•February 4, 2026•

Emily Steele

Media Comm. Manager, U of I Extension

Every day, rain nourishes fields of growing crops, and rivers steadily flow through natural areas and communities until, eventually, drinking water trickles out of faucets into our homes, schools, and businesses. The health of a watershed is tied to the health of a community, and understanding where water comes from, how it moves, and what impacts its quality and quantity is crucial to maintaining safe and sustainable water resources now and in the future. 

•February 4, 2026•

Gardening enthusiasts and beginners alike are invited to the sixteenth-annual ‘Spring Into Gardening Conference’. This year’s program is Saturday, March 14th, in Charleston. Enjoy a day filled with gardening advice, creative ideas, and hands-on guidance.  

Expert-led breakout sessions led by Illinois Extension Horticulture Educators will cover topics such as soil health, composting, pollinator gardening, vegetable gardening, and debunking DIY garden products. The Green Team from Wesley United Methodist Church will lead a tour of their community garden, sharing ideas and tips with participants. Hands-on activities like flower arranging, plant propagation, and creating nesting balls are available for additional fees. Individuals can also bid in a silent auction, browse items at the sales booth, and enjoy refreshments.  

•February 4, 2026•

by Rhiannon Branch

FarmWeek 

Drought, flooding, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and extreme temperature swings; 2025 had it all, and it varied drastically by location, making last year a memorable one from a weather standpoint for many Illinois farmers.

State Climatologist Trent Ford, with the Illinois State Water Survey, reviewed weather statistics from 2025 and events that stood out during a recent FarmWeek interview.

Precipitation, or lack thereof: nearly the entire state is abnormally dry or in some form of drought as a result of a shortfall of precipitation last year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor released January 15th.

Preliminary statewide average total precipitation in 2025 was 31.78 inches, about 9 inches below normal. While official rankings by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had not yet been released as of press time, it is likely that 2025 will make the top 20 driest years on record statewide. However, there was a lot of seasonality for precipitation last year, and the amount of rainfall varied immensely by region within the state. January and February were drier than normal across the state, March was close to normal, and then April and May were huge precipitation months for southern Illinois. “There were places that, coming into June 1st, were having nearly their wettest year on record, especially the closer you got to the Ohio River and the Kentucky border,” Ford told FarmWeek. “There were places like Metropolis that were on par with some of the wettest years on record, including 1993, coming into the summer.”

Submitted

A generous donor has covered the cost of our upcoming leather workshop, so all youth may now attend for free. This workshop is being put on by one of our own, Gareth Coffer, who wins the leather division year after year at the State Fair and now has his own business. This class will be held at the Arthur United Methodist Church on Saturday, March 7th, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. and will be sponsored by the Arthur Rotary Club. For more information and to register, go to https://registration.extension.illinois.edu/start/leather-skills-make-and-take-workshop.

Comets and “Cousin” Tecumseh (continued)
•February 4, 2026•

by Janet Roney

Previously, I told you about the famous Shawnee Indian leader, Tecumseh, who attempted to unify the Indian tribes in a confederation to fight the advance of white settlers into the Northwest Territory, which the tribes claimed as their land. In September 1811, while Tecumseh was trying to enlist the Creeks and other southern tribes in his cause, a comet appeared in the night sky. His brother, who called himself The Prophet, convinced Tecumseh’s forces that it was a sign that the Great Spirit had made them immune to white men’s bullets. Then, in November, The Prophet led them in an attack on U.S. forces on the upper Wabash near Lafayette, Indiana. In the ensuing Battle of Tippecanoe, Tecumseh’s warriors were soundly defeated in a bloodbath that nearly destroyed Tecumseh’s confederation.