The dormant season is a good time for me to get caught up on unwanted tree management. Young sapplings can be physically removed if I can't find someone wanting the trees. Some that have gotten to big such as these hackberries, I use an herbicide on the cut stump.
I recently got a replacement sweet cherry tree. For winter protection, I mulched and placed a plastic tree wrap around the trunk. I suggest using a wrap during the winter to prevent any chewing on the bark by voles or rabbits. We have young cats and I have witnessed them clawing the bark on many trees.
Carrots take a while to grow but the wait is worth it. These were started in this plastic bag lined laundry basket in July. The use of potting media allows for nicely shaped carrot roots. I used a mix of carrot varieties to get the different colored roots. The cool nights in the fall make for tasty carrots. I plan to plant for a spring crop next April.Officer duties vary per organization and officer role. Set a goal to try out a new officer role this year. Who knows what you might learn!
The only good thing about this year's popcorn crop was the little time needed for shelling. I got 1.5 poppings out of the crop. It did taste good!
Most grasses are well adapted to growing in our environment. There are a wide range of grasses to choose from. Now is a good time to view them as they finish up blooming and turning their fall and winter color.
Fall is here -- and it even is starting to feel like it in the weather department too! National 4-H Week will soon be here; October 3-9, and Riley County 4-H clubs are busy planning for the week.
I aerated the lawn and broadcast seed to repair the lawn. The soil was moist which makes for good 2-3 inch plugs for the seed to fall into. Hopefully, in 10 days the dead areas will be showing signs of green.
Bluegrass likes cool temperatures and water. This summer got too hot and turned dry. My lawn had looked great for the last 4 years. The tall fescue is still standing, but you can tell where the bluegrass had taken over. Over-seeding with a turf-type tall fescue blend is the remedy.
We are approaching the "final" weekend of summer, or at least most folks view Labor Day weekend as the final time to celebrate summer. The thermometer may still be on the toasty side, but fall will still soon be here. One of the final summer destinations for everyone should be the Kansas State Fair.
Visit with Riley County 4-H members and Riley County 4-H teen Ambassadors at Manhattan Town Center's Youth Activities Fair on Saturday, August 14.
Fall webworms are becoming noticeable in several of my trees. The picture is of our black walnut. They are also in the pear and crabapple.
It is almost time for the 2010 Riley County Fair! The Riley County Extension Office will be moved out to the fairgrounds at 1:00 p.m. today. It takes a bit to load up computers, printers, office supplies and more -- so thank you for your patience while we get moved and settled.
Hello there all your people of Manhattan, Kansas, it's Corinne Gates, your blogger for the day. We left the National 4-H center at about 7:45 this morning (don’t forget that would be 6:45 in Kansas), and spent almost an hour listening to Max and Richard’s political debate while we drifted in and out of sleep. We have absolutely nothing going on today besides driving…other than eating, driving, sleeping, and more driving.
The last 10 days have been quite an experience for all of us, on the first day, we went to the St. Louis Zoo, and were there for about two hours, getting lost in the mass of animals (well, at least Rachael and I did…).
Day two consisted of driving, and stopping at the Louisville Slugger Museum where we toured the factory, and received the privilege of viewing the ways bats used to and are currently being made.
Day three ended up with us traveling to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where we had an adorable little old man give us a guided tour around the park after we watched a video on Gettysburg and looked at a 40 ft X 140 ft painting of some of the events during the battle.
Day 4 took us to Baltimore, Maryland (Good Morning Baltimore was the song of choice as we entered the city). Where we spent a good amount of time going through the Baltimore Aquarium, and then had some time to spend finding lunch and things before loading back on the bus to head to D.C. We split up into groups of 3 or 4, as we traveled around the Chesapeake Bay. My group (which consisted of Rachael H, Brennan W, Brian I, and I) went up to the mall that was nearby (5 stories high!) and while Brennan and Rachael decided to eat Chinese food, Brian and I took a more American route and had McDonalds. After finishing our meals Brian and Brennan took a short detour to Gamestop while Rachael and I did some good old window shopping (and found a great deal at Wet Seal, Two shirts for a grand total of…4 dollars). After finishing up at the mall, all four of us decided to spend our last 30 minutes paddle boating on the Chesapeake, where the wind decided to gust up and blow my visor into the water, after retrieving it, it has now dried and is officially a souvenir.
