I will admit, planting zinnias (or any flowers for that matter) in between corn plants is not something I had considered until admiring the attractive combination in the vegetable garden at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, home of the Worcester County Horticultural Society. Last Thursday the MNLA Summer Field Day was held at this 132 acre […]
Gardens
Gardening Quick Tip: Japanese Beetles
Mary Concklin, UConn Extension Educator for Fruit Production and IPM offers this quick tip on dealing with Japanese Beetles: Using the Japanese beetle traps will actually attract the beetles to your planting. Instead, if you have the traps, place them at least 100 feet from the planting to try to draw them away from the […]
Liming Soils
by Dawn Pettinelli, UConn Home Garden Education Center An incredible number of chemical, biochemical and biological reactions occur in our soils. Through these reactions, nutrients, whether already present in the soil or added by fertilizers, are changed into forms that can be taken up by plant roots. The pH of the soil affects all these […]
Mulch Molds – What is Growing on my Mulch?
What is growing on my mulch? This is a common question UConn Extension is asked at the UConn Home and Garden Education Center and in our county Master Gardener offices. People are perplexed when they find a yellow foamy mass that looks like the neighbor’s dog vomited in their flower garden. Or when their nice […]
Making A Worm Bin
Making A Worm Bin (Vermicomposting – Indoor Composting with Worms) By Dawn Pettinelli, Associate Extension Educator, PSLA. (Written 2014, updated 2025) Looking for a low-tech way to recycle kitchen scraps while at the same time creating a great soil amendment, right in your own home? If so, vermicomposting, or in layman’s terms, composting with worms […]
Not Too Late To Start Tomato Seeds!
by Dawn Pettinelli As much as I try to accomplish tasks in a timely manner, life just seems to get in the way and things occasionally get done later rather than sooner. So it is this year with starting my tomato seeds. Here it is April 16th and I have just planted the seeds in […]