Breaking News

Local Columns

Jumpstart spring indoors

Spring. Are you counting down the days? Why not bring a breath of spring indoors by forcing flowering branches. The term "forcing" in horticulture terms is a method to speed up plant growth by artificially controlling heat and light to encourage early flowering. With branches from flowering trees and shrubs, this is done by cutting branches and bringing them indoors to flower. Select healthy branches with many plump buds. Be sure to keep the form of the tree or shrub in mind when cutting, as not to disfigure the plant. Cut just above a side bud at a 45 degree angle, as not to ...

Just how cold was it?

The recent cold snap generated a lot of “I remember when it was so cold…” comments. Most of us who have been around Iowa for a while can remember periods of sub-zero temperatures and how we coped with them. My first few years were spent in Kossuth and Winnebago counties up on the Minnesota border. In fact, the year I was three-years-old we lived on the south side of a gravel road that was the Iowa-Minnesota state line. I am accustomed to Iowa’s cold winters. As a kid you kind of take winter’s wrath in stride. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I became whiney about ...

Warm sweaters and cuddly cats

Having a cat in your lap is something like putting on a sweater to chase away the chills of a frigid January like what we’re suffering through. The same could be said for a cool fall day, too. This is the time of year when my cat Maxine and her habit of quietly leaping onto my lap is welcome most of the time. She doesn’t need an invitation; all that’s required is for her to realize that I’m sitting peacefully by myself. That’s all it takes for her to settle in on my lap as soon as I get settled, too. Sometimes she’s there before I am. Yes, it can be pretty ...

Houseplant hints

During the cold winter weather, there is not much gardening to do outside. But for those with houseplants, we will take a look at the importance of water, as a variety of water quality factors should be considered. Water plays a role in transporting nutrients from the soil up through the roots to the plant foliage. Water is also responsible for a plant's ability to remain erect, as without water, plant cells will not retain turgid, will shrink and cause wilting to occur. The tiny stomata or "pores" of the foliage that open and close to allow the plant to breath or transpire will ...

The best method of snow removal

It was about 9:15 on a recent Saturday morning. We had received three inches of snow the night before, the outside temp was 12-above and I was working up the ambition to go outside to remove snow from our driveway. Comfortably (and warmly) ensconced in my recliner I was watching Iowa Outdoors on Iowa Public Television. Ironically, the Iowa Outdoors episode had been recorded during balmy weather. Suddenly and unexpectedly I heard the sound of a pick-up truck and a blade scraping snow from our driveway. I got up and watched from inside the front door. When the young man ...

School memories

One of the reasons I like to read obituaries is because I get to see where the deceased went to school. If they were in their 80s or 90s when they passed, it’s a chance to see the names of Iowa schools that no longer exist. In fact, it’s not unusual for some of those towns to no longer exist except in memories. These were the schools in little bergs all around our state — proud schools like Ridgeway High School, Castana High School, Gravity High School — and the list could go on and on. Since the 1930s, the numbers of school districts in Iowa has declined by 90 percent. ...