River Trouble & Getting Ready to Grill

River Trouble & Getting Ready to Grill plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The EPA has just released a new report that says more than half of the nation’s rivers and streams are in poor condition. The National Rivers and Streams Assessment says twenty-one percent of the nation’s river and stream length is in good biological condition, 23% is in fair condition, and 55% is in poor condition, based on a robust, commonly used index. The report did says the rivers and streams in the west are in the best condition overall.

Easter weekend is just about here and it is sort of the unofficial beginning of the Spring season and that means getting the grill out. Jackie Madill with the Washington State Beef Commission.

MADILL: With spring weather arriving and hopefully summer just around the corner and sunny days ahead it is a really good idea to get that grill back out. Now some of us die-hard grillers keep it out all winter long but it is definitely the time of the year when grilling is on the brain so give it a good scrub, get your propane tank refilled or your natural gas line hooked back up and get some steaks at your local grocers so that you can get your grill on if you will.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

It’s officially been spring for a week now, and unseasonably warm temperatures in certain areas of the country have a lot of people “champing at the bit” to plant. But remember, it’s only the end of March. Even though a lot of us have experienced a fairly mild winter and are currently experiencing warmer than usual temperatures we shouldn’t get carried away, as Mother Nature has been know to throw some pretty serious winter like weather at us clear into mid April. What we can do is take advantage of abnormally warm early spring days by getting the pre-planting things done. Gardeners can take their cue from farmers who are busy doing field work, in terms of tillage and pre-plant herbicide applications. We gardeners can do roughly the same type of things by removing all dead material, digging up the soil, and preparing it for planting. This is a good time to map out garden areas as well. Remember to look over all your tools now, and replace any that are broken, or sharpen those that are dull. And remember, garden soil can actually suffer damage if it’s worked too soon in the spring, while it may still be wet and sticky. It can develop hard clumps and becomes compacted. Be patient. You’ll be sharing your abundance of garden goodies with the neighbors real soon!

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.