Blog - The Organic Forecast

January 19, 2020

The Secret to Immortality is to Keep Growing – It’s Champion, the Gingko Biloba

If you are not familiar with the Gingko biloba, or Maidenhair tree, you are missing out! For starters, scientist have found fossils of the species dating back to the time of dinosaurs – Say What??? I found this recent article on CNN.com very interesting. Researchers are beginning to understand how some tree species can live so…

Be Legit-Get Equipped! Start Garden Seedlings Indoors

One of the best ways to beat the winter time blues is to start your own garden seedlings indoors. Nothing screams spring like watching your garden plants germinate and grow! Starting seedlings indoors is not hard and does not need to be expensive, but there are some necessary equipment purchases you need to make to…

January 5, 2020

My Heart’s A Flutter

Butterflies are always a delight to spot in the garden and one common Utah visitor is the painted lady butterfly. I thought it might be appropriate to take moment to pause and pay tribute to my lady, the painted lady butterfly. I pulled this segment from the broader June 29, 2019 Utah Pests Landscape IPM…

December 29, 2019

A Giant New Pest of Honeybees

Does a massive 2 inch long hornet sound scary? How about if you were a honeybee? I found this recent article on CNN.com about the Asian giant hornet that has been found hunting honeybees in Washington State. Yikes, watch out honeybees!

December 22, 2019

The Force Be With Yule!

December 15, 2019

Quiz – What Does Air Pollution Have To Do With Bee Foraging?

Well poor air quality days are certainly rough on my lungs but what about the bees? Food for thought – does poor air quality have any effect on bee foraging? According to researchers at Penn State University, the answer is maybe yes – read more in this Fisher Science Education article.

December 8, 2019

Hey Santa, I Want Cosmic Crisp Apples in My Stocking This Year!

I am completely intrigued about a new apple hybrid developed by plant breeders at Washington State University called ‘Cosmic Crisp’! I has a refrigerated shelf life of up to one year and high sugar and acid content. Proponents of the new apple variety at Washington State University are calling it the ‘Queen Bey of apples’! …

December 1, 2019

Utah Pests Quarterly Newsletter

Now that a nice white blanket of snow has covered up all our yard and garden problems, it’s time to catch up on some reading! Enjoy the fall 2019 Utah Pests Quarterly Newsletter – I guarantee you will learn something new! Quiz question, what is push-pull trap cropping? Read to find out!

November 24, 2019

Is the Insect Apocalypse Really Coming?

Okay sure, the media has a tendency to blow things out of proportion sometimes but I found this recent news story from CNN really interesting. Furthermore, it discusses things backyard gardeners – like you – can do to help some insect populations. Enjoy the story and check out this picture of a beneficial insect hotel one of…

November 17, 2019

So you want to be a Master Gardener?

It’s the time of year again when the harvest is in full swing, kids are back to school and the Extension office is flooded with phone calls from those eagerly inquiring about the upcoming Master Gardener program. Throughout the year we keep an interest list with names and emails of those who would like to…

November 10, 2019

Rotten Pumpkins Got You Bummed?

Jack-o’-lanterns: Prevent Your Carved Creation from Becoming a Fungal Fiasco By Nick Volesky Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns is an art form that comes in all shapes, sizes and levels of difficulty. The final product (usually) makes the pumpkin carver proud and anxious to display his or her work. However, often just a few…

November 3, 2019

Dig Into Another Edition of the Dirt Diggers Digest!

Oh man, we all patiently await these things – new additions of the Dirt Diggers Digest! And today I have a brand new one to post – I know you got sick of re-reading all the previous posts! So sit back, relax and learn something new about dirt…I mean soil…I mean black gold…I mean heaven! …

October 27, 2019

Don’t Get Spooked Over Spiders! – Redux

Some things are erringly predictable; as the nighttime temperatures dip; spiders start showing-up inside the house and in protected areas around the garden. Although spooky to some, it is important to remember that spiders are great generalist predators of common garden insect pests and are therefore considered beneficial in the garden. It is important to…

October 20, 2019

Fall Garden Checklist

Fall is a great time to prepare the garden for springtime. Sheridan Hansen, USU Extension Horticulture Faculty in Davis County, recently provided fall garden tips on Studio 5 with Brooke Walker. Check out her clip here.

October 13, 2019

New Pest Alert!!!!!

You know it’s serious when a blog title gets 5 exclamation points, but there is a new pest in town and it deserves all of them!!!!! If you’ve never heard of the Japanese beetle, you need to learn about it. We’ve seen it before in Utah and chased it out of town, that was then…

Planting beds in fall covered with leaves

October 6, 2019

It’s Time To Clean Garden!

I know, I get it, it’s been a long summer and you are tired of yard work but this fall is critical for Spring 2020 garden preparation! Insect pests and diseases can overwinter in garden debris so it is essential to tidy up your garden this fall to avoid potential problems next growing season! As…

September 29, 2019

The Biggest Little Farm

A couple of weeks ago I traveled to a national conference and watched a wonderful documentary en route called The Biggest Little Farm. I guess I spend too many hours out in the sun but I find it difficult to romanticize farming and the end of the growing season; farming is a lot of HARD…

September 17, 2019

Farmscaping – Managing Habitat to Help Manage Pests

Farmscaping is a term used to describe farmland management practices that take an ecological approach to pest management. It is often found in blog posts and factsheets discussing sustainable agriculture and organic farming and today this organically-focused blog will join the ranks! This post, inspired by the Extension article “Farmscaping: Making Use of Nature’s Pest…

September 15, 2019

First Come the Squash Bugs, Then Come the Diseases!

2019 was a terrible year for squash bugs, and now its time to monitor for pumpkin diseases – yikes! The most recent Utah Pests Vegetable IPM Advisory is dedicated to all things that disease pumpkins. Check it out here.

September 8, 2019

Dealing with Nature’s Bounty – Your Guide to Garden Harvest!

Hello all, we are in the midst of garden harvest season and getting lots of questions on how to harvest and store your garden bounty. Shawn Olsen, Dan Drost and Teresa Hunsaker put together an excellent fact sheet on the harvest and storage of commonly grown vegetables and fruits. You can access it here– and don’t…

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