Cary Sims

Compost is touted as a miracle product and held in high regards by every gardener with a basic knowledge of how plants grow. We buy it in bags at the garden center or have it delivered by the dump truck load.

First frost in East Texas came two weeks earlier than usual.

Cooler weather and shorter days are bringing an end to lawn growth. These practices that will ensure a good transition of your lawn into winter months

Right under our collective noses - and probably in your very own yard - is a great gardening tool that we have typically shunned. Pine straw.

Here are some ways to deter deer from consuming garden plants.

With the right plants in a garden patch, gardeners in East Texas can raise vegetables 12 months out of the year.

While you cannot completely “deer-proof” your landscape, there are some plants that you can utilize that are not attractive to them.

Too often, cattlemen will put off some basic animal husbandry practices to save time and expense, with the hope that their herd will be fine.

Post oaks are a tough tree if left alone. They are slow-growing trees that can live in dry, poor soils, and are resistant to rot, fire, and drought. The most common reason they perish is from mechanical damage to the roots caused by construction.

This past week the annual Agricultural Agents Professional Improvement Conference was held in Galveston. It is a professional association that rotates meetings around the state and has professional improvement seminars.

Unlike the inside of your home, landscapes change seasonally.

Recent rains and our typical humidity are starting to cause problems on tomatoes for area gardeners.

Mayhaws are a native fruit that produces a wonderful jelly. But they all have a common problem - fungus.

Spanish moss has a rich history throughout the south.

It’s called Queen Anne’s Lace, or wild carrot depending on your view of it. It is a non-native plant, brought to America by Europeans who wanted it for the garden.

The recent wet weather and our typical humidity may have increased the amount of fungal problems on fruit trees. Just like in your home, molds and fungus grow when there is an abundance of moisture.

As all critters grow and mature, there are certainly cases where the conditions line up and are favorable to developing a huge population. And when that happens, everyone affected immediately notices.

Cantaloupes take about 80 to 90 days from seed to harvest, making them a longer wait than some other items in the garden.

Winter squash is grown in the summer months. It cannot tolerate cold soil and certainly won’t last after a frost.

Spring is the time for stocking and the beginning of regular feeding of catfish.

There’s a brand-new show at the Angelina County Fair this year called Reach for the Stars “Celebrating the Possibilities”. It will be a livestock show on Friday, April 19 at 3 pm that will showcase the talents of special needs youth from across our county.

Jentrie Eldridge is carrying on her family tradition of showing pigs and hogs at the Angelina County Youth Fair.

Amy Jeffries building table for the Angelina County Fair

Wet ground is going to slow gardens down and getting that tiller into your wet, soggy soil sets up a garden for long term problems.

Learn more about chilling hours and other factors affecting fruit production; attend the upcoming East Texas Fruit and Vegetable Conference on Friday, March 1.

Are you prepping for the chilling hours and cold weather? Here's what you need to know.

If you find yourself still needing to feed hay, it may be time to look at your stocking rate. Proper stocking rates will allow for cool season grasses to get a foot-hold and sustain your herd. Overstocked pastures never do see grasses, of any kind, really perform well and adequately sustain livestoc

Harvesting hay with a short time frame between each cutting will certainly lead to higher quality hay, whereas waiting longer between cuttings will increase the yield. But this increased yield will have a much higher fiber content. This increased fiber is less digestible.