The Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research held its annual meeting on Feb. 9 telephonically.

Owning a lush and scenic country pond is a point of pride for many rural landowners, but over time ponds need a hand to stay clean and healthy.

The Byron Forest Preserve District will be offering a free winter lecture via Zoom at 2 p.m. Feb. 14.

Join Purdue Extension, Conservation Cropping Systems, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Howard and Tipton County Soil and Water Conservation Districts for online programs about soil health.

With the end of winter near, it’s time to start planning for the garden season. At the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, many people attempted to grow some of their own food, repopularizing the concept of WWII “victory gardens”. Increase your victory garden growing capacity by planting some black currant (Ribes nigrum) bushes this March!

Winter is a great time for orchard owners and fruit tree gardeners to reflect on how their trees are doing and to create a plan for the coming growing season.