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

Cressleaf groundsel is known to cause animal and livestock poisonings.

Fields of yellow flowers are abundant this year across the state as many annual crop farmers faced planting delays. Some pasture fields are covered in blankets of yellow too. The scenes are deceptively beautiful with their sunny appearance but may actually pose a deadly threat to livestock if the plant happens to be cressleaf groundsel, which is also known as butterweed. Cressleaf groundsel is another weed known to cause livestock poisonings in harvested or grazed forages.

Cressleaf groundsel is a member of the aster family and displays yellow daisy like blooms in the springtime on upright hollow stems that have a purple hue. These plants are winter annuals, meaning the seed germinates in the fall producing vegetative growth and then flowers in the springtime. If allowed to set seed, the plants will appear again in greater numbers the year following. The plants typically go unnoticed in the fall, which is the best time for Continue reading Blankets of Yellow Flowers →

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

Poison hemlock is a concern in public right of ways, on the farm, and in the landscape!

Poison hemlock has already emerged in a vegetative state around Noble County and beyond. Soon it will be bolting and blooming on stalks 6-10 feet tall. All parts of the plant are toxic to all classes of livestock if consumed and is prevalent along roadsides, ditches, and crop field borders. It is a biennial weed that does not flower in the first year of growth but flowers in the second year. The earlier you can address poison hemlock with mowing and/or herbicide application, the better your control methods will be.

Poison hemlock is related to Queen Anne’s lace, but is much larger and taller, emerges earlier, and has purple spots on the stems. Another relative that is poisonous is wild parsnip, which looks similar to poison hemlock, but has yellow flowers. Giant hogweed is another relative of poison hemlock that is also toxic. All of these plants have umbel shaped clusters of flowers.

According to Joe Boggs of OSU Extension, “Poison hemlock plants contain Continue reading Kill Poison Hemlock Now (including in the landscape!) →

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

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For many livestock and wildlife springtime is the ideal time for new life to be born. The abundance of spring babies in pastures and woodlands often causes concerns about potentially abandoned wildlife. Each year the Ohio Division of Wildlife (ODW) reminds Ohioans to avoid removing young wildlife from their natural habitats. Advice from ODW is that human intervention is the last hope for wildlife survival and never its best hope.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) provides the following statements in regard to perceived orphaned and/or injured wildlife.

“Wildlife parents are very devoted to their young and rarely abandon them. Many species are raised by only one parent (the mother) and she cannot be Continue reading Leave Wildlife Babies Where They Lay →

Register by the 22nd!

Want to learn more about growing an edible landscape? How about learning about those underused, low maintenance perennials? What annuals will bring that “WOW” factor in your containers? We will answers all those questions and more!!

This will a day of good information about a wide variety of topics to help you in your home landscape and your ability to grow a few fresh vegetables for your family!!

Come join the Fairfield County Master Gardeners on April 30 at their “Dig Into Gardening” event.  The event will take place at Christ United Methodist Church, 700 S. Main Street, Baltimore Ohio from 9 am until noon!!

Your registration fee includes a warm breakfast of muffins, fruit and beverages!!

Make plans to join us on April 30!! Follow this link and submit your registration by April 22.

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

The tick population in Ohio continues to raise concerns for our citizens. Ticks have been able to persist through our winters, the population is becoming more diverse, and they are contributing to concerns for human and animal health as time goes on. Ticks are vectors of disease, both for people and animals.

Lyme disease is on the rise and anaplasmosis is becoming a greater concern for livestock, both of which are transmitted by the blacklegged (deer) tick, which is very common in areas that are wooded. New ticks moving into our region carry other diseases that can be a concern. The lone star tick is becoming more common in Southern Ohio and can transit monocytic ehrlichiosis, southern tick associated rash illness, and tularemia. The American dog tick can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The Gulf Coast tick is working it’s way North and is Continue reading A New Tick to Track →

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

Gardeners eager to get started growing things before our frost-free date can strategically start many cool-season crops outside after April 1st and many warm-season crops inside now. Remember that if you plant warm-season crops outdoors prior to May 21, you will need to be prepared to cover them if temperatures dip below freezing. Now is the time to plan your garden plots and start to acquire seed!

Here are some ideas of seeds you can start outdoors in Continue reading Early Seed Starting →

Warmer temperatures combined with adequate precipitation will cause crabgrass to germinate soon. Have your ‘preventer’ in place before germination.

For lawns that have experienced crabgrass problems in the past, the best approach for control of this annual weed in the coming year is the timely application of a crabgrass prevention herbicide. In Fairfield County, the time for that timely application is rapidly approaching.

Crabgrass is a summer annual grass that will re-establish itself each year from seed that remains near the soil surface from last year’s crabgrass crop. The seed of crabgrass begins to germinate in areas of a lawn where light can penetrate to the soil surface and the soil temperatures warm to nighttime minimum temperatures of 52 – 54 F for at least 5 consecutive nights under conditions of moist soils.

The OSU CFAES Weather System tells us that on March 21, the average 2 inch depth soil temperature in Columbus was 48.9 degrees. Should air temperatures remain near normal in the coming days, we would expect soil temperatures to warm to the point that with continued timely precipitation, crabgrass will begin to germinate in Continue reading The time to prevent crabgrass rapidly approaches →

Find the Master Gardener, Spring 2022 Newsletter, “Through the Vine” posted here in PDF format. Articles include:

• Does Cold Weather Kill Japanese Beetles?
• Connie’s Corner A message from our MG Coordinator
• Setting up Hands On Connect account
• Input needed on Local Food Tours
• Giving ugly food a chance
• All about the central leader branch of a tree
• The Scentual Garden by Ken Druse
• Garden Destinations: Kingwood of Mansfield
• Spring Gardening for Old Folks
• Bumble bee course
• March Lunch & Learn
• Fruit tree workshop
• In/Around the Garden

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

Don’t work garden soils until they are dry enough to crumble in your hand!

March is here! Thank goodness we’ve made it. In only two more weeks it will officially be spring! But eager green thumbs will need to practice restraint for two more months. Many gardeners may be afflicted by a condition known as “February Fever” by now that could make waiting difficult.

“February Fever” was referenced by W.C McCollom in The Garden Magazine back in 1908 as the cause on many undue plant deaths in the month of March. McCollom’s advice was this:

“Don’t get the garden fever in February and uncover things on the first fine day. More damage is done to all plants during March than Continue reading Garden Planning for Eager Green Thumbs →