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Better Kansas – Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Month: April 2021

Better Kansas – April 29, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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In this week’s Better Kansas, we take a look at how trails can lead to economic development, foods that fight inflammation, sweet potato bread, the surprising benefits of a healthy lawn, soybean planting considerations and a handy way to track precipitation across the state. This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

ONE THING THIS PANDEMIC SPARKED IS THAT MORE PEOPLE SEEM TO BE OUT WALKING, jogging, and bicycling than ever before. My neighborhood is pleasant but walking the same streets for so many years gets a little repetitious, so it’s nice to explore different trails in the area. Communities across the country are using peoples’ interest in exploring trails to help fuel economic activity as well as community pride and mental and physical health. An example of how that’s working in Ottawa, Kansas was featured in a recent First Friday e-Call on the role of trails in community development and in an article posted online. Exploring a new trail followed by a little shopping and pleasant dinner in a new community sounds good to me!

INFLAMMATION HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR BODIES as it often signals that we’re fighting the effects of arthritis, an injury or infection. But when inflammation becomes chronic, it’s literally a pain and can take such a toll on our daily lives. What we eat can help mitigate inflammation, however. Take a look at Top 10 foods that fight inflammation. I KNEW there was a reason I like almonds and dark chocolate … especially together! That whole portion control thing is another topic.

SWEET POTATOES IN BREAD? MAYBE A WIN-WIN! Mostly in Better Kansas, I feature the work of K-State researchers and educators. Occasionally, however, the work of other universities catches my eye and that’s what happened when I read about work done at South Dakota State University, another land grant school doing great work, this time incorporating sweet potato puree into bread. It adds Vitamin A and changes the starch composition by increasing the fiber content. Read about how that might be beneficial for those dealing with diabetes. I’ve become a big fan of sweet potatoes in pretty much every form, so this just reinforces my interest.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

WHAT HELPS KEEP US COOLER IN SUMMER, FILTERS CONTAMINANTS AND REDUCES NOISE? The answer is surprisingly simple: a healthy lawn. Plus, it looks beautiful, feels great and smells good, especially right after mowing. Take a look at Benefits of Healthy Turfgrass to learn more surprising positives about something that many of us take for granted. I once lived in northern California, where water is often scarce. Some of my neighbors had resorted to a front yard full of rocks and a back yard of concrete or artificial turfgrass. It was understandable but for this native Midwesterner, it reinforced a feeling of being a stranger in a strange land. More information about planting and maintaining healthy lawns is also available on the Turfgrass and landscape blog.

 

LUCKILY FOR SOYBEAN GROWERS, THOSE BEANS CAN BE PLANTED OVER A WIDE RANGE OF DATES, but they’re a little finicky about soil temperatures. Kansas growers are tending to plant slightly earlier than they used to. A recent Agronomy eUpdate article covers K-State recommendations for soybean planting dates and maturity groups and offers visually descriptive maps. As of the week ending April 25, Kansas producers had planted 2% of the soybean crop which was equal to last year and near the 1% average, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Soil moisture, another critical component of a successful crop, was generally rated adequate to surplus. Topsoil was rated 5% surplus, 76% adequate, 13% short and 6% very short. Subsoil moisture was rated 5% surplus, 73% adequate, 14% short and 8% very short.

 

KANSAS MESONET NOW HAS A NEW TOOL THAT TRACKS THE NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS we’ve had across the state without precipitation. That’s helpful for farmers, gardeners, homeowners and other weather watchers. The Consecutive Days without Precip page takes the guesswork out of trying to remember if that quarter inch shower was two weeks ago Friday … or was it the previous Tuesday? A recent Kansas Farmer magazine article highlighted the new feature.

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For more resources and activities, contact the K-State Research and Extension office in your area. Check out our other blogs and subscribe to our weekly emails here: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/blogs/

Better Kansas – April 22, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

Today, in Better Kansas we touch on personal financial information, cooking with kids, red mulch and tomatoes, Kansas farmland values and stripe rust in wheat. This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Please share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

WE’RE STILL DEALING WITH A PANDEMIC and it’s still wreaking havoc on many Kansans’ financial situations. Some have lost jobs or closed businesses. Even if they have found other work, they may have had to cobble two part-time positions together to come close to what they were making before. Others are still looking. For good times and bad, the Financially Speaking web page has resources focused on supporting the financial health and wellness of Kansans and their communities. Topics of written articles and videos include credit reports, the pandemic and student loans, coronavirus scams, shopping on a budget and much more. Take a look.

