Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District

06/10/2026

Grab a coffee, walk through Pendleton Farmers Market then join us for some yoga! What a great way to start your day and the proceeds go directly to MIST 😀 Hope to see you there!

06/08/2026

Not available in Madison Co but check out the link for locations!

The pesticide section of OISC is charged with the administration and enforcement of Indiana pesticide laws.

06/02/2026

Every year Madison Co SWCD participates/promotes the National Association of Conservation Districts poster contest. The contest has a different conservation theme every year and provides an opportunity for the kids to learn about our natural resources. This year's them was "Soil. Where It All Begins". Pictured below are this year's winners ☺️For grades 4-6 first place winner is Zenley Lawing from Park Elementary, 2nd place for grades 4-6 Elainie Riopel from Erskin Elementary, for grades 7-9 First place is Violet Schultz, for grades 10-12 First place Amber Bilyeu, 2nd place Abigail Tinsley, and the honorable mentions Lorelai Sigler, Olivia Greene all from Frankton High School!

If you are a school and would like more information on how to participate please reach out! [email protected].

06/01/2026

Happy June! 🫛🧅🌽 Did you plant a garden this year?

June isn't late. It's the second planting window — and for heat-loving crops, it's the RIGHT window.
Everything on this list goes directly into warm soil now and produces before the season ends. No indoor starts. No transplants. Seed to harvest, timed for summer.

- Bush Beans — 55 days. Sow every 3 weeks through July for continuous pods into September.

- Cucumber — 58 days. June-sown cucumbers avoid the early-season cucumber beetle wave that kills May transplants.

- Summer Squash — 50 days. The fastest fruit producer from seed. June sowing means August harvest with fewer vine borer problems than May plantings.

- Okra — 55 days. Needs hot soil to germinate. June is better than May in most zones. Produces harder as temperatures climb.

- Yardlong Bean — 60 days. Heat-loving climber that barely grows below 75°F. June is when it finally wakes up.

- Sunflower — 70 days. June sowing means late August bloom — extending the garden's color and bird-feeding season into fall.

- Basil — 30 days to first harvest. Direct-sow now into warm soil. Germinates faster than April indoor starts did.

- Dill — 40 days to harvest, 70 to seed. Sow now for midsummer harvest. Succession sow every 3 weeks because it bolts fast.

- Malabar Spinach — 55 days. The heat-proof spinach substitute. Won't germinate until soil hits 65°F. June is its month.

June-sown crops miss the early pests, skip the cold-soil stall, and finish before frost. The second wave often outperforms the first.

05/27/2026

Join us for SICIM and Purdue Extension's session on 1:1 Native Replacements for Garden Invasives,
Follow the link to SICIM's YouTube channel:

Learn the importance of planting native species in your garden! This video highlights native alternatives to commonly planted invasive species, and provides ...

05/26/2026

🍅🫛For our gardening friends! 🫑🥕

Carrots have one main enemy underground — the carrot rust fly — and most of their best companions work by disrupting how that fly finds its host. The mechanism is scent masking, and the allium family (onions, leeks, chives, garlic) handles it most effectively. 🌿

Six companion pairings for carrots and what each one actually does:

CARROT + ONION: the most documented of these combinations. Carrot rust fly females locate host plants by smell. Onions planted in alternating rows create a sulfurous scent barrier that interrupts that host-location behavior. The protection runs in both directions — carrot foliage in turn disrupts onion fly. Neither crop eliminates the pest, but the interplanting measurably reduces damage in both directions

CARROT + LEEK: same mechanism as onions. Leeks have a strong enough allium scent profile to work as a masking companion. The additional benefit: leeks occupy vertical space above the carrot row while their roots stay relatively shallow, so below-ground competition is minimal. One of the most space-efficient combinations for a small bed

CARROT + CHIVES: the allium companion with the most visible in-garden benefit beyond pest masking. Chive flowers attract hoverflies and small parasitic wasps — the beneficial insects that predate aphids and interrupt cabbage looper populations. Let chives flower rather than trimming them back. The purple globe heads are the functional part of this pairing. Perennial in Zones 3-9, so one planting serves multiple carrot seasons

CARROT + GARLIC: garlic is the strongest sulfur-compound allium and the most broadly studied for pest deterrence across multiple crops. In carrot beds it helps deter aphids and may reduce carrot fly pressure. Garlic planted between carrot rows in fall overwinters and is harvested in late June, exactly when spring-sown carrots need full access to the space. The timing aligns almost perfectly

CARROT + RADISH: radishes serve two functions here. Their taproots loosen compacted soil that would otherwise force carrot roots to fork and deform — radishes go in first, break the soil, and are harvested before the carrots need the full bed depth. They also act as a trap crop for flea beetles, pulling pressure away from carrot seedlings. Sow radishes two weeks before the carrots and harvest them before they compete 🌱

CARROT + LETTUCE: a space-efficiency companion rather than a pest-deterrence one. Lettuce shades the soil between carrot seedlings, which prevents the soil surface from crusting — a common obstacle to carrot germination in summer. It retains moisture and suppresses weeds in the carrot row while taking up only the surface space the carrots don't need yet. Harvest lettuce before the carrots need to expand.

05/26/2026

Fun opportunity! 🐦

The rain over the weekend has called for a change in flight plans! 🌦

Learn About Nature Through Birding has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 30th from 9am-11am at Red-tail Nature Preserve.🔭

This birding outing is open to all age groups, but geared toward ages 8-15. A parent or guardian is required. This event is free, but space is limited and registration is required. 🦆

Register with the link below to secure your spot!
https://fortheland.org/event/youth-birding-hike-2026/

05/05/2026

Don't forget, MIST will be at Falls Park in Pendleton Friday for our first W**d Wrangle! Come join us!!

04/30/2026

Full Moon for May, oops, make that moons! 🌝🌝

May 1st the Flower Moon: Peaks at 1:23 p.m. EDT. It is the first micromoon of 2026

May 31st is the Blue Moon: Peaks at 4:45 a.m. EDT

04/22/2026

Earth Day tradition - spend the morning with our friends at Frankton Elementary & High Scool! 100 1st graders buddy up with a high school student and they participate in different stations to learn about our environment and have fun! We made flower "bombs" for the kiddos to take home and plant!