Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6B
1— FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28,1999
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Seniors: What you should know about direct deposit
L
Do J you currently receive Social
Security benefits, Supplemental
Security Income payments, Veterans
payments, Railroad Retirement
Board payments, or Civil Service
Retirement payments?
If so then you have probably heard
about EFT-99. EFT-99 is the federal
government’s ongoing initiative to
convert these payments from paper checks to direct
deposit. With direct deposit, your payment is
deported electronically into your account at a fed
eral h insured bank, savings and loan, or credit
union?
Printing and mailing checks to millions of recipi
ents j> expensive. Congress reasoned that requiring
recipients to use direct deposit would save the fed
eral government as much as SIOO million per year.
Because direct deposit is also simple, safe and
secure, the goal was to require all recipients to
swi|ch to direct deposit by Jan. 2 of this year. Due
to concerns expressed by consumer groups and
ad'|ocates for seniors, Treasury decided not to
require recipients to switch to direct deposit. In
oth£r words, you do not have to switch to direct
deposit unless you want to.
If’you already have an account at a federally
insured bank, savings and loan, or credit union,
theie are plenty of good reasons to switch to direct
deposit. Direct deposit is fast. Your payment will be
in your account first thing in the morning on your
payment date. It is convenient - you won’t need to
waft in long lines, hunt for parking or make a spe
cial trip to cash your check. Direct deposit is secure
- rto lost, stolen or misplaced checks to worry
abdut.
If»you do not already have an account at a bank,
credit union or savings and loan, you have three
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choices:
First, you can choose to open an
account at the financial institution
of your choice and arrange for
direct deposit of your federal pay
ments. If you need information on
choosing a financial institution,
1 contact your local Extension
Service office.
Second, you can wait to open an ETA (Electronic
Transfer Account).ETAs are low-cost accounts that
will be available at many federally insured financial
institutions later this year.
Third, you can continue to receive your payment
by check if direct deposit would cause you a hard
ship. If you want to keep getting a check, your fed
eral paying agency will let you know if you need to
tell them that direct deposit wou!4 cause you a
hardship. You can keep getting paid by check:
• If you don’t speak or read English;
• If it would cost you more to use direct deposit;
• If you live where using direct deposit would be
difficult; or,
• If you have a physical or mental disability that
would make it hard to use direct deposit.
If you don’t do anything, you will continue to
receive your check in the mail without interruption.
For more information about EFT-99 or direct
deposit, contact the agency that pays you. You can
reach Social Security by calling (800) 772-1213;
Veterans Affairs by calling (800) 827-1000; office
of Personnel Management by calling (888) 767-
6738 or the Railroad Retirement Board by calling
your local office or (800) 808-0772.
If you have questions in the area of Family and
Consumer Sciences, please call Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (770) 887-2418.
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Learning to grow perfect tomatoes
By Wayne J. McLaurin
Georgia Extension Service
During a Georgia summer,
you’d be hard pressed to find a
backyard garden, patio planter or
apartment window box that
doesn’t have at least a few toma
to plants.
So how can you grow perfect
tomatoes in your yard? First, you
have to know what tomatoes pre
fer.
Tomatoes like a sunny spot
with well-drained, loamy soil
that’s evenly moist, but not
waterlogged. They grow best
when it’s warm from 70 to 80
degrees.
If you just can’t wait until the
danger of frost has passed, pro
tect young tomato plants.
Tomatoes are a tender annual
and are prone to weather dam
age.
For a good start, broadcast 2
pounds of 5-10-15 per 100
square feet before you plant. Use
a starter solution for transplants.
Side-dress four to six weeks
later, after first fruit has set, with
2 pounds of 5-10-15 per 100 feet
of row. Side-dress again two
weeks after the first fruit ripens
at the same rate. And fertilize
again a month later at 1 pound of
5-10-15 per 100 feet of row.
Tomato plants deliver lots of
produce in a fairly small space.
Each plant, properly cared for,
can yield 10 to 15 pounds of
fruit.
Tips from the extension office
Deal a meat
Three ounces of meat is about the size of a deck of
playing cards or a bar of soap. That’s a “normal” serv
ing, they say, since meat is high in fat.
Iron stains
Clothes washed in water with as little as 0.2 parts per
million of iron can yellow, especially when chlorine
bleach is used. Yellow, red or brown stains are symp
toms of iron in the water.
Diet right
Vegetables are nutritious diet foods. Half-cup servings
of cooked asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots,
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So many varieties are available,
it may seem overwhelming to a
new gardener. Ask your garden
ing friends for the names of their
favorites.
You can start tomato plants
indoors from seed or buy trans
plants. If you start them indoors,
use a light soil mix and give the
plants plenty of light. ,
Tall, spindly transplants are
usually caused by low light levels
in the home. Unless you have a
sunny, south-facing window,
you’ll need to give them extra
light.
Sow the seeds six to eight
weeks before the last frost date.
A few weeks before transplant
ing, harden off indoor-grown
plants by exposing them to an
increasing number of hours out
doors each day. Bring them
indoors if there is danger of frost.
Select stocky transplants about
6 to 10 inches tall for planting.
Set the transplant in the planting
hole and cover the stem so that
only two or three sets of true
leaves are exposed.
Horizontal planting of tomato
plants, especially leggy ones, is
an effective way to make plants
stronger. Roots will form along
the buried portion of the stem,
giving better growth and less
chance of plant injury from a
weak stem.
Press the soil firmly around the
transplant to form a slight
depression for holding water.
Pour about 1 pint of starter solu-
cauliflower, eggplant, okra, rutabaga, string beans, toma
toes. turnips or zucchini contain only 20-40 calories.
Weed now
Remove honeysuckle and other weedy vines from
deciduous plants while the plants are still leafless. It’s
easier then to distinguish between the weeds and desired
plants.
How hot?
A meat thermometer will help you be sure meat is
cooked all the way through and harmful bacteria are
killed. Cook red meat to 160 degrees and poultry to 180
degrees.
tion (1 tablespoon of fertilizer
per gallon of water) around each
plant to settle the soil.
Stake, trellis or cage indetermi
nate varieties. This takes more
initial work, but makes later care
easier.
Space staked tomato plants 24
inches apart in rows 3 feet apart.
Prune them to either one or two
main stems. Pinch off all other
shoots, called suckers, weekly to
keep the plant to these main
stems.
Cage-growing allows the toma
to plant to grow in its natural
manner, but keeps the fruit and
leaves off the ground.
Using wire cages requires a big
expense up front and a large stor
age area. But many gardeners
feel the freedom from pruning
and staking is worth it. Just tuck
stems back inside the cage as
they grow.
Caged plants are less prone to
the spread of disease from plant
handling, since they don’t have
open wounds and are handled
less often than staked plants. ■.
However, it helps to spacelhe
plants somewhat further apart (3
feet) to allow good air circula
tion. If you take good car? of
them, they can make up for'xhe
extra space with high production.
Wayne McLaurin is an
Extension Service horticulturist
with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.