 

WHETHER IT’S PLAYING WITH THE MEASURING CUPS OR MIXING UP COOKIE DOUGH, KIDS LOVE TO BE IN THE KITCHEN. It seems like many children who learn to cook with a parent or grandparent go on to enjoy cooking and baking through adulthood. If you’re looking for ways to engage children in the kitchen, including simple recipes to make together plus nutrition and food safety information, take a look at the Kids a Cookin’ website. It includes videos, plus recipe cards, cooking terminology, money saving tips, how to use appliances safely and more. I mentioned a few weeks ago that children who help grow their own food are more likely to at least try tasting those foods. I think the same principle applies here.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

ONE OF THE MORE FASCINATING THINGS I’VE LEARNED about gardening in recent years, is that using red plastic mulch around tomato plants increases production of marketable fruit, compared with rolling out the black plastic mulch. That increase can average 12%! For a detailed look at how home gardeners can install it, see the April 20 Horticulture Newsletter. It includes brief entries on other topics also such as sharpening mower blades, pesky orchardgrass in tall fescue lawns, fertilizing strawberries, and more. It even explains and shows the difference between an ant and a termite.

DO YOU WONDER WHAT FARMLAND IN YOUR AREA IS SELLING FOR? OR WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TO PAY FOR YOUR COUSIN’S IRRIGATED LAND IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS? There’s plenty of variability in land values, based on region, productivity level, and local demand, so it’s hard to interpret an average for the value of farmland across our state. But we know that the price of non-irrigated farmland (most of Kansas) was $2,032 per acre in 2020, up slightly from 2019 but down 3.9% from the five-year average. The average price for irrigated cropland was $3,247 per acre, up from 2019 and 1.5% above the five-year average. Take a look at Kansas Agriculture and Land Values for 2020 for a summary of agriculture last year and a detailed look at farmland values right down to the regional and county level.

STRIPE RUST, A COMMON FOE OF WHEAT is beginning to show up in southeast Kansas wheat fields. Though observance of the disease is low right now, stripe rust, which can easily cut yields by 40% and even destroy an entire crop, is expected to expand. That’s according to a recent Agronomy eUpdate article. Take a look for great pictures of what to look for, and even where to look, depending on your crop’s stage of development. If you find it in your crop, send an email to extension plant pathologist Kelsey Andersen Onofre at andersenk@ksu.edu, who’s tracking the disease.

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For more resources and activities, contact the K-State Research and Extension office in your area. Check out our other blogs and subscribe to our weekly emails here: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/blogs/

Better Kansas – April 15, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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In this week’s Better Kansas, we touch on the resumption of 4-H summer camps, the food trend known as charcuterie, vegetable gardening, March update on climate and its effects on Kansas crops, and a webinar on USDA efforts to aid agricultural producers affected by COVID-19. This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC SHUTDOWN LAST YEAR, ROCK SPRINGS 4-H CAMP will open its doors this summer. That means hundreds of Kansas kids can disconnect from technology and experience the great outdoors through canoeing, horseback riding, fishing, and other activities. Take a look at the article, Kansas 4-H prepares to bring back summer camp for more information, including a radio interview on the topic. More information about 4-H in general is available on the Kansas 4-H website or by contacting your local extension office.

 

I’VE SEEN REFERENCES and a lot of photos in magazines of charcuterie boards – a collection of cold cooked meats and sometimes cheeses, nuts and other foods assembled together on a cutting board or serving platter. So, it was nice to find several videos devoted to charcuterie (and how to build your own) on the Wild West Extension District nutrition web page. Helpful for those of us who weren’t even sure how to pronounce this food and entertaining trend. Makes me want to have a little party! By the way, the Wild West Extension District is composed of Seward, Stevens and Haskell counties.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

CARROT, CUCUMBER AND PEPPER LOVERS LISTEN UP, now (or soon) is the time to get those plants growing in your garden. Whether you’re new to vegetable gardening or have successfully grown at least some of your own produce, there’s good information in the Vegetable Garden Planting Guide. It includes a concise calendar that indicates when vegetables should be planted in Kansas. Whether it’s asparagus or zucchini or pretty much anything in between, the guide provides handy information about the type of planting, average days to germination and first harvest, recommended number of plants or seeds in a 10-foot row, planting depth and more.

LAST MONTH WAS THE 5TH WETTEST MARCH SINCE 1895 IN KANSAS – especially good news for parts of the state that were in drought conditions. Northwest Kansas received 262% of the amount it normally does in March, according to the Kansas Ag-Climate Update for March 2021. The state was also warmer than normal, overall averaging 3.7 degrees warmer than usual. The conditions boosted the spring development of the winter wheat crop. The monthly Kansas Ag-Climate Update is a collaborative effort of K-State’s climate and extension specialists.

