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Better Kansas – Ideas for Living, Growing and Succeeding

Tag: clutter

Better Kansas – March 4, 2021

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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Better Kansas – March 4, 2021

In this week’s Better Kansas, I cover spring cleaning and organizing our homes as well as our financial records, environmental education and help for small businesses, government agencies and teachers, gardening know-how, helping students by taking an herbicide use survey and imminent crop insurance decisions. 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

MARCH CAME IN LIKE A LAMB RATHER THAN A LION THIS YEAR, which expedited my good intentions to do a thorough spring cleaning. I find Cut the Clutter and Get Organized helpful in times like this, partly for the good tips and partly because it gives me comfort that there are enough people like me that there’s a publication to encourage us to do something about those stacks of stuff. I especially like the reminder to start with a good attitude! Now, about those good intentions ….

 

WHILE WE’RE ORGANIZING OUR HOMES AND OFFICES, this is a good time to get our financial records in order, too. Our Valuable Records is a free downloadable and printable resource that provides spaces for important contacts, insurance policy information, bank and retirement accounts … all that information you wish your parents had left or your kids would appreciate if you’re incapacitated or worse.

 

MOST OF US KNOW WHY IT’S IMPORTANT FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE TO CONSERVE ENERGY, but there’s actually help for businesses, teachers and government agencies in determining ways to do that. The Kansas Energy Program provides education, grant information and technical assistance to small businesses, K-12 educators and government entities. Its goal is to encourage the implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy. To learn more, take a look.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

GARDENERS, I KNOW YOU’RE ITCHING TO GET OUT THERE! If visions of sugarplums and reindeer have been replaced by flowers and veggies in your head, we know it’s almost spring! There’s no better time to look at the Kansas Garden Guide. It’s a wealth of information about growing everything from carrots and radishes to herbs and watermelon. And it’s written specifically for our conditions in Kansas – a lot different than say, Alabama or Nevada. It also covers the basics of soils, composting, container gardening and much more. There’s a reason why this publication generally tops the list of most popular K-State Research and Extension publications.

 

HELP US HELP OUR STUDENTS! Weed science graduate students (you know … those scientists, educators and producers in the making) are investigating how herbicide application practices such as sprayer speed and spray volume influence weed control and whole-farm efficiency. They’ve devised a short survey on herbicide application practices and would appreciate your participation. For more information and a link to the survey, take a look.

 

MARCH 15 IS FAST APPROACHING. DO YOU KNOW YOUR ARC FROM YOUR PLC? HAVE YOU CHOSEN YOUR CROP INSURANCE PROGRAM? If not, resources developed by K-State agricultural economists will be helpful. The article, Decision Time: ARC or PLC 2021-2022 includes a link to the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC)/Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Tradeoff Spreadsheet and an associated discussion, plus updated estimated crop prices for the 2021/2022 marketing year. The acronyms are alphabet soup, I know, but critically important stuff for crop producers.

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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 – Sept. 12, 2019

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Welcome to Better Kansas. Where every Thursday we shed light on events, resources and other information designed to make your life, businesses, communities and state better. Share on social media and don’t forget to subscribe! – Mary Lou Peter mlpeter@ksu.edu

Better Living, Better Communities

WHEN IT COMES TO PARENTING, IT CAN SEEM LIKE WE ARE FEELING OUR WAY IN THE DARK! One of the topics so difficult to know how to handle with children is the concept of money. Questions I struggled with are how to tell a child you’re not able to buy something (or seriously, do you think we can afford a swimming pool?). When is a good time to start an allowance or IS an allowance even a good idea? Should I pay a 12-year-old to help with household chores? Or clean his room? Through a Child’s Eyes: Helping Children Understand the Concepts of Time, Money, and Talent brings up questions and suggestions that pretty much all parents think about at some point. Consider the unintended consequences of paying a child to do something. When you pay her to perform a task, it changes the way she thinks of that task and she may expect compensation every time. Take a look for more things to consider. Wish I’d thought of these things a few years back!

THERE’S SOMETHING WEIGHING ON US and I mean that literally. And only we can do something about it. I mean the obesity problem in our state and country. Thirty-three percent of Kansas adults are obese, and many of us eat poorly and do not get enough exercise. Sometimes it helps to have guidance. Enter SNAP-Ed, a nutrition education program provided to Kansas families with limited resources. We partner with numerous agencies and last year, in 72 of the state’s 105 counties, reached 40,717 Kansans through SNAP-Ed programs.

ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME KNOWS I HAVE A TENDENCY TO save things. I tear out magazine articles, set aside mail to read one day and save household items and furniture just in case my grown children might want them someday. They’ve politely told me “no” more times than not, so I need to get serious about selling, donating or just pitching things. If this sounds like you, take a look at Cut the Clutter and Get Organized. I’m going to start the process one room at a time. Eventually, I’ll work my way to the basement, but that’s downright scary.

Better Farming, Ranching and Gardening

THEY LOOK LIKE WHAT ‘E.T.’ BUILT TO PHONE HOME, but the 62 weather stations set up around the state don’t send messages to a different planet or alien spacecraft. They DO measure wind speed and direction, air temperature, precipitation and more, continuously sending the information back to K-State’s campus where it’s stored at the Weather Data Library. The system of weather stations, called Kansas Mesonet, is beneficial to science teachers, construction companies, farmers, ranchers … anyone interested in current and historical weather information for the state. And it’s used routinely by the National Weather Service. Read up on some of the latest developments.

WHILE WE’RE ON THE TOPIC OF WEATHER, I happened to hear a recent KCUR “Up to Date” radio segment (Kansas City area NPR station) focusing on how devastating this year’s floods have been for many Kansas and Missouri farmers and the long-term effect on soils. The interview features a northwest Missouri farmer and a K-State soil scientist. Very informative. The segment starts about the 22:30 mark. Listen in.

GOING TO THE DOGS: THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL AGRICULTURE FIELD DAY, but on Oct. 8, K-State Research and Extension is hosting Beef Production and the Working Cow Dog in Williamsburg, Kansas. We have A LOT of educational opportunities around the state every year, but I don’t remember seeing one on this topic. Hope you check it out.

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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/