News Stories - Page 243

Georgia’s hot summers and warm early-fall temperatures – and the intensive labor required to grow and harvest Brussels sprouts – make growing the crop too risky for Georgia farmers.

The calendar says January, but the weather for the last few weeks has been screaming March. The unseasonable warmth means a lot of folks are getting in their yards, looking for something to keep them outdoors a little longer. It’s the perfect time to prune summer-blooming shrubs and trees like crape myrtles and tea olives.

It’s best to develop money-saving habits when you’re young, so Georgia Saves is reaching out to Georgia students with its inaugural Make Your Own Piggy Bank Contest.

“Primula” comes from the Latin word meaning “first of spring.” With 400 species of primulas to choose from, pick one and enjoy some 14 weeks of unimaginable color that no other plant can match.

Whether protecting watermelons from the scalding summer sun or helping plants produce bigger fruit, maintaining healthy vines is a top priority for Georgia growers, especially when farm workers continuously pick from the same fruit bed.

Black-eyed peas have long been a symbol of New Year’s luck in the American South, but black-eyed pea farmers aren’t feeling that fortunate this year.

Coral bells deserve a place in the sun, partial shade or shade. Plant them along woodland trails, in front of shrubs or partner them with wood fern or autumn fern or even hostas. Gardeners in the South must try them as a sunny, cool-season component plant.

At one time, an almost unlimited number of wild blackberries and dewberries – the blackberry’s trailing cousin – grew along fencerows and in abandoned fields. Many of these sites have been destroyed or now have “No Trespassing” signs posted on them, but each spring I still see couples on roadsides picking berries.

It’s cold outside, and it’s much easier this time of year to sit inside on a frigid, blustery day and read a book under a blanket while sipping a mug of tea. It’s often difficult for us to find the motivation we had on Jan. 1 to exercise and get fit.

For decades, farmers who have embraced conservation production have seen increased soil health, reduced irrigation demands and lowered economic risk. For the past 17 years, Georgia farmers interested in adopting new conservation practices for their farms – including those looking to swap best practices with other conservation tillers – have gathered at Georgia’s annual Conservation Production Systems Training Conference.