GSU Host and Horticulture Educator Richard Hentschel discusses National Pollinator Week designated for a week each year in June. Since 2007 when Pollinator Week was created, most consider the situation getting worse and not any better. We would be without our fruits and vegetables if the pollinators were gone. He shares tips on creating flower beds with longer bloom show to help keep the pollinators happy all growing season.

This week, Richard Hentschel explores how our plants are settling in to a good summer rhythm on care and putting resources away for flowers, fruits, nuts or seeds for 2021. Weeds will need to be addressed as they move through their live cycles for the season. Lawns, which favor the cooler and moist weather of spring, will naturally slow down as the weather gets into a summer pattern. One major gardening effort that needs a good rhythm is watering the vegetable garden. Vegetable crops from the time they flower through a harvestable vegetable or fruit need a an even supply of water.

Richard Hentschel, host of Green Side Up, addresses the difference between our tender and warm-loving vegetables. Tomatoes and peppers are often planted out in the garden at the same time, yet tomatoes are considered tender and peppers warm-loving, so we either miss out with the tomatoes or get the peppers out too early. He also talks about planting shorter rows and repeat sowing to give smaller, usable harvests more often.

Horticulture Educator Richard Hentschel talks about proper distancing of our vegetable plants once the seedlings are up and out of the ground in the garden. Over-sowing seeds can be a hard habit to break. Properly thinned, our plants will give us a better mature plant which in turn produces better vegetables. Hentschel also provides ideas for how you can get more produce out of that same space throughout the year.

GSU host Richard Hentschel talks to those first-time vegetable gardeners and what they need to know when planning a garden for the first time. No need for all the fancy stuff to get a vegetable garden going, just some basic tools you may already have like a shovel, garden spade, rake and some string, since small vegetable gardens can be worked by hand. Later, using the garden hose with a water breaker will be needed as is the need to do some weeding using a hoe or tined digger, and also a couple of buckets or plastic pots, one for weeds, the other for harvested produce.

Richard Hentschel of University of Illinois Extension discusses the expected order of spring things showing up in the home landscape. It all starts with the lawn, and spring bulbs are next to show up, followed by perennials. Flowering shrubs and ornamental trees follow with the opportunity to see blooms in the home and again outside later.

University of Illinois Extension Educator Richard Hentschel addresses the differences in getting a variety of vegetables sown or transplanted into the home vegetable garden. Timing can make all the difference for successful germination and transplant establishment. Learning about the average frost-free day is a great way to start your planning.

Host Richard Hentschel talks about our typical springtime delays that keep up us from doing those “green things” outside. Usually it is the cold weather or too much spring rain. There are a number of things we can do to get ready, such as making an inventory of where the water is puddling or of the kinds of weeds in the lawn and beds. We also can make sure the lawn mower is ready to go with a sharp mower blade.

Need a little spring this winter? GSU host Richard Hentschel shares how to “force” blooms indoors from your dormant pruning of the home orchard and flowering ornamental plants, such as lilacs. With a few simple stems, homeowners can enjoy spring bloom twice (once indoors and later outdoors). Before you prune, learn the visual difference between foliage buds and flower buds, and the steps to the “forcing” process.

Illinois Extension Educator Richard Hentschel takes some time to discuss an invasive species that can impact our garden soils. Jumping worms were first found in Wisconsin in 2013 and then in Illinois in 2015. The concern is how much organic matter they can eat during the summer as they grow from an egg to about 6 to 8 inches long. Depending on where you live in the United States this worm goes by a few names. Learn about identifying them, where they’ve been found in Illinois, and more at https://go.illinois.edu/JumpingWormsUpdate2020

Richard Hentschel, host of Green Side Up, discusses home orchard set-up and concerns in this podcast. He covers topics including winter hardiness of different fruit trees, siting the home orchard, and pollination requirements.

Horticulture Educator Richard Hentschel addresses how homeowners can recycle a real Christmas tree, outside of community programs. There are uses for the tree right in the backyard to help our feathered friends and the home landscape.

Richard Hentschel talks about cranberries this week. Cranberries have been around a long time and likely served up in the early 1860s. We often associate Cranberries with the holiday season, but given the good nutritional qualities, they should get to the dinner table a lot more often. There are quite a few states that produce cranberries in the United States. Other producers are in Canada and Chile. Listen in to learn more!