April 15, 2015
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Home Garden Mowing
Early inquiries to public health concerning bats
JUICY RED ... AND READY
in spring Healthy lawns are not only beautiful, they have a positive impact on our environment. They trap dust and dirt in the atmosphere and convert large amounts of carbon dioxide to oxygen. Lawns also provide a natural filtering system for rainwater as it soaks into the ground. Additionally, healthy lawns provide a cooling effect in summer months, which saves on energy costs. It is important to care for them.
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TIPS TO START SEASON RIGHT
• Don’t scalp your yard. Don’t cut your grass too short, particularly for cool season grass. Higher heights provide for a deeper root system and a lawn that is less likely to encourage invasive weeds. They also protect your lawn from scorching. • Avoid mowing when the grass is wet. Mowing wet grass can encourage mold and fungus and will quickly dull your lawn mower blades and chew up your lawn. • Change direction. Mow your lawn in a different direction with each mowing, especially with lawns of shorter grass types. Altering the direction ensures a more even cut since grass blades will grow more erect and will be less likely to develop into a set pattern. • Don’t compensate by overcutting. Never mow more than one-third of the grass leaf at a time. If circumstances arise that a lawn gets too tall and you just have to lop off a lot, do it in several mowings with three or more days between cuttings. • Do your homework. Determine your grass type and the best height for optimal health. Also, read the operating guide for your mower. Make sure you understand all of its safety features prior to use.
roblems with bats? Public Rabies is caused by a virus Health – Idaho North Cen- that is spread from infected tral District (PH-INCD) has mammals through their saliva, been receiving calls and in- usually through a bite or quiries about people encounter- scratch. All warm-blooded animals are susceptible to rabies ining bats. “This seems awfully early in fection. Wild animals are much the year to be receiving calls more likely to carry rabies, espeabout bat encounters,” says Ed cially bats in Idaho, but the bite Marugg, environmental health of any wild animal should be director with PH-INCD. “We considered a potential source of have had bats test positive for rabies unless proven otherwise. the rabies virus here in North Animals with rabies typically act Central Idaho over the past several years, so we would like to encourage people to avoid any kind of contact with bats that they may encounter,” said Marugg. Rabies is a rare disease in humans; howCONTRIBUTED PHOTO / JOANNA BONN, USFS ever, one or North Central Idaho Public Health encouraged peomore fatal ple to avoid any kind of contact with bats. human cases do occur almost every year in the differently than healthy aniUnited States, predominantly mals. Because rabies attacks the from rabid bat exposures. Ra- brain, changes in an animal’s bebies is essentially 100 percent havior are likely and may infatal; however, it is nearly al- clude problems such as swallowways preventable by reducing ing, increased drooling, aggresexposures to wild and unvacci- sion, and some wild animals nated animals and medically may move more slowly or may managing animals and individu- act as if they are tame. als who may have been exposed Every year, Idaho averages to rabid animals early after an more than 15 rabid bat reports. exposure.
FREE PRESS / LORIE PALMER
These cherry tomatoes were grown in 2014 in Grangeville from seeds started in a greenhouse in May and planted outside in June. They grew in prolific bunches through September.
Little vegetable has big impact Cherry tomatoes may be small but they have big returns. This compact vegetable tends to be a little more resilient and easier to grow. Sometimes you’re likely to see volunteers popping up in future gardens, even without having planted another cherry tomato seed. These mature and ripen earlier in the season and will continue on into the summer and fall months, producing large yields from a single plant. Cherry tomatoes are also more tolerant of drought and fluctuations in the weather, as well as less prone to cracking that afflicts the large varieties. Uses are in salads or as a finger food. They are often sweeter than full-sized tomatoes.
Vaccinate your animals Dogs, cats, ferrets and horses should all receive routine vaccinations for rabies. Rabies vaccines are of great value in protecting animals from contracting rabies. Vaccinating animals not only protects them but also their owners, should pets be exposed.
Whimsical Art Journals Using art to express creativity, feelings selves – even if some of people think they don’t like to or cannot draw. It’s fun and these look great,” she encouraged as she walked around the room. “Nothing can be ‘wrong.’ It’s all in how you feel and what you want to do and your pages will change with your mood.”
BY LORIE PALMER IDAHO COUNTY FREE PRESS
Art instructor Kim Rodriguez shows design methods in the class “Whimsical Art Journals.” FREE PRESS / LORIE PALMER
GRANGEVILLE – “Art can be a very healing process,” said Kim Rodriguez. “You may not always feel like writing, but sometimes the act of creating is very freeing.” Rodriguez recently instructed a “Whimsical Art Journaling” class through LewisClark State College- Grangeville Outreach. Participants spent time painting art journal pages with acrylic paints and creating their own background paper to journal on. “It’s a more non-traditional form of journaling, but you can use any medium or bits and pieces of many different things,” explained Rodriguez. The art teacher who grew up in Michigan moved to Idaho in 1999. She has taught art and writing throughout Idaho County for the past several years. A bag full of items was given to each person and included such things as a strip of bubble wrap, a piece of cardboard, a lettersized security envelope, tissue paper pieces and a makeup sponge. “When you get into the art journaling process, you find yourself collecting all sorts of weird things,” she laughed. Rodriguez demonstrated using the make-
up sponge to create a checkerboard effect when stamped on the journal paper. In turn, she dipped the bubble wrap in paint and pressed it onto her paper. “Knowing a little about colors and what makes what shade is handy,” she said, “if you want complementary colors. Contrasts are also nice.” Rodriguez showed the class how to draw a face on art paper that “believe it or not, usually comes out looking like the artist,” and then use graphite paper to trace it onto the worn, yellowed page of a discarded book. It was then outlined in black, colored and cut out to be placed in the journals. “I love the fact that everyone’s turns out so different,” she said. “Sometimes we just have to stretch our-
ADDITIONAL IDEAS FOR ART JOURNALING:
Modge Podge or other acid-free adhesives can be used to glue items to the journal. Save ticket stubs from concerts, movies or events and use them as a building block for a page. Save “odd” objects to use as stamps or to make textures on paper (springs, paperclips, twist ties, etc.) Use an old map for a back-drop or cutout. Look at the inside of envelopes that come in junk mail and use them to cut out shapes and designs to place in your journal. Go on-line and look for a list of “words for journaling prompts.” Use these single words or groups of words to build pages.