Looking to add some color, fragrance and texture to your landscaping? Check out these flowering shrub varieties, favorites of USU gardening expert Jerry Goodspeed.
For more information on each of these varieties and tips on how to keep your shrubs looking their best, watch Jerry Goodspeed’s segment from KSL Studio 5.
The beginning of summer means that teens are out of school and looking for work. Check out these tips to help your teen find and get a great summer job.
Teens who have the opportunity to earn money and develop good work habits now will receive great payoffs when applying for educational or employment opportunities in the future.
According to Renee Ward, founder of www.Teens4Hire.org, “We have millions of teens who will have never had a job by the time they are age 20…. I believe if they never have the fulfillment of a job, they’ll be frustrated and that becomes perpetuating.”
A review of online articles addressing employment for teens reveals four common tips for landing a job.
1. Start early. This is the most often-mentioned tip. Most employers know how much additional help they will need over the summer months by the end of April. Few of them want to wait until school is out to start interviewing potential employees.
2. Stop by the business. While many businesses post positions online, others prefer to post a job announcement on the door. It is worth the effort to stop by in person. Go to the business prepared to share ideas on how you could be an asset to the company. Some employers may find a place for you simply based on your willingness to “pound the pavement.”
3. Put your best foot forward. Shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops will generally not make the best impression to a potential employer. Though Sunday best is not required to interview for most part-time jobs, a clean, neat appearance with modest clothing is a must. Speaking with respect, good manners and good language skills to a potential employer shows that you are mature and can communicate well.
4. Cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship. Is there a service you can offer? Ideas include teaching lessons, setting up smart phones for senior citizens, running errands for home-bound or busy adults, doing house or yard work, providing child or elder care, event and party planning, walking and/or caring for pets, washing and detailing cars, washing windows or painting. Creativity can pay off. And even if some jobs pay little or nothing, having a job to add to a resume may give you the edge for future openings.
Additional places for teen job seekers to check include:
* Parks, recreation areas, campgrounds, day and summer camps, swimming pools and golf courses
* Concession areas for sporting events
* Hotels, resorts, museums and other tourist-related destinations
* Fast food and casual dining restaurants including ice cream parlors and juice retailers
* Moving and packing companies
Teens may resent having to work early mornings, late nights or weekends during the summer, but if they adhere to a schedule, have a good work ethic and save part of what they earn, they will gain important skills that will help throughout their lives.
This article was written by Kathy Riggs, Utah State University family and consumer sciences professor, 435-586-8132, kathleen.riggs@usu.edu.
With these relationship tips, you and your partner will both come out winners!
Experiences in my life have led me to appreciate the moments I have with those I love. I’m especially grateful for my husband who I had to search long and hard for. I can’t say that I don’t EVER take him for granted, but I know how hard it was for me to find him; and I want to make sure that he’s around for a long time. So, besides encouraging him to replace fast food with veggies and to exercise with me, I also try to keep the love alive by doing little things that are easy and don’t take much time but that let him know how much he means to me. I thought I’d share a few of the ideas I’ve tried (or plan on trying) to help keep the relationship spark.
• Take silly pictures of each other and laugh together.
• When he/she is sharing something with you, give him/her your undivided attention (I admit I need to work on this!).
• Give a silly gift at an unexpected time.
• Flirt with each other.
• Leave a sticky note or note card somewhere that tells about how much you love and appreciate your partner.
• Share one thing you are thankful for about each other before going to bed each night.
• On a trip somewhere in the car, kiss at every red light or stop sign.
• Stop whatever you are doing to enjoy the sunset together.
• Send a text or email just to say hi.
• Surprise him/her with a favorite treat.
What are the small things you do to keep the spark in your relationship? What new idea are you willing to try this week?
Check out some other ideas on how to make every moment you have together count at http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/Marriage&Relationships_2013-01pr.pdf.
This article was written by Naomi Brower, Weber County Director/Extension Associate, Weber County
Make sure your food storage is safe and ready to use so you can utilize it in any situation-even in an emergency!
