News

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- School organizations, scouts and churches are among the groups that have found holiday plants make great fund raisers, and in some cases, excellent learning opportunities as well.

Richard Harkess, professor of plant and soil sciences at Mississippi State University, said the student horticulture club holds several plant sales during the year to raise money to travel to regional and national meetings. Any additional funds go into community service projects for the club.

By Kaitlyn Byrne
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Finding creative and affordable holiday gifts can be difficult, but one possible solution to this dilemma is to make scrapbooks for loved ones.

Alana Cecil of Independence, who has been scrapbooking for seven years, said a scrapbook can be a special gift that will still be meaningful to the recipient years down the road.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Making daily tasks easier for people with physical limitations can be a meaningful gift to them at the holidays or anytime.

Routine tasks, such as cooking, cleaning and bathing are generally easy for those who can move freely. When health or age put a person in a wheelchair or a walker, accomplishing these tasks takes thought and planning. Changes in vision, hearing or speaking present even more challenges.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The pressures of the holiday season can be challenging for anyone, but for divorced parents and their children, this time of year can be particularly stressful.

“Divorce is tough on the whole family, and issues that it causes can get amplified during the holidays,” said Cassandra Palmer, a professional counselor working in Starkville. “Parents generally do not want to miss any time with their children, and the children can pick up on negative feelings the parents are experiencing.”

MISSISSIPPI STATE – The holiday season reminds many people to give to others and perform service for communities and the needy, but at least one youth organization practices these principles year-round.

When you consider that violas tolerate winter weather and can thrive in both the landscape and containers, it is no wonder they are a favorite bedding plant for Mississippi gardeners.

The viola, which is related to the pansy, will grow from Thanksgiving to Easter and beyond. In fact, violas are often more hardy than pansies.

Violas are known botanically as Viola cornuta but are commonly called Johnny Jump Ups. They are prolific seed producers, and it is quite common for viola to act as a perennial in the home garden.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Lex, a U.S. Marine Corps bomb-sniffing dog who lost his handler in Iraq, is getting help facing the challenges of aging with war injuries.

Lex was injured in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Fallujah that killed his handler, Cpl. Dustin Lee of Quitman. Lee’s parents, Jerome and Rachel Lee, adopted Lex when he was granted retirement from duty.

Lex came to Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in late October. Dr. John Thomason, a CVM small animal internal medicine resident, is his attending clinician.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- While it may not be an obvious choice, many veterinarians follow a career path that takes them into the military, which has a great demand for their specialized services.

Dr. Misty Jarvis Looney is a major in the Air National Guard and a graduate of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s class of 2004.

“I’ve always had a desire to serve in the military,” Looney said. “I started as a welder in the Navy when I was 18 and spent eight years there.”

By Cheree Franco
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Last spring Mississippi suffered two catastrophes. On April 20, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing four Mississippians and causing immeasurable damage to the Gulf Coast ecosystem and economy. A few days later, a massive tornado ripped roofs from homes and businesses in Yazoo and Choctaw counties, leaving a death toll of 10. Paula Threadgill wanted to do something to help her home state. As a Mississippi State University Extension professor, she was well positioned for community outreach.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- The staff at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Sales Store, located on Mississippi State University’s campus, is gearing up for a busy holiday season and encouraging patrons to place orders now.

Customers should place their orders by early to mid-November for Christmas delivery.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Quality beef cattle will move through the auction ring in the annual fall sale when Mississippi State University markets 44 lots of cattle from research herds.

The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and MSU’s Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences will host the 28th annual Livestock Production Sale of bulls and bred heifers on Nov. 18.

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Those with an interest in forage production and grasslands will find topics that appeal to them at a Nov. 17 Mississippi State University conference.

The 2010 Mississippi Forage and Grassland Conference will focus on forage production systems and economic sustainability. The event will run from registration at 7:30 a.m. until wrap-up at 4:45 p.m. at the Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Nov. 16 workshop will teach manufacturers how to serve their customers better.

Mississippi State University’s Value Stream Mapping workshop is a one-day course that will teach manufacturers how to make their work flow more efficiently and eliminate unnecessary steps by mapping their work processes.

The 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. workshop will be held in the Renasant Center in Tupelo. The $40 registration fee covers lunch and materials.

MSU’s Franklin Furniture Institute experts will teach the mapping concept, first used by Toyota.

Winter is right around the corner, and many Mississippians are starting to put their gardens to bed, waiting for the warm days of early spring. But just because it is getting colder doesn’t mean we must have drab landscapes. Now is the perfect time to put some winter color in gardens, and I’m not talking about ornamental cabbage and kale.

I am sure you have seen brightly colored pansies while visiting your favorite garden center, and those pansies are a great way to add color to your winter garden. They are tough, cold tolerant, and flower almost nonstop.

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

VERONA -- With less than a month to go, Mississippi’s Christmas tree growers are counting down the days to what may shape up as a great year.

The trees mature enough for sale have good color and have filled out nicely, despite periods of dry weather statewide and too much rain in some areas of the state.  Most species of Christmas trees grown in Mississippi take five years to mature, which makes one-fifth of a grower’s crop marketable each year if new seedlings are planted after the holiday season.

By Justin Ammon
Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station

MISSISSIPPI STATE – W. Harris of Starkville takes his time when searching for steaks to feed his family. He carefully inspects the meat at the grocery store and often ends up with a pack of thin-cut New York strips.

“The strips make my family happy,” Harris said. “You can see the juice in that cut before it’s even cooked.”

By Patti Drapala
MSU Ag Communications

PITTSBORO – Sewing is no longer passé for Calhoun County youth after Extension 4-H agent Trent Barnett discovered both boys and girls were intrigued by the craft.

Several 4-H members had seen sewing items displayed at the county fair and wanted to explore the lost art further. Livestock exhibitors, frustrated by the lack of blankets available for show goats, wanted to learn how to make the blankets themselves.

By Cheree Franco
MSU Ag Communications

POPLARVILLE - Dan Batson and Mississippi State University have been collaborating on horticulture projects for more than 30 years, beginning in the late 1970s when Batson entered the university as an undergraduate horticulture student.

Gardening is consistently listed as one of this country’s most popular hobbies and can give joy and satisfaction to the gardener in return for the work involved. But gardening can be frustrating for gardeners who have physical limitations.

Today, gardeners with mobility issues have more alternatives and tools than ever before, and their options increase every day. The Fall Flower and Garden Fest at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Station in Crystal Springs this past weekend featured an exhibit that highlighted ways to make the garden more accessible.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Agricultural consultants, certified crop advisers and others working in the field of agronomy can take part in an upcoming free educational meeting led by Mississippi State University researchers, faculty and Extension personnel.

Continuing education credits will be available at the Mississippi meeting of the American Society of Agronomy on Nov. 17 in the Grenada County Extension Office. Registration is due by Nov. 12.