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Knox County 4-H Program

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Knox County 4-H
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Building tomorrow's innovators: Nebraska 4-H Robotic Expansion and FLL Championship ignite STEM passion

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Local Interest

Cool Season Vegetables

For vegetable gardeners, it is time to think about cool season vegetables. Focus on garden planning, seed buying, and soil preparation, such as incorporating compost, if the soil is not too wet.

Do not let air temperatures trick you into planting too early. It is soil temperature that needs to determine when planting begins. Gardeners who plant too early may end up harvesting later than those who wait. And some can end up reseeding or replanting.

Ward Upham, Extension Educator with K-State, says one of the most neglected tools for vegetable gardeners is a soil thermometer. And he is correct. If vegetables are direct seeded or transplanted into cold soil, seed can rot and transplants can just sit there and not grow.

Cedar Apple Rust & Apple Scab Spray Now

Fruit trees are or will soon bud out. This is an important time to begin applying fungicides to trees that had a fungal leaf disease last season.

Apples and crabapples are often infected by apple scab and cedar apple rust. Both cause spots to develop on leaves followed by leaf yellowing and dropping throughout the season.

Neither disease will kill a tree in one or even a few seasons, but can reduce yield. For this reason, and because fungicides work best when applied just before and during the infection period, this spring is the time to treat trees that were diseased last season.

WRAPPING HAY TO BEAT THE WEATHER

Does rain often damage your high quality hay just before it’s ready to bale? There is a baling method that may help solve that problem.

Rain plays havoc with hay quality. Even when you study weather reports and do your best to cut when good drying weather is expected, just before your hay is ready to bale, it gets damaged by rain.

FIRM SEEDBEDS FOR PLANTING GRASSES AND ALFALFA

Pretty soon you are going to be ready to plant grass or alfalfa. You will hook up your seeder, fill it with seed, and start to plant. But first, let's check that seedbed.

PUT CARRYOVER HAY TO GOOD USE

The open winter left many of you with more hay left over than expected. Save some of that hay in case of drought, but any extra hay might provide extra value if it is used strategically.

Get extra value from carryover hay by using that hay in ways that will be valuable especially to you. Usually that means feeding hay instead of something else that would be more expensive. Another option, though, is to feed hay so you can make other resources more profitable.

WARM TEMPS AND LAWNS AND TREES

Lawns. Allow turfgrass to come out of dormancy and begin growth, and soil temperatures to warm before starting most care practices. Especially for do-it-yourselfers, waiting is better for the lawn than starting too early.

Mowing is not needed prior to grass greening up and beginning growth. The first mowing should be done once green grass is tall enough to need mowing. Mow at a height of three to three and a half inches from the first mowing of the season to the last, leaving clippings on the lawn.

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Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources News

Latest from ianrnews.unl.edu

Summer course for Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam Prep offered in Scottsbluff

May 30, 2024

Nebraska Extension will offer one-day (eight-hour) courses across the state to prepare individuals to pass the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aeronautical Knowledge Exam required to receive a Part 107 remote pilot certification or license to fly drones for commercial applications.

2024 Nebraska Soil Health School has successful launch

May 9, 2024

The first installment of a planned 2024 Nebraska Soil Health School series was held on April 24 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln High Plains Ag Lab in Sidney, Neb. The event addressed the semi-arid Panhandle climate and potential management practices for soil health and had over 60 attendees.

Building Bridges in Conservation: Nebraska hosts inaugural natural resources workshop

April 15, 2024

Overlooking the iconic Platte River, over 100 natural resource professionals and students met to build and foster new collaborations at the first Natural Resources Conservation Connecting Points Workshop.