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Agriculture

  • Cut flowers should be enjoyed indoors

    Spring has finally ushered in May flowers! I love cut flowers from the garden. There is a simple, happy satisfaction that comes from picking a bundle of peonies for the kitchen table. Just be sure to shake the ants off first. The other thing about a cool spring with adequate rainfall is that the weather is acting as a sort of preservative: all those beautiful blooms are lasting longer than normal.

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  • Good show for lilacs this year
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  • Don’t rush the summer vegetable garden

    I am heading to Boulder, Colo., for a Slow Money National Gathering Conference, and at this writing, they are melting a record April snowfall. A warming trend occurs before my arrival, thank goodness! 

    Our cold spring met with a blizzard in my destination, which is the one opportunity I have to get away for some continuing education this year. That does not sit well. 

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  • Farmers intend to plant more soybeans, wheat in Kentucky this year

    Kentucky Press News Service

    Crittenden Press

    Planting intentions by Kentucky farmers show more soybeans and wheat will be planted for the 2013 crop season, according to the Kentucky Field Office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

    Meantime, corn and hay acres for harvest are expected be below last year.

    The Intentions Survey represents acreage farmers intend to plant and/or harvest as of March 1. Winter wheat was seeded in the fall of 2012.

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  • Governor announces 2013 on-farm energy incentive program

    FRANKFORT, Ky, — Governor Steve Beshear recently announced the availability of the 2013 On-Farm Energy Efficiency & Production Incentives program through the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.

    For 2013, the KADB’s commitment of $1 million leveraged additional funds through the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet to bring the total available funds for 2013 to $1.75 million. 

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  • Rethinking the lawn

    I used to have a visceral response to lush spring grass; it gave me anxiety because I knew it was time to get on the Scag and start mowing.

    This year I see the grass in a different way because it is potential pasture for our growing herd of sheep. We use moveable, electrified fence and rotational grazing methods to keep the pasture and the herd healthy, so the more grass I have, the better. It is a liberating feeling not worrying about getting the grass mowed.

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  • Transition houseplants outdoors

    Our current warm sunny weather — it’s about time — has made everyone just delighted and the intoxication of all of it may lead us to act impulsively. I am as anxious as anyone to move some of my houseplants outdoors: my gardenia looks terrible in the dining room and the jasmine downstairs seems to stare into space dreaming of better days; those days are coming, just be slow about the transition from indoors to out. 

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  • Dogs trained to sniff out illegal wildlife shipments

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a message for would be wildlife traffickers:  There’s a new dog in town, and if you try to bring illegal wildlife parts into the country, there’s a chance he is going to sniff you out.  And there are more just like him. 

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  • Match mulching material with plant’s needs

    Mulch has become a landscape staple, almost to a fault when it is over-applied, smothering roots and girdling trunks! When done properly it can help to suppress weeds, retain moisture and moderate temperature. These things can be achieved using a variety of materials but which type of mulch suits your needs best?

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  • National Agriculture Week proclamation

    Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, second from right, holds his proclamation naming March 17-23 National Agriculture Week in Kentucky. On hand for the unveiling of the proclamation at Comer's office in Frankfort were, from left: Bonnie Jolly of the Kentucky Pork Producers Association, Meredith Scales of the Kentucky Dairy Development Council and Dave Maples of the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association.

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