August-September 2015 Barren County Farm & Garden Newsletter

Cooperative Extension Service Barren County 1463 West Main Street Glasgow, KY 42728 (270) 651—3818 Fax: (270) 651—3744 www.ca.uky.edu/ces

State Fair and highlights the Taster’s Choice Award Winners and their dishes from the 2015 100 Mile Potluck event held August 1st.

Lastly, the food and nutrition spot features a seasonal recipe from the Plate it up!

Kentucky Proud The August and September project which combines two newsletter reminds gardeners and wonderful food items together in a producers of fall activities to carry stir-fry dish — beef and broccoli! out “around the garden” and “in the Both items can be found locally on field”. Harvesting and storing corn the farm and in the garden of silage, soil testing, forage testing, Barren County! For suggestions of and practicing good sanitation in future programs, please stop by the vegetable garden and fruit and visit with us at the Extension orchard are all important practices Office. We would love to hear ideas to increase yields for next year. In on how we can help grow Barren September, an educational class County! on growing cover crops for the home garden will be held at the Extension Office to show gardeners the many benefits of planting a cover crop or green manure this fall. The Extension Variety page congratulates our winning senior 4-H Horticulture team for taking first place in the 4-H Horticulture Judging Contest at the Kentucky

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The University of Kentucky Plant Disease Diagnostic lab reported several tomatoes infected with septoria and early blight this year due to the hot, humid and rainy weather conditions. To keep diseases like these from overwintering in the soil, remove all signs of diseased plants and throw them away. Avoid adding diseases plants to the compost pile since it is difficult to heat up the pile properly to kill off disease organisms. Take down stakes, trellises, tobacco sticks, cages, or any other structures used for vegetable support and store in the garden shed.

Don’t forget to take a soil test! Soil testing is a practice that ever gardener needs to perform on an annual basis. From year to year, vegetables can rob nutrients from the soil and it is important to retest the soil every year to monitor the soil pH. Soil tests will give gardeners recommendations on what lime and fertilizer rates need to be applied for optimum plant growth. Fall is the best time to take a soil test because there is a quicker return on recommendations.

Lastly, plant a cover crop in the garden.

Cover crops are great for suppressing weeds, returning nutrients to the ground and keeping the soil from washing away.

Recommended cover crops for the home garden include buckwheat, winter rye, winter wheat, oats, Austrian field peas, and other legumes.

To make pesto, harvest several basil leaves from the plant in the garden.

Rinse off the leaves using cold water, pat dry using paper towels, and set aside. Toast ½ cup of walnut pieces in the oven until golden brown. Next, mince 2 garlic cloves in the food processor. Add the toasted walnuts pieces to the garlic in the processor until thoroughly grounded. Then, add 1 cup of parmesan cheese. Measure out 4 cups of basil and add to the mixture with 1/3 cup of olive oil. Pulse or blend mixture until smooth. Pesto is ready to toss in whole wheat pasta, top a pizza crust, or freeze for later use.

To freeze pesto, put mixture into a jar or freezer proof container. An ice tray would be an ideal container to use. Add a thin layer of olive oil, cover with a lid, label, and freeze immediately. When using frozen pesto, thaw in the refrigerator.

There is great debate about when to take a hummingbird feeder down.

Leave your hummingbird feeders up as long as the birds are coming to it. Migrant hummers normally show up by late July and will continue passing through until October. If you leave a feeder up, you might help a late migrant make the journey!

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Dr. Donna Amaral-Phillips, UK Dairy Extension Specialist offers some tips for producers who are preparing to harvest corn for silage.

1.) Get equipment ready. Make sure knives are sharp, and kernel processors are adjusted. For corn, ½” chop length for choppers without a kernel processor and, ¾” for choppers with processors

4.) Fill silos as quickly as possible to help minimizes spoilage and excess air in the silage.

5.) Pack bunkers, piles, and pits properly.

The rule of thumb is; “pack until you think you are done, and then pack some more.”

6.) Cover silos immediately after they are filled. Make sure the tires you are using to weight the cover are touching. (see photo)

2.) Scout fields to determine proper moisture for harvest. For bunker, piles, and pits 65% to 70% (30-35% dry matter) moisture.

For bags and uprights, 60% to 65% (35 to 40% dry matter) moisture.

7.) Let silage ferment 3 to 4 weeks before feeding. Ideally, you should wait 4 months before beginning to feed.

3.) Keep chopper knives sharp and processors adjusted throughout harvest.

Be sure to check the condition of harvest corn to make sure the machine is operating properly.

8.) Safety, Safety, Safety. Each year accidents during silage chopping are far too common. Properly training employee and simply slowing down can and will prevent many accidents.

 To take a soil test for the home lawn, sample at a depth of

1 to 2 inches using a soil probe, shovel, or trowel. Carry out this routine in 10 to 15 random spots throughout the lawn to guarantee a well-represented sample of the full area.  Mix each core sample together in a clean bucket. Remove any plant material.  After mixing, allow sample to air-dry on newspaper for one day and bring it in a container to your local extension office. Results usually take a week to get back.

