MCTG News

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Riverfront Development

image of report cover
The Sangamon River shares a place in Petersburg’s rich history since the town was formed nearly 200 years ago. Its waters led to the arrival of a young Abraham Lincoln who later surveyed land that is now Petersburg. The river and the tracks along it shuttled 100,000 visitors in the 10 day mega-event each year known as Chautauqua on a site just a mile south of town in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Sangamon River was the subject of popular writings of Edgar Lee Masters as he described the beloved Sangamon River and the people who called the area home. Native Americans utilized the river for food, water and transportation. In much earlier times, it was home to mastodons and a wide variety of animal life.  Yes, the river has a rich history right here in our hometown of Petersburg.

The Sangamon is a gem, and Petersburg is fortunate to have city owned land running nearly uninterrupted along the riverfront. Although parks and recreation are two main draws for visitors and reasons why people choose a community in which to live, much of the riverfront has been unused and inaccessible to citizens and visitors. However, its natural beauty is coming to life as the city has accepted the Finding and Recommendations of the Riverfront Development Group to enhance the riverfront properties.

The full report can be downloaded here.

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Garlic Mustard Pulls at New Salem

Why do we pull garlic mustard?

Each garlic mustard plant grows pods called siliques and each plant produces on average 22 siliques, each silique containing as many as 28 seeds. That is over 600 seeds on an average per plant, with some particularly robust plants producing almost 8,000 seeds. That’s why it is so important to remove the plant before it sets seed.

garlic mustard plants
There are at least 50 plants in this photo. 50 x 22 x 28 = over 30,000 potential seeds !!

Continue reading “Garlic Mustard Pulls at New Salem”

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Winter Seed Sowing Check In

Time to check in with our winter sowers! In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a lot of seedling germination. There is some variation, so it may have taken some containers a long time to show anything, but by now they should all have germinated and growing!

Participants at two winter sowing workshops enjoyed creating their own miniature greenhouses.

Removing the Tops and Watering

The weather has been pretty erratic this month, with some very warm days and some very cold nights. Up to this point, the top of the milk jug or container lid has helped to retain moisture and protect seedlings from temperature extremes and wind. Now that the temperatures have turned quite warm some days, it is important to open the containers up. This allows for good air circulation that will toughen up the plants and prevent fungal diseases. On particularly warm days, leaving the lid on can be very detrimental. Those delicate seedlings can bake in the heat! Continue reading “Winter Seed Sowing Check In”

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Life and Times of the Sangamon River

River valleys have a great many stories to tell. History is revealed in riverbanks all over the world. It is written in sediment, fossils, and artifacts. In some places, rivers expose ancient land and waterscapes created long before the river. Today, many rivers are refuges, tiny bits of what once was a far-reaching ecosystem. Life at the equator, colossal glaciers and the birth of rivers, megafauna, the arrival of people, earthquakes, a profound transformation of the landscape, but no dinosaurs, all these stories and more are told by the Sangamon River as it meanders its way across central Illinois. This video, History of the Sangamon River Valley by Michael Wiant, reveals some of the stories the Sangamon has to tell.

History of the Sangamon River Valley – HD 720p.mov from Treetop Productions on Vimeo.

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