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Category: June 2023

Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program

Posted on by djbechard

The Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (KSFMNP) is providing seniors who meet age and income requirements with $50 in coupons to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and honey from authorized farmers at local participating farmers markets, June 1 through September 15, 2023. Coupons are available in $5 increments.

To be eligible to receive KSFMNP coupons, the following criteria must be met:

  1. Age: A senior must be 60 years old or older, or at least 55 years old and a member of an Indian Tribal Organization, on the day the money is issued.
  2. Income level: A senior’s annual gross household income (before taxes are withheld) must be at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. For example, a household of one must have an annual gross income at or below $26,973, or a monthly gross income at or below $2,248

Applications for the Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program will be available starting on June 1st, at any Post Rock Extension District office.

By: Brenda Langdon

What Do Those Dates Mean?

Posted on by djbechard

Most of us don’t want to serve “outdated” food to our families, but we also don’t want to throw food away unnecessarily. So how can we keep ourselves and our families from getting sick from eating food that is past its prime of safety, but also not waste food?

  • The only food product on which expiration dates are federally regulated is infant formula. Therefore, you should NOT buy or use baby formula after its “use-by” date, for both safety and nutritional reasons.
  • Some states do require dating for foods, but other than infant formula, there is not regulated food dating system across the United States. Dates are put on products in a variety of ways. The United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) does provide the following definitions for various terms used on food product labels.
    • “Sell by” date: Tells the store how long to display the product for sale. You should buy the product before that date.
    • “Best if used by (or before)” date: Recommended for best flavor or quality. It is NOT a purchase or safety date.
    • “Use by” date: The last date recommended by the manufacturer for the use of the product while at peak quality.

*Note that these dates generally refer to food quality, rather than safety. However, they can give a general idea of how long the food has been in the market.

  • Many canned foods are required to have a packing code, which enables manufactures to rotate their stock and locate their products in the event of a recall. These codes are NOT meant for consumers to interpret in any way as use-by dates (unless they are clearly marked as a use-by date).

By: Jamie Rathbun

Moth Invasion

Posted on by djbechard

Have you been bombarded by moths this year?

They are actually army cutworm adults.  The army cutworm adult moths have dark, gray-brown forewings and distinct markings.

Adult females lay eggs in the fall with caterpillars emerging from eggs from fall through winter. The caterpillars (larvae) feed on alfalfa and wheat.  Army cutworms overwinter as larvae in the soil.  Adults emerge from pupae located in the soil in May.

Why such a big outbreak? There is no direct answer, but outbreaks of army cutworm tend to occur every 10-15 years.  There is one generation per year in Kansas.

For more information, check out the Kansas Insect Newsletter-

https://entomology.k-state.edu/doc/extension-newsletters/2023/KSInsectNewsletter%2005.pdf

By: Cassie Thiessen

Understanding Your Health Insurance

Posted on by djbechard

Understanding the key terms and details of our health insurance can be confusing.

The deductible is the amount you pay out-of-pocket before your insurance pays.  For example, if you have a $1,000 deductible, you pay the first $1,000 of your medical expenses, then your insurance will start to help out. Some policies are designed to allow certain services at a co-pay amount during this deductible phase.

The out of pocket maximum is the most you will have to pay for covered services in a year.  Once you reach this amount, your insurance covers 100% of your medical expenses.  It is common for a policy that has out of network coverage to have a separate out of pocket maximum for in and out of network services.

A copay is a fixed amount you will pay for certain services, like a doctor’s office visit. For example, you might pay $20 for a check up and your insurance covers the rest.

Coinsurance is a percentage of the cost.  You might pay 20% and your insurance company pays 80%. These costs are most often incurred after you meet the deductible and before you meet the out of pocket maximum.

One way to help control the costs when using your health insurance, is to make sure the providers you are using are in your plans network. Some plans will not cover if you use a provider not in their network, and some plans will cover if you go out of network, but it will be more expensive for you to do so.  For example, you may pay 40% rather than 20% of the cost.

