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Author: Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Harvey County Fair Market Wheat Show

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

The Harvey County Fair Board, along with the Extension Ag. PDC will be conducting a county-wide Market Wheat Show at the 2018 Harvey County Fair.  Producer participation in this event is strictly voluntary.  If a producer wishes to enter, just inform the scale operator at the participating elevator.  Samples will be collected right off the truck as it comes across the scales.

The sample will be tagged with the producer’s name, address and variety on it.  All  producers that are entered will be sent a postage-paid envelope with a Crop Data Card  following harvest.  Simply fill out the agronomic information section of the card and drop it in the mail.  If this is done prior to July 15th, you will be entered into the Market Wheat Show. All of the wheat entries will be judged by the Kansas Grain Inspection Service prior to the County Fair and displayed at the Fair. Continue reading “Harvey County Fair Market Wheat Show” →

Grubs

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Be sure to check out these great landscapes during the Second Century Library Foundation Flower and  Garden Tour in Newton this weekend!  The times are: 9 AM to Noon on Saturday, June 9 and 1 to 4 PM on Sunday, June 10. The homes on the tour include:  2413 College Ave. North Newton; 2913 Bluestem Court, North Newton; 314 Glendale, Newton; and 1704 Cypress Lane, Newton.

This tour garden tour helps the library raised funds for the Newton Public Library.  Suggested donation is $8.00.  Admission brochure available at the gardens on the tour and the Newton Public Library.

Now on to grubs!

You don’t have to treat for grubs most of the time.  Sometimes the damage they do does warrant treatment to prevent damage to your lawn.  If you plan on using a grub preventative on your lawn, the first half of July is a good target date for most products. Preventatives are normally used on areas that have had a history of grub problems.

Traditional grub insecticides such as Dylox or carbaryl (Sevin) are normally applied in late July after grubs are present or as a rescue treatment once damage is seen. Products that contain Merit (imidacloprid) are considered grub preventers. Actually, these products do not prevent grubs, but rather kill grubs when they are quite small, and long before they cause damage. Merit is safer to use around pets and humans than traditional grub killers. Merit can be found in Bayer’s Season-Long Grub Control, Grub No-More and Grub Free Zone. Another grub preventer with the trade name GrubEx contains chlorantraniliprole. Though this product is very effective, it is less water soluble than imidacloprid. It should be applied earlier, preferably April or May, but applications through June should still be effective.

Remember, all grub products should be watered in soon after application.

How 4-H Camps Help Kids

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

 

The last two weeks have been fun, long, hot and tiring. Why has it been long, hot, and fun? Well, I have been at several different camps for our 4-H’ers.

The first camp I went to was Discovery Days. During Discovery Days, older 4-Hers get to live in the dorms. That means they sleep and eat in the dorms on the KSU campus. Then they get to sign up for classes and attend them across campus throughout the days they are there. This camp gives a 4-Her a great opportunity to see what college is like. They get to find their way around a place they have never been, they have to be on time and they get to learn about themselves in this process.

The other camp, I went to was 4-H Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. These kids learn a lot! This might be the first time they are away from home. They learn how to make new friends and they try new skills like archery, about bees, or soil conservation. These 4-Hers are counseled by an older 4-Her and the older 4-Her learns how to manage children, and be responsible.

4-H camps are a great way for kids to learn about themselves and learn skills they might never learn at home. It gives them a chance to learn many new things away from their normal lives and experience opportunities they might have never had a chance to do. Camps are wonderful to help grow our children into responsible young adults and then into the adults we want them to be.

Well-Being

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Vacations are essential to our emotional well-being. We all need time to unwind and focus on other things besides deadlines and daily pressures of “success”. If we do this, research has shown we will be more productive when we return to our work duties. We will also live longer and be in better health. You need to give your tired, over-worked body a chance to revive itself from daily pressures. Learning to listen to your body is essential to taking care of it and it’s hard to do when we are running from one event to another, skipping meals, running on little sleep and avoiding regular exercise.