After our adventures of travel, we spent a week in Chevy Chase, Maryland, where the 4-H center is located. We saw a lot of monuments (Washington, Iwo Jima, WW2, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, and Jefferson memorials), Mt. Vernon, Capitol Hill, and the Smithsonian Museums. We also got the chance to write a bill and have a mock congressional session. Last night we also had a talent show (that was an epic fail) and then a dance…which was better than the talent show…lets just say that.
Any way, I suppose that is all I have to say…OH! After lunch, Jeff decided to show off his mad impersonation skills and imitated Scooby Doo perfectly!!! WOOHOO!
So, thanks for tuning in to CWF 2010 broadcast #10, over and out!
As we come towards the end of our trip, I feel it appropriate to begin with a quote that so eloquently describes our time here in D.C.
“It’s pee-your-pants cool!” –Aly Baldree (a.k.a., our P.A.
My name is Sophia and I’m thrilled to tell you about today’s adventures and excursions as a CWF delegate. We enjoyed the freedom and excitement of Delegation Day today. This particular day is set aside for an (semi) independent exploration of the Mall. The Mall is, in my opinion, the pentacle of our nation’s capital. We had already experienced this general area of the city during Wednesday’s Capital Hill Day. However, our time today differed greatly from the previous trip.
It is difficult to give you a full synopsis of the day because we had so much independence and each chose to visit a variety of different places. Now, I suppose I should explain before this unsettles you to any extent. Your children were not running free, unaccompanied in a metropolitan area. We were in groups =). With the company of a few other delegates, we had the chance to see quite a number of significant places.
The vast majority of the delegation set out to see the National Archives first. FAIL. Not to discourage the importance of the documents on which our great nation stands, but the line to see them was a tad much. When we came across the line that wrapped half way around the block, it was unanimously decided that it simply wasn’t worth the three-hour wait. Following this unfortunate ordeal, each group set out in different directions. My group decided to continue a few blocks off the Mall to see Ford’s Theatre where President Lincoln was assassinated. Others went to the National Museum of American History, some to the National Museum of Natural History, a few to the National Air and Space Museum. I believe there were some delegates who went elsewhere, but these were the most popular.
I don’t know that any groups had a detour like our little side trip. We learned quite a few lessons today. Firstly, Ford’s Theatre is the kind of place that you make plans in advance to go see. Secondly, the International Spy Museum is the type of place that you go to with your parents. “Why?,” you may ask—tickets are ridiculously expensive.
So, back to the main Mall we went, where I believe it’s safe to assume most delegates had returned to after the National Archives fiasco. Way to go to all the wise travelers.
Everyone got lunch on their own. The Smithsonian is currently holding an international festival which I’ve heard was a great place for lunch.
After touring the Mall, we met back up at the American Holocaust Memorial Museum. I thought this was possibly the greatest museum I have ever been through. Unfortunately, I have been informed that this view is not shared by the entire delegation. Whatever the case, this museum was inarguably a valuable reminder of the importance of remembering our history in order to better our future.
Following the Holocaust Museum we embarked on journey of public transportation. First, we navigated the Metro (a frightening experience with such a large group). Next, we caught a bus back to the 4-H Center in Chevy Chase.
We went to dinner, had our last delegation huddle with our awesome P.A. Aly, and are now enjoying the CWF Talent Show. This is the result of the hard work of one of the committees in which Riley County is well represented. Next we’ll have closing ceremonies and finally, a dance.
Today has been a very busy, but exciting day. The entire experience so far has been tremendously impactful for us all and we can’t wait to get home! We’ll see everyone soon!
Sophia Harms
This is not a public service announcement. Just so you know, we do this because we care. Hello and welcome to this week’s second-to-last-day-of-CWF-before-we-leave post! I’m your co-writer, Brennan Walter, and you’ll hear from correspondent Rachael Hull in the next segment.
The day began with a good start, and by that we mean it didn’t start at all until 8:00 for most people because the first event didn’t start until 8:30 AM! However, kudos to Corinne for setting her alarm at 5 AM this morning and ruining it for everyone in her room. Anyway, we had a fantastic, late start to the day and proceeded to our “dot” groups to discuss the coming legislative session, which happened later that afternoon. After the dot groups, our group piled into our Arrowcharriot, piloted by Jeff “Apollo” Weeden, towards the Washington National Cathedral. It is actually named the Episcopalian Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul – named a cathedral because it houses the seat of the Episcopalian Bishop of Washington. The church is often used for services that many very important persons in Washington attend. The church is gigantic, full of gothic arches and flying buttresses. We went back to the 4-H Center and had some free time, lunch, and the congressional session where we debated four bills and it was totally the best part…
So yeah this is Rachael Hull now, the best part of this blog has now started! As Brennan said my wonderful roommate Corinne set her alarm at 5, but what he didn’t mention was that we then fell asleep again and woke up 30 minutes before breakfast ended! But beyond that the National Cathedral was AMAZING! The Cathedral is so pretty and extremely detailed. Our tour guide told us that some of the stone carvers would add things that were not in the original plan and showed us a carving of a cat chasing a mouse.
