FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF FEB. 15, 1999:
We live in eastern Idaho and our Red Delicious apples don’t seem to ripen completely. They turn red outside but they’re still a little green inside and they’re starchy–not sweet. Can you recommend other varieties for Idaho’s high-elevation, short-season areas?
Red and Golden Delicious apples need about 150 days to mature and can’t normally withstand temperatures below minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, says Brian Finnigan, University of Idaho extension educator in Bingham County.
Finnigan suggests you look for a variety that can survive 30-40 degrees below zero and that can mature in 130 days or fewer. He recommends Lodi, Earligold and State Fair for summer apples. Among later-maturing fall apples, he prefers Haralred, Honeygold and Wealthy, with the newer Honeycrisp and Sweet 16 showing excellent quality. Other fall apples worth considering: Cortland, Snow Apple, Fireside, Goodland and the MacIntosh-type Spartan.
These varieties survived Ricks College evaluations at 40 degrees below zero, are producing successfully for growers working with Finnigan, or come highly recommended by apple enthusiasts in western Canada, North Dakota, Minnesota or New York. Their availability is improving, so Finnigan says an increasing number of Idahoans will soon be able to confirm that there’s "life after 40 below."
I can’t leave meat to thaw on the counter during the day because the dog gets it! Is it OK to set it inside the microwave and let it thaw in there while I’m at work?
Sorry, no. For safety’s sake, food should be thawed inside the refrigerator, says Sandy McCurdy, University of Idaho extension food safety coordinator. A pound of ground beef stashed inside the microwave all day will likely reach "danger zone" temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit by dinner time.
McCurdy encourages you to decide what you’d like to thaw the night before, then set it onto your refrigerator shelves until you’re ready to prepare it the next evening.
If you’re not a planner, keep meat and poultry frozen until dinner preparation time. Then either use the microwave’s defrost settings to quickly thaw it or submerge it in a pan of water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Be prepared to cook rapidly thawed meat immediately, McCurdy says; chances are, it’s gotten too warm to be left sitting.
My 65-year-old mother broke her hip. The doctor says she has osteoporosis and that there’s less than a 50-50 chance she’ll come back home. The diagnosis was a shock; she had no idea she had osteoporosis. How can I get enough calcium to avoid developing it myself?
More than half of all Caucasian women age 50 and older can expect a bone fracture due to the "silent disease" osteoporosis, and one-third of men will have some osteoporosis by the time they reach 75, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho extension nutrition specialist.
To prevent it, the National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends consumption of 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day. "If you think 1,200 mg. is a lot of calcium, you’re not alone," says Raidl. "The average American only consumes 600 mg. of calcium a day."
You can get about 300 mg. of the bone-saving mineral in one cup of milk, yogurt or tofu processed with calcium. If you don’t like any of those choices, try a cup of orange juice fortified with calcium. Foods that contain between 100 and 275 mg. of calcium in one serving include one ounce of Swiss, American or mozzarella cheese and one cup of broccoli, collard greens, mustard greens and turnip greens.
Dietary supplements are another option: the best are calcium citrate and calcium carbonate supplements carrying the letters USP on their labels. The USP is an indication that the supplement is likely to dissolve and be absorbed by the body.
"Avoid calcium supplements that are made from bone meal, dolomite or oyster shell," says Raidl. "They may have some lead in them or other metals that are dangerous to your health."
Finally, to make sure your body is absorbing the calcium, it’s important to get 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D each day from fatty fish, some fortified cereals or–during the summer–from the sun.
I had my garden soil tested for pH and it came out a highly alkaline 7.8. How can I lower it?
If you live in southern Idaho, a pH of 7.8 is typical but it’s also far from ideal, says Mir Seyedbagheri, University of Idaho extension educator. While 7.0 is neutral and anywhere between 6.0 and 7.5 should be your target, be advised that 7.8 is considerably more than a fraction above 7.5. A pH of 8.0, for example, is ten times more alkaline than a neutral 7.0.
To gradually lower your soil pH to 7.5, apply 10-25 pounds of elemental or garden sulfur for every 1,000 square feet annually for at least three years. If your soil organic matter is below 2 percent, Seyedbagheri also recommends tilling in 100 pounds of good decomposed manure (per 1,000 square feet) along with the sulfur.
Follow with proper irrigation (not too wet or too dry), good cultural practices, soil amendments and annual reapplications of sulfur and acid-based fertilizer, and the pH "should stay constant at 7.5 and may even improve to 7.0," he says.