Agriculture

Dry weather conditions in many parts of Kentucky this past summer may have resulted in grazed pastures with areas of thin vegetative cover and bare soil.

Many of these areas already have evidence of weedy vegetation, such as common ragweed and other summer annuals.

As these plants die back naturally, cool-season weeds will sprout:  chickweed, henbit and purple deadnettle will fill the voids.

Other weeds such as buttercup and musk thistle will likely be more prevalent in the next spring.

The Kentucky Master Gardener Program is set to begin at the Washington County Extension Office on Monday Sept. 8, 2014 at 1 until 4 p.m.

We will meet on the following Mondays from 1 until 4 p.m.: Sept. 8, 15, 22, 29; Oct. 6, 20; Nov. 10, 17, 24 and Dec. 1. We will also have an all-day trip to Lexington to be scheduled once class begins. The Kentucky Master Gardener Program is a 14-week program taught by Horticulture Extension Agents and University of Kentucky Specialists.  

A new school year is here, and it’s a great time to join 4-H, the nation’s largest youth organization.

This week, many Washington County students may have picked up an enrollment form to join or rejoin 4-H for the 2014-2015 school year.

Each fall, youth must fill out a 4-H enrollment form indicating what activities or clubs they wish to participate in for the coming year.

Enrollment forms may be returned to the extension office or to homeroom teachers to be picked up by 4-H.

The stable fly is a blood-sucker that looks like a house fly but has a piercing-type mouthpart that projects forward from the front of its head.

Males and females feed on warm-blooded animals and humans, usually around the lower leg or ankles. They will also attack dogs, biting them mostly on the ears.

Stable flies are not limited to barns and stables; they will rest around houses and attack people, too. Stable flies are strong fliers; they can cause problems at least two miles from their breeding sites.