Today we also had a mock congressional session this afternoon which was really interesting, we debated 4 bills, one on biofuels, one on Phys. Ed, one on internet safety (that was the only passed), and the last one was on distracted driving.
We are currently on our way to Toby’s Dinner Theater to see “Hairspray” the musical, so I will let you all go, have a lovely day! Back to you, Brennan.
Hola Friends!This is Rebekah Roberts and the 30th of June. We only have five days left including today. Everyone is having fun, but uber tired.
Today we woke up between 5:00 and 6:00 for a long day on Capitol Hill. We boarded the bus and ate our specially made box breakfasts. We then headed to the White House where we toured rooms allowed for viewing for the public. Even though the security was extremely tight everywhere we went…we survived.
After touring the White House we bumped into Sentor Brownback (not planned) after he had picked up his drycleaning. We had the opportunity to ask questions and how he felt about them. He was a joy to talk to, but had to leave for a meeting.. I personally think he was embarrassed of his clean clothes.
After that encounter we headed upstairs into “his part” of the building. There his agriculture assistant, spoke to us about his job and experiences with Brownback and living in D.C. After seeing where the Senator’s office was, we happened to take some chocolate from the front desk.
We were disappointed to not meet Pat Roberts. However, we did meet with his assistant. After about 15 minutes a voice from God said, “Wake up, it can’t be that boring." As Senator Pat Roberts walked in, we all woke up, and poor Garrett was so scared, he about wet himself. =) He also had the chance to answer important questions we had.
At the end of our long, but fun day, we went to a terrific concert which the Army performed. “The Twilight Tattoo," sang songs, the drill team had a gun show, and the jazz band played beautiful songs. At the end of the concert the “Old Guard” dressed as former soilders in different wars and important times of our history. The narrator spoke a very effective speech that personally made me realize how lucky and grateful we are to be living in a free country.
Overall, today’s trip was extremely worthwhile and rewarding. I think everyone needs the opportunities that CWF brings. We have learned so much about our country, so far, in four full days. There is so much more to learn, and we have the opportunity to experience them!
Rebekah Roberts
Hello from Washington D.C.!!
Today we started out with a good breakfast from the Clover Café. We loaded the bus early and headed out toArlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Originally the cemetery was famous General Robert E. Lee’s plantation. The Union decided to bury dead soldiersto plant revenge to the confederate army. And that is how Arlington National Cemetery got started. We saw John F. Kennedy’s grave along with his wife and brother. We saw the eternal flame, which is to represent Jackie’s never-ending love for her husband. In the cemetery also is the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Every half hour there is a changing of the guards, which we got to see. After visiting the cemetery we saw the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. The memorial had many waterfalls representing the stages of his presidency. Since Roosevelt had polio and was in a wheelchair, the memorial is handicapped accessible.
After visiting the memorials, we ate lunch at the Clover Café. Next the delegates went to their workshops where we wrote bills about bio fuels, distracted driving, physical education being in schools, and internet regulations. After workshops are committee meetings. Before everyone left we chose committees to be on to help out with the conference. Today the healthy living committee held a derby where delegates got into their workshop groups and played games outside like human fooseball and tug-a-war.
The governance in youth committee held a town hall meeting where we split into groups and discussed many of today’s controversial topics. Many of the delegates had fun debating topics such as abortion, the right to bear arms, and legalizing marijuana. After the town hall everyone enjoyed dinner at the clover café. Then our delegate group made action plans. The first plan was to make an ideal first date. Then we made a list of issues that affect our lives and made action plans to achieve a goal to help the community.
Tomorrow we are going to Capitol Hill, which will be a whole new experience for us so we had a little orientation about what to expect. Now everyone is enjoying our limited free time that we have before bed. But some of us are going to bed early since we have to be on the bus at 6:30 in the morning!! We have a very busy day tomorrow so I am signing out!
Katie Taylor
Hi, this is your CWF blogger for the day - Rachael Hull!!
Waking up this morning was pretty hmmm interesting. We left the national 4-H center at 8:00, which meant some of us girls had to get up before 6:00, don’t forget that this would be 5:00 our time =).
