Have you made it to a farmers market yet this season? This time of year expect to find asparagus, spring greens, radishes, rhubarb, spring garlic and turnips. Some also have local eggs and meats. This is also the time of year that the Linn County Master Gardener Hortline is in full swing. Call with questions [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — To get the concept, think Cameron Proctor. Without seeking it, Proctor — a 21-year-old master welder and brand-new homeowner with a good credit history and a 30-year mortgage — has become something of a poster boy for a multimillion-dollar neighborhood transformation. It is a change fueled by Four Oaks’ Affordable Housing Network [...]

What a wonderful time of year. New flowers are blooming every day. Iowa’s fertile soil is showing off for us this time of year, and what a beautiful sight. One of my favorite things to do is to go to farmers markets. They have finally started up again. For a listing of area farmers markets, [...]

Plant sales have begun. Garden centers are stocked full of new young plants. Some vegetables are planted in the garden using small plants (transplants) rather than seeds. This is standard practice with warm-season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and eggplant and is becoming the practice with cucumbers, squash, cantaloupes and watermelons because transplants shorten the time [...]

  Gardeners have many questions right now. When do I plant? What can I plant and when are we going to have warmer temperatures? Here, Linn County Master Gardener Judy Stevens attempts to answer these questions and others. Q: What can I plant in May? A: May is the magical month when all gardeners have [...]

  It sits on six acres, the rustic stone and reclaimed barnwood house seeming to erupt from the earth in an architectural geyser. The back faces a forest of locust trees, their slender trunks soaring to the sky. It’s pure nature out here, a serene quietude reigning. The property is steeped in history, having once [...]

Mother Nature can be fierce this time of year. Rain, sleet, frost and even snow are still a possibility. However, that hasn’t stopped folks from attempting to get a jump on the season by planting tomatoes. Linn County Master Gardener Jackie Hadenfeldt MacLaren recognizes the dangers of getting a head start now and has found [...]

When some think of spring, they think “spring cleaning.” The stuff that has gathered all winter now can be organized or ushered out the door. Spring cleaning is for outdoor spaces as well. It is time to pick up what the wind has brought into the yard, discover gardening tools that were not properly put [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — Julia and Tim Bickel have lived in numerous homes, from Michigan to Missouri; Illinois to Alaska and even in China, but chose to retire in a historic district in Cedar Rapids. “That tells you that this neighborhood, to me, feels like home,” said Julia Bickel, 64. “It feels like the neighborhood where [...]

Cliff Easley experienced the hell of war in Vietnam, but has found a slice of heaven at his home in Iowa. Easley, 66, who served in the U.S. Army from 1968 to 1988, including two stints in Vietnam, was one of the first veterans in the area to benefit from a new program through Cedar [...]