 

By: Brenda Langdon

Start Your Day the Good Way

Posted on by djbechard

When it comes to breaking the overnight fast, whether to eat breakfast – and what to eat if you do – can be a confusing topic. The fact is, if you do it right, the morning meal can offer an important opportunity to nourish your body, and it may help with weight control.

Breakfast is a great opportunity to bring in foods which you may be falling short on, such as dairy products (milk, yogurt, cottage cheese) whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. A whole-grain hot or cold breakfast cereal, plain yogurt with granola, or a cottage cheese topped with fresh or frozen fruit and nuts is a quick, simple, nutritious, and satisfying way to break your fast. A slice of whole-grain toast or a whole wheat wrap makes a great base for peanut or other nut butter and banana or apple, melted cheese and tomato, mashed beans and salsa, or mashed avocado and hard-boiled egg. Eggs are fine for breakfast in moderation.

Think of breakfast as a nutritional bonus. Breakfast is the opportunity to have whole-grain items or dairy products that you might not have for another meal during the day. Choose breakfast as a health goal. Start your day the good way, with breakfast.

By: Jamie Rathbun

Tomato Leaf-Spot Diseases

Posted on by djbechard

Two common leaf-spot diseases will likely appear on tomatoes once the weather starts to heat up. Septoria leaf spot and early blight are both characterized by brown spots on the leaves.

Septoria leaf spot usually appears earlier in the season than early blight and produces small dark spots. Spots made by early blight are much larger and often have a distorted “target” pattern of concentric circles. Heavily infected leaves eventually turn yellow and drop. Older leaves are more susceptible than younger ones, so these diseases often start at the bottom of the plant and work up. Mulching, caging, or staking keeps plants off the ground, making them less vulnerable. Better air circulation allows foliage to dry quicker than in plants allowed to sprawl.

Mulching also helps prevent water from splashing and carrying disease spores to the plant. In situations where these diseases have been a problem in the past, rotation is a good strategy. Actually, rotation is a good idea even if you have not had problems in the past. But many gardens are too small to make it practical. If you have room, rotate the location of the tomatoes each year to an area that has not had tomatoes or related crops (peppers, potatoes, eggplant) for several years.

If rotation is not feasible, fungicides are often helpful. Be sure to cover both upper and lower leaf surfaces, and reapply fungicide if rainfall removes it. Plants usually become susceptible when the tomato fruit is about the size of a walnut. Chlorothalonil is a good choice for fruiting plants because it has a 0-day waiting period, meaning that fruit can be harvested once the spray is dry.

Chlorothalonil can be found in numerous products including Fertilome Broad-Spectrum Landscape and Garden Fungicide, Ortho Garden Disease Control, GardenTech Daconil, Bonide Fungonil and others. Be sure to start protecting plants before these diseases are first seen if they have been a problem in the past. It is virtually impossible to control these diseases on heavily infected plants.

If chlorothalonil doesn’t seem to be effective, try mancozeb (Bonide Mancozeb Flowable). Note that there is a five-day waiting period between application and when the fruit can be harvested.

By: Cassie Thiessen

Financial Tips

Posted on by djbechard

Rebuilding your life after a disaster may be a challenge.  Having access to personal, financial, insurance, medical and other records is crucial for starting the recovery process and easing the stress.

  • Gather financial, personal, household and medical information. Store these and other important documents either in a safety deposit box, a fireproof box at home, an external drive, or on a cloud to make it easy to access during a disaster.
  • Keep a small amount of cash at home in a safe place. It is important to have small bills on hand because ATMs and credit cards may not work during a disaster when you need to purchase necessary supplies, fuel or food.
  • Obtain homeowners or renters insurance, health, and life insurance if you do not have them. Not all insurance policies are the same. Review your policy to make sure the amount and type of coverage you have meets the requirements for all possible hazards. Homeowners insurance does not typically cover flooding, so you may need to purchase flood insurance separately.

Be cautious about sharing personal information such as bank account, social security, or credit card numbers, and be aware of scammers who might try to take advantage of you during stressful times.

By: Brenda Langdon