News

A constantly updated map showing the spread of crape myrtle bark scale helps Mississippians stay aware of this treatable pest that threatens the beauty of one of the state’s most common landscape shrubs.

Many of Mississippi’s annual traditions were interrupted this year due to COVID-19, but the Mississippi State Fair Livestock Show will go on.

I write this while contemplating what a wild year 2020 has been. There’s no need to remind anyone about the pandemic that has literally changed our landscape.

The next big thing is Hurricane Sally making landfall on the Mississippi Gulf Coast this week. Every tropical storm or hurricane creates landscape and garden chores that need to be finished before the storm arrives.

My biggest concern is always for the wind blowing loose objects around and causing damage.

Cottage food laws enacted to allow new entrepreneurs to start small-scale food businesses in their homes were updated recently to stay current with the business climate.

Increased littering of single-use items related to the novel coronavirus pandemic, including masks, gloves, and disinfecting wipes, has troubling consequences for the environment.
When trash is not properly disposed of, it makes its way into watersheds, where it travels by water flow from rivers and streams into the ocean.

Many of my gardening friends are already on the lookout for the annual migration of Monarch butterflies on their way to their Mexico wintering grounds. Witnessing this migration is awe-inspiring.

Last year towards the end of September, clouds of Monarchs made their way through Mississippi.

Mississippi has a good-looking cotton crop in most places, but acreage is down to 520,000 acres because of a rainy planting season and unfavorable market conditions.

Parents welcoming a newborn in the COVID-19 era face potentially tough decisions regarding family visits after delivery.

With dove season opening Sept. 5 and the first deer season opening Oct. 1, many would-be hunters are gearing up and making sure everything is safe and legal for the upcoming hunts.

We’re already into our September garden, and lots of great things are going to happen.

As temperatures finally start to moderate -- my fingers are crossed -- most of our summer flowering annuals that look ragged after surviving the heat and humidity will start to perk up. I think of this as our flowering annuals getting their second wind.

The Mississippi State University Extension Service is offering another year of free testing for often overlooked nematode pests that frequently cause poor crop performance.

Poultry producers across the Southeast have plenty of experience cleaning up after storm damage to broiler and breeder houses, but they now have new guidelines for hurricane preparedness and recovery.

Fall brings a surge in the number of farm machines travelling on the state’s roads, and drivers everywhere need to be cautious when near them.

The 2020 Fall Flower & Garden Fest will be a virtual, educational event this year.

An exhibition of unbuilt structures by internationally renowned architect E. Fay Jones intended to accompany the completed Mississippi State University Pinecote Pavilion is on display in Washington, D.C.

Private water well owners in Mississippi can get their water screened for bacteria and learn more about how to manage, operate and protect their wells during several upcoming virtual workshops.

I’ve been thinking about the whole COVID-19 pandemic experience we’ve endured for the last several months -- like social distancing and face masks -- and the activities we look forward to enjoying once again.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippians now have an online tool for opioid misuse prevention resources and strategies. 

Mississippi State University’s Extension Service and Social Science Research Center developed the webpage in collaboration with the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Fahrenheit Creative Group. This new page is a component of an MSU Extension drug prevention initiative called PReventing Opioid Misuse In the SouthEast, or the PROMISE Initiative.

Late summer means it’s time for another round of garden activities.

This past weekend, I finally transplanted my fall tomato crop. Several varieties of heirloom determinant tomatoes will start producing about the third week of September and continue all the way to the first hard frost.