Vacations offer us the opportunity to explore what we would like to do after retirement or as a hobby. What do you really enjoy in this life? When do you get to do it? Don’t put off today, learn to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and develop both hobbies and friends to share along the way. They suggest if you do physical work, then do something on your vacation that doesn’t involve a lot of physical effort, or if you work with a lot of people you may want to take a change of pace and be more solitary. If you work on a computer all day then maybe social activity is needed, look for ways to alter you pace in life and give you rest in your daily activities. It is also a great time for talking with your partner about your goals and dreams.   When we don’t take the time to explore these things, retirement can be frightening, “what will I do with my time?”   Continue reading “Well-Being” →

Mulching

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

There are many benefits to using mulch!  Mulching is an important practice that is often overlooked. Mulching can reduce the time spent in cultivating.

A mulch can:

* Conserve soil water.

* Control weed growth.

* Keep soil temperature uniform.

* Reduce frost damage to fruit.

One of the most effective ways of reducing the need to apply water to garden plants and conserve natural rainfall is to use garden mulches. Mulches are most appropriately used on summer crops when periods of water use are greatest. Mulches provide a barrier that helps prevent moisture loss from the soil by evaporation. They also can be useful in maintaining cooler soil temperatures, controlling weeds, reducing soil compaction, and keeping produce cleaner.

Plastic Mulches:

Black polyethylene mulch is preferred because clear plastic mulch promotes weed growth underneath it. Plastics usually are available in rolls from 3-4 feet wide. They are placed over the row or bed, the edges covered with soil, and various sized holes cut for the different crops. Black surfaces absorb heat, warming the soil for earlier production. Later, the foliage shades the plastic, reducing the heating of the soil. These mulches work best with warm-season crops such as tomatoes, melons, peppers, and eggplant, which are usually established by transplant. Continue reading “Mulching” →

Local Wheat Plot Tour

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Everyone is invited to attend and learn about the latest news on wheat varieties in our area. This year we will have two plot tours on one day, Friday June 1st.

The first tour stop will start at 3:00 pm at 8600 S Hillside. Directions – from the corner of K-196 and South Hillside, go South 1 ¼ mile, east side of the road.

At 6:00 PM will be the wheat plot dinner at Camp Hawk, 1801 SW 36th, Newton.  Then on to the KSU/DeLange wheat plot following dinner. That plot is located at SW 48th and Meridian ¾ south of the intersection.

The speakers from Kansas State University Extension for the tours will be Doug Shoup, KSU Crops and Soil Specialist; Eric DeWolf, Extension wheat and pathology specialist and Romulo Pisa Lollato, Extension wheat & forage production specialist.

The other speaker is Steve Ahring, agronomist from DeLange Seed.

They will provide information on wheat variety comparisons and much more information.

This in an excellent opportunity for you to see the new wheat varieties and compare the established varieties growing in Harvey County. Mark your calendars and plan on a fun time at out Wheat Plot Tour!

If you plan on attending the meal please give us a call at the extension office 316-284-6930 and let us know that you will be attending the event by May 29th.

Successful Vegetable Garden

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

If you were to ask a farmers’ market grower what it takes to have a successful vegetable garden he or she may say it takes a lot of work!  A lot of effort goes into producing a successful garden be it for the farmers’ market or in the back yard. There are many things to do between planting time and harvest. Consider each of the following cultural practices. Thinning many small seeded crops need to be thinned. For crops such as beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, and direct-seeded tomatoes or onions, it is necessary to thin some young plants from the thickly seeded row. An advantage of this process is that you can select the best of several plants and remove the poorer ones. This should be done 1-2 weeks after emergence of the seedlings. Weeding and cultivating Weeds are a natural garden competitor. They compete with vegetable plants for water, nutrients, and space. The use of mulches and cultivation will help control weeds. Don’t allow weeds to get a start. Control them when they are small. Mulching can reduce the time spent in cultivating.

Loosening the soil with a tiller or hoe accomplishes several things: Continue reading “Successful Vegetable Garden” →