Hello 2021!

After a long, hard year with new challenges we are looking to start fresh and make this year better. As gardeners we hope every day is better. We hope for better weather, we hope for better! Just remember this when we hit obstacles this year, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” (Audrey Hepburn). We never know what tomorrow brings, but we plant seeds and tend our gardens because we believe things will grow and we hope to have a good harvest. Let’s all hope for the best! Written by: Ashton Hilton, Extension Program Assistant

Winter Landscape Photo Contest

Master Gardeners, we are accepting digital photo entries for our Winter Landscape Photo Contest now through February 28. Winter landscape is a fairly broad term and can include your own home landscape or gardens, a public landscape or garden, a wide-angle view, or a close-up view, etc. Photos can include objects, birds, or other animals. Snow not required. Photos will be judged by an unbiased party outside of our office, and will be judged on both subject and photographic quality. We will award 1st – 3rd place winners from photos received. Prizes include choice of Bionic Gardening Gloves, A.M. Leonard’s Soil Knife, or Felco Pruners, plus bragging rights. To enter, email your photo(s) to traci.missun@uky.edu by February 28. Participants may enter up to two photos taken between December 21, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Winners’ photos will be featured in the March Master Gardener newsletter and also submitted to The Oldham Era. All photo entries may be published in our Extension newsletter, website, and/or social media. By: Traci Missun, Extension Agriculture Agent

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Winter Equipment Maintenance

Just because it is cold outside, doesn’t mean your lawn and landscape work is complete. There are many chores that can, and should be done during the winter months. Cold weather is the time to service your tools and power equipment, build a new compost bin, calibrate your sprayer, or even identify some winter annuals for proper control methods later. Starting your mower, tiller, weed eater, or blower next spring can be easy with a few winter preparations. Gasoline breaks down over time, leaving a gummy residue inside your equipment’s carburetor and fuel tank. When you start up your equipment in the spring, this residue gets sucked into tiny holes inside the carburetor called “jets” and stops them up. When this happens, it takes a skilled mechanic to clean the tank and carburetor. To prevent this, always drain fuel and add a fuel stabilizer to the tank. Pull the cord or turn the engine a couple of revolutions to work the stabilizer through the fuel system for best protection. Many times our equipment gets neglected during the year while it is used regularly. Winter is the best time to make sure you have a fresh oil change. Drain the oil using the drain plug typically on the side or underside of the engine. Add new oil per manufactures’ recommendations and change filter if applicable. Make sure you dispose of oil properly and do not leave the equipment without oil (you might forget to add it in the spring causing serious damage to the engine).

Air filters are often overlooked and arguably, are the most important maintenance item on many pieces of equipment. A precise mixture of air and fuel is needed for combustion engines to run smoothly. The air filter will ensure only clean, dust free air enters the combustion chamber. Many filters are disposable and will need to be replaced, but some are the washable sponge type. Wash them with warm water and a small amount of soap; rinse and allow to dry thoroughly; and then add a little engine oil to the sponge. This will allow the filter to collect dirt and debris even better! If you use your equipment in a dusty environment, you probably should clean it much more often.

Look over all of your equipment for signs of wear. Often, cables get worn or rusty. A little lubricating oil will help tremendously on rusty cables before they get too stiff and break. Check for debris built up in the tines on your tiller or around your blade(s) of your mower. A clean piece of equipment is a happy piece of equipment. Engines produce a lot of heat which wears on the metal and decreases the life of the engine. A dirty engine retains more heat than a clean one. Take some time to clean debris and built up grime from all surfaces. Winter is a great time to take a look at the underside of you mower. Grab the blade and push it up and down opposite the direction it turns. If you feel movement, you could have bearings bad in the spindle. Repairing them now will prevent even costlier repairs later. Many of these maintenance items are fairly simple and will add to the useful life of your equipment. Some maintenance will prevent the need for a skilled mechanic often correlating to costly repairs. If you find problems that you are not familiar with, make sure to get some expert advice from a local repair shop. Whether you do it yourself or have a repair shop do it, take a few hours this winter and take care of the equipment that takes care of your lawn and gardens! Source: Andrew Rideout, Agent for Horticulture, Henderson County Cooperative Extension

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10 Minute Bean Soup Recommended By: Lauren Fernandez

Make a Recommendation

We want to hear from you! If you have tried a recipe from www.planeatmove.com or Plate it Up Kentucky Proud, send in your recommendation to Ashton Hilton at ashton.hilton@uky.edu. Be sure include the link to the recipe and what you think was awesome about the recipe. Did you love how quick it was, how easy it was to make, or did you love the flavors?

