Marsha A. Goetting, Ph.D., CFP, CFCS

Extension Family Economics Specialist

P.O. Box 172800

Bozeman, MT 59717-2800

phone: (406) 994-5695 fax: (406) 994-4838

E-mail: goetting@montana.eduLocation: 208C Linfield Hall

Web site

Summer 4-H season for me (Jane Wolery) and therefore I was a little delayed bringing you this article from Marsha Goetting that she sent to me in June!

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June equates to wildflower season in Montana.  That means it’s time for me to grab my camera, tripod, and backpack and head for the mountains.  I spent the first Saturday in early June hiking around state lands in the mountains near Bozeman.  A variety of wildflower were blooming….prairie smokes, larkspurs, shooting stars, ball head waterleafs and many, many more.  I really didn’t care that it rained most of the time and that it was too windy to take photographs…. I was just happy to be among the millions of blooming flowers.

Albino Fairy Slipper

My husband (Gary) and I spent the next two weekends in June in the northern section of Yellowstone National Park.  I was ecstatic to find an Albino Fairy slipper.  Contrast the Albino with the normal purple-ish one below.  Aren’t they both beautiful?  A fairy slipper is sometimes called a Calypso orchid.  This flower has a very specialized reproduction system, requiring exacting habitat conditions so finding one calls for a celebration.

When you visit Yellowstone this time of year you experience what we locals call “Bear Jams.”  You can almost tell when a person sees a bear for the first time.  The driver stops the car, four doors blast open and people run out with their cameras in hand to take a photo of the bear.  Never mind that the bear will only appear as a black dot on the final picture.

Fairy Slipper

 I can’t blame them for their excitement in one way, but when you are stuck on the road for a half hour because the person in front of you and the driver in the opposite lane have abandoned their cars, we locals tend to get a bit testy.  However I must confess that because of a “Bear Jam” we were fortunate to see a mother black bear and her two cubs churning up grass and eating grubs.  We also saw grizzly bear grazing in a picnic area.  Luckily no one was picnicking at the time!

Chocolate Lily

Gary’s find of the day the second weekend in June was the tallest Chocolate Lily we had ever seen.  Chocolate lilies are a challenge to photograph because the flowers hang downward like a bell.  The tallness of this one allowed Gary to get “up close and personal” with one of the flowers on the stalk as you can tell from the photo below.

You won’t find any fairy slippers or chocolate lilies at Big Sky in September during the NEAFCS 2016 Conference because our blooming season is usually mid-May to late June. But if you attend my preconference on September 12 entitled….Wildflower Reflections:  Families, Legacies, and Estate Planning you will meet the Fairy Slipper Family and learn how one father accidently disinherited his children by having the property in joint tenancy with his new wife.

Speaking of flowers ... if you are looking for a way to send a lasting bouquet to friends on their birthdays, consider purchasing Montana wildflower note cards as a gift.  Plus, you'll also be providing support for the NEAFCS 2016 conference. 

More information here.

Go Bananas Teaching Financial Education! It's Not Monkey Business!

Jane Wolery

Follow my blog at  www.31homeplace.blogspot.com

MSU Teton County Extension

PO Box 130 * 1 Main Ave S., Courthouse

Choteau, MT 59422

jwolery@montana.edu

406-466-2491 Office *  406-590-2492 Cell

www.msuextension.org/teton




Last April (2015), I was able to attend a conference in Spokane hosted by University of Idaho and Northwest Farm Credit Services where they unveiled some of the financial education materials they have been developing.  Regardless of the job description, the reality is that I am a part-time FCS agent and a full-time 4-H agent, so you can imagine how April was poor timing for me to put any new educational materials into action.  With 4-H textile show, 4-H leadership retreat, Teton County 4-H Fair, Montana 4-H Congress, 4-H camp, 4-H interstate exchange and 4-H BioScience taking up much of my summer, I had to put the financial resources on the shelf, so to speak.  The materials are mostly digital, so there really isn’t a shelf.  Nonetheless, it took me until the January to get on the computer and start to use some of the materials.

Reading interactive Marlon the Monkey Borrows Bananas.

I started with Marlon the Monkey Borrows Bananas, an interactive digital story about credit.  I worked with Merrill McKamey from Northwest Farm Credit Services and Jamie Smith, librarian at the Choteau Library.  I read Marlon the Monkey for story hour for youth ages 2-5 and their parents/grandparents.  Jamie then had the students play a bean bag toss into a monkey mouth.  Merrill and I helped students make “monkey tails” as a treat and then they did some coloring.  The whole class was about an hour long, and at the end, I reminded the preschoolers about the Marlon the Monkey story and asked what they learned.  I was charmed when an adorable boy named Charlie
captured the message and said, “You shouldn’t buy things, if you don’t have the money.” 

Making Monkey Tails -- frozen bananas
on wooden treat stick, frosted in peanut butter
and dipped in chocolate.  Roll in granola
while chocolate is soft and enjoy.  

Merrill and Charlie make monkey faces
while making Monkey Tail treats at story hour.

Merrill and I thanked the parents and grandparents for attending and reminded them that money can be one of the biggest stresses in a relationship.  Money matters can really “monkey up” a relationship.  We mentioned that if they wanted a fun, interactive way to speak with their spouses/partners about money, they might use the materials that can be found here that are being developed by University of Idaho Extension and Northwest Farm Credit Services.