Get the

SCOOP!

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The spring and summer of 2015 has been a challenging in terms of harvesting hay.

Producers may have questions about the quality of the hay they have put up. Why not consider testing that hay? Producers test their soil in order to determine how much fertilizer they need. So why not test hay to make sure the nutritional needs of livestock are being met? Right now is time to get that hay tested so producers can develop a nutrition plan for livestock this winter. Providing a balanced ration, based on your forage testing results, is necessary to promote animal health and maximum production. Testing hay is also a beneficial tool if you plan to sell any our excess hay.

Providing potential buyers with an analysis can increase the value of the hay that you are selling.

When sampling hay, it is important that, individual cuttings, fields, and hay types (a lot) are sampled and tested separately. For most accurate results, test hay as soon as possible before feeding or marketing. A high quality coring device should be used to collect a minimum of 20 cores from each lot. Probe to a depth of 12-24� and take cores from butt ends of random bales or core towards the center of round bales from the edges not the flat end. It is important that samples are representative

of the entire lot of hay. Do not choose bales based on whether they seem to be of low or high quality. Up to half of the material from each lot should be tested as soon as possible after the sample is collected. Keep the sample cool and dry after sampling.

Many different forage testing laboratories are available for testing your forages. It is recommended that you choose a lab that has been certified through the National Forage Testing Association (NFTA).

Certified labs must meet the requirements of NFTA which includes accurately measuring check samples sent to them by NFTA. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) meets these requirements and is one option for quality hay testing. KDA charges $10.00 per lot and an employee can assist with taking samples. A list of NFTA certified forages testing labs can be found at http://www.foragetesting.org/files/2012/201 2_Certified_Labs.pdf.

Contact the Barren County Cooperative Extension Service for help sampling and help interpreting the results. Together we can work out a nutrition plan for your livestock. Special thanks to UK Master Grazers program for this information.

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It is important to practice disease management in the home fruit orchard. If neglected, pathogen populations build-up as long as a susceptible plant tissue is available.

Infected plant tissue, infested soil, and pathogen propagules all serve as sources of pathogens that can later infect healthy plants. Dead plant material (dried fruit called mummies, or diseased foliage, stems, and/or roots) can harbor overwintering propagules for months or years (see picture below). These propagules can travel via air/wind currents, stick to shoes or tools, or move with contaminated soil or water droplets. Thus, prevention of spread of pathogens to healthy plants and the elimination of any disease-causing organisms from one season to another are the foundations for a disease management program using sanitation practices.  Remove diseased plant tissues from infected plants. Prune cankered branches

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several inches below the point of infection. Cuts should be made at an intersecting branch.

Discard trees, bushes, and vines that are heavily infected with untreatable diseases (e.g. Root rots, viruses, and vascular wilts).

Discard fallen leaves, prunings, fruit mummies, and culled plants.

Never leave diseased plant material in the orchard or vineyard, as pathogens may continue to multiply by producing spores or other propagules.

Diseased fruit can serve as sources of infective spores Infected plant material should be or serve as overwintering sites for pathogens. burned, or removed from the area.

Debris is a major source of infective propagules, including overwintering pathogens.

To the extent possible, rake and remove fallen buds, flowers, fruit, twigs, and leaves. Always dispose of rotting or diseased fruit as soon as symptoms develop.

Remove weeds and volunteer plants to prevent establishment of a “green bridge” between plants. A green bridge allows some pathogens to infect alternate hosts until a more suitable one becomes available. Remove aboveground parts AND roots.

Source: Fruit, Orchard, and Vineyard Sanitation Publication PPFS-GEN-05

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Cutting blades should be dipped into a commercial sanitizer, 10% Lysol disinfectant, 10% bleach, or rubbing alcohol between each cut. This is especially important when pruning bacterial diseases, such as fire blight, or canker-affected branches. If using bleach, rinse and oil tools after completing work, to prevent corrosion.

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to the senior Barren County 4-H Horticulture team for capturing first place in the 4-H Horticulture Contest held during the Kentucky State Fair. Youth identified different parts of the plant in fruit/nut/berry ID, flower/indoor plant ID, woody ornamental ID, and vegetable ID. They also judged several plates of vegetables and ranked them from highest to lowest. Barren County took home the overall highest and second highest individual scores!

Great job! In October 2016, the youth will compete in the national junior horticultural completion in Erie, Pennsylvania!

Casserole Crock Pot Lasagna

by Linda Morrison Desserts Peach Dumplings

by Larry Jolly EntrÊe Sausage — Potato Casserole

by Sue Emberton

Grilled/Smoked Meats Chicken Wings by Debbie Haynes Salads Potato Salad by Runell Houchen Vegetables Fried Corn Patties by Edie Bell Youth Caramelized Butternut Squash

by Erin Walton

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