Nebraska Extension in Dodge County

Local Interest

Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners Make a Difference

Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners are volunteers who combine their love of gardening with making a difference in their communities.  By working with people of all ages and backgrounds, they share research-based gardening information, addressing access to fresh food through vegetable gardening, promoting pollinator habitat, growing healthy plants and advocating for outdoor spaces.

Find out how you can become a Nebraska Extension Master Gardener by contacting Kathleen Cue at 402.727.2775.

2019 Master Gardener / ProHort Education Schedule in Dodge County

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It's The Berries

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

As autumn’s colorful leaves fall to the ground, our attention turns to berries as a source of color in our landscapes and for cuttings to grace our tables and entryways.

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Fall Garden Clean Up

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

When cleaning up the fall garden, it’s hard to know what should be cleared away and what should stay.  Gurus of tidiness opt for removing everything now in order to start with a clean slate in the spring.  But is there such a thing as too much tidiness?  It turns out that, yes indeed, that can be true. 

Plant stems act as a catch-all, collecting leaves, twigs and other bits of organic debris around the crown of perennial plants. This mulch layer protects the crown and root system from weather extremes, making them more winter-hardy.

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Saving Seeds

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Long before the advent of seed catalogs, gardeners saved seed from their prettiest, tastiest and most promising flowers and vegetables of the gardening season, discarding the seeds from the blah, the unattractive and the poor producers.  In essence, gardeners have helped mold the shape of gardening selections, making them some of the earliest purveyors of genetic modification.

Today, the farm-to-table movement has generated new interest in the time-honored practice of seed saving. Before starting seed saving, there are two concepts that are worth knowing and understanding.

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Leaf Colors of Autumn

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

This season’s autumn colors have been exceptional. Shortened day lengths, sunny and warm days, cool nights, and adequate soil moisture provide the perfect conditions to showcase autumn’s greens, golds, reds, oranges and coppers in our trees and shrubs.  Fall leaf color is a dynamic process, influenced by the decline and production of pigments within leaves.  It isn’t unusual for leaf colors to fluctuate throughout fall or to have a myriad of colors at the same time on one tree.

Green

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October Musings on the Vegetable Garden

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Recently my friend Mary Anna returned from out of town to find her vegetable garden had been visited and the butternut squash eaten.  Teeth marks on the squash remnants indicated that one or more squirrels were the culprits.  Butternut squash wouldn’t necessarily be a squirrel’s first choice but as the growing season slows, all animals will look to our vegetable gardens as a ready food source.

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Nebraska Extension in Dodge County

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Experts at Nebraska release estimated 2019 crop production budgets
Nov 14 – Experts from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have prepared 78 budgets on 15 crops, predicting price expectations for input costs for 2019. Read more
2019 crop production budgets now available
Nov 14 – Experts from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have finished preparing 78 budgets for 15 crops estimated for 2019. Read more