Articles written by Mike Heath Laramie County Master Gardners
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A Taste of Hemlock, My Dear?
Infamous throughout the ages, poison hemlock has made its mark on history. From public executions to assassination, it has been used far and wide. Probably the most famous person to die from poison hemlock was Socrates in ancient Greece. Socrates...
Growing Root Crops
Summer is now in full swing and we're feeling every bit of it. I don't mean just the heat (and it hasn't been that bad) but the thunderstorms and hail, too. Just this week Cheyenne had hail nearly...
Living in the Country
It seems like every summer I end up writing an article about living in the country. Believe it or not, it's not the same as living in the city, or even a small town. In fact, most people who move to...
Prepare for next year......this year
By now I think everyone can see it coming. Huge temperature swings early. A cool, but dry, spring. Hot temperatures and dry winds sweeping across Wyoming now. The western portion of the state is in a... Full story
University of Wyoming Extension Service and 4-H
We have a wonderful and expensive gem here in Wyoming that, in my opinion, is undervalued and underused. Perhaps that's because few people know much about it. That gem is the University of Wyoming...
Asparagus
This week I finished one harvest. Asparagus. Besides green peas, asparagus is one of my most favorite vegetables. In fact, just because the harvest is done doesn't mean that I'm finished cutting it....
Lawn Care Part 2 - Maintenance and Diseases
Last week we talked primarily about getting a lawn started and annual fertilizing. I had wanted to write the article on maintenance and diseases, but the topic, once again, got away from me and took...
Lawn Care Part 1
It's that time of year again. We've had a really strange bout of weather so far this year, hot one day and cold the next. But I've noticed that the grass has certainly started growing with abandon the...
Getting ready to plant
It's just about that time. Time to plant, I mean. I've had several calls in the last week that involved the question of when to plant. It's been a bit of a strange year with the warm weather, hot...
Gardening for Success Seminar Series
The Laramie County Master Gardeners are pleased to announce their new seminar series, "Gardening for Success", starting Wednesday, May 6th. Yes, I know it's already started, but read on anyway. The...
Growing Vegetables
Good morning, Laramie County! Isn't it great to be waking up to these beautiful sunrises and warmer mornings? It gives me the itch to get outside and start planting. I've had to hold myself back for...
How does your garden grow
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockleshells And pretty maids all in a row." Mother Goose Remember that poem? It's been a long time for me and I suppose...
Fire Wise Landscaping
If there's one thing we can count on every summer, it's fire. Each and every year we have fires crop up throughout the county. Most are small and burn only a few hundred square feet to an acre or so,...
Weeds R' Us - Cheatgrass
Sometimes it seems like that, doesn't it? Weeds, weeds and more weeds. Every time we turn around weeds are just growing everywhere. I guess we can thank Adam and Eve. When they got themselves kicked...
Being Prepared
"Be Prepared". That's the Boy Scout motto. And it applies to every one of us. As I look back on the last several weeks, I've been appalled at the level of unpreparedness of Americans across the...
Re-living Country living 101
We love it! The clean air, unobstructed views, nothing between us and the North Pole but a few fence posts, and the beauty of the starlit night sky amplified by the lack of artificial light. That's co...
Pre-gardening planning what to do
It’s in the air. I smelled it this morning. Did you? It’s coming. Not quite here yet, but Spring is on the way. I went outside this morning and there was a very different feel and smell to the air. It’s not something I can describe, but it’s...
Growing award winning vegetables
Americans have always been competitive. It doesn't really matter what the field is, from racing (the Daytona 500 is going on right now) or playing games or showing off our skills. We all want to be...
Starting Seeds
Here it is mid-February already and I'm listening to the wind howling outside. As I look to the north I see some pretty nasty looking storm clouds. To the south, just a leaden, gray sky. It's hard to...
Winter Maintenance
What an irony. I sit here writing this article as another major snowstorm is bearing down on us like a slow moving freight train. Watching the weather, it sounds like another five inches or so with...
Now for the bedding plants
Okay. After last week’s dissertation I hope everybody has their beds designed and seed purchased. If you do, you should be getting your seeds within the next week. Until you’re ready to start them in pots, be sure to put them in the vegetable...
Spring Planting is upon us
Spring is nearly here and, if you haven't planned your garden yet, you're behind the eight ball. In other words, it's nearly time for seeds to start going into the soil. There's a lot of preparation...
Elderberry - Uses and Benefits
I’ve heard of elderberry all my life, but I’ve never paid any attention to it until recently when I began to learn of some of its medicinal properties. All I’d heard before was how good elderberry wine is. I’ve never tasted it and, as far as...
Garlic - Not just for Taste
When I was a kid, my mother tried to keep me away from garlic because she said it would give me “bad breath”. It didn’t matter that it was good and made a dull dish exciting. It was all about breath to her. But, people have added garlic to...
Poinsettia - Flores de Noche Buena
It’s hard to believe it’s nearly 2020! Another year come and gone and I just don’t know where it went or how it got past me that quickly. I don’t know if I’ve been that busy or if maybe it’s just old age. Could be a combination of both,...
