|
|
Marlin Bates
County Extension Director
Welcome to this edition of our newsletter. I hope that you’ll spend a few moments reviewing its content. You’ll find that we have much to celebrate as we usually do this time of year. There are also helpful topics to explore including inspiration for getting started on 4-H projects, winter care tips for your poultry flock, tips for the garden, suggestions on healthy eating, and ways to reduce food waste during the holidays. We’re also sharing ways that you can stay involved in the community and introducing you to new resources for food and farm businesses.
Last month, the Douglas County Extension Council hosted its Annual Celebration Breakfast. We always appreciate the opportunity to gather with you to let you know about our work, thank our outgoing council members, and welcome those who are beginning their journey alongside us on our Program Development Committees. We also take this opportunity to lift up and recognize someone who has significantly impacted our local efforts. This year, the Council gave its Extension Appreciation Award to Joel Becker, Program Director, and Host of Radio for Grownups on KLWN. Each week, Joel welcomes one of us to his studio to discuss timely information and resources. We are lucky to have the opportunity to partner with KLWN and we’re grateful to be able to reach their listeners with such a strong advocate for our work on the other side of the microphone – Thank You, Joel!
While the end of year certainly provides the opportunity to celebrate our work and the people who make it happen, we also pour our energy into planning for the new year. Within our program areas and volunteer groups, there is much to look forward to in 2024. We hope that you, too, will take the time to reflect on this past year and think creatively about the future. If you are looking for a place to pour your energy, we can help – and we promise that it will lead you down a path of self-improvement surrounded by a community of your neighbors. We look forward to seeing you soon!
| |
|
Sofia Diaz-Buezo
SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator
We all love the smell, taste, and overall atmosphere that a holiday meal creates. As we start to gather around the table to share the meal with our family and friends, it is important to consider what comes next… the leftovers.
Leftover holiday food and food waste is a real issue. The Ecology Center found that the United States sees a 25% increase in wasted food between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. Not only is food being wasted when this happens, but other resources such as water, land, electricity, money, and the labor to harvest these foods.
| |  |
|
In order to help you reduce the amount of food that can be wasted because of the holidays, here are some tips on what to do with your leftovers. These tips will focus on:
- Planning Ahead
- Shop Your Pantry First
- Having to-go Containers at Hand
- Donation
- Repurposing Leftovers
| | |
|
Food as Medicine
Extension SNAP Program Supports Heartland Community Health Clinic
Hilary Kass
SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator
Hippocrates, the so-called father of modern medicine is well known for the words: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”. There are a lot of possibilities for each of us in that statement. And here at Extension, as SNAP Ed Nutrition Educators, we are fortunate to be able to support our community in the number of skills that are needed to care for ourselves nutritionally: First, access to whole foods, and then the education and inspiration for creating nourishing meals every day.
Recently, the Food as Medicine concept has become a useful approach to treating chronic disease that focuses on integrating consistent access to diet and nutrition related resources. This approach is increasingly present across many communities and systems. There’s also increasing federal investment and action to support Food as Medicine approaches in a variety of settings.
| |
"Access to nutritious food is critical to health and resilience. Food as Medicine is a concept that reaffirms this connection, recognizing that access to high-quality nourishment is essential for well-being. By supporting the production of and facilitating access to nutritious food across a health continuum and range of settings, approaches to Food as Medicine support immediate and long-term resources for people, communities, and systems. " -health.gov | |
|
Ginny Barnard
LiveWell of Douglas County
Executive Director
LiveWell Douglas County and the Douglas County Community Foundation gathered to celebrate community partners working to improve health and well-being in Douglas County on November 17, 2023. LiveWell Douglas County Interim Chair, Aftan Jameson, welcomed over seventy-five guests, organizational leaders and elected officials. “We had a room full of people because we work closely with community stakeholders to improve health outcomes by addressing the social determinants of health,” said Jameson after the event. Community engagement was evident as each LiveWell Work Group honored an individual or organization with a “Culture of Health Champion” award. This year’s awardees were:
- Healthy Built Environment – USD 348 (Baldwin City) and Glenn Rodden, Baldwin City Administrator
- Healthy Food for All – Emily Lysen, Lawrence Farmers’ Market Director of Development
- Healthy Kids – Pantaleon Florez, USD 497 Experiential Learning Specialist and Farm 2 School Coordinator
- Sexual Violence Prevention – Margo Self, Willow Domestic Violence Center Community Advocacy Program Manager
- WorkWell – Douglas County Human Services and Administration
The celebration also included fifteen DCCF LiveWell Community Wellness Grant awards to support projects focused on improving the health of youth through policy, systems, and environmental changes.
|  | | | |
Within the past year, food pantries in Douglas County have noticed a significant drop in food and monetary donations, but the number of families and individuals needing assistance to feed themselves has not decreased. | |
|
Food insecurity has a considerable impact on health and well-being. For example, hunger and limited consumption of healthy food has an impact on child development, health, and behavior. For adults, the impact of food insecurity is realized when people must choose between eating and other costs, such as paying rent, buying medicine, and transportation.