Storing food is a traditional domestic skill that has been used for thousands of years in times of plenty to prepare for times of famine or when food is in short supply. Wheat found stored in vessels in the tombs of Egypt was still edible after 4,000 years. Food is preserved and stored to be eaten from harvest to harvest as families strive to be self-sustainable. Maintaining a food supply often ensures savings of time and money and provides safety and security in time of need. Storing food has several main purposes:
• Preserves harvested and processed foods for later use
• Provides a balanced diet throughout the year
• Helps prepare for disasters, emergencies, and periods of food scarcity or famine
• Religious reasons
• Peace of mind
• Self-sustainability
Factors that affect food storage:
Temperature: The temperature at which food is stored is very critical to shelf life. The best range for food storage is a constant temperature between 40-60 degrees. Avoid freezing temperatures.
Moisture: It is recommended to remove moisture when storing foods. For long-term storage, foods should have a 10 percdent or less moisture content.
Oxygen: Foods store best when oxygen free.
Light: Light transfers energy to the food products causing them to degrade in nutrition and appearance. Store food in dark areas.
Container: Store foods in food-grade plastic, metal or glass containers indicating that the container does not contain chemicals that could be transferred to food and be harmful to your health.
For best storage life, use containers with a hermetic (air tight) seal. Containers with air-tight seals are:
• #10 cans
• Sealable food storage buckets
• Sealable food quality metal (lined) or plastic drums
• Foil pouches
• PETE bottles (for dry products such as wheat, corn, and beans)
Infestation: Insects can damage your food storage. Prevent these with cold treatments and proper storage conditions.
Shelf date is the “best if used by” date. The “life sustaining shelf life” date means the length of time that food is still edible. “Sell by” means the store should sell the product by the printed date. “Best if used by” means the consumer should use the product by the date listed for best quality and flavor (not for safety reasons).
Utah State University Extension: http://extension.usu.edu/foodstorage/htm/storage-conditions
This article was written by Carolyn Washburn, Extension Agent, Washington County
The potential of your garden is limitless with container gardening. Try out these tips to keep your garden ever growing, changing and blooming in style.
Container gardening has become popular as planting areas in the landscape have become smaller. Some containers are used to grow vegetables or specimen shrubs, while others display a beautiful splash of color. For thrilling container gardens, consider these tips.
• Containers need large enough drainage holes in the bottom to prevent soil from clogging the hole while still promoting proper drainage. If the drainage hole is too large, soil will leak through the bottom each time the container is watered. Prevent this problem by placing a large rock or solid object over the hole. This allows water to drain around it and keeps the soil in place.
• Planters must be large enough to accommodate the root system of the plants. Often, annuals or vegetable plants are crammed into a small planter, and then gardeners wonder why the plants stay small or need excessive amounts of water. As a general rule, any pot 8 inches or smaller in diameter will only hold small plants. Most annual or perennial containers should be a minimum of 8 to 10 inches in diameter, and larger pots are more desirable. After all, the goal of having annuals is to make a large splash of color in the landscape, not a dribble.
• There is an art to designing annual containers, often referred to as thrill, fill and spill. This refers to the principle of placing an upright plant in the center of the container that “thrills” the eye and draws attention. Next, the planter is “filled” with an accenting color and finally one or two plants are placed to “spill” over the sides to soften the appearance and extend the color.
• The spike dracaena is commonly used as a center “thrill” for planters; however, many other plants work equally well to catch the eye. Some include red fountain grass, snapdragons, geraniums, salvia, coleus and dahlias. These plants reach a height of 8 inches or more and stand out in a crowd of annuals.
• There are a number of good choices for “filling” a container with annuals. The most important consideration is to select colors and flowers you like. Next, keep in mind that they should not overpower the plant used to “thrill” nor hide the plants that “spill.” Osteospermum, million bells, bidden, some zinnias and impatiens work well.
