River Valley Area Community Gardens

River Valley Area Community Gardens The Community Gardens provides garden plots for people who do not have a garden space. They also provide produce for the RV area food pantries.

It also provides summer youth gardening programs, and advocates to end food insecurity / hunger by donating produce to local food pantries. The Junior Gardeners program provides free 10 x 10 ft garden plots to students grades 4 through 12 in the RV School District. The Busy Bees Garden Club is a 10 week summer gardening program for children ages 3 through grade 4. The Gardens also provides a peren

nial flower bed, and a prairie garden to attract and sustain native pollinators. A parkway is available for visitors to sit and watch the sunset or sunrise and enjoy the perennial bed.

Bees
05/29/2026

Bees

Bees do so much quiet work in the garden 🐝 A few ways I like to help them:
🌼 Plant flowers that bloom at different times so there’s food from spring through fall.
🌿 Let a few herbs flower, like basil, oregano, thyme, or chives. The bees usually find them fast.
🍓 More pollinator visits can mean better fruit and veggie production, especially for squash, cucumbers, berries, and tomatoes.
💧 A shallow water dish with stones gives bees a safe place to land and drink.
🚫 I avoid spraying blooms when bees are active, even with “natural” sprays.
One little bee may seem small, but a pollinator-friendly garden adds up quickly 🌸

Marigolds
05/29/2026

Marigolds

Marigolds, particularly Tagetes varieties, offer more than visual appeal. They can help manage certain soil-borne pests, especially some species of nematodes that affect vegetable crops.

Their roots release natural compounds called thiophenes. These substances can be toxic to specific nematodes, gradually lowering their numbers in the soil. The effect builds over time as the plants grow, making them more useful as part of a long-term soil management approach rather than a quick fix.

Above ground, marigolds may provide mild pest-deterrent benefits due to their strong scent. However, this effect is inconsistent and should not be relied on as primary protection against insects like aphids or hornworms.

For better results, plant marigolds closely together or interplant them within your beds. They are especially effective when used in crop rotation or grown ahead of susceptible plants like tomatoes to help condition the soil.

Marigolds aren’t a standalone solution, but they are a practical, low-effort addition to a balanced, natural pest management strategy.

What is on my milkw**d
05/29/2026

What is on my milkw**d

If milkw**d is growing in the yard — planted or wild — the monarch eggs may already be on it.

Flip a leaf over gently. The underside of upper leaves and new growth is where females usually lay. One egg per leaf, firmly attached. A tiny off-white oval, about the size of a pinhead, with vertical ridges visible under magnification.

🌿 What it's not:

- Yellow dots with black legs clustered together = oleander aphids. Common on milkw**d. Not eggs.
- Bright white round droplets along the veins = milkw**d sap. Not eggs.
- Monarch eggs are solitary, oval, ridged, and off-white.

The female found the milkw**d from the air, landed on it, confirmed it with taste receptors on her feet, and placed one egg on one leaf.

🐾 If you find one:

- Leave it in place — hatching takes a few days
- The caterpillar eats its own eggshell first, then starts on the leaf
- Don't spray, trim, or relocate the plant while eggs or caterpillars are present

The milkw**d is the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat. The egg on the underside is proof the relay found your yard 🌿

**d

Brown Butter Rhubarb Pecan CrispGolden Brown Butter Rhubarb & Toasted Pecan CrumbleIngredients:For the filling:4 cups rh...
05/29/2026

Brown Butter Rhubarb Pecan Crisp

Golden Brown Butter Rhubarb & Toasted Pecan Crumble

Ingredients:

For the filling:
4 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, toss the chopped rhubarb with granulated sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract until well combined. Set aside.

To make the topping, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling occasionally, until the butter turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a mixing bowl to prevent burning.

Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt to the browned butter. Stir until the mixture is crumbly and evenly combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.

Transfer the rhubarb filling to a 9x9-inch baking dish or similar oven-safe dish. Evenly sprinkle the pecan topping over the rhubarb.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cooking Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour

Kcal: 320 kcal per serving | Servings: 6 servings

Brown Butter Rhubarb Pecan Crisp

Golden Brown Butter Rhubarb & Toasted Pecan Crumble

Ingredients:

For the filling:
4 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Wi ter sowen natives
05/29/2026

Wi ter sowen natives

Winter is one of the **best times to start native plants**. Cold rain, frost, and snow naturally break seed dormancy—cracking tough seed coats and preparing them to germinate when spring arrives.

By sowing these seeds now, you give them the natural conditions they need to become the foundation of a thriving wildlife-friendly garden.

**Native Plants to Sow in Winter:**

**1) Milkw**d (*Asclepias* spp.)**
• Essential host plant for monarch butterflies
• Requires cold stratification to germinate

**2) Black-Eyed Susan (*Rudbeckia*)**
• Early nectar source for pollinators
• Later seed heads feed birds

**3) Purple Coneflower (*Echinacea*)**
• Provides nectar for bees and butterflies
• Germinates best after winter cold exposure

**4) Asters (*Symphyotrichum*)**
• One of the most important fall nectar plants
• Vital fuel source for late-season pollinators

**5) Goldenrod (*Solidago*)**
• Supports over 100 insect species
• One of the most beneficial native plants for wildlife

**6) Prairie Blazing Star (*Liatris*)**
• Strong magnet for monarchs and other butterflies
• Thrives when winter-sown

**7) Blue Vervain (*Verbena hastata*)**
• Moisture-loving pollinator plant
• Cold winter conditions improve germination

**8) Joe-Pye W**d (*Eutrochium*)**
• Attracts butterflies and moths
• Excellent candidate for winter sowing

**9) Switchgrass (*Panicum virgatum*)**
• Provides shelter for birds and small mammals
• Builds important habitat structure in spring

Sow the seeds now, let winter do the work, and by spring your garden can begin transforming into a **refuge for pollinators and wildlife**. 🌱🐝

🌿🐝

Attracting summers and butterflies
05/29/2026

Attracting summers and butterflies

🌸 DO YOU WANT A GARDEN FILLED WITH BOTH HUMMINGBIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES? 🌸

Turn your backyard into a colorful pollinator paradise! 🦋🌿
By planting nectar-rich flowers and pollinator-friendly plants, you can naturally attract hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other beneficial wildlife that help your garden thrive.

