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DeSoto Parish Extension Ofce Workshops The DeSoto Parish Extension Office, located at 10117 Hwy 171 in Grand Cane, will offer Fall Gardening Workshops during several dates in September from 10:00 a.m. until noon.

Baja Shrimp vs Shrimp Scampi

The DeSoto Parish Cattlemen’s Association held their quarterly meeting this evening at the DeSoto Parish Extension Office. Producers were welcomed to the meeting by Mr. Henry Richardson, DPCA President. They got to hear LSU AgCenter updates and upcoming events from Joshua Salley, DeSoto Parish County Agent. Mrs. Shae Simone, LCA Executive Director, discussed HB 784 which provides relative to liability for damages caused by livestock. She also talked about HB 330 which deals with the sales tax on fencing materials. A very interesting topic presented to the group were the new bills for 2025 which include potentially banning balloon releases and lab grown meat within Louisiana. Another special guest was Mr. Alan Sweson with 321 Aerial Services. He spoke on his drone services and how he can benefit local cattle producers. Our main speakers for the evening were Mr. Harry Richardson with Lonestar and Mr. Brett Richard with Crystalyx.

“Custom is a mutable thing; yet we readily recognize the permanence of certain social values. Graciousness and courtesy are never old-fashioned.” — Emily Post Some things never go out of style, and living a gracious life is one of them. For me, living a simple life and a lifestyle of graciousness goes hand in hand. But how does one go about cultivating a gracious life?

Here are 7 things you can do to get started: Step 1: Mind your Manners — even the simple manners of saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, or holding the door open for the person behind you can take you a long way towards graciousness.

Step 2: Care for your Community — give of yourself, through volunteering, mentoring, or just visiting with someone who isn’t able to get out and socialize Step 3: Teach your Children — good manners and gracious living aren’t just for adults. Teach your children what it means to be gracious and show them how to live it.

Those of you who have followed this column over the past several years know my true historical love is local history with an occasional deviation. Up front this writer does not claim a great deal of knowledge in today’s subject — only love and interest. “A Brief History of the Holy Bible in English”. Being a Mason some 70 years we are exposed to the subject with the Knight Templars as the principal information source. J. Luther Jordan, of Mansfield and world leader of masons back in the mid-1900’s, could have done a much better jobs with this subject.

Time to get ready for fall vegetable gardening

It’s time to get ready for fall vegetable gardenin We know, we know: It’s still hot outside. Falling leaves and crisp autumn air feel an eternity away.

But for some of our favorite cool-season veggies, there are narrow windows for planting and growing. So if you want to harvest a bountiful crop of homegrown produce this fall, it’s wise to start planning — and, depending on what you want to grow, planting — now.

“But wait!” you say. “My summer vegetable plants are still producing. Do I have to pull them up?”

Of course not. Many summer vegetables are still churning out produce — and probably will for a while longer. In fact, if you grew okra and eggplant this summer, you can keep these plants going all the way up to our first killing freeze. Just cut them back to knee height sometime soon, and they’ll continue to grow and produce fruit through the fall.

Eating Smart - Kinda

To celebrate the “Thumbs Up” that Dr. Leggio gave me on my yearly checkup I decided to keep on trying to eat right. I’d lost another couple of pounds and now double-determined to stay healthy and eat healthy starting now with lunch.

I pulled into McDonald’s drive-thru and, tearing my eyes away from the large advertisements for the Quarter Pounder Deluxe combo, I proudly and righteously ordered their Southwest Salad with the vinaigrette dressing and un-sweet iced tea. I was patting myself on the back for showing alot of restraint and will power — I mean I HAD been fasting for Dr. Leggio’s bloodwork this morning and I was reaaall hungry.

to think of how one’s mind operates when thinking of topics of historical significance week after week. Of all things the name Virginia Dare came to mind for this week — But who is Virginia Dare?

Early in the colonization of America a colony led by Sir Walter Raleigh was brought to Roanoke Island just off the coast of present day North Carolina. The first group or attempt was in 1584 but it only lasted a year before the weary, half-starved settlers returned to England. Three years later Raleigh sent a second expedition of 117 men, women and children under the leadership of John White. On August 18, 1587 shortly after reaching Roanoke, Governor White’s daughter, Eleanor White Dare gave birth to a daughter who was the first Caucasian child to be born in American. The child was christened Virginia Dare. How interesting that this writer should remember such a small bit of information from his sixth grade in school.

Seven Bridges … Bridge

To paraphrase that famous Eagles song of the South from their ‘Live’ album in 1980. Written by Steve Young about an actual road of bridges out of Montgomery, Ala. The Eagles acapella version is the most famous and Don Henly once said, “When we open with it the crowd goes wild! But it is really only a song about a road and a girl although now I think there is almost something mythical about it”.

AND, let me unpack that a little to make sense of it all. I just got back from a short trip down to South Louisiana to introduce Susan to my best friends Butch and Charmaine Golsan and my Son Van (Three) and his girlfriend Rachel.

In battle against Italian ryegrass, cover crops add to arsenal of control options Many farmers already know cover crops provide a range of benefits. Planted in between cash crop growing seasons when fields would otherwise sit empty, cover crops help reduce erosion, enrich the soil nutrient profile and break up compacted areas.

Now, an LSU AgCenter researcher is exploring another use for these off-season crops: competing with difficult-to-control weeds to keep them at bay.

Donnie Miller, a weed scientist at the AgCenter Northeast Research Station near St. Joseph, has found success in suppressing notoriously unruly Italian ryegrass with a combination of a fall residual herbicide and a planting of cereal rye, a common cover crop. He spoke about his work at a recent field day at the station.

Italian ryegrass has been a growing concern in Louisiana agriculture circles in recent years.