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It was like a scene out of “The Wizard of Oz”. Only in the Montana Education version Dorothy’s house did not land on the wicked witch of the north but instead landed on what was left of “No Child Left Behind” to everyone’s relief. Out of the ashes has sprung “Every Student Succeeds Act”. In Big Sandy, Superintendent Brad Moore was all smiles as he explained the new and streamlined education act that was signed into law by President Obama late in 2015. Superintendent Moore said, “The biggest thing for us is that we will be in charge of how we...
MSU Extension releases new MontGuide factsheets on forage analysis Montana State University Extension specialists have released two new MontGuide fact sheets on forage analysis. A new four-page MontGuide, Forage Analysis Interpretation, describes why forage analyses are an important tool in livestock nutrient management. “Understanding forage analysis and how it can impact a ration feeding program is vital to maintaining herd health, improving productivity and decreasing forage waste,” said Megan Van Emon, MSU Extension beef cattle spe...
I am going to make this column short and sweet. Don’t Bundle! Bundling is when you pay more than one bill with just one check. In my case I have my Direct TV bundled with my internet and home phone service. Last month I realized that my television bill was getting out of hand. I was paying $170.00 a month and not getting nearly that much service out of the television service. Cutting back did not come easy as I have been with Direct TV since 1996. So, at the beginning of last month I called Direct TV and cut enough programming to make my b...
If your garden has not already started screaming at you that the fruits of your labor are ready to be picked and preserved, it will be soon. Whether you are experienced in home canning or have never done it before, come join us for an evening of learning and fun with basic canning techniques on Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 6:00 pm to approximately 9:30 pm at the Community Bible Church Rec Center in Fort Benton. This hands-on class will include recommended, research-based food preservation methods taught by MSU Family and Consumer Sciences...
A few weeks ago, my wife and I celebrated our 18th anniversary. During the past 2 decades, I’ve learned a great deal about how to stay in the good graces of my wife. I know what sorts of things I say that upset her, what kind of gifts she likes, and what the boundaries of our marriage are. Some of those boundaries were stated explicitly in our vows, including that I wouldn’t date other women, that I would take care of her, that I wouldn’t abandon her, etc. Other boundaries fell into the “figu...
Q: I’ve always had physical problems that limit my ability to walk or do most of the things that normal people do. As a result I have very few friends, and sometimes I wish I’d never been born. Why did God let this happen to me? Does God hate me? A: I don’t know exactly why God allowed this to happen to you—or for that matter, why He allows evil of any kind to exist. In Heaven we’ll fully understand this—but not now. The Bible speaks of “the mystery of iniquity”—and that’s what evil is: a mystery (2 Thessalonians 2:7, KJV). But I do know this:...
Pre-Fair 4-H Year in Review With the Chouteau County Fair beginning next week, the Chouteau County Extension office would like to congratulate all of the 4-H members of Chouteau County on their achievements this past 4-H year. Over the past nine months, many 4-Hers have been busy fulfilling their 2015-16 4-H year goals by completing and caring for their projects, competing in contests and competitions, engaging in “learn by doing” workshops and activities and community service. Below is a summary of the results of the 4-H contests and com...
Charlie Russell was saddened by what he called the death of the west. I know what he is talking about. I am saddened by the death of what this part of Montana used to be like when I was a boy in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. I live on Sixth Street and while there are plenty of children in my neighborhood, you don’t see a lot of them out. Mainly I see kids from the east end making the trek to the skate board park on ninth street. In my day, winter and summer we kids in my neighbor spent most of our time outside. In the summer it was long hikes, l...
The community that my wife and I moved here from was fairly wealthy. The population was mainly young, professional families with 2 incomes. When we first moved there, I remember being impressed by the fact that many of my neighbors had huge houses, a new car every year, and most of them took expensive trips to exotic places a couple times a year. This was at a time when my wife and I could barely afford to heat our home, resulting in nights sleeping in front of the fire place half the year and...
Q: I know Jesus said we ought to love people, but how do you love someone who’s really hard to get along with? My aunt is like this, always criticizing everyone and in general just being disagreeable. We dread it when she comes to visit. A: You’re right, I’m afraid; some people are simply hard to like. Sometimes, of course, we are at fault—and if so, we need to be honest about it and try to change our attitude. But unfortunately some people seem to take almost a perverse delight in criticizing others or antagonizing those around them. Sometimes...
The biblical book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings meant to teach young men how to live wisely. In the 15th chapter, there are 3 proverbs that link together to make an interesting point. Proverbs 15:17-19 begins with: “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” The general idea is simple, it’s better to eat almost nothing with your spouse while you love each other than to eat prime rib in the middle of constant fighting. I think any married coupl...
Q: Where did God come from? Our six-year-old son keeps asking me, and I don’t know how to answer him. Or should I even try? A: I’m thankful your son wants to know about God, and I hope you’re encouraging him and doing all you can to answer his questions. The Bible says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6). God has always existed, and He always will—because He had no beginning and He will have no end. I know that’s hard for us to understand, because everything arou...
What to cook this month, that is the question? It is still quite hot so maybe we should cook something that keeps the oven from turning on. What would that be? I really don’t know. But I had better think of something and very soon. Oh, wait, something is coming to me. How about a summer pasta salad that features shrimp and real crab meat? That sounds so good, I just might stop writing and start cooking. First of all, get yourself a package of salad macaroni or a package of shells. Cook to taste, drain and let cool down while you are fooling a...
