Sept. 3, 2015
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Fall tips for Kentucky gardens
Family & Consumer Sciences
Do you know GMOs?
4-H Youth Development
Celebrate National 4-H Week
Fall tips for Kentucky gardens
Source: Richard Durham, extension horticulture specialist
Fall is a beautiful time in Kentucky gardens, but it can also be a messy time. Tree leaves turn from green to vibrant fall colors and then drop, creating big piles. Then there are the leaf and spent shoots from our flower beds.
The way we address our yard waste can have a significant impact on our gardens and on the environment. Gardeners commonly rake up and bag leaves to haul away to yard waste dumps.
This option, while tidy, uses a lot of energy, both yours and the energy to transport the leaves and mixed garden waste.
An alternative is to mulch leaves and yard waste. You could use the bountiful resource to enrich your lawn and garden, while creating less waste and air pollution.
A very simple technique with leaves is to rake them into a line and mow over them with your lawn mower.
The mower will chop the leaves into pieces small enough to fall between the blades of grass in your lawn. The chopped leaves will break down out of sight, provide nutrients to your lawn and improve the quality of your soil.
For larger items like spent flower stalks, composting is a simple, easy and environmentally friendly option. Done properly, it produces no odor and provides a generous amount of nutrient-rich organic compost for your garden, which reduces or eliminates the need to buy fertilizer.
Composting also eliminates the need to transport garden waste, making composting a triple-win situation for your garden, wallet and the environment.
The speed of compost production is influenced by the size of the material placed in the bin, so the more you can chop up the garden debris, the quicker you will have usable compost. Many options for compost bin design and construction are well suited to any location and budget.
Using leaves as mulch has many benefits. The mulch helps retain moisture in the soil and insulates plants from extreme winter temperatures. The decomposed leaves become an excellent conditioner for warming spring soil, helping to attract worms and other beneficial microorganisms.
For more information on mulching and composting, contact (YOUR COUNTY) cooperative extension service.
Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
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Do you know GMOs?
Source: Janet Mullins, extension professor
A lot of terminology exists surrounding genetically modified organisms, also known as GMOs, and other methods of food biotechnology. It can get confusing. Some basic information can help you as a consumer make informed decisions about the kinds of foods that are best for your family.
First, here’s a little background on the history of food biotechnology.
The basic definition of food biotechnology is an applied biological science to food. Since agriculture began, plant breeders have selectively bred plants to express traits that are particularly desirable for one reason or another. Some of these desirable qualities include greater crop yields and better food quality. In fact, without breeding for select traits, we wouldn’t have corn, kiwis or most other crops as we know them today.
Some of the most widely accepted breeding techniques can usually cause profound changes to the genetic systems of crops, much like nature does. Varieties created with most advanced techniques are permitted even in U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic production.
With that said, the term biotechnology is sometimes used to refer to genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is only one form of biotechnology. Scientists began understanding DNA and its role in organisms in 1953. Twenty years later, scientists first transferred a specific gene from one organism to another, which was the beginning of genetic engineering.
A big difference between traditional breeding practices and genetic engineering is that, in genetic engineering, the gene being transferred does not have to come from the same species. As a result, scientists can exchange genes between bacteria, plants and animals.
Most people have consumed genetically engineered crops without even knowing it. One of the first genetically engineered products on the market was herbicide-resistant soybeans. This variety of soybeans was readily adopted by farmers looking for better control methods for troublesome weeds and appeared in stores in the late 1990s. Soybeans are used as an ingredient in a variety of food products. Today, certain varieties of alfalfa, corn, canola, cotton, papaya, soybean, sugar beet and squash are genetically engineered. Most of the time, these crops are grown for animal feed, for processing or for fuel production. Relatively little is grown for direct human consumption.
But where do GMO’s come into play? Genetic engineering and genetic modification are synonyms, and genetically engineered crops are often called GMOs. The terms are really interchangeable, but in the case of GMOs, the “O” or organism is really just the crop, not a foreign substance inside the crop. Despite which term you use, both mean that plant DNA was purposefully manipulated by scientists in a laboratory.
Food companies are not required to label products containing GMOs at this time. One reason for this is because scientists throughout the world do not consider GMO crops as presenting new hazards for food safety. However, USDA-certified organic products are required to be produced without GMOs.
More information about these technologies and their role in sustainable food production is available at the (COUNTY NAME) Extension office.
Educational programs of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.
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Celebrate National 4-H Week
Contact: Kim Adams Leger, extension specialist for 4-H youth development
National 4-H Week is fast approaching. During the week of Oct. 4-10, more than 6 million young Americans will celebrate National 4-H Week. The week will showcase the great things that 4-H offers young people and highlight the incredible 4-H youth who make a positive impact on their community.
The Kentucky 4-H program, the largest youth organization in the state, creates an environment for positive youth development. With more than 22,000 volunteers, the program gives hundreds of thousands of young Kentuckians the opportunity to experience a sense of belonging with peers who may share similar interests. 4-H members are encouraged to learn independence and generosity while working toward their goals. They are provided safe environments in which to work, positive role models to look up to and numerous leadership opportunities. Kentucky 4-H helps guide youth in the life skills that they find interesting and is a rewarding experience for those involved.
Research has proven that participation in 4-H has a significant positive impact on young people. Recent findings from the Tufts University 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development indicate that, when compared to their peers, young people in 4-H are nearly four times more likely to contribute to their communities, two times more likely to pursue healthy behaviors and two times more likely to engage in science, engineering, technology and math programs outside of school.
During National 4-H Week, join (COUNTY NAME) in the celebration by coming to the (EVENT NAME AND INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE AND WHEN IT TAKES PLACE).
(MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EVENT AND 4-H PROGRAM)
For more information about National 4-H Week, contact your (COUNTY NAME) Cooperative Extension Service.
Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin.
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