Briefly . . .

Choose Snack for Energy

Weather Wonders: Home Weather Stations Can Be Assembled Inexpensively

Good story still a good bet

With Kids, Crabapple and Apple Trees Require Same Cautions

They Won’t Like It, But You Can Divide Peonies Now

Choose Snack for Energy

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Ready for a snack? Reach for a complex carbohydrate – a bowl of whole grain cereal, toast, crackers or a granola bar, for example – that breaks down slowly to provide extended energy to finish out a game or stay focused at school or work, said Tanda Kidd, Kansas State University Research and Extension nutrition and physical activity specialist.

In comparison, a candy bar with simple sugars will provide quick, but not long-lasting energy, she said.

More information on choosing health-promoting foods is available at county and district Extension offices and on Extension Web sites: www.ksre.ksu.edu and www.ksre.ksu.edu/humannutrition /.

Weather Wonders:
   Home Weather Stations Can Be Assembled Inexpensively

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Many people are interested in the weather, and it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to have a home weather station, according to climatologist Mary Knapp.

Knapp, who is the climatologist for the State of Kansas, said many people have sophisticated instruments as part of a home weather station, although they can be expensive.

“But, you can make simple weather instruments that will help you observe the weather around you,” said Knapp, who oversees the Kansas Weather Data Library, based in Kansas State University Research and Extension. “Instruments might include a barometer, a wind vane, an anemometer, as well as a thermometer and a rain gauge -- all the basics of a weather station.”

Knapp suggests checking a local library or favorite bookstore for how-to-guides such as “Simple Weather Experiments with Everyday Materials,” by Muriel Mandell.

Information about Kansas weather is available on the Weather Data Library Web site: http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/wdl/. “Weather Wonders” audio reports are available on the K-State Research and Extension/Kansas Radio Network site at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/radio/. 

Good story still a good bet

MANHATTAN, Kan. – With “Storytelling in the Modern Newsroom” the topic, Scott Kraft, senior editor and roving correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, shared his insight – and tips – for building a successful news media organization during a recent presentation at Kansas State University.

Kraft, who is a graduate of Kansas State University’s A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications and a former editor of the Kansas State Collegian, spoke frankly about the challenges in delivering news and features in changing times.

A good story, he said, is still a good bet. While The Times has not been immune to staff and budget cuts, Kraft said a well written news or feature story will draw the reader.

And, while readers have changed, the essence of the news – what happened; what might have happened, or what didn’t happen – hasn’t changed, he said.

Delivery of the news is evolving, said Kraft, who noted that one of the most significant changes The Times had made in adapting to the new news environment was to move the Web folks closer to the news room.

Creating an environment in which the two groups of professionals could get acquainted and begin building working relationships has proved beneficial, said Kraft, who shared that while print readership is down slightly, but still respectable (700,000), overall readership is up by 30 percent.

Web readership is strong, and social media will continue to evolve, said Kraft, who noted that one Times sports columnist has 30,000 followers on Twitter.

Moving into high-tech journalism requires staff, yet a Times decision to cover the drug war in Mexico by offering an interactive Web site (“Mexico Under Siege”) has been costly, but highly successful with readers.

Still, Kraft said that he didn’t think that electronic journalism will totally replace newspapers. He sees newspapers in the future with longer feature stories, investigative reporting -- and a slightly higher price tag.  

Kraft was on the K-State campus as the featured speaker for the 10th Annual Huck Boyd Lecture in Community Media, which is sponsored annually by the Huck Boyd National Center for Community Media. Boyd was an entrepreneurial Kansas newspaperman who believed the newspaper was essential in building a thriving community.

With Kids, Crabapple and Apple Trees Require Same Cautions

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Should parents panic if children decide to eat the tempting fruit dangling from an ornamental crabapple tree?

“Probably not. Unless, perhaps, the crabapple has been treated at some time since spring with a pesticide that isn't labeled for use on food-producing crops,” said Ward Upham, horticulturist with Kansas State University Research and Extension.

As with apples from an orchard, children can eat so many crabapples that they make themselves sick.

“That kind of stomachache isn’t likely to happen, though, because crabapples aren’t sweet-tasting fruit. They’ve never been bred to eat raw. Since Johnny Appleseed’s day, crabapples’ normal uses have been to make jelly, applesauce and cider,” Upham said.

In fact, the only real difference between crabapples and today’s tart-to-sour “cooking” apples is size.

“By definition, crabapple fruits are 2 inches or less in diameter. Apples are simply more than 2 inches across,” Upham said. “Interestingly, though, apples grown from seed -- as Johnny Appleseed’s were -- nearly always turn out to be crabapples. Today’s full-sized fruiting apple trees are all grafted.”

They Won’t Like It, But You Can Divide Peonies Now

MANHATTAN, Kan. – By tradition, September is peony division time in the central United States.

“Of course, if they’re happy in their planting site, peonies would just as soon stay there indefinitely – for decades. In fact, if you divide them anyway, you get two kinds of payback. You have more peonies. But, they’ll really drag things out and take about three years to return to full bloom and size,” said Ward Upham, Master Gardener coordinator for Kansas State University Research and Extension.

Early fall is best for dividing mid-Plains peonies, he said, because the plants are essentially dormant by Sept. 1, even though their leaves are still green.

“I actually remove the foliage before I divide a peony,” Upham added. “That makes handling the plant and locating its pink, below-ground buds much easier.”

The horticulturist listed the following as the next steps in the process:

1. Dig out the entire plant.

2. Shake and wash off as much soil as possible, so the plant’s pink buds or “eyes” are visible.

3. Use a sharp knife (the roots are tough) to cut the root ball into divisions, each of which has three to four buds.

4. Select a planting site that receives a half-day or more of full sun. Dwarf-type peonies will need at least two feet between plants. Standards will need 4 feet.

5. Plant divisions with their pink buds about 1 inch below the soil surface. With buds set more than 2 inches deep, peonies often won’t flower ... ever.

6. Firm the soil often as you fill the planting hole, so it cannot settle later and pull the plant down with it.

7. Water in well. Then water again, as needed, through fall and winter to keep the soil moist (not wet).

8. After the soil freezes, add a mulch of compost, straw or the like to protect the weakly rooted division from winter’s freeze-thaw cycles – which can heave relatively new plantings out of the ground.

-30-