Features

Got the time and the desire to learn something new? There are several people in the community offering their time and knowledge to teach fellow Spencer Countians on subjects ranging from art and crafts to cooking to lawn care.

The Spencer County Cooperative Extension Service is once again offering classes through their S.O.S. Program. S.O.S. stands for Sharing Our Selves, with the understanding that virtually everyone has a skill, interest or hobby to share.

Nathan Lawson of Big Springs Beef and Lawson Farms considers himself blessed to be a farmer and to share it with past and future generations.

Lawson Farms started twelve years ago with thirty-two beef cattle that the family raised for their own consumption. They also grew corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, and tobacco on their 800-acre farm. Then they started selling beef to friends, and Big Springs Beef grew from there.

Now they have 140 cattle. This year, they decided to stop growing tobacco and to focus on raising beef.

I do not worry about perfection in our lawn around the house.  It largely blends in to the pastures where we graze sheep and poultry.  However, we do need to spot seed from time to time to recover heavy use areas and around bale feeders.

Spring break from teaching at U of L falls conveniently during the week of St. Patrick’s Day; which is also my target date for planting onions and potatoes.  I typically manage a mid-March planting, but the condition of the soil is my primary concern.  I will not start digging until the soil dries out and is considered workable.

It is the time of year when 4-H’ers across Kentucky prepare their speeches and demonstrations for upcoming local communications contests. These programs offer so much more to youth than just ribbons. They give young people the opportunity to develop important life skills and receive a sense of accomplishment in a job well done.

Absolutely nothing says spring more than the distant chorus of spring peepers.  There is a wooded stream just off Conner Station that is home to a cacophonous band of peepers all competing for as many females as they can.  On a warm March evening, especially after a shower, spring peepers remind me of how glorious rural life can be.  Just by listening, a whole other world can be imagined.

Tall fescue, specifically Kentucky 31, is a cool-season grass that is widely grown throughout Kentucky and the eastern United States, because it is resistant to many unfavorable conditions including drought tolerance and insect resistance. However, the very reason for its resiliency is also its Achilles heel. It contains a harmful fungal endophyte that causes fescue toxicosis in cattle and horses. Affected animals get sick, have reduced weight gains, reproductive problems and other issues.