This morning we took a trip out to Mount Vernon (aka the home of our country’s first President.) It was super cool to tour the mansion, also to see where George Washington and his wife are buried because you can see the crypts they were buried in. I think we all also enjoyed the discovery-learning center, if for no other reason we liked it because the discovery center was air-conditioned!
After our group got done touring Mount Vernon we visited the Iwo Jima memorial; I was very impressed with it because while I had seen pictures, I didn’t understand how huge it really is! It is a very interesting memorial because while it is a memorial for the battle of Iwo Jima it is also recognized as the national monument for all Marine Corps.
Later in the day we had both a workshop where we started talking about the bills that we will be writing this week and we also had committee meetings.
Tonight we had a night tour of several of the D.C. memorials; our group saw the World War 2 monument, the Vietnam memorial, the Lincoln memorial, the Korean memorial, and finally the Jefferson memorial. My personal favorite of our stops today by far was the Vietnam memorial because the way it is designed, all of the men who either died or went missing because of the war have their names on the wall of the memorial.
Thanks for tuning in to another blog from Riley County’s CWF delegates!
HI Everyone!This is Jamie Steele and we are finally headed to our temporary home, The National 4-H Center!!!
We boarded the bus this morning at 9:00 A.M., which gave us time to sleep a little more than days before when some of us girls were waking up at 5:00 to get to the bus on time.
So at 9 o’clock we were headed to Baltimore, Maryland!
The whole bus was in anticipation for our trip to the Baltimore National Aquarium, which I believe has been the best stop on the trip so far. We got our tickets from our lovely chaperones Christi and Andrea and we were off to the aquarium.
The aquarium was amazing! I’ve never seen so many colorful and enormous fish in my life! We saw sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, a giant sea turtle, and many, many small fish!
My favorite part of the aquarium was the dolphin show. I think that it is just amazing that the trainers can train dolphins to do so much! They were flipping and waving and splashing all over the place. The program narrator also stressed the fact of people need to recycle and preserve our oceans!
We had the rest of the time to walk around and shop on the harbor!
Well, we have just arrived at the 4-H center to check in and start our long trek to our rooms with our luggage!
‘til next time,
Jamie Steele (;
Our bus pulled out of the Ohio hotel parking lot at 6:45 this morning. Not too many of the delegates minded, as most of us slept on the 6 hour trek to Gettysburg. We stopped for lunch in West Virginia, and then continued on our way.
We arrived at Gettysburg around 2:15, and stopped at the visitor’s center. Some of the delegates were dragged into learning how to waltz with elderly professionals.
At 2:30 we entered a theater to watch an educational movie on Gettysburg. After the documentary, we took the escalators upstairs to a room with a historical painting of Gettysburg, and enjoyed an informational light show involving the painting. We then had about fifteen minutes to look around the rest of the center and to purchase souvenirs at the gift shop.
We boarded the bus with an adorable elderly tour guide who took us on a historical tour of Gettysburg. Along the way, he explained what happened during the three days of battle (July 1-3). We saw many monuments and historical artifacts. The guided tour was a total of three hours of educational fun.
At this current moment, we are traveling to our hotel. I’m not sure of the location, but its 45 minutes away. We will eat dinner and then have time to shop and hang out with our new friends.
Adios!
Courtney Voelker =)
This is Dani Crowell, bringing you the second blog post of the 2010 CWF group.
We woke up early this morning, having had our first night of hotel life with our new friends. After eating the complimentary breakfast, we loaded onto the bus around 7:30. Andrea congratulated us once we got the suitcases loaded, and on the open road, because we managed to leave 5 minutes early.
The first part of the morning, the bus was silent, and several people could be found dozing off. Perhaps it was the competitive game of pool volleyball played the night before. We took a quick break at a rest stop, and then hit the road again, with a movie. Poor “Cars” was no match for hilarious “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”.
Lunchtime brought a choice: either take the easy-way and go to Hardee’s, or face the feat of running across the busy roadway, for McDonalds. I chose to be adventurous. Apparently, McDonald’s is a favorite restaurant around there, because it was really busy, and there was even one of those Redbox movie machines inside.
Along the quick drive to the Louisville Sluggers Museum, there was interesting art. I happened to see a dragon-serpent bike rack, and a life-size blue horse, among many others. We parked along the road, and walked to the museum. As we turned a corner, we were met by a GINORMOUS baseball bat. It was big. After a quick video on the “Heart of the Game” (aka the crack of a baseball bat), the screen went up, and doors were opened, welcoming us into the museum.
