Starting Seeds

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.

Under our hot topics are the links to how to start your own plants from seed.

Voles in the Yard

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.

For me they are just a nusiance to live with. To learn all about voles you can go to:

http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/ro_b177.pdf

Horses, Legislators & Shooting Sports

February is a busy – and exciting month – in the 4-H youth development world! This weekend (over the Valentine’s holiday) 4-H members will be traveling to Rock Springs 4-H Center for Horse Panorama and to Topeka for Citizenship in Action (CIA). Let’s learn more about these youth learning experiences.

Horse Panorama is state-wide quiz bowl and demonstration contest focused entirely on the subject matter of the horse project. Members learn about hippology, perform demonstrations and participate in judging contests. Youth compete both on individual and a team basis. Different age divisions make this an enjoyable contest for all 4-H youth. This event will take place Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, another set of teens – 13 to be exact – are traveling to our State Capital on Sunday. They will be attending legislative sessions, workshops and visiting with local Representatives and Senators. The delegation will get the opportunity to debate mock bills, one of which is a texting while driving bill. The youth will be seated in both the House and Senate Chambers to debate and vote upon the 3 bills. This is truly government in action!

Riley/Pottawatomie counties are hosting a BB gun, Air Rifle and Air Pistol match in Havensville, Kansas, on Saturday. The event has 193 registered shooters from across the state! Shooters are competing for an opportunity to represent their team at state and nationals. Good luck to all 4-H participants this weekend! Congratulations to all for their hard work!

Gavel Games

The best way to have everyone’s input in a meeting is actually quite parliamentary, well, parliamentary procedure that is. Parliamentary procedure is a way to insure that each person present has his or her say in the matter being discussed. Effective use of parliamentary procedure makes meetings run smoother. It is a democratic process, created originally for government meetings. However, the process is quite useful for all types of meetings.

Would you like to learn more about parliamentary procedure? Come check out par-law in action at this year’s 2010 Gavel Games Contest! Youth teams of 4 or 5 will be competing to achieve purple ribbons on their parliamentary practices. The contest will be held on Saturday, January 30 at Blue Valley High School. Teams in Junior (age 7-10); Intermediate (age 11-13) and Senior (age 14-19) will be participating. The first teams are scheduled at 8:30 a.m. The contest will conclude at noon. Come check it out!

Not to Burst Your Bubble

The temperatures have been downright frigid, even by Kansas Winter weather standards. So, I decided to try an experiment. This morning (Friday, January 08, 2010) I decided to try blowing bubbles outside – with an air temperature of 2 degrees – to see exactly what would happen. I had been told that the bubbles will shatter is extreme cold temperatures. So, I bundled up, and set off to find out.

I conducted the experiment in an area beside the county office buildings. There was a South wall and a West wall. The area was fairly sheltered from large amounts of wind. I dipped the wand in the solution, and blew bubbles ten different times. I discovered that several things happened: First, bubbles that hit hard surfaces (concrete, bricks etc.) shortly after being blown, burst quickly. Second, bubbles that were airborne for a longer period of time did shatter into a big bubble gum like consistency. Third, bubbles that landed lightly in the snow, stayed in their bubble shape and became frozen in that state.

I plan to post some follow-up photos after a couple more experiment tries!

Landscape Lighting

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.
http://www.riley.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=214

Mulching Strawberries

The weather has beat me to covering the strawberries with snow. Strawberries are hardy. Straw, hay or in my case ornamental grass is used to prevent early bloom, frost heaving and to keep the berries out of the dirt. Anytime you can get around to mulching them will be fine.

A House of Sugar

Some illustrious 2-4th graders have been creating cottages – out of graham crackers, frosting and sweet treats. The foundation begins with a small milk carton set upon a white paper plate. The frosting is concocted with powdered sugar, water and meringue powder to make it set stiff.

Students had to plan a budget for their decorating costs. Candy items ranged in price from 5¢ to 20¢. Each student had $1.50 to spend on their house decorations. The students recorded their purchase intentions on a special sheet and then brought their money with their plan to the table. Be careful though – new crackers will cost you 10¢, if yours happen to break!

I was able to decorate my house on a budget of $1.20. What do you think?