With the increased cost of living, many folks are struggling to make ends meet. Food insecurity may be a long-term or temporary problem that is influenced by a number of factors, including: income, employment, race/ethnicity, and disability.
| | |
|
Nancy Noyes
4-H Youth Development Program Assistant
The 2023 4-H Achievement Celebration of last Sunday was by all accounts a success. The committee in charge of the event did a wonderful job of decorating our Building 21, and planning and catering the meal. All the 4-H members successes were highlighted, and volunteers were recognized for exceptional work in our program. Nickie and I are moving to the next stages of planning for the new 4-H Year. We look forward to our members re-enrollment (by December 1st!) In addition, I hope to see many fresh faces to Douglas County 4-H.
While it might seem like time for members to sit back and wait for County Club Day or even the County Fair to begin project work, that could lead to frustration and rushed work. Now is the time for our 4-Hers to consider their past projects, ones they would like to continue and any new areas of interest. The adage “work smarter, not harder” comes to mind now. This is the time for goal setting, and for planning and communicating with parents and project leaders.
| | | |
Follow 4-H of Douglas County Online! | |
|
Sharon Ashworth
Horticulture & Natural Resources Agent
Insects survive winter in all stages of their life-cycles using multiple strategies. Some adult insects migrate south, such as the monarch and painted lady butterflies, many spend the winter as adults, pupae or eggs buried in the soil or sheltered in plant debris, and a few may seek shelter in your home.
Overwintering strategies are employed by beneficial insects as well as those we regard as pests, so a general rule of thumb is to clean up your vegetable and fruit gardens but leave your perennial beds for the benefit of insects and wildlife. One caveat to this general rule is to move thick layers of leaves off your groundcovers.
Garden pests
While it is a good idea to put mulch on your garden beds (or use a cover crop) and around your fruit trees for the winter, make sure you have removed any remaining plant debris and weeds before you do. Adult squash bugs, asparagus beetles, and stink bugs all overwinter in plant debris. Cabbage worm pupae and aphid eggs are also found in plant debris. Codling moth cocoons can be found in leaf litter or sheltering under the bark of apple trees.
| |
|
Several of our most difficult pests find shelter by burying in the soil, including Japanese beetles (larvae), Colorado potato beetles (adults), grasshoppers (eggs), and squash vine borers (pupae).
| Scales overwinter on the twigs of their preferred host trees and shrubs. Hard scales overwinter as eggs under the shell of their mothers while soft scales overwinter as adults or nymphs. | |
|
Winter may be around the corner, but with drought conditions lingering for much of the state, some of your outside plants may still need supplemental water. The majority of Kansas is suffering from drought, almost 70% of counties in varying levels from abnormally dry to extreme drought according to drought.gov.
| |
|
The northern portion of Douglas County, including the Lecompton and Lawrence areas, are listed with severe drought. This means that even though it’s getting cold outside, you may need to continue to water if we do not get rain or snow.
Any newly planted specimen or group plantings are especially vulnerable to winter drought as their root systems are limited and cannot easily access the available moisture. Fall planted or over-seeded lawns will also need watering to become established when winter is dry. A sprinkler is ideal for watering lawns and allowing the water to penetrate at least 6” is sufficient. Even trees and shrubs that were planted in the last few years will benefit from supplemental water when dry winter conditions persist. It can take years for trees and shrubs to become established and with ongoing drought conditions, supplemental water is needed to sustain these plants.
| | | |
Follow Extension's Horticulture & Natural Resources Online! | |
Follow Extension's Agriculture News Online! | |
Keep note of all our media platforms to be the first to know the latest K-State Research and Extension Douglas County news! | Kansas State University is committed to making its services, activities, and programs accessible to all participants. If you have special requirements due to a physical, vision, or hearing disability, contact K-State Research and Extension Douglas County, 785-843-7058. Notify staff of accommodation needs as early as possible. Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. | | | | |
