I enjoy gazing at fields of blooming yellow sunflowers as I drive by midwestern farmland at this time of year. Many people snap photos from their vehicles, and others seize the opportunity to hop out and use the golden fields as a scenic backdrop. The North Dakota Tourism Department provides ...
My potatoes probably won't grow heart-shaped tubers for me this year. In fact, if they could talk, I am sure they would be yelling at me. The reason: a Colorado potato beetle invasion. Starting on June 22, I picked off adult beetles every other day and crushed egg masses until there were ...
I was staring at the shredded lettuce on my plate in a Mexican restaurant the other evening. My husband and I were sitting in nearly the same booth where we had our first date about 35 years ago. We had never gotten sick in this restaurant. We all have been bombarded with news reports about ...
Yikes! It is hot – dangerously hot. Our plants in the garden are wilting, and we are soaked in sweat trying to care for them. My cucumber and zucchini vines droop every afternoon. The initial harvest was great, but production is slowing down due to the extreme heat. The vines are ...
“What temperature is it in North Dakota right now?” my colleagues from around the U.S. ask. In the depths of winter, my reply might vary from 0 to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. They gasp, as many of my colleagues live in warmer states. Lately, North Dakota temperatures have rivaled or ...
It’s tough on trees in North Dakota. Bitter winter cold. Scorching summer heat. Floods. Droughts. Wind. And that’s just an average year! Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But there’s some truth in there. We do experience many of these environmental extremes regularly. Our native ...