This time of year brings a lot of relief to be out in the field harvesting the long awaited crops. With it brings what seems to be a never ending but very important responsibility of feeding the harvest crews. Here’s hoping the below recipe becomes a new favorite for your family and crew. It can easily be adapted to slow cook for several hours. Lentil Sloppy Joes (serves 7 - 1 cup portions) 1 lb ground beef ½ c chopped onion 1 garlic clove, minced 2 c water 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce ½ c dried lentils, rinsed ½ c ketchup 1 teaspoon cider vine...
Blue Green Algae Poisoning in Cattle Information for this article was taken from the Cow Sense Chronicle and is located at http://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/beef/documents/7-16CowSenseChronicle.pdf. The Chronicle is authored by Rachel Endecott, MSU Extension Beef Specialist. When livestock or other animals ingest high concentrations of blue-green algae, death can occur within minutes or hours. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, are photosynthetic bacteria that live and grow in aquatic environments. Some species are harmless, while...
It is felt by some that in Big Sandy there are a few children who do not eat when the school is not preparing breakfasts and lunches. It is very difficult to know for sure as not enough food for kids is not something that goes around town like gossip. Most of us who talk to people about needs in Big Sandy to help poor people do hear stories of children in need of help. With a four day week at the schools and no food being cooked on Friday it is even more important that food be gotten to those who need it. If there are kids here that have those...
Q: My sister and her husband are always praying about decisions they have to make, but I think they just need to use their brains to decide what to do. After all, why did God give us a brain if He didn’t expect us to use it? A: Praying about decisions we need to make doesn’t mean we stop thinking about them—not at all. In fact, we should be asking God to help us understand our choices more clearly, and to decide which is best. The Bible says, “How much better to get wisdom than gold” (Proverbs 16:16). What your sister and her husband are actua...
Erik, there was mold in the coffee pot when I came to clean last week.” This simple statement, spoken by the janitor at the church I worked at, created a huge headache for me. I heard it and assumed that he meant to tell me what he told me. I had been on vacation the previous week and didn’t really understand how the coffee pot mold pertained to me. My response reflected my perception: “Ok. I was on vacation last week.” I didn’t think much of the whole thing until I was called into the boss...
Last Monday it simply poured all day long on the prairie and in the Bear Paw Mountains even more. As I was driving to Big Sandy that Monday morning, I was thinking of cloud bursts as I crossed the Gravel Coulee Bridge just south of Laredo, Montana. In, I believe, 1938 a cloud burst, in the mountains south of Gravel Coulee. A wall of water came down the watershed. That water killed several people in an afternoon. I remember Ed Cook saying that he and his dad were watching the wall of water from the top of a bluff when along came the very school...
General Mills has recently expanded its recall of flour to include flour made earlier in the fall of 2015 that may still be in consumers’ kitchens. General Mills continues to investigate a multi-state outbreak of E. coli O121. A newly-reported illness prompted the expansion of the recall due to it appearing to have been caused from the consumption of raw dough or batter linked to flour produced in Fall 2015. The FDA and CDC continue to warn consumers to refrain from consuming any raw products made with flour that is included on the recall list...
Q: When I was younger I did some pretty bad things, and the older I get the more guilty I feel over them. I want to ask God for forgiveness, but I haven’t because I honestly don’t believe He’ll forgive me. Why should He? I can’t even forgive myself. A: God is willing to forgive you for one reason: He loves you. If He hated you, or if He despised you because of what you’ve done, then you wouldn’t have any reason to expect Him to forgive you. But He loves you! This doesn’t mean God overlooks our sins or pretends they never happened—beca...
Today is my 18th wedding anniversary. My wife and I were married young, after meeting each other online and a very brief courtship. As I look back, I’m pretty sure we were nuts. There are a handful of factors whose presence make a marriage statistically more likely to succeed or fail over the long term. My wife and I managed to come up on the wrong side of an awful lot of the divorce indicators. We didn’t know each other well, we argued a lot, we lacked financial stability (I lost my job the...
Hailed out and emerged volunteer wheat should be sprayed immediately after harvest Information for this article was taken from a Kansas State University Press Release. The entire article is located at www.ag.ksu.edu. Producers often wait several weeks after harvest before making their first herbicide application to control volunteer wheat,” said Dallas Peterson, K-State Research and Extension weed management specialist. “This allows as much volunteer as possible to emerge before spraying it or tilling it the first time. Often, a second app...
Gardening Tips for the Month of July Aside from hail damage last week, and a few extra insect problems, it has been a wonderful year for Chouteau County gardeners. Below are a few tips which will assist gardeners with summer management of their landscapes. • Plants use in our landscapes is up to 2.5 inches of water per week. • Harvest broccoli while heads are tight. • Pick shell peas when the seeds are fully developed but before ripening. Harvest edible pod peas when the seeds are barely visible inside the pod. Allow snap peas to reach nearl...
I love this salad in the summer and I have not made it for a decade or more. It seems like I have forgotten all about it. Called Cucumbers in Sour Cream, it is best served just when made and the sour cream mixture is thick. But keep it longer and it is still very good. You will need 2 cucumbers sliced into thin rounds One red onion sliced into rings ½ cup sour cream 1tablespoon vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar Pepper to taste. Tobacco to taste Lots of ground sea salt. Take your sliced onion and cucumber and spread them over a cookie pan. Grind up...