Web Sites for Vegetables

Information for Growing Vegetables

In the process of updating the vegetable signs for the coming season I came across a couple of web sites that I thought would be of interest to avid veg gardeners. The first site is run by Cornell University in upstate New York. It provides descriptions of many different vegetable and herb varieties. The most interesting feature of this site is that it allows registered users to rate and post comments about each variety. The web address is: http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/ The site also has growing guides for a wide range of crops. The University of Illinois also has a web site with information on growing vegetables. Their web site is http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/ As you begin to plan your gardens for the coming year you might consider using these sites to help you pick new crops or varieties to grow. I found the Cornell site more user friendly and better laid out but the U of I site would have better information about our particular growing areas.

Land Grant Universities

Both universities are what are known as "land grant" universities and were originally funded by Congress with grants of land that the universities were able to sell to raise money to establish the university. Each state has one. These universities received these grants with the obligation to conduct research and provide education that would benefit the public. At the time the public were mostly farmers and rural communities and the research reflected that. While most research is still agriculture based, more research and programs are directed toward consumer sciences and urban development. It is a valuable resource that is available to everyone through the web site and our local extension offices. In McHenry County the extension office is located in Woodstock at 1102 McConnell Rd.