• For plants that “spill,” there is the black-eyed Susan vine, wave petunias, sweet potato vine, licorice plant, alyssum and lobelia. Some of these plants also climb, which can be both a plus and a problem when they attempt to take over the basket or move up a post. For this reason, flower baskets should be pruned as needed.
• A critical component in the container is the soil. It should hold water, but also drain. A number of good potting soils are available at local nurseries and garden centers. Keep in mind that you get what you pay for when purchasing potting soil. Along with the proper soil, it is important to provide the plants with sufficient fertilizer. Normally this means either applying a slow-release fertilizer at planting time or using a water-soluble fertilizer every couple of weeks.
This article was written by Jerry Goodspeed, Utah State University Extension horticulturist, 435-919-1276, jerry.goodspeed@usu.edu
Have you ever been caught in the trap of wasting money? Find out how you can escape!
In a recent article, financial guru Dave Ramsey identified the Top 10 things Americans wasted money on in 2015. His list includes: student loans, Ziosk tablets at restaurants, gym memberships, daily coffee trips, car payments, car leasing, car wash upgrades, name-brand household paper products, timeshares and shipping charges.
While this is his personal perspective, assessing our own personal money wasters over the year is a worthwhile activity. Here’s how to do it.
*Get out receipts or go online to your bank account (or bank statements if you have them) and start adding up expenses in specific categories such as clothing, food, entertainment, gas, etc.
*Total each category for the entire year. This will take some time if you have not been tracking through the year, but it is critical if you want to change the way you handle money.
*This last part is the most useful, and that is to ask yourself some key questions to identify money wasters:
1) Did we need to spend this much?
2) What traps did we fall into?
3) Did we get into loans that, with some planning, we could have saved for to avoid the interest costs? Could we have put more money down or found a better interest rate? (Or avoided a loan altogether?)
4) Did we enter into contracts for products or services that we didn’t realistically think through? (The long-term implications can get us in trouble.)
5) Do we currently have little habits that add up to a considerable dollar amount when multiplied by the frequency?
6) Are we guilty of the “I earned it, I deserve it” mentality?
7) Is the price of convenience being forgotten in our budget and dollar equations?
It can be helpful to assess where we are financially, based on current habits we may have gotten into, then determine if there are better ways our resources could be spent in the coming year. Ramsey’s list provides us some great things to consider for our own budget as well as a path to step down some of our own expenses.
This article was written by Teresa Hunsaker, Utah State University Extension educator, teresa.hunsaker@usu.edu, 801-399-8200
Looking your best is an important part of your image. But it doesn’t have to break the bank. You can look amazing and save at the same time.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010), the average American spent $1,700 on apparel and related services in 2010. Even though the last statistic on consumer expenditures was released in 2010, the current economic situation can suggest that Americans are interested in ways to save money on apparel to maintain a certain look for personal and professional life.
Here are 10 ways that individuals and families can save money on apparel and clothing related items.
This article was written by Margie Memmott and Lindsey Shirley, USU Extension.
It’s that time of year again. Many people will be getting tax returns (or already have) and are looking for the best ways to use that money as well as other “extra” money they have received.
Many of us hope for a windfall or a large gift or bonus. However, more than likely, most of us will be hoping for a tax refund this time of year. Here are five ways to consider using your tax refund (or gift or bonus).
Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and temperatures are rising. Spring is in the air! But don’t let that fool you, frost can still happen. Read on for ways to know when it’s okay to get your garden planted so you can avoid the frosty pitfalls.
Determining when to plant a garden can be especially confusing in Utah’s unpredictable, varied climate where last-frost dates can vary by many days within just a few miles. Many experienced gardeners have planted and later lost their plants to frost.
An example of how fickle Utah’s climate can be is in Cache Valley. Frost-free days vary from an average of 113 days in Lewiston and Trenton to 158 days on the USU campus. Similar examples are common around the state.
