Ramsey County

October 24, 2005

Howdy!@!!!!!
Can you imagine???  No killing frost!!!!!  I have been looking forward to the night of killing frost, as I am getting tired of raking leaves.  The nice thing about raking leaves is though; your yard does look so very nice cleaned up.  This reminds me of a story about myself.  As I grew up, and out, I never had to worry about cleaning our yard to much as we raised many sheep and would always let them roam during the fall season.  This was a great time to not only save on feed costs but also found many good feed opportunities to help fatten our lambs.  Well, anyway, back to the leaves in the yard story.  My sisters and I got home from school one day and found the yard looking much cleaner than when we left and discovered the sheep had been in the yard and trampled all the leaves.  They also left behind their trademarks.  Upon entering the house, needless to say, we left a trail behind us that was not very air refreshing nor was it clean for the floor.  Oh well!!! At least we did not have to clean up leaves.  As I write this article and talk about sheep, I am reminded of how peaceful the fall season was, as we did not have corn, soybeans, sunflowers and edible beans like most farmers have today.  The sheep could roam freely, in some cases, upwards of 2 miles but always seemed to find their way home at night. Very rarely did we have to go find them.  I guess what I am trying to say from all of this is:  the leaves got raked and our lives have really changed over the last many decades.  It is very hard to imagine what the next several decades might bring if change happens as fast as the past.

Mushrooms in the yard???
I am still getting many questions about mushrooms in our yards.  You will find after a while mushrooms will run their course and will leave you alone.  I WOULD be willing to bet if you dug up the area where your mushrooms are growing you would find some decaying piece of wood, whether it be a tree root, old buried garage or lumber material that got covered up after a construction project.  So, to make the long short, learn to live with the mushrooms and one thing that might help slow down the process is to not water as much.

New increase seed?????    
Producers have all finished harvesting the last of the Ramsey County Crop Improvement seed increases for this growing season.  The increase seed has done very well this in spite of weather conditions and the growing season.  The increase seed that will be available for the next growing season will be: Glenn (HRSW), Stellar (Barley), Tradition (Barley), Pembina (soybeans) and Carter (Flax).  If you are interested in getting more information about any of these varieties or would like to apply for one or more variety please stop by the Extension office or call 662-7027.

Calendar!!!!!!
            November 15               Farmers Night out, 6 pm
            December 1                 Cattleman’s Night Out 6 pm
            December 14               How much can I afford to pay for rent?
            January 4-5                  Lake Region Roundup

524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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