The end of May is typically a great time to plant any type of bean in the northeast region of Illinois. Usually by this time, the danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed sufficiently. Generally, beans need to be grown in a location that receives full sun for at least 6 hours…
News from the Research Desk - Page 8 of 16
Planting Out in the Garden
Memorial Day weekend is the time to plant vegetable gardens for many home gardeners. Generally, the weather is favorable for planting warm weather vegetables, but each year's specific conditions need to be considered individually. Make sure seedling are hardened off and ready to go in the ground. There's no harm in waiting a few days/week…
Hardening Off
The average date for the last frost in this area is May 15, though each year's weather conditions can vary widely. Early to mid-may is generally the time to start the hardening off process for tender vegetable seedlings started indoors, e.g. tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, basil etc. Hardening off in preparation for planting out in…
May is the Second Cruelest Month
According to the writer T.S. Eliot "April is the cruellest month" but May is definitely a close second. In less than a week's time May weather can range from sunny and 80 degrees to a freeze warning and 30 degrees. It's easy to be tricked in to thinking that warm weather has finally arrived but…
Asparagus!
Asparagus is one of the earliest spring perennial vegetables--after it is established in the garden, it will yield edible spears year-after-year. Now is a good time to plant asparagus crowns. Asparagus should be planted in a location with lots of sun in fertile well-drained soil. Asparagus needs to mature up to 3 years before spears…
Kale and Lettuce Seedlings
Kale, lettuce and other greens can be started inside and, for some, a preferred method of planting these cool weather vegetables as opposed to direct seeding outside. Planting these smaller seeds in a controlled environment is the best method to ensure strong seedlings. Direct seeded vegetables, especially cool weather ones, have more unreliable germination rates…
Earth Day 2020
April 22 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Earth Day 1970 marked the beginning of the environmental movement in the United States: By the end of 1970, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of other first of their kind environmental laws, including…
Tinker with Your Car with Library Resources
If you're like me, you aren't driving a lot lately. I love cars and driving about in my comically small SmartCar. So I was thinking about finding activities to do with my car that don't involve driving in circles. Mount Prospect Public Library has two auto resources. One is Auto Repair Source. This is one…
Snow Peas and Radishes
Living here in the Midwest, an April day can be sunny and warm or cloudy and snowy--we have experienced lots of extremes in the past few weeks! But regardless of what's going on outside, you can start to get cool weather vegetable seeds in the ground. Snow peas, radishes, greens, and lettuce can all be…
National Geographic History
National Geographic History magazine is coming to our subscription of the National Geographic Virtual Library which contains every page of every issue ever of National Geographic & National Geographic Travel. As of the time of publishing this blog post, History is not yet part of the browse function but will show up in search results.…
