Joseph F. Radosevich

I'm growing spring brussels sprouts as an experiment because they are usually grown from summer into the fall. I'm growing the variety Hestia from Gurney Seeds. Here are a few notes on growing spring brussels sprouts. The plants are huge! I can't wait to take them out because they are crowding everything around.  One advantage is that they grew large before ever showing signs of insect damage. They haven't been sprayed yet this year and are just now starting to get some insect damage. Last week (maybe 2 weeks ago) I topped the plants by plucking off the growing top to let them put all their energy into the sprouts. You are supposed to wait until the ones on the bottom of the plant are full-sized. All the energy is supposed go to the upper ones. I topped it just a little bit early, but they have grown the sprouts all along the stem. I can't wait to try them.

I read Myron Dillow's book Harvesttime on the Prairie  over the last year, and it is excellent! Many Baptist histories are simple overviews with little original research and no new contributions. Dillow's book goes through sources to break new ground. It was published in the 1990's, but it helped me understand many of the issues, people, controversies, and places that have influenced Baptist and evangelical work in IL. We need more books like this.  My favorite part of the book was finding my current church and its first pastor, Jacob Bower, included in it. Without his book, I wouldn't have known those stories or found his autobiography. I also found where our church's statement of faith came from and details about Baptist work throughout our region. The stories and details are now part of my regular thinking and conversation. I even used an early resolution as the basis for part of my pastoral prayer on Sunday morning.