Extension E-News
August 2020
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NC Cooperative Extension, Mitchell County Center, is working with Dig In! to capture your gardening stories! Please share stories about planting, harvesting, cooking and preserving by going
here. Be sure to include images or videos! Home and commercial gardens are more important than ever! There are wonderful gardeners in our area - please share!
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Pressure Canner Gauge Testing Available
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t's canning and preserving time! Before you jump into the art of canning (and the work), think about having your canner gauge tested. To be safe, dial gauges on pressure canners should be tested each year against a calibrated master gauge. If you are interested in having your gauge tested, please call the Extension Center at 828.688.4811 or email
[email protected]
(Eve Kindley) to schedule a time to drop off your canner lid with dial gauge and the 1-piece safety counterweight.
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Mitchell County Community Gardens Project
There is exciting news about the community gardens project - Spruce Pine site! Sixteen raised beds will be installed at Spruce Pine's Riverside Park in August! Quartz Corp has generously offered to make this one of their volunteer projects for this year, and NC Cooperative Extension and its partners are delighted to have their partnership.
The beds will be based on a design developed by Jerry Moody for community gardens at the NC Cooperative Extension Avery County Center of NC Cooperative Extension. Each one is twelve feet long by four wide, and two feet deep, which will give lots of space to get started. The photo above the depicts the beds that will be installed.
The Quartz Corp workday will be August 31, and volunteers are welcomed. Work will be organized to ensure social distancing, and T-shirts, masks and lunch will be provided. The volunteer coordinator, Courtney Aycock, has asked that anyone who'd like to participate register at least a week in advance. Please contact Eve at [email protected] or call 828.688.4811 by August 21 if you can volunteer.
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Pesticide Classes
Are you a private pesticide applicator? Is your certification soon to expire? Did you miss the July trainings we offered? If yes, please register for two (2) upcoming classes required for recertification. Category "V" training (pesticide safety) will be offered on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 and category "X" training (specialized training) will be offered on Thursday, August 27, 2020 from 6-8pm at the Mitchell Senior Citizens Center. If your certification is soon to expire, you will need to attend both of "V" and "X" sessions. Registration is required. You can register from the NC Cooperative Extension, Mitchell County Center's website
events page (through Eventbrite) or you can call 828.688.4811 and a staff member will register you for the training. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, registration is limited to the first ten (10) participants.
One additional class will be offered from 4-8pm, on September 22 ("V" and "X") at the Mitchell Senior Citizens Center but this will have limited spaces available, too, so don't delay! Recertification through earning continuing education credits must be completed by September 30 of the year in which certification expires. Should you have questions or need additional information, please call Eve Kindley, County Extension Director, at 828.688.4811 or email
[email protected].
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PREPARE FOR WINTER NOW???
Even though we think of winter as being far away, we get closer to the temperature dropping and snow falling each day. As summer begins to come to an end, livestock needs increase. To meet these needs, producers must prepare for the fall and winter months properly. Many precautions need to be taken in preparation for cold weather and decreased forages. Below we will discuss the different preparations that need to be conducted to ensure that our livestock survive the winter.
LONG-RANGE PREPARATIONS
Begin Preparing for winter several months before cold temperatures start. Early preparation allows time to fix equipment, build shelter, and gather needed feed, forage, and supplies. The amount of time and preparation depends on the location, size, and set up of your farm. In Western North Carolina, relatively mild winters can turn into nasty ones. Because of the fluctuation in severity of winters, prepare for the worst. This allows for plenty of feed and supplies to get animals through whatever the weather situation.
Start preparations now to assure preparations are finished before the weather turns. Since this year has been an interesting hay year due to fluctuating wet weather, make plans for purchase if you don't have a sufficient hay supply already.
Long-Range Preparations
- Purchase and properly store adequate amount of quality forage
- Purchase and/or check/repