E D I TO R’S L E T T E R
(ISSN 0091-9586) MARCH 2020 VOL. 70, NO. 3 ©KANSAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES, INC., 2020 WWW.KEC.COOP
Treat Spring Fever with Good Dose of Gardening Articles
Bruce Graham
Chief Executive Officer
Vicki Estes
Director of Communications, Editor
Carrie Kimberlin
Manager of Creative Solutions
Shaylee Arpin
Multimedia Communications Specialist
the high-pitched chirp outside my bedroom window. “Fairly optimistic bird,” I thought to myself. It’s 29 degrees, we are expecting several inches of a gentle and beautifully quiet snowfall and this bird is singing like spring just arrived. Silly bird must have heard the reports from York, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 2 and Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring. Call me a nonbeliever. Between 2010 and 2019, Phil’s predictions were only correct 40% of the time, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. That’s on par with the Farmers’ Almanac, which for snow predictions is right only 40% of the time, but for winter outlook temperatures it’s correct about 50% of the time. I think I’ll stick with my aging body and its aches to predict what the upcoming weather will be — or step outside — and prepare accordingly. If it’s cloudy, I’ll pack an umbrella. Frost means a jacket or coat. And steam rising from the cement indicates we are in store for a hot one. Spring is certainly is the air, though. You can smell the gradual change of the
PA M PA U L S E N , R E N O C O U N T Y E X T E N S I O N
THE SNOW WAS GENTLY FALLING when I first heard
This butterfly milkweed grows in one of the specialty gardens at Reno County Master Gardeners Demonstration Garden.
season as early bloomers pierce the soil, as optimistic as the singing bird and hoping to escape a sudden Kansas deep freeze before blooming in April. If you are coming down with a case of spring fever and eager to feel the garden dirt between your fingers, this issue will give you a good dose of gardening medicine to help you wait out the weather until it’s time to plant your vegetables, flowers, herbs and landscaping plants. From demonstration gardens to Victorian pincushion beds, spring planting fever begins on Page 12. KCL
Officers Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc.
Terry Hobbs
President
Craig Kostman
Vice President
Teresa Miller Secretary
Kirk Thompson
Treasurer
You receive Kansas C ountry Living as a service of the following electric co-ops as a cost-effective way to share important information about services, energy savings, electric safety, director elections, meetings and management decisions. It also contains legal notices that otherwise would be published in other media at greater cost: 4 Rivers, Lebo Alfalfa, Cherokee, OK Bluestem, Wamego Brown-Atchison, Horton Butler, El Dorado CMS, Meade Caney Valley, Cedar Vale Doniphan, Troy DS&O, Solomon Flint Hills, Council Grove FreeState, McLouth & Topeka Lane-Scott, Dighton Ninnescah, Pratt Pioneer, Ulysses Prairie Land, Norton Rolling Hills, Beloit Sedgwick County, Cheney Sumner-Cowley, Wellington Tri-County, Hooker, OK Twin Valley, Altamont Victory, Dodge City Western, WaKeeney Wheatland, Scott City Your co-op’s board of directors authorizes a subscription to Kansas Country Living on behalf of the membership at a cost of $5.58 per year. Individual non-member subscriptions are $10 per year (tax included).
VICKI ESTES, EDITOR
Co-op Members: Please report address changes to your local electric co-op. Postmaster: Send returns to Kansas Country Living, P.O. Box 4267, Topeka, KS 66604-0267. Kansas Country Living is published monthly by Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., P.O. Box 4267, Topeka, KS 66604. Periodicals postage paid at Topeka, KS, and additional entry offices. Editorial offices: P.O. Box 4267, Topeka, KS 66604-0267; 785-478-4554. Advertising: Kansas Country Living is a member of American MainStreet Publications (www.amp.coop), collectively reaching an audited circulation of 9,378,177 monthly. Advertisers call 512-441-5200. Acceptance of advertising by Kansas Country Living does not imply endorsement by the publisher or Kansas’ electric cooperatives.
4
KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING
MARCH 2020
