mylocallife
Rangeland Fencing
Written By Fred Wedel, retired NRCS District Conservationist
Photos By Cale Rieger, NRCS Natural Resource Specialist

Proper fence is needed for grazing livestock in a rotational grazing system. As mentioned before, a rest-rotation grazing system is essential for properly managing grazing systems in the western Kansas area of short grass and mid-grass prairie.

Many perimeter fences are 3 or 4 strands of barbed wire. Interior cross-fences are usually a single smooth wire. The interior fe
WHAT ARE COVER CROPS?
Written by Fred Wedel, Retired NRCS District Conservationist

What are cover crops? Cover crops are grown for the protection and enrichment of the soil. In Agriculture, cover crops are used to cover and protect the soil rather than to be harvested.

Cover crops are used to manage cropland and reduce soil erosion, improve soil fertility, improve soil quality, improve water storage, reduce pressure from weeds, pests and diseases, and improve biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosystem.

Future Leadership Training Classes in Cheyenne County
There is a group of leaders in Cheyenne, Rawlins, Sherman and Thomas Counties that held discussions with K State Extension, Hansen Foundation and the Kansas Leadership Center regarding support for establishing sustainable leadership programs in these four counties. The first Community Builders class was held in Cheyenne County in 2007 and the last of four classes was held nine years ago in 2012. Close to 80 county residents participated in these classes. The original eight trainers have eithe
The Republican River after a heavy rain
The day after a heavy rain of more than 2", my daughter and I decided to go down to the River Walk to check on how the river was doing after Mother Nature decided to fill it back up. The river was wider in many places, and faster. In several places we could hear the water bubbling around newly fallen limbs and underbrush which the water's edge hadn't reached in some time. Areas which we had sat and played last year were now completely under water. Everything had a fresh, wet smell. Many li
Cheyenne Bowl celebrates their one year anniversary
On February 20th, 2016, Robert Martinez and Kelsey Dunn re-opened one of St. Francis' favorite places to eat, bowl, and hang-out. And since the re-opening, there have been continuous changes and renovations in an effort to create the funnest, yummiest, bowliest, ice creamiest, happiest place to be in St. Francis.

The menu at opening was limited, but has since expanded, and will continue to expand. Having added a bunch of ice cream related items: sundaes, shakes, and the newly renovated middle
Cheyenne County Historical Museum Honors Veterans
Last night, Nov 10th, the museum honored Veterans with displays from all wars since Cheyenne County was established. Included were names of vets, newspapers, uniforms, equipment, etc. Veterans were offered a free book 'Cheyenne County Vets' which has information on every Cheyenne County veteran from 1900 through 2004. Over 80 people attended including many high school students. The High School presented a video that played continuously entitled 'The Home Front 1941-1945'.

The museum is consid
Our Afternoon at The Crow Haven Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
Our Sunday afternoon was filled with train rides, good food, climbable hay bales, slides, missing chickens, a corn maze, and everything Autumn-y and pumpkin-y. We spent the afternoon @ The Crow Haven Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch in Bird City. A family owned and operated event which celebrates everything Autumn.

Open on weekends throughout October, The Crow Haven Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch is a must visit for the family. Everyone easily found hours worth of entertainment with all of the va
Hand Woven Textile Show at Quincy Street Gallery
If you are like me and love to see the symmetry of the very small then you will be delighted when you go into the Quincy Street Gallery. Every woven piece has a different woven pattern, each is perfect, whether it is one color or many, each piece is a mastery of intricate symmetry. Textiles must be seen close up and felt to be truly appreciated. Give your skin and your eyes a treat, a few hours just for them. They work hard for you, right? Check out the display from the Topeka Hand Weavers. Se
What the hell is pesto, and how do you make it?
I have read that pesto is meant to be a salad dressing, and it is a wonderful salad dressing, but I tend to use it for much more. With ingredients like basil, garlic, and olive oil, pesto is delicious on meats, i use it when cooking vegetables, potatoes, I put a smear on breads before melting cheese over it, quesadillas, just about anything, except maybe ice cream, but that is just because I haven't tried it yet. I exaggerate, but it truly is yummy.

One of the beauties of pesto is that you ha
The 2016 Juried Art Show has come to an end
2016 marked the first of hopefully many Annual Juried Art Shows in St. Francis. Artist submissions and public attendance made the first Annual Juried Art show a wonderful success; bringing the wide range of artistic talents and styles before the eyes of people who crave the beauty and imagination these art pieces had to offer. And the people were not disappointed. It is refreshing to be reminded of the pure artistic talent living and breathing in studios, garages, and in the minds of people all
Project Apollo through the eyes of the Astronauts
There is a wonderful archive of photographs from Apollo missions 7 through 17 which have been published on Flickr since 2015. All of the shots are 1800dpi for a crystal clear view of what the astronauts saw while traveling in space, while on the moon, their equipment, and of themselves.

If you have any interest in space travel and/or moon exploration, this is an important resource of many thousands of photographs detailing nearly every aspect of the Apollo missions.

Project Apollo Archive:
Classic Rose and The Rustic Garden, ribbon cutting ceremony
The Classic Rose and The Rustic Garden had it's official ribbon cutting ceremony this morning to celebrate a new owner and renovation. The members of the Cheyenne County Development Corp. were on hand to perform the ribbon cutting and highlight the addition of an important, new business in our community. Plus, they brought cake :)

Jan Fortin has created a wonderful new environment within the Classic Rose; taking down partitions, giving the entire space a face lift, opening up the space for a
Highlights from the Alumni Weekend
A gorgeous weekend, and our beautiful town of St. Francis made for the perfect setting for this year's Alumni weekend. Events were happening all around town including a photography show at the Art Center, the Motorcycle Museum, a special movie at the theater, a brat feed and the Genealogy Center at the Museum, Dragging Main, Night swimming, 9ine Foot Squirrel playing live at Cheyenne Bowl, Celebrate St. Francis 5K Run & 2 mile Walk, and the Celebrate St. Francis 2016 Golf Tournament.

Her
Weber Family of Barbers Honored
Four Weber brothers were honored with certificates recognizing their 50+ years of Barbering. Combined, these four brothers have 217 years of cutting hair.

A very nice speech from his son celebrating Bennie's life which included entertaining stories about playing cards, skunks, greyhounds, a pumpkin patch, polka, and of course cutting hair in our town for over a half of a century.

A large crowd of family, friends, and customers gathered to honor this staple of this community which has made
Photography show at Quincy St
It's always a joy and a learning experience to be able to see through someone else's eyes. Cheyenne Center for Creativity has given us the opportunity to to just that with the menagerie of images at the Quincy Street Gallery.

St Francis photographers represented are Jennifer Padgett, Allison Grice, and Jordan Zweygardt.

Jennifer is exploring the interplay of black and white photos with a splash of color. The result has the same feeling as that moment just before sleep, going through that