Agriculture and Natural Resources s17

May 31, 2002

Please do not delete this message. It is the only copy of Agriculture and Natural Resources, FCS and 4-H Youth Development Exclusives county agents in your office will receive. This packet is for the week ending May 31, 2002.

AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

>Tis the Season To Dry Firewood?

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

Protect Your Children From Lead Poisoning

4-H/YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

4-Hers Show, Judge Vegetables In Upcoming County Fairs

>TIS THE SEASON TO DRY FIREWOOD?

Sources: Doug McLaren and Terry Conners

It probably seems strange to be thinking about firewood this time of year, but now is a good time to begin drying firewood for this winter. Firewood should be air dried, or seasoned, to the proper moisture content to burn efficiently and safely. The more water in firewood, the less heat is generated to warm a room. This is because much of the energy released is used to turn moisture into steam that goes up the chimney. In addition, the slow-burning fire causes a creosote buildup in the fireplace and chimney; over time, this accumulation could cause a chimney fire. A smouldering fire often leads to poor draft up the chimney, causing smoke to spread into the room. Air-drying wood to remove free moisture for three months is good; six months is even better. It=s easy to season, or dry, firewood; simply let it sit out doors, but protected from water. Put a cover like a tarpaulin only over the top of the wood to keep water from running through the stack, but leave the ends free for the sun and air to aid seasoning. Stack firewood on old pallets to keep it off wet soil. To speed the drying process, you can remove the bark; split firewood to expose more of its surface area to the air, and stack it so air circulates through the pile from all sides. Don=t stack firewood against your home or a wooden fence, because it can attract termites, and the moisture condensation can cause mold and decay on wall sections and wooden surfaces. Properly seasoned firewood has a gray, weathered appearance and large cracks and splits on end surfaces. The larger the cracks, the drier the wood. Dense woods, such as oak, hickory and black locust, produce more energy. Although yellow-poplar, silver and red maple woods provide less heat, they ignite quickly and are great to help start the fire. For more information, contact your (COUNTY NAME) Cooperative Extension Service. Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin. -30-

PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM LEAD POISONING

Sources: Kim Henken and Centers for Disease Control

Nearly one million United States children ages one through five have elevated blood lead levels, according to recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. Since children naturally engage in hand-to-mouth activities, they are more likely to accidentally ingest lead. Those ages six years and younger are more apt to be affected by lead exposure than other age groups. Washing hands helps reduce exposure to lead. Always wash children=s hands after they=ve played outdoors, prior to eating and before going to sleep. Lead poisoning can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Seizures, coma and even death can result from very high lead levels. Since most children with elevated blood lead levels don=t show any symptoms, a blood test is the only way to detect the problem. A level of 10 micrograms or more per deciliter of blood is considered elevated in children and is likely to cause negative effects. (One microgram is one-millionth of a gram; a deciliter is one-tenth of a liter.) A major source of lead exposure is deteriorated paint in older housing. More than 80 percent of U.S. homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint in them. (Lead was banned from house paint in 1978.) The older a home, the more likely it is to have paint with high concentrations of lead in the paint. Most exposure to lead in paint comes from lead- contaminated household dust, rather than from eating paint chips. Contact your (County Name) Cooperative Extension Service or county health department to find out about having the paint in your home tested for lead. Another source is soil contaminated from flaking lead-based paints and past emissions of leaded gasoline. Soil contaminated by leaded-gasoline exhausts usually is found near roadways and is in the top two to three inches. Contaminated soil is a problem when children play outdoors on bare soil and track this soil into the home. Eating leafy vegetables grown in lead-contaminated soil can be a danger to your family. Testing your soil is one way to detect a lead problem. A relatively safe level ranges from a non-detectable amount to 200 parts per million. If high lead levels are found, plant grass or cover the area with mulch to keep people from tracking contaminated soil into your home. Lead also can be found in the plumbing of some homes. It can enter drinking water from lead pipes bringing the water into the home, pipe connectors, and copper plumbing and brass faucets and pump components that contain lead. Have your water tested to determine if there=s lead in it. Action is recommended if lead levels are greater than 15 parts per billion. A simple way to reduce lead concentrations is to flush your plumbing system. If you=ve not used your water for more than four hours, flush it by letting the cold water run for a minute or two before drinking or using it for cooking. Have a sample of this water tested to ensure that flushing reduces concentrations below 15 ppb. Soft, or acidic, water can be corrosive and more easily dissolve lead from pipes and fittings. You can have your water tested for acidity at a state-certified laboratory or health agency. Always use cold tap water for cooking and drinking, because hot water is more likely to dissolve lead. ALead in and Around the Home@ is among 11 brief AKY-A-Syst for the Home@ publications to ensure that you and your home are safe from pollution and environmental hazards. AKY-A-Syst for the Home@ is a voluntary program to help you identify and understand potential hazards in and around your home. Each publication helps you assess factors that might have an adverse effect your family=s health and safety as well as the environment. For details, contact your (County Name) Cooperative Extension Service. Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin. -30-

4-HERS SHOW, JUDGE VEGETABLES IN UPCOMING COUNTY FAIRS

Sources: Amy Aldenderfer, Candace Harker and Jann Burks

Do you know what characteristics make a high-quality vegetable, or how to prepare a vegetable for a 4-H fair exhibit? Many Kentucky youth have discovered the answers to these questions as they prepare to exhibit and judge vegetables at county fairs in the coming months. 4-H members can exhibit nearly 40 vegetables, ranging from asparagus to watermelons and many in between including lima and snap beans, cabbage, corn, eggplant, melons, okra, parsley, peas, peppers, radishes, summer squash and tomatoes. One of the best prizes a contestant receives is the myriad of skills and personal development gained from growing and exhibiting vegetables. Growing and judging vegetables boosts 4-Hers= scientific knowledge and teaches them responsibility, patience and making decisions. Members also learn more about nutrition, food safety and food preparation and preservation. They can provide food for their families or make extra money selling vegetables. Gardening and other 4-H projects can be instrumental in career decisions. Vegetable entries are judged on the following criteria: condition, quality, uniformity, true to type, and size. Entries lose points for poor condition, including evident disease or insect damage, improper washing, and poor preparation. Quality-wise, a vegetable entry should be at the perfect stage to eat. And it should be attractive with no wilting, shriveling, roughness or misshapenness. Often, first-time exhibitors lose points for lack of uniformity. Thus, it=s important for each specimen in the exhibit to look the same. Specimens should have matching size, shape, color, quality, condition, maturity and manner of preparation. Each vegetable variety has traits such as shape, size and color that differentiate it from other varieties of the same vegetable. One isn=t necessarily better than the other as long as each specimen is true to type for that variety. The largest vegetables aren=t necessarily the highest quality, so size accounts for a relatively small percentage of an exhibit=s total score. A blue-ribbon exhibit must score high in all five criteria, have the right number of specimens for the particular vegetable, and be properly prepared. County and area exhibit winners can advance to the horticultural competition at the Kentucky State Fair in August. For more information, contact your (County Name) Cooperative Extension Service. Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin. -30-