If there is a topic you would like to know more about let us know. You can send those recommendations to Ashton at the email mentioned above!

By: Ashton Hilton, Extension Program Assistant

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

• 2 (15.8 ounce) cans of great northern beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano

• 1 (14 ounce) can low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

• 4 cups kale, torn into small pieces

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and onion for 3 minutes or until onion is tender. 2. Add beans, tomatoes and broth to saucepan. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes. Add kale and cook until tender, for about 2 minutes. 3. Mix in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese just before serving. Optional, garnish with finely chopped fresh basil or dried basil.

Notes Cooked, dried beans may be substituted for canned beans. Using prepared dry beans in place of canned will reduce sodium in this dish. If you can’t find diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano, use regular diced tomatoes and add dried versions of these seasonings. Link to recipe: https://www.planeatmove.com/recipes/recipe/10-minute-bean-soup

Source: Caroline Durr, Area Nutrition Agent for Kentucky Nutrition Education Program, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service

Photo Source: www.planeatmove.com

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Liven Up Your Living Space

Check out link attached to the middle of the page! Traci Missun has written a wonderful article about how to brighten up your living space with houseplants that provide more than just something beautiful to look at in your home; they can provide pleasant aromas and even fresh flavors for dinner! Link to the article: https://oldhamcountyextension.com/2021/01/06/houseplants-liven-up-living-spaces/ Written by: Traci Missun, Extension Agriculture Agent

Forcing Blooms Indoors

Would you like to enjoy some springtime blooms indoors over the winter? It’s easy to do. You can do this by forcing branches of spring flowering shrubs or trees to bloom. Cut a few branches from your favorite spring flowering shrubs or trees that bloom in April and May. Some suggested selections for winter bouquets are forsythia, redbud, flowering crabapple, cherry and quince. These plants normally bloom January through February depending on the variety or cultivar. Witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis and H. mollis) can also be brought indoors to bloom and provides a very fragrant display. However, Common Witchhazel (Hamamlis virginiana) which blooms from October to December will not bloom inside over the winter since it would have just bloomed in the late fall. Arrange the cut branches in a vase of water. You can use floral arrangement additives that will keep the water clear, but it is not necessary. Changing the water daily will improve the lasting quality of the arrangement. Place the vase in a location in your home where the branches will have light. After a few days, the buds will come alive and bloom. This can be repeated throughout the winter to add color and a taste of spring inside your home. Written by: Michael Boice, Extension Horticulture Assistant

Indoor Lighting for Houseplants

The amount of light in a home or office often deceives the eye. A location where the plant looks the best may lack the light to sustain it. Light can be measured in foot-candles. The amount of light coming in a south facing window is about 500 to 1000 foot-candles. Three feet from the window drops to about 50 foot-candles. The average office space has around 50 foot-candles of light on the desk surface. Plants are rated by their light intensity requirement to grow successfully indoors:

Light Intensity Requirement Examples

Low light intensity (50-250 foot-candles) African violets, Jade, Pothos

Medium light intensity (250-1000 foot-candles) Begonias, Dieffenbachia, Ficus, Norfolk Pine

High light intensity (1000+ foot-candles) Cacti, herbs, Umbrella tree

Photo Source: https://oepos.ca.uky.edu/content/redbud

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Although a window location provides the most natural light, it may not be enough to support a medium or high intensity plant. Most table lamps and ceiling lights also lack the intensity of light required for plant growth. Many plants can be maintained with low light levels for a long time, but eventually they will lose vigor and start to decline. Additional light sources are required to provide enough light intensity on the leaf surface for the plant to produce the sugars and hormones it needs to thrive. The past few years have brought new developments of light sources for indoor plants. Florescent tubes and LED fixtures are considered the best artificial sources. The type of lighting required depends on the plants and the growing space. For recommendations on providing light for growing house plants and starting seedlings, visit extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6515. Reference: David H Trinklein, Horticulture Specialist, University of Missouri Extension Written by: Michael Boice, Extension Horticulture Assistant

Photo By: Michael Boice