Crawford County Master Gardeners

08/21/2026

08/21/2026

More vegetables being donated. Squash and tomatoes at the Prairie du Chien farmers.

08/18/2026

About a week (or so) ago I posted about the condition of my garden — trying hard to focus on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives. Well, yesterday I dug my four hills of potatoes, and for only having four hills, I think I did pretty darn good. Some of them are absolute dandies. Just look at the size of a few of these! 🥔
My onions and garlic have dried back nicely and cured, so it was time to bag them up and make room for the potatoes to finish drying. It always feels good to see the shelves fill up with homegrown food. 🧅🧄
I also gathered a few seeds from my four o’clocks, dwarf marigolds, and peppermint zinnia. I don’t necessarily recommend drying them all together on one plate as I did — but it works in a pinch and makes for a fun little snapshot of the season.
And on another positive note… remember that tomato plant the hornworm destroyed? Well, look at it now. There’s new growth — and even a few buds! I know it’s late in the season, but if we get another long, mild fall like last year, I just might be able to harvest a few more Black Beauty tomatoes from it after all. 🍅😄

08/17/2026

Join our monthly online programs in 2026 for an opportunity to connect with plant health experts from the UW-Madison Division of Extension. Each session, held on Wednesdays at 1:30 - 2:30 or 6:30-7:30 PM, is your chance to ask questions about your trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and ornamentals,...

08/15/2026

If you’ve ever wondered what our Master Gardener general meetings are like… come check us out! They’re not your typical sit and stare meetings — we’re usually doing something fun, creative, and sometimes a little bit messy.
At our last meeting, we enjoyed ice cream cake (photo features our two Monarch Whisperers and our Pres!) and worked together cutting tissue paper for the kids’ flower craft at the Crawford County Fair. In October, we’ll be spray painting dried plant material before the meeting, then cutting fleece for one of the kids’ crafts at Oktoberfest. November brings our cozy Fall Harvest Potluck, and in December we’ll be celebrating the holidays together.
Our meetings are open to the public, and they’re a great way to learn more about becoming a Master Gardener, meet friendly people, and jump into community projects that make a difference. Join us — we’d love to have you.

08/14/2026

Have you seen this plant?

(Are you sure it was really this plant?)

While hibiscus are found in gardens, there is also one species that's native to Wisconsin and is a special concern plant, found in marshes and along riverbanks, especially the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers in southwest Wisconsin.

Halberd-leaf Rosemallow (Hibiscus laevis) is a tall herbaceous plant that can reach up to 7' in height. Leaves are alternate (not opposite eachother) and narrowly triangular in outline with two distinctive pointed lobes at the base and a long tapering point at the tip.

Large flowers attach from where the leave stalk meets the stem and have five white to pale pink petals with darker pink bases, giving the whole flower a dark center. Flowers mature into a capsule that is often seen still enveloped by the papery tan sepals.

When in flower, it would be hard to confuse a hibiscus with anything else. However, there are a few non-native hibiscus in Wisconsin.

Help us learn more about where this species may be found in the state by submitting sightings, including photos of leaves, flowers, and the stem at https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/f57cba58511a4c99b1d1292776b05125

08/13/2026

Please note that tonight's Prairie du Chien Thursday Night Farmers Market has been canceled.

Please share;

We really didn’t want to cancel tonight’s market 💔🌧️

But with rain moving in, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s Prairie du Chien Thursday Night Farmers Market

We know how much effort vendors and musician's put in and how much the community looks forward to Thursdays, which makes this so hard 😔

Please support our amazing vendors and musician's when you can ❤️—buy their bread, veggies, honey, flowers, and handmade goods. Support their music when they are around town.

We’ll miss you tonight. Stay dry, stay safe, and see you next Thursday 🌧️➡️☀️