– Carri Jagger, Ag Educator Morrow County

There’s still plenty of time this fall to plant garlic. Photo by Timothy J. Malinich, Ohio State University Extension

If you have ever wanted to try your hand at growing garlic now is the time to think about planting it. Garlic should be planted between Halloween and Thanksgiving and you will want to start with a good seed source from a reputable seed company. Garlic is a relative of the onion, shallot, and leek. Garlic and onion can be differentiated by their leaves — garlic leaves are flat while onion leaves are round and hollow. A head of garlic is composed of individual cloves enclosed in a papery bulb cover. Each clove is actually a small bulb; that bulb is a collection of unexpanded leaves.

Your soil should be a well-drained sandy loam with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Garlic needs 1 to 1.25 pounds of 19-19-19 fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed or 1.5 to 2 pounds of 12-12-12 fertilizer per 100 square feet of bed. Only apply ½ of this at planting and then apply the other half in Continue reading PLANTING GARLIC . . . NO, it is not too late!! →

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

The logo of the Ohio Bat Working Group

Twenty percent of all mammal species worldwide are bats. Ohio is home to ten different types of bats. These creatures fulfill important roles in our ecosystems.

A single bat can consume its body weight in insects each night. Bats are found everywhere on Earth aside from the extreme desert and polar regions. Some are even responsible for pollinating popular crops.

The perfect pairing for a Halloween celebration is National Bat Week, which is held from October 24 to October 31.

Noble County OSU Extension will be celebrating bat week on social media all next week. Bat facts paired with pumpkin carving, building a bat box, and perspective to aide understanding threats to bat habitats and colonies will be shared on the Extension Office Facebook page every day at Noon. Follow the Facebook page online at https://www.facebook.com/osuenoble.

Bat Conservation International has stated that:

“Worldwide, about 24% of bats are considered critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable. Bat numbers in the United States and Canada have declined dramatically as a new disease, White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), has killed over six million bats in just eight years. This, coupled with impact from wind energy, habitat alteration, and roost disturbances, has caused serious decline in bat populations in North America as well as around the world.”

Resources to plan your participation in National Bat Week are available online from Bat Conservation International at https://batweek.org/ and the Ohio Bat Working Group at https://u.osu.edu/obwg/.

Join us in the celebration!

– Christine Gelley, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County OSU Extension

Oyster mushrooms are one of the easiest to cultivate in a small space. Photo: Penn State

Mushrooms are a food crop that is rarely grown on a commercial scale in the United States. The leading producer of mushrooms worldwide is China. Although controlled environment mushroom production has been a practice for many years, a small number of large producers supply our grocery stores with mushrooms for culinary purposes. Specialty mushrooms used in international cuisine are often difficult to find in rural communities like ours.

With a limited shelf life and an often pricey tag, it would be nice to have more local sources of fresh mushrooms that are safe for consumption year-round to keep your food dollar local. A growing taste for more diverse menus and an emphasis on local foods have spurred the Continue reading Growing Mushrooms at Home →