Happy May Day! I hope you are able to enjoy the sights and sounds of spring in the days ahead. Even though I did not inherit the green thumb both my grandmothers and my mother had, I have a love of beautiful flowers and foliage plants. I try not to get too anxious to get my plants before it has warmed up to stay. The trick in central Kansas seems to be the placement of plants so they can withstand dry and windy conditions!
About this time of year the calls related to lawn and garden questions begin coming in. This year we have some of our Master Gardener trainees checking in to return calls from you. Right now we don’t have set hours but we will keep track of all horticulture related phone and office visits and get back with you in a timely manner. And remember, we have many free publications that address many problems you may have with your lawn, garden or trees. Feel free to stop by our office or if you are comfortable searching the web our horticulture publications are available at: www.ksre.ksu.edu
Celebrating our Family Community Education Units
I want to use the second part of my column space to invite you to a celebration of our FCE units which is set for Monday, May 9th beginning at 5 p.m. at the Extension Office meeting room, 1800 12th Street. Pam Martin, from the Wetlands Education Center, has accepted our invitation to share a short program with us. Members will be recognized for 25 to 60 years of membership in this Extension organization. Some of you may remember the HDU’s or Home Demonstration Units in the early days of Extension. Then the name Extension Homemaker Units (or EHU) spanned many years, until 1994, when the current Family Community Education Units were recognized.
I am proud to be an advisor to this wonderful group of ladies. All 6 of our units in Barton County are actively completing service projects in their community. The educational programs they support really do help improve the quality of life for Barton County residents. If you are currently a member or were a member in the past, mark your calendars for May 9th and join us at 5 p.m...  We will have refreshments and our speaker first and then recognize members’ years of service. Call me if you have any questions.
Donna Krug is the Family and Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Barton County. She may be reached at (620)793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu.