Briefly . . .


When Tomatoes Freeze


Sericea Lespedeza Treatment Still Possible This Fall


Weather Wonders: Rainfall Still Measured Much Like 140 Years Ago

When Tomatoes Freeze  

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- For gardeners, an early frost could mean a change in the menu.

If allowed to freeze on the vine, tomatoes will need to be eaten, dried or frozen, but should not be canned, said Karen Blakeslee, Kansas State University Research and Extension food scientist.

Freezing on the vine lowers the acid levels within the fruit, she said.

Food experts typically recommend adding lemon juice to increase the acidity when canning tomatoes, but that may not make the frozen tomatoes safe enough for canning and room temperature storage, Blakeslee said.

If frost or a freeze is predicted, pick tomatoes and allow them to ripen at room temperature, she said.

More information on food safety and preservation is available at county and district K-State Research and Extension offices and on Blakeslee's food safety Web sites: www.ksre.ksu.edu/foodsafety and www.rrc.ksu.edu.      

Karen Blakeslee is the K-State Research and Extension Rapid Response Coordinator. As such, she spends her working hours answering food and food safety questions for Kansans.  

Sericea Lespedeza Treatment Still Possible This Fall

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- It’s not too late to treat sericea lespedeza on Kansas farms this fall, but treatments should be applied soon, according to a Kansas State University agronomist.

“Many sericea plants across Kansas are still blooming,” said K-State Research and Extension range management specialist Walt Fick of the noxious weed. “Sericea is still susceptible to herbicides if treated at the full bloom stage and for a couple weeks afterward. Spot-spraying with Remedy Ultra and PastureGard can be effective even at a late bloom stage, but products containing metsulfuron, such as Escort XP and Cimarron Plus are often more effective as flowering ends and seed pods appear and begin to fill.”  

Sericea plants can be killed until frost, but if pod fill has begun, viable seed will still be produced, Fick said. Grasslands with sericea lespedeza infestations should not be grazed or hayed after the sericea has gone to seed. This will only serve to spread the seed to other areas.

Weather Wonders: Rainfall Still Measured Much Like 140 Years Ago
       Methods of Communication Have Changed

MANHATTAN, Kan. – There are plenty of weather watchers out there -- farmers, construction workers and mothers wondering how to dress the kids for school, often keep a close eye on the forecast.

But how do weather forecasters gather such data as rainfall totals?

“There a number of different methods,” said State of Kansas climatologist, Mary Knapp. “One of the most common is the National Weather Service Cooperative Observation network. This system has been in place since the 1860s.”

Under that system, individuals go out daily and measure the rainfall, and in many cases the snowfall, said Knapp, who runs the Kansas Weather Data Library based in Kansas State University Research and Extension. They use a standard 8-inch manual gauge to report and record their observations.

Rainfall data collection has been relatively unchanged for many years, but communications have been updated, she said. In times past, the reports may have been sent by telegraph with a paper copy mailed at the end of the month. Now many observers report online, with some reporting using a cell phone. Forms are stored in electronic format, although paper backups often are still maintained.

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 News Media Web site at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/. 

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