University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David Ward will consider four finalists for dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences recommended Tuesday by a college search committee.

The great pumpkin (and two pickup loads of pumpkin underlings) arrived Oct. 16 at UW Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House, delivered by Tom Wright and Denise Mueller of the West Madison Agricultural Research Station.

Since receiving his bachelors degree 40 years ago from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steve Slinger has been a link between Wisconsin muck farmers and UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. As an onion and mint grower from Randolph, Wis., Slinger has worked closely with CALS researchers and the Wisconsin Muck Farmers Association to raise research money and develop research projects.

If you’ve got a lawn-care problem or want to learn more about using less fertilizer and fewer pesticides, stop by the Homeowners Field Day at the University of Wisconsin-Madison O.J. Noer Turfgrass Research Facility. The field day is set for Aug. 23 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and it’s free. The facility is located at 3101 County M, just north of its intersection with County PD near Verona.

A study at two Wisconsin greenhouses has found that compost mixes, including one from urban leaf waste, can produce acceptable bedding plants under commercial conditions.

Roger Wyse, dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1992, announced his resignation Monday, June 23, effective immediately. The attached letter containing reasons for Wyse’s resignation was delivered to Chancellor David Ward Monday morning.

Here’s something new for gardeners who have run through all the winter plant catalogs. It’s Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest, a CD-ROM featuring color photos and information on more than 600 species and varieties of trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers that grow in the region.