News

Containers aren’t just for flowers; they can be used to grow fresh vegetables for aspiring gardeners who don’t have a traditional garden.

Container gardening isn’t just for flowers (top). Many vegetables can be grown in containers, such as these tomatoes in 3-gallon nursery containers.

A container is a great way to grow fresh produce in a small space. These mini bok choy (bottom) are thriving in window boxes. (Photos by Gary Bachman)

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Cattle producers and buyers are finding a win-win method of marketing cattle in the Cattlemen’s Exchange and Homeplace Producer Sales.

Mississippi State University’s Extension Service is partnering with several organizations and sale barns to offer auctions in Winona and Hattiesburg for cattle that may never pass through either of those cities. Cattle remain on their home farms while buyers cast bids based on written descriptions of the cattle and video technology.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Northeast Mississippi will be noisier than usual later this spring when periodical cicadas make their once-every-13-year appearance.

Blake Layton, entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the periodical cicadas are different from the large, green, annual cicadas that emerge and sound off each summer, usually from mid-June through fall.

“Periodical cicadas are black and orange with red eyes, and they hatch in the thousands,” Layton said. “The singing of the males is loud and long.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi soybean farmers have started planting in spite of unpredictable spring weather that has brought strong wind and heavy rains to some areas while leaving other regions dry.

About 10 percent to 20 percent of the soybean crop is planted.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University will teach kids there can never be too many cooks in the kitchen at the fifth annual Fun with Food camp.

MSU’s Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion is offering the Fun with Food camp for students entering third through sixth grade.

It takes a special plant to be named a Mississippi Medallion winner, and the Mississippi native Virginia sweetspire was one of the plants that earned that honor this year.

The Mississippi Nursery and Landscape Association names Medallion winners based on their superior performance in gardens and landscapes across the state. In response to renewed interest in native plants, the association has begun choosing a Mississippi native each year for one of its awards.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Crop producers have been busy planting corn, and while those in drier areas are nearly finished, those in wetter areas are trying to catch up.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the crop was 79 percent planted by April 10. The bulk of the acres yet to be planted are in northeast Mississippi, where frequent rains have kept producers out of soggy fields.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Eleven young women visited Mississippi State University to learn how to turn their passion for wildlife into rewarding jobs at the first Conservation Careers Discovery Day.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Recent winners of Mississippi’s top 4-H clubs can credit the work of volunteer leaders for inspiring youth to exceptional community service.

“Volunteers have been the backbone of 4-H clubs since the clubs started more than a century ago,” said Harvey Gordon, 4-H youth development specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service. He oversees the 7,700 volunteers who lead more than 109,000 youth in 1,120 community-based clubs across Mississippi.

AT&T recognition…

MISSISSIPPI STATE – In the ongoing attempt to put the best seed possible in the ground every time they plant, sweet potato growers often turn to virus-tested foundation seed for their next crop.

Many crops today are grown from genetically modified seed engineered to resist certain pests, diseases or weed-control chemicals. For most crops, growers must buy seed every year, not holding seed back from the previous year’s harvest to plant the coming year.

If you’re looking for a tough plant to keep right on blooming despite the heat of the summer, try gomphrena in your garden. This is one tough plant that likes really high temperatures. Sometimes called globe amaranth, legend has it that the original planting was at the gates of Hades.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The strawberry business in Mississippi may be small, but growers are finding big business with consumers who prefer to buy locally.

“The Mississippi strawberry is as red on the inside as it is on the outside,” said Brooks Brownlee, who owns Brownlee Farms in Marshall County and grows five acres of strawberries. “Commercial strawberries have a whitish color and air pockets on the inside, but our berries are fresh-tasting throughout.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Boosting childhood literacy has become a community-wide enterprise in Neshoba County.

Since 2008, Rotary International and community members have visited the Exhibit Hall Head Start Center in Philadelphia each week to participate in the Neshoba County Preschool Literacy Project. The program is designed to encourage school readiness and provide access to books. Volunteers read aloud, sing songs and engage in story-related activities, creating a bond over classic titles such as Eric Carle’s “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Tiny soybean cyst nematodes cause big problems for soybean growers, but a Mississippi State University researcher is helping cut them down to size.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Farmers have to grow two crops just to make one sweet potato harvest, making this delectable vegetable a labor-intensive, high-cost crop to produce.

As of late March, Mississippi sweet potato producers had finished bedding the crop, which means they had planted the seed stock that will produce transplants, or slips. These slips will be planted in May and June to produce the sweet potatoes that end up on tables.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The horticulture club at Mississippi State University will offer garden enthusiasts a wide variety of plants and educational seminars at their annual spring plant sale.

This year’s sale will take place Friday, April 15 from 9 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 16 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the campus greenhouses behind Dorman Hall on MSU’s main campus. The event is free and open to the public.

A wide variety of plants will be available such as summer annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables and ferns.

If you’ve been reading this column and thinking I have a lot of favorite plants, you’re right. If you ask me for my favorites, my answer will depend on the season; some plants are more suitable than others at certain times of the year.

The new selections coming out each year make it even more difficult to have an absolute favorite flowering garden plant. But if there is one plant I have been the most impressed with over the last couple of years, it has to be Million Bells.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- With the excitement of drivers at a NASCAR start, farmers are ready to begin the 2011 growing season.

The first fields out of the starting gate are corn fields.

Erick Larson, small grains specialist with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service, said growers were approaching the halfway point in planting this year’s corn crop by the end of March. They should complete planting by the end of April.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – This year’s Bulldog Classic American Quarter Horse Association Show brought in a larger crowd than in previous years while continuing a tradition that has lasted more than 50 years.

The Bulldog Classic AQHA show is sponsored by Mississippi State University and held at the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville. It is the oldest quarter horse show in Mississippi. Mary Hopkins, a rancher and horseback riding instructor in Vicksburg, played an instrumental role in starting the show in the early 1960s.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Everyone agrees on the importance of reading skills, but many people neglect their own financial literacy.

Susan Cosgrove is a family resource management agent with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. She is also president of Mississippi’s Jump$tart Coalition, a national nonprofit organization that promotes financial literacy.