Today's Feature

Master Gardener Program.

News Release

Would you like to know what disease might be attacking your plants, what insect is destroying your favorite ornamental or what kind of trees are growing in your yard? These are just a few things you could learn in a Master Gardener course. Jasper County University of Missouri Extension has conducted a Missouri Master Gardener program since 1992. Trained Master Gardeners assist Extension specialists in providing unbiased educational information about various aspects of horticulture to the public.

Since 1992, there have been 268 people take the course. Many of these are very active in conducting community projects, providing educational programs and other horticultural/gardening activities.

This year’s course begins January 31. The deadline to register for the course is January 14. Anyone that has not already received an application can request one by calling University of Missouri Extension in Carthage at (417) 358-2158.

A person who wishes to become a Master Gardener is required to attend 30 hours of training, and agree to return 30 hours of service during the following year. There is an $85 course fee.

University of Missouri Extension improves people’s lives with education and research.

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Just Jake Talkin’.

This Is A Hammer

By Samantha Mazzotta

Creating a 12-Month Maintenance Calendar

Q: I have a hard time keeping up with maintenance tasks — there are so many to do, and so little time. I also want to do some home-improvement stuff, but the repairs and maintenance take up all my time. Got any shortcuts? — Leo M., Providence, R.I.

A: Unfortunately, home repair doesn’t have as many shortcuts as one would like — patience and hard work tend to create the best-quality results. However, you can get control of the maintenance and repair tasks around your home by analyzing the overall situation and scheduling work ahead of time. It’s also important to consider hiring a contractor for some tasks, depending on your skill level, available time and the scope of the job.

January is a great time of year to do most of this planning. The cold weather means you’re in downtime where most repair work is concerned, so you’ll be able to sit back and start creating the all-important 12-month maintenance calendar.

Making a maintenance calendar allows you to put all your needs and wants for your home down on paper in an organized fashion. You can use a small notebook, a spare wall calendar that has room to write, or an actual maintenance calendar (available at home-improvement and book stores).

But before scheduling all your work at once, sit down and brainstorm for a while with a spare piece of paper. List everything that needs to be done around the house this year. Then, list everything you want to do around the house. Next, rank both lists in order of importance This will be your starting point for the calendar.

If possible, place the maintenance calendar next to your personal or work schedule for the year, so that you can schedule tasks around other commitments. When making the schedule, keep the seasons and potential weather in mind — you don’t want to schedule roof repairs in December, for example.

A maintenance calendar allows you to get a handle on the huge number of chores every homeowner faces throughout the year.

You still may not complete everything on your list, but I guarantee that by making and following an annual maintenance schedule, you’ll get much more accomplished this year than last.