1) Tips Can Protect Credit Cards

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Make a note of the date you apply for a new credit card and the toll-free telephone number on the application. Then, if the new card fails to arrive in a few weeks, notify the credit card company, said Marilyn Bischoff, Extension family economics specialist, University of Idaho, Boise. 

Customer service representatives will typically be able to access the date the new card was mailed. If the new card has failed to arrive they can also activate a fraud alert, said Bischoff, in Manhattan to train K-State Research and Extension agents. 

The same advice applies to renewals on existing accounts approaching the expiration dates printed on the card, she said.

To protect mail, consider a locking mailbox or post office box for incoming mail, Bischoff said. Pick up mail promptly or fill out a “hold mail” card if you will be out of town or otherwise unable to pick up the mail.

- Source: Kansas State University Research and Extension


 

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2) All-America Selections Marks 75^th Birthday by Naming Five Garden ‘Classics’

MANHATTAN, Kan. – All-America Selections started testing flower and vegetable varieties in 1932, recruiting independent judges to grow and evaluate plants across the United States. So, it’s had 75 years of winners to choose among for an All-America Classics list to celebrate its Diamond Anniversary.

“Plants’ earning a place as one of the five all-time classics – so far, at least – means these winners’ improved traits have really stood the test of time. They’re still clearly superior varieties,” said Ward Upham, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.

The AAS’s classics include one vegetable plant and four annual flowers:

* Big Beef - a near-foolproof beefsteak-type tomato variety with big, tasty fruit. Multiple-disease resistance was unknown before its introduction in 1994. Big Beef’s hybrid vigor makes it easy to grow.

* Ideal Violet - the variety that in 1992 extended the dianthus growing season with 1.5-inch violet, single blooms. Ideal Violet is a continuous-flowering dianthus that’s extra cold and heat tolerant, plus needs minimum care. It was the first dianthus to receive the AAS Bedding Plant Award.

* Majestic Giants Mix - the small-plant, big-flower variety that in 1966 sold pansy breeders on the idea of developing hybrids. It didn’t require cool weather to sprout, making pansies a fall or spring annual. It brought adaptability, vivid flower colors, free blooming and unusually long life.

* Ultra Crimson Star Petunia - the first AAS Bedding Plant Award winner of any kind, named in 1988 after trials in both greenhouses and gardens. Even in less than ideal soil, the plant freely produces 3- to 4-inch crimson, grandiflora petunias with a consistent star pattern. Yet, pinching isn’t necessary.

* Wave Purple - A genuinely new petunia that impacted the entire annual flower industry in 1992 and brought its breeder a rare AAS Breeders’ Cup Trophy. Wave Purple revived buyer interest in annuals because it acts like a self-rooting ground cover. It’s also is easy to grow, free-flowering and disease-free.

As former AAS winners, the classics also have proven ability to perform well nationwide, Upham added. That’s important in states such as Kansas, which experience all kinds of weather extremes.

Photos of the Classics are available on the Web at
http://www.all-americaselections.org/classics.asp.


 

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3) Tips for Parents: Home-Grown Veggies Appeal to Kids

WICHITA, Kan. – Growing vegetables can trim the grocery bill and add to family meals, said Evelyn Neier, coordinator of the Junior Master Gardener program in Kansas.  

“Children typically take pride in the vegetables they grow and look forward to eating them,” she said.

Growing vegetables does not require a substantial investment or large garden plot. Seeds are inexpensive, and vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, spinach and peppers can do well in pots on a patio or deck, said Neier, who recommended using a large pot or container with a hole in the bottom for drainage and using a commercial potting soil.

In Kansas, cool season crops such as leaf lettuce, onions, radishes and spinach can be planted in mid-March to April and replanted (as a second crop) in early September.

Snap beans, okra, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelon, and squash can be planted in May, but Neier recommends waiting until the danger of freezing temperatures (below 32 degrees) has passed before planting tomatoes or peppers.

The Kansas Junior Master Gardener Program – which combines science, language arts, mathematics, social studies and life skills -- is partially supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Family Nutrition Program. Neier is a horticulturist and Kansas State University Research and Extension 4-H youth development specialist based in Wichita, Kan.

More information on Kansas’ Junior Master Gardener Program is available at K-State Research and Extension offices and on the Kansas 4-H Web site: www.kansas4h.org and click on “Programs”.


 

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4) Kansans With Wooded Acreage May Have Financial Resource

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Just 15 to 20 good-quality hardwood trees are enough to attract competitive bids from timber buyers. But, many timber owners have never learned that fact.

“Kansans who have just a little bit of woodland already supply over 85 percent of the timber for the state’s sawmill industry – which can produce more than 31 million board feet per year. They supply some for Missouri mills, too,” said Bob Atchison, Kansas Forest Service.

Unfortunately, those same Kansans tend to be surprised that their trees are worth anything, he said. So, more often than not, they sell on a handshake, rather than testing to find fair market value.

“That’s bad in that it’s cheating themselves,” the forester said. “Buyers’ bid offers for harvest-ready trees can sometimes vary by thousands of dollars.”

Atchison recommends owners learn to recognize all of the good-quality hardwood species.

Links to descriptions of native Kansas trees and their uses, as well as photos of their leaves and overall structure, are on the Web at http://www.kansasforests.org/conservation/deciduous/.

Atchison believes owners also can educate themselves on what makes a tree valuable from a forest-products perspective. He suggests their reading such publications as “Marketing Kansas Timber,” which is available along with a timber buyers directory at http://www.kansasforests.org/pubs/rural/index.shtml.

Late winter when trees are bare is a good time to walk through woods and assess the structure and size of potential sales trees, Atchison said.  Tree owners can also talk to their local district KFS forester.

“Of course, black walnut now drives most of our timber sales,” he said. “But a top-quality black walnut tree on a good site needs to grow to 24 to 28 inches in diameter to reach financial maturity. So, you need to keep your eyes open.”