🌺 Step-by-Step Pollinator Garden Guide:

1️⃣ Plant bright tubular flowers like coral honeysuckle and cardinal flower to attract hummingbirds with nectar-rich blooms.

2️⃣ Add butterfly favorites such as milkw**d, bee balm, joe-pye w**d, and pentas to create a continuous food source.

3️⃣ Include long-blooming perennials like agastache, liatris, and salvia for season-long color and pollinator activity.

4️⃣ Group flowers in clusters instead of spreading them apart to make it easier for pollinators to find nectar.

5️⃣ Use organic gardening methods and avoid harmful pesticides that can damage butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.

6️⃣ Provide a shallow water source or birdbath to support hydration during hot weather.

7️⃣ Choose plants with different bloom times so your garden stays active and colorful from spring through fall.

🌿 A pollinator-friendly garden not only looks beautiful but also improves biodiversity, supports healthy ecosystems, and boosts vegetable and flower production naturally.

❓ Which pollinator would you love to attract most to your garden — hummingbirds, monarch butterflies, or bees?

📢 Tag a nature-loving friend who would enjoy building a butterfly and hummingbird garden, and share this post to inspire more pollinator-friendly spaces!

🌿 Stay connected for more healthy garden tips.

Every pest is working
05/29/2026

Every pest is working

Every "pest" tearing up your pristine spring lawn this week is doing the expensive yard work you usually pay a landscaping company for.

In spring, the soil is waking up, and the animals that live in it are getting to work. Because we've been trained to demand a flat, uniform carpet of green grass, we set traps and spread poisons at the first sign of a mound. But these disruptors are your soil's life support system. Skunks, moles, ground bees, and earthworms — each one aerating, fertilizing, and protecting the roots.

🦨 SKUNK HOLES look like someone took a golf club to your lawn overnight. But those shallow divots mean a skunk just removed dozens of destructive Japanese beetle grubs that would have killed your grass by July.

🐾 MOLE TUNNELS create frustrating raised ridges. But moles are insectivores, not rodents. They eat their body weight in pests every day while deep-aerating compacted clay soil so water can reach the roots.

🐝 GROUND BEE MOUNDS look exactly like small, sandy ant hills. These are the entrances to the nurseries of solitary, stingless native bees. They are critical early pollinators that do zero damage to the turf.

🪱 EARTHWORM CASTINGS are those tiny, muddy clumps you step on in the morning dew. They are the richest, most perfectly balanced free fertilizer on earth, delivered directly to the root zone without burning the grass.

Before you call the exterminator, look at the soil. If it's being turned over, it's not being destroyed — it's being conditioned.

The holes are the healing. Let them dig. 🦨

Native vs invasive slugs
05/29/2026

Native vs invasive slugs

You stepped on a slug in the dark. You assumed it was eating the garden.

It was under a rock. Not on the tomatoes. Not on the lettuce. Under a rock, in the mulch, eating decomposing leaves and fungal threads. Doing the same job as an earthworm — slower, wetter, and less photogenic.

The slug on the tomatoes is a different animal. 🌿

Most slug damage in eastern gardens comes from a handful of invasive European species — large, pale gray, active on living plants at night. They evolved alongside European crops and tolerate the chemistry of cultivated vegetables.

Native slugs — smaller, darker, found under logs and rocks during the day — are decomposers. They eat dead plant material and fungi. They spread fungal spores through the soil in their droppings.

🐾 The one-glance diagnostic:

- Small, dark, under cover during the day, in leaf litter = likely native decomposer. Leave it.
- Large, pale, on living plants at night, slime trail across tomatoes = likely invasive. Hand-pick after dark with a headlamp.

The slug you stepped on was under a rock. The one eating the garden comes out after you go inside 🌿

It is all one system, every part inter-related
05/29/2026

It is all one system, every part inter-related

Everything you planted, left alone, and didn't spray this month is connected.

The native shrub hosts the caterpillars the chickadee is feeding to her chicks right now. The leaf litter underneath hosts the firefly larva that will flash for the first time this week. The shallow water dish draws the migrant birds that arrived in May. The darkness after sunset lets the firefly signal work. The taller grass kept the ground-nesting bee's entrance intact.

🌿 Each one enables the next:

Native plants produce caterpillars → caterpillars feed nesting birds → birds control the caterpillar population so the plant isn't stripped → the plant produces berries in fall → the berries feed the next wave of migrants.

The leaf litter shelters the larvae. The larvae become the fireflies. The fireflies need dark evenings to find each other. The cycle restarts in the soil.

🐾 The yard isn't running separate features. It's running one loop — and every piece you left in place this spring is keeping it turning.

The viburnum feeds the chickadee. The chickadee protects the viburnum. The bee pollinates both. The water holds them all.

It's running right now 🌿

Address

Corner Of N. Westmor Street And Locust Drive
Spring Green, WI
53588

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
Thursday 7am - 7pm
Friday 7am - 7pm
Saturday 7am - 7pm
Sunday 7am - 7pm

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