In this week’s Better Kansas, we touch on putting together advance directives, costs and benefits of home gardening, chiggers, western Kansas field days, chainsaw safety and a new ag research effort. 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
THERE ARE SOME CONVERSATIONS WE’D RATHER NOT HAVE, RIGHT? Like what happens to Mom’s jewelry when she’s gone? Or Uncle Bill’s sweet ’57 Chevy? Those may be decisions that can be put off to another day. One thing none of us should put off is making sure our wishes are clear if we can’t speak for ourselves in case of a medical crisis. It may sound morbid to say, but a pandemic will bring these conversations to the forefront like nothing else will. Without advance directive documents, decisions can be made for you that may be inconsistent with your wishes. Until I looked into this, I didn’t know the difference between “durable power of attorney for health care” and “living will” or “pre-hospital do not resuscitate” directives. They’re all considered advance directives and each is simply explained in Advance Health Care Planning in Kansas. Take a look for that information and more.
ACCORDING TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS :), NOW’S A GOOD TIME TO PLANT A FALL SALAD GARDEN. Many people cite cost savings as a reason to grow their own fruits and vegetables rather than buy them. To “dig” a little deeper, a new resource Gardening 911: Costs and Benefits of Home Gardening walks us through whether it’s more cost effective to grow our own produce than to buy it. It gets into the dollars and cents but also less obvious benefits: stress relief and mental health. Plus, there’s just something rewarding about growing … anything! I’ve had some successes with zucchini and cantaloupe but was a failure with strawberries. Surely it was the variety I chose?! Or the weather??
LIKE MANY OF YOU, I’VE BEEN OUTDOORS A LOT LATELY and am reminded that we share the great outdoors with many, many others. In this case I’m talking about chiggers. In looking through resources to learn more about those tiny little creatures, I’ve discovered that we have at least 46 SPECIES of chiggers right here in Kansas. And I so want to call them blood suckers, but in fact I also learned that they are no such thing. Take a look at Pests That Affect Human Health: Chiggers to learn more.
Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening
COVID-19 HAS CERTAINLY ALTERED OUR DAY-TO-DAY ROUTINES, but agricultural research goes on! To share research findings in western Kansas with farmers, ranchers and related businesses, K-State is having two virtual field days in late August. The Western Kansas Virtual Fall Field Day-Hays is Aug. 26 from noon to 1:30 and the Southwest Research-Extension Center Virtual Fall Field Day is Aug. 27 from noon to 1:30 p.m. The free events cover a variety of topics, including:
Aug. 26: New Herbicide-Tolerant Crop Traits and Weed Control Strategies in Western Kansas; The Role of Temperature in Insect Population Dynamics; Dual Use of Cover Crops for Soil Health and Forage in Dryland Systems; and Sorghum Hybrids for Early and Normal Planting.
Aug. 27: Alfalfa and Corn Insect Management Strategies Update; A Decade of Dryland Cover Crop Research in Western Kansas; Expanding Cotton Recommendations; and Bee Diversity in Edge Habitat of Active Croplands in Western Kansas.
Click here to register, or for more information contact the K-State Western Kansas Agricultural Research Center at Hays 785-625-3425 or the Southwest Research-Extension Center in Garden City 620-275-9164.
IS IT WEIRD THAT I GOT A RUSH FROM USING A CHAINSAW YEARS AGO? Under the watchful eye of my neighbor, Bill, of course. It was his chainsaw after all, and he knew I was a rookie. But wow, it made short work of some pesky tree branches! Anyone who’s used one or seen one in action knows that like much machinery, they can be hugely helpful and very dangerous. Those of you planning a project might want to review Chain Saws – Safety, Operation, Tree Felling Techniques. I always associated the term “kickback” with bribery. Chainsaws give it a whole different meaning.
ANYONE WHO THINKS FARMING IS THE SAME AS IT WAS EVEN 10 YEARS AGO might be surprised at the ever-increasing ways technology is being used to make growing the world’s food supply more efficient and sustainable. And many research efforts looking into ways to do that involve partnerships between universities and individual farmers. Read about one of the newest collaborative projects involving high speed precision seeding. As is the case with many research projects, K-State students will have the opportunity to work with the latest technology on the project.
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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/
