September 2022

The latest covid-19 surge, caused by a shifting mix of quickly evolving omicron subvariants, appears to be waning, with cases and hospitalizations beginning to fall. Like past covid waves, this one will leave a lingering imprint in the form of long covid, an ill-defined catchall term for a set of symptoms that can include debilitating fatigue, difficulty breathing, chest pain, and brain fog.

At the Giving Garden we make it a practice not to plant the same thing in the same spot every year. Why would we do this? Rotating vegetable crops is a standard way of helping prevent disease from being carried over from one year to the next. Rotation means that crops are moved to different areas of the garden each year. Planting the same crop, or a related crop, in the same area each year can lead to a build-up of disease. Also, different crops vary in the depth and density of the root system as well as extract different levels of nutrients. As a rule, cool-season crops such as cabbage, peas, lettuce and onions have relatively sparse, shallow root systems and warm-season crops such as tomatoes, peppers and melons have deeper, better developed root systems. Therefore, it can be helpful to rotate warm-season and cool-season crops.

By Pat Melgares K-State Research and Extension news service MANHATTAN – Cool-season grasses, like the Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue lawns common to many parts of Kansas, have had about enough of summer. The state’s high temperatures and sporadic rainfall often cause cool-season varieties to become thin by summer’s end.