K-STATE HOSTED A WEBINAR NOT LONG AGO ON RECENT USDA NEWS related to pandemic assistance for agricultural producers. The USDA Pandemic Assistance for Producers webinar presented a recap of the steps USDA took last year to aid farmers and ranchers negatively impacted by COVID-19, plus provided information from K-State and Kansas Farm Service Agency representatives about more recent USDA announcements. More information can also be found in a USDA announcement.

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For more resources and activities, contact the K-State Research and Extension office in your area. Check out our other blogs and subscribe to our weekly emails here: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/blogs/

Better Kansas – April 8, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Header image for the Better Kansas Blog

Better Kansas – April 8, 2021

Today in Better Kansas, I share valuable information about free webinars on money management, plus Alzheimer’s disease, in-season fruits and vegetables, rose care, emerging crop insects and prospective plantings on U.S. farms this year. This is a small glimpse of what K-State Research and Extension across the state has to offer. Share on social media and subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

GET A GROUP OF COMMITTED PEOPLE TOGETHER – in this case extension educators  who understand the value of teaching about money management – and the result is Wallet Wisdom, a series of free webinars on Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. starting April 22, open to everyone. Interested? Register once and you can watch just one or all six webinars. Topics are: A Financial Checkup; Emotions and Money; Spending Plans; Increasing Savings; Debt Management; and All About Credit. Can’t watch at that time? They’ll be recorded to watch later. Personal note: For years, I thought banks should provide this kind of education, but I’ve rarely seen that. Some of us learned these lessons the hard and costly way. Also, if you have grown or mostly grown kids, please share this information with them.

 

I’VE WRITTEN ABOUT THIS BEFORE but not in this context, so please indulge me. Like many, my family had its first big gathering in about 1-1/2 years last weekend. My, how the children have grown! It was a wonderful day with gorgeous weather. One of the many there was a beloved mom and grandmother, and a vibrant former business owner…. and she has Alzheimer’s disease. She has been in even stricter isolation than the rest of us this past year and we were so grateful to finally share a day with her again. We at K-State are fortunate to have a specialist in adult development and aging who has studied Alzheimer’s disease and has prioritized educating the public about this horrible disease that afflicts a shocking one in every 10 people, age 65 and older. Take a look at Alzheimer’s 101 to learn more.

 

WE KNOW THAT THE PRICE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IS OFTEN LOWER WHEN THOSE CROPS ARE BEING HARVESTED, ALSO KNOWN AS “IN SEASON.” But when are those crops harvested in a typical year? A handy guide, What’s in Season was produced for the Walk Kansas program. Discover what’s in season when, plus cooking tips and healthy recipes to take advantage of that bountiful carrot or plentiful pea crop. I just wish we could grow oranges here in Kansas. Thankfully, our neighbors to the south are happy to grow them for us.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

WHEN LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON PRUNING ROSES IN MY OWN YARD, I found the fact sheet Rose Care. In four pages, it covers planting, pruning, insect and disease management, and provides suggestions for rose varieties that have grown well in the Kansas City area. It was produced by Johnson County K-State Research and Extension and the Johnson County Extension Master Gardeners. I’ll write more in an upcoming post about Extension Master Gardeners, but in the meantime check out the program.

 

IT’S NOT JUST US! THE BUGS AROUND US ARE ENJOYING THE WARMER SPRING WEATHER, TOO. Some showing up in farmers’ fields are alfalfa weevils (pictured, credit U. of California-Davis) and army cutworms. That’s prompted the first Entomology Newsletter of the season. For details about what to watch for, as well as management information so they don’t chomp their way through your smorgasbord … also known as your crop, take a look. I didn’t know that skunks are a way to detect army cutworms!

 

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED USDA REPORTS OF THE YEAR, PROSPECTIVE PLANTINGS, was released March 31. It indicated that U.S. farmers expect to plant corn on 91.1 million acres, up less than 1% from last year. Soybean and wheat acreage is expected to be up 5% and cotton down less than 1% this year. Listen in to an Agriculture Today radio interview with economist Dan O’Brien on the topic and its implications for those commodity markets. Also, take a look at the USDA’s Prospective Plantings information.

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For more resources and activities, contact the K-State Research and Extension office in your area. Check out our other blogs and subscribe to our weekly emails here: https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/blogs/