, let me just say thank you to those of you who are reading this and are directly responsible for making sure that we are all getting fed. In case you were not already aware, this week is Ag Week and...
If you are like me, you are looking forward to putting the mower and the weed-eater in the storage shed about now. While it does make the lawn look nice, it is not my favorite chore to do. Although it does rate higher than using the snow shovel, which is what will come out of the storage shed when the lawnmower goes in. While we are rapidly approaching the time to put the mower away, I would not go as far as to say that lawn care is finished for the year. There are still a few things that can...
As the leaves on the trees in your yard start to turn and fall, you probably think that the time to worry about their survival has passed. While this is mostly true, there are a few things that you can do yet this year to ensure that these trees will be ready for new growth next spring. The first and most important thing that I cannot stress enough this year is to give your tree(s) a good soaking with the water hose. This is more crucial for younger trees or those not well-established but...
