You will not want to miss K-State Garden Hour on April 6th at noon. We will be discussing pollinator plants for continuous food sources. You will learn how to provide season long pollen and nectar sources in the garden for our pollinators to forage on.
We also have a large library of past webinars for you to view to help with spring gardening.
Register here: https://hnr.k-state.edu/extension/info-center/k-state-garden-hour-webinar-series/k_state_garden_hour.html
By: Cassie Homan
Do you have the spring-cleaning bug? Or just want to learn ways to keep your home free from clutter? Join Brenda and Ashley for a fun program to learn how to keep your home tidy! This free program will be held at 5:30pm at the Osborne Public Library on April 11th.
This is also a perfect time to focus on moving more to stress less being that April is “move more month” and “stress awareness month”! Brenda and Ashley will cover ways to increase movement during your daily activities to reduce stress along with daily tips to reduce stress. Join us at the Osborne Public Library on April 18th at 5:30pm.
Be sure to call the library to register for this event at (785) 346-5486
By: Ashley Svaty
April is a good time to stop and think about your family’s financial goals. April is annually declared financial literacy awareness month and usually it coincides with doing your taxes – which is a chance to look at what you are earning and what you are spending.
After filing your taxes, is also a good time to review your tax withholdings and update your W-4, if you want more or less money withheld from your paycheck. Adjusting withholdings will increase or decrease the refund amount you get from the IRS each year.
Think about the expenses you have every month and the expenses you have periodically throughout the year. If you are spending more than you earn, then you are either taking money from savings or you are using credit. Sometimes in the short run, using credit is what you need to do, but in the long run, it’s not sustainable.
Financial success and happiness takes planning. Evaluate your financial situation relative to your career choice, define your financial goals, develop a plan of action to achieve your goals, and implement a spending plan to monitor and control your progress.
Celebrate financial literacy month by finding a book, class, or podcast to further your personal finance knowledge.
By: Brenda Langdon
The veggies we grow in the garden fit into two groups, based on their temperature preferences- cool season and warm season crops.
Most cool season crops can be planted and will germinate when soil temperatures average 45F. These include:
Most warm season crops will not germinate and should not be planted until soil temperatures are 55F – some even 60F. These veggies are:
We typically reach the 45F level about mid to late March and the 55F level around late April.
The next step is finding out your soil temperature. K-State Mesonet Site is a great resource to find local soil temperatures. https://mesonet.k-state.edu/
By: Cassie Homan
If you preserve food using a dial gauge pressure canner, it is recommended to test the gauge for accuracy each year. Now is the best time to bring your canner lid into one of our offices to have it tested to accuracy by our Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Agent, Ashley Svaty, to help to ensure you have a safe home preserved product. If your dial gauge is not accurate, Ashley will help you adjust or replace your gauge to ensure you are safely processing. Overall, you don’t know how accurate your gauge is without having it tested. Testing is free. Just drop off your canner at any of our offices in Beloit, Lincoln, Mankato, Osborne, or Smith Center. Test your dial gauges now, before canning season begins!
By: Ashley Svaty
The Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy, sometimes referred to as Extra Help, assists people with limited income and resources with paying for their prescriptions. Extra Help pays for a Medicare beneficiary’s plan premium up to a benchmark amount, and at the pharmacy beneficiaries pay no more than $10 for their medications.
Extra Help is administered by the Social Security Administration. There are two levels of Extra Help: full and partial. People who receive Medicaid, a Medicare Savings Program, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will be automatically enrolled into Extra Help.
Income limits are set based on the federal poverty guidelines which were updated in January. The Extra Help income limit for a single individual is $20,385 per year, or $1,699 per month. The income limit for a couple is $27,465 per year, or $2,289 per month.
Resource or asset limits to receive full Extra Help are $9,900 for an individual and $15,600 for a couple. Partial help limits are $15,510 for an individual and $30,950 for a couple.
Beneficiary’s must meet both income and asset guidelines. If you think you might qualify or have questions contact Brenda at 785-346-2521 or bklangdon@ksu.edu.
By: Brenda Langdon
New strawberry plantings should be set early in the growing season so that mother plants become established while the weather is still cool. The mother plants develop a strong root system during this cool period when soil temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees F. The most appropriate planting time is mid- to late March in southern Kansas and late March to mid-April in the northern areas of the state. Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart.
Later in the season, daughter plants develop. The earlier the mother plants are set, the sooner the first daughter plant will be formed and take root. These first daughter plants will be the largest daughter plants at the end of the growing season and will bear more berries per plant the following spring. When planting is done later, the higher temperatures stress the mother plants resulting in reduced growth, weaker mother plants and delays in daughter plant formation. Fewer and smaller daughter plants produce fewer berries, resulting in a smaller crop.
Remove all flowers during the first year. New plants have limited energy reserves that need to go toward establishing the mother plants and making runners rather than making fruit. If fruit is allowed to develop the first year, the amount of fruit produced the second year is drastically reduced due to smaller, weaker daughter plants.
Keep row width at 12 to 18 inches as strawberries bear most on the edges of the row rather than the center. A rototiller or hoe can be used to keep the row at the recommended width.
By: Cassie Homan
