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

If you’d like to have currants ready for future 4ths, start planning now.

We recently made a visit back to our hometown for some family business and were able to enjoy my late mother-in-law Rosie’s garden in all its summer glory. Rosie passed away this spring just before Easter. Her favorite hobby was gardening. She spent all her free time selecting, planting, and tending the specimens in her care. Seeing the plants she cared for so lovingly thriving is a sweet reminder of her, both emotionally and literally. The baby and I picked black raspberries in the warm breeze. Naomi couldn’t get enough. We smelled the roses. We were delighted and surprised to find vibrant clusters of red berries in abundance in the garden too. We had forgotten about these fruits. They were currants.

I have never grown currants myself. But after seeing them at their peak, I had to learn more. I looked up one of our OSU fruit fact sheets and discovered that currants have an interesting history.

According to Small Fruit Specialist- Dr. Gary Gao, currants and gooseberries were very popular in the 1800s. Unfortunately, in the early 1900s, Continue reading Learning About Currants →

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

Galls can appear on nearly all tree species.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Punderson State Park up in Geauga County for our annual Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Extension Retreat. During this event, ANR Educators, Specialists, and Staff get together to learn from each other in an environment out of our normal stopping grounds. The time spent together creates unity within our team while also expanding our appreciation for the diversity of Ohio’s agricultural and natural landscapes. The first activity I participated in at ANR Retreat was a woodland diagnostic nature walk around one of the trails that begins at Punderson Manor.

We did far more talking than walking. It was a good thing we had three hours to walk the trail, because almost every step we had something new to look at and discuss. One of the most common things that caught our eyes were galls. There were galls galore along the Continue reading Galls Galore →

The Ag Center on planting day!

In this issue:

• OSU’s Pollinator Research project
• A Message from our MG Coordinator
• Rain garden classes offered
• MG project updates (Ag Center, Wagnalls, Learning Never Ends, Georgian Museum, Sherman House, Fairgrounds entrance)
• Upcoming MG Training
• New MG project at Auditor’s Office
• State-wide increase in ticks
• Developing a watering plan
• Black Knot Fungus
• Garden Destinations: Pittsburgh’s gardens, South Florida highlights using Franklin Park membership
• Featured Book: Garden-pedia by Pamela Bennett & Maria Zampini
• Did You Know? Hardpan & double digging
• Food Preservation series
• In/Around the Garden

Find it in PDF linked here.