Garden Clean up!
- Remove the plants and compost them. If your plants had a disease issue this year, do not compost them, throw those in the garbage so that the disease doesn’t come through the compost.
- After plant removal, add manure or other fertilizer if necessary then till the garden. Tilling the garden in the fall exposes insect eggs and weed seeds to winter temperatures, killing them for the following year.
- A thin layer of straw mulch or grass clippings will help hold your topsoil in place through strong winter winds.
Flower gardens can be cleaned up in the fall as well, or they can be left to be cleaned up in the spring. Leaving the plant material over the winter can add winter interest. Plants with hollow stems should be left as egg laying locations for many pollinators including many of our solitary bees. Also, plants with hollow stems should not be pruned off in the fall because moisture can get in the hollow stems and freeze and thaw through the winter damaging the crown of the plant. This includes plants like roses and butterfly bushes.
- If you clean up your garden in the fall wait until after a killing frost to do so.
- Iris and peony plants should not be pruned back until after the leaves have turned brown in the fall.
Taking the stress out of family meals
Feeling the pressure of back-to-school schedules yet?
I ran a version of this article before, but boy does it feel relevant now that I have a kindergartener myself. Give your mealtime motivation a boost by trying the following tips from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
Keep it simple. On extra busy nights, prioritize recipes with fewer ingredients. With input from your children, create a small collection of family favorites to help you get in and out of the kitchen in less than 30 minutes. Cycle through these recipes regularly, and pretty soon both grocery shopping and meal prep will be a snap.
Choose ingredients that do double duty. Save shopping time by stocking up on ingredients you can use for more than one meal throughout the week. Cook two pounds of lean ground beef, instead of one. Use half for Sloppy Joes on whole grain buns one night, and reheat the other half to throw in a casserole the next night.
My budget-friendly approach to health
Being an adult is a lot of things, but the word that comes to mind lately is: expensive.
I’m feeling the financial squeeze like everyone else. This got me thinking about the ways I prioritize health by embracing foods, drinks, and cooking methods that tend to get a bad rap. People often write these things off as unhealthy, or at the very least unfancy, and therefore unworthy of being touted for their health benefits.
As a dietitian, I know better. The vast majority of the time, foods are not more expensive because they are better for your health. They’re more expensive because they either cost more to produce or they cost more to advertise.
Here’s how I support my health without breaking the bank:
-Store brands: I’m not a couponer. Instead, I often choose the store brand over the more expensive name brand item for my kitchen staples–things like condiments, spices, canned goods, and frozen produce. While I prefer the name brand version for certain things–like the snack crackers I buy–trial and error has shown me that most store brands are of comparable quality to their name brand counterparts. Because they don’t require big product development or advertising budgets, store brands are 30% less expensive on average–that’s a savings I can get behind.
Vegetable and canola oils: Because the majority of my cooking doesn’t go much above medium heat when I’m sautéing in oil, I feel perfectly good buying the less expensive vegetable or canola oils when I need to stock up. Olive oil often gets credit for being the healthiest of the oils, but these other ones offer the same amount of calories, are just as low in unhealthy fats and just as high in healthy fats. So, when I’m looking for a less expensive oil, I grab vegetable or canola off the shelf and feel great about the health benefits of each.
-Frozen fruits and vegetables: I’ve written entire articles about this in the past, but it can’t be overstated how great of a resource frozen fruits and vegetables are to busy households on a budget. They are packaged at peak quality, maintaining their nutritional value, and if I stick to ones without added sugars or sauces, I’m getting products that are just as healthy as their fresh versions. Bonus: I don’t need to worry about these items going bad before I have a chance to eat them.
-Canned fruits, vegetables and beans: Like with frozen, the only thing I’m looking for here is a product that’s packed in its own juices and lower in sodium. I sometimes also rinse canned items before use to get rid of excess sodium–when I have the time and energy to do so. Being a Midwesterner, I also capitalize on the stretch in my food dollar by adding canned vegetables and beans to our favorite casseroles and one-pot dinners. This adds volume to any meal, without requiring me to add more protein–often the most expensive ingredient in a dish.
Microwaving: While I do own my share of “fancy” appliances, I harbor no ill feelings toward my handy dandy microwave. As long as I’m using a microwave safe dish, I feel confident knowing this appliance will help me make a healthy dinner fast–with the bonus of not heating up my house during months when I’m also trying to watch my energy bill. It’s helped me do things like safely thaw that chicken breast I forgot to take out the freezer, cook an egg for my toddler to enjoy and heat up frozen peas for a healthy side dish.
-Tap water: Last but not least, walking into any convenience store or grocery store would have me believing hydration needs to be complicated. Not true. Whenever I’m looking to save a couple bucks, I stick to tap water and feel great about its ability to hydrate me effectively. Not only is it good-for-you H2O, it also has its own naturally occurring combo of essential minerals (ie electrolytes). Move over sports drinks.
Isabelle Barkoudah: Fashion Show
Lydia Dominy: My Financial Future
Hannah Parde: Reserve Champion Dog Agility Level 2 & Level 4
Emily Rempel: Food Preservation
Mallory Schwab: Food Preservation
Lily Sobotka: Food & Nutrition Poster, Scrapbook or Photo Display
Jeffrey Lohse: Champion Horticulture Judging Contest, 4th Place Insect ID contest
Andrew Jensen: Plant Science
Mackenzie Person: Woodworking Article
Parker Person: Woodworking Article
Jordan Musil: 3rd Senior Sheep Showman, Reserve Hampshire Market Lambs
Cooper Lovitt: Champion Division 1 Market Gilt
Nebraska Extension Gage County
Email: Gage-County@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/gage/
Location: 1115 West Scott Street, Beatrice, NE, USA
Phone: 402-223-1384
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Twitter: @GageCoExtension