Growing Fruit in the Home Garden: The GROBigRed Virtual Learning Series from Nebraska Extension kicked off last week with a 6-week series ‘Growing Fruit in the Home Garden’.  Join us at 6:30pm CT each Thursday for two short presentations and an opportunity to ask your pressing garden questions. Register for this free program at https://go.unl.edu/growfruit. Upcoming programs include:

• March 3: Selecting & Buying Fruit Plants and Soil & Fertility
• March 10: Site Selection & Design and Edible Landscapes
• March 17: Brambles (Blackberries, Raspberries, etc) and Grapes
• March 24: Pome Fruits (Apples & Pears) and Stone Fruits (Peaches, Cherries, & More)
• March 31: Strawberries and Unusual Fruits

Soil Temperatures: With March around the corner, a reminder of our CropWatch soil temperature page at: https://cropwatch.unl.edu/soiltemperature.

Farm Bill Decisions: I shared some considerations in the following article if it can be of help as you make these decisions: https://jenreesources.com/2022/01/23/farm-bill-decisions/

Lawns and Gardens: In spite of warm stretches, it’s way too early to consider lawn fertilizer and crabgrass preventer. Wait till April when soil temperatures are expected to be 50F for at least 5 days.

Vegetable planting guide can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/pao8. Kelly Feehan, Extension Educator shares, “For vegetable gardeners, it’s time to think about cool season vegetables. Focus on garden planning, seed buying, and soil preparation, like incorporating compost, if soil is not too wet. Do not let air temperatures trick you into planting too early. It is soil temperature that to determine when to plant. Gardeners who plant too early often end up harvesting later than those who wait. And some gardeners end up replanting since seed can rot in cold soils and seedlings or transplants may be damaged by spring frost. Even if all goes well, seedling emergence can take 10 days or much longer in cold soil. For cool season vegetables like lettuce, radish and peas, wait to plant seed until soil temperatures are above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, with 45 to 50 being ideal.” A meat thermometer designated for soil temperature use is a great way to check soil temperatures.

Small Grain Silage: Last year, four producers allowed me to collect small grain silage samples from rye and triticale so we could get a better understanding of quality in regards to growth stage when cut, moisture, how packed, etc. With short forage supplies, this may be of interest to those who have planted rye/wheat/triticale and have cattle. On March 17^h, from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Nebraska Extension, Lallemand Animal Nutrition and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are hosting the fourth Silage for Beef Cattle Conference. Registration is free and producers have the option to either stream the conference online or attend in-person at the ENREC near Ithaca. Pre-register to join in-person or virtually at: HTTPS://GO.UNL.EDU/SILAGEFORBEEF2022. Topics and speakers will include:

• Agronomic management of small grains for silage, Daren Redfearn, UNL
• When to harvest small grain silage, Mary Drewnoski, UNL
• Sorghum silage: a solution for limited water, Matt Atkins, Wisconsin Dairy Specialist
• Why fermentation analysis is important & what it means, John Goeser, Wisconsin
• Fungamentals of silage harvest management, Becky Arnold, Lallemand Animal Nutrition
• Inoculants for small grain silage, Limin Kung, University of Delaware
• Economics & ROI on quality forage in grower & finishing rations, Jhones Sarturi, Texas Tech
• Making small grain silage work, producer and nutritionist panel