Purdue Extension ANR

SOIL TESTING AVAILABLE

Soil testing is recommended every 3 – 5 years.  The Purdue Extension Vermillion County Office will take your garden soil samples (they must be dry) for nutrient & pH analysis and send them to a soils lab for fertilizer recommendations for $15.  For $10 more an organic matter analysis will be completed. Soil sample bags, sample forms, and instructions can be picked up at the Office.  For details, call 765-492-5330 or email cox119@purdue.edu .   

Parke County Fair, July 10 -17

FREE For details see:  https://extension.purdue.edu/county/parke/_docs/fair-schedule-online-edition.pdf

Tallgrass Prairie Walk at Jackson-Schnyder Nature Preserve, July 11, 10 – 11:30 am

FREE For details see: https://ouabachelandconservancy.org/events

Pollinator Celebration at the Clinton Public Library – July 20, 6:00 – 7:30 pm

FREE Join Purdue Extension as we celebrate pollinators at the Clinton Public Library on July 20, 6:00 – 7:30 pm.  Ella Stroh, Indiana Partner Biologist for the nonprofit Pollinator Partnership, will present about pollinators and pollinator habitat. Come learn about Indiana's native pollinators and how to support pollinators in agricultural landscapes or home gardens! The talk will also include information about Farm Bill programs that provide financial assistance to agricultural producers interested in planting pollinator habitat.

After learning about pollinator conservation, participants will receive free pollinator plants to take home.  Fifteen species will be available to choose from, including: Anise hyssop, Red columbine, Butterfly weed (a species of milkweed with a beautiful orange flower), Nodding onion, Lance-leaved coreopsis, Tall cinquefoil, Rattlesnake master, Rough blazing star, Stiff goldenrod, Wild quinine, Hairy beardtongue, Little bluestem, Prairie dock, Aromatic aster and Hoary vervain.

This is a free program and no reservations are required.  Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Moth Night Out at Atherton Island Natural Area – July 25, 8:30 – 11:00 pm

FREE  For details see: https://ouabachelandconservancy.org/events

Vermillion County Diverse Farm Tour – August 4

The Diverse Corn Belt Project and Purdue Extension will host a free Vermillion County Diverse Farm Tour on August 4^th, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.

The tour will start at Royer Farm Fresh, Clinton, where the production of beef, pork, lamb and chicken from farm to consumers’ plates and management practices for all four species will be shared. In addition, aspects of selling meat including: butcher shop relations, pricing, paperwork and marketing will be discussed.

A free catered lunch will be provided at the Vermillion County 4-H Community Building, Cayuga Park, where Purdue University’s Dr. Ariana Torres will be discussing Marketing Diverse Ag Products.   

The tour will conclude at Tarquini’s Fresh Produce, Perrysville, where participants will learn about all aspects of their primary focus of home-grown tomatoes (including washing/sorting/cooling); and how they have further diversified to include cucumbers, peppers, zucchinis, cut flowers, and much more.

Everyone is invited to this tour to explore opportunities for and barriers to adding more crops and grazed livestock to rotations in the Corn Belt, to seek concrete options for diversification and to understand the agronomic, economic, social, infrastructure and policy changes that could make them viable.

To register contact the Vermillion County Extension Office at 765-492-5330 or cox119@purdue.edu by July 29^th.  Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.