Geographic characteristics of where you live can help in determining when to plant. When a yard is located in a populated area or on a mountain bench, it usually has a longer growing season. Other areas located at slightly lower elevations where cold air drains and cannot escape have a shorter season. This is why local commercial orchards are generally located on benches. Additionally, urban and suburban areas are slightly warmer than surrounding areas due to the urban heat effect. Heat from buildings and warmth generated by sunlight reflected from roads and other surfaces increases temperatures and delays frost. It can be helpful to chat with a local farmer or experienced gardener in your area to determine what works for him or her regarding when to plant.
In addition to frost information, it is important to take into account the needs of the plants. Vegetables planted locally fall into four basic categories: hardy, semi-hardy, tender and very tender. Depending on which category a plant belongs to, planting dates vary from early spring until early summer. Consider the following:
If you have lost plants to frost, you are not alone, and all you can do is try again.
This article was written by Taun Beddes, Utah State University Extension horticulturist.
The weather is getting warmer, the flowers are blooming and spring is in the air! The scents, sights and temperatures are close to perfect. Getting organized and doing a bit of spring cleaning helps bring that wonderful fresh feeling into your home!
Many foods freeze well and are great to have on hand for family meals. It may take a spring-cleaning event to get freezer compartments cleaned, organized and ready for more food, but it will be well worth the effort. Consider the following freezer tips from the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
1. Choose appropriate and high quality food – As with other methods of home food preservation, choose foods at optimum freshness when freezing. For example, if you have fresh meat that has been in the refrigerator for several days before you decide to freeze it, the quality, once thawed, may be marginal at best. Not all foods freeze well. Such things as mayonnaise, cream sauce and lettuce may be frozen, but once thawed they are generally not very appetizing.
2. Package correctly – Proper packaging helps maintain quality and prevent freezer burn. It is safe to freeze meat or poultry in the original packaging, however this type of wrap is permeable to air, and quality may diminish over time. For prolonged storage, over-wrap these packages as you would any food for long-term storage. It is not necessary to rinse meat and poultry. Freeze unopened vacuum packages as is. If you notice that a package has accidentally been torn, the food is still safe to use, it will just need to be re-wrapped or over-wrapped.
3. Freeze quickly – Freeze foods quickly to maintain quality. Rapid freezing prevents large ice crystals from forming on and throughout the food. This may require dividing food into smaller containers or packages.
4. Watch for freezer burn—Basic guidelines for how long foods will store well in the freezer can be found here. However, freezer life also depends on how well the food is packaged and the temperature of the freezer compartment (0 degrees F. or lower is recommended). It is especially important to double or triple wrap foods to prevent exposure to the circulating air in a frost-free freezer since it will dry out foods and make them more susceptible to freezer burn. Freezer burn does not make foods unsafe, but it diminishes quality. It appears as grayish-brown leathery spots and is caused by air coming in contact with the surface of the food. Cut freezer-burned portions off either before or after cooking. Foods with heavy freezer burn may have to be discarded for quality reasons.
5. Date and rotate — Write the storage date on foods, and rotate packages regularly (place newest/freshest in the back and move older foods to the front or top) to prevent having to throw away older food that has been pushed to the back and forgotten. Freezing does not stop foods from ripening or stop enzymes, but it does substantially slow the process.
6. Practice safe thawing – Never thaw foods in the garage, basement or on the kitchen counter. Three safe ways to thaw food are in the refrigerator, in cold water or in the microwave. It is best and safest to thaw in the refrigerator. Small items may defrost overnight; most foods require a day or two. Large items like turkeys may take longer. Approximately 1 day for each 5 pounds of weight is recommended. For faster thawing, place food in a leak-proof plastic bag and immerse in cold water. Check the water frequently to be sure it stays cold, and change it every 30 minutes. After thawing, cook immediately. When microwave-defrosting food, cook it immediately since some areas of the food may begin to cook during microwaving.
Freezers are indeed a convenience to keep food on hand and to store large quantities of food. See the Food Safety and Inspection Service site, or contact your local USU Extension office for answers to specific questions.
This article was written by Kathy Riggs, Utah State University Extension family and consumer sciences professor.