We enjoyed the museum while we waited for our tour time. There was lots of things, including baseball bats used be famous players, (you could hold them if you wore white gloves), tons of bats hanging from the ceiling, and a pitching machine that chucked baseballs out of a hole in the wall at lightning speed.
Finally, it was time for our tour. Unfortunately, we could not take any pictures inside of the factory, because we may be spies from rival companies. We went through the life of a baseball bat, starting as a tree, and ending at the final painting. We learned that the cylinders of wood can be carved into baseball bats within 30 seconds, and even witnessed it. Also, if a professional baseball player orders a bat, it can be made and delivered to him within 48 hours.
After the museum, we decided to watch “Monty Python.” No comment from me on the movie.
Well, right now, everyone’s pretty excited to get off the bus. Everytime we pass over abridge, there are several distressed calls of, “Nooo! Water!” Needless to say, a restroom break should soon be arranged. We just pulled into the hotel parking lot, so I’m signing out.
NOTE: DO NOT CARRY MINI-BATS ON AIRPLANES. THEY ARE CONSIDERED A WEAPON.
Hello and welcome to the CWF 2010’s first blog post. I’ll be your host, Brennan Walter for the evening. As of the time this post was written, we have just crossed the Mississippi River into our third of the nine states or districts included in this great union, under a beautiful sunset behind the silver Gateway Arch, headed towards our first nightly destination in Mount Vernon,
Illinois.
The wheels on the bus turned round n’ round at 7:30, and we were soon off on I-70 with our first in-bus movie, “Wild Hogs.” We arrived in Kansas City and stopped off at a shopping center for a prompt bathroom break and for the bus driver to exchange some paperwork.
The quest for some of our delegates was to track down a mascot for our bus trip – and it was swiftly decided that a garden gnome should be our standard. While we thought we could find just about anything at a Wal-Mart, a expeditious search found no gnomes on the premises. Feeling rather disappointed, we boarded the bus again and arrived at the Columbia Mall food court for lunch.
The quest for the gnome continued – members searched a nearby Target attached to the mall and successfully located a common garden gnome, but the bounty attached to the gnomes head was more than our group was willing to pay – The gnome had escaped our grasp again!
We departed Columbia sans mascot and started our second movie, “The Blind Side,” which defeated the movie “Cars” in a landslide election. Our bus rolled into suburban St. Louis at around 2:30 and our bus driver skillfully and tactfully maneuvered into the St. Louis Zoo parking lot.
Our group had about two hours to explore the expansive St. Louis Zoo during the beautiful afternoon. The group consensus was that the very chilly penguin exhibit was by far the favorite. We departed the zoo at 5:30 and travelled the few miles to downtown St. Louis’ Union Station shopping center. While some delegates were content to save time and eat in the food court under the 1890’s train shed, some people just had to eat at the Hard Rock Café, where they spent just over an hour getting their food and made everyone late. To further exacerbate the situation, those certain members came back to the bus with their food in carryout packaging, as they had not even began to eat. Yes, Brian sitting next to me, that means you.
Oh well.
We travelled through downtown St. Louis and went past the famous Gateway Arch, and are set to arrive in Mount Vernon in a few short minutes. When we arrive, our delegates are very much looking forward to jumping in a pool and/or just getting off the bus. While we are very much settled into our mobile recliners, the better part of another three days still must be spent in our speedy Arrowstage. We are very much looking forward to the days ahead and are expecting the trip to be very fun.
Until tomorrow,
Cheers!
The first picture is a close up of infected leaf blade. Second picture is one of many brown patches that has developed in my tall fescue. This disease is called brown patch. It is common during hot and humid weather. Dew on the lawn and morning temperatures 65 degrees or higher will trigger the disease. I just live with it. There are preventative fungicides labeled for use. For more information go to http://www.plantpath.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=551
I came home the other day to find my pepper growing in a bag had been cut off and up rooted. What do you think would cause this? Another one next to it was fine.
protect leaf and fruit tissue. This disease rarely harms the juniper or cedar so protective treatment for those plants in July is not suggested.
My cabbage and broccoli seeds have germinated. I grow them in my unheated safe room. The heat mat gets them off to a quick start. Soon, I will need to transplant them to individual cells.
Voles or field mice have been active in a portion of our Eyestone property. They enjoyed the snow cover to protect themselves from predetors while foraging. Grasses, forbs, seeds, tubers, insects, and bark are some of their food sources. 
These aren't UFO's but the glow of landscape lighting in the snow. Lighting allows one to enjoy the outdoors for more hours during the day. It is also functional when used to light a path and can provide security. To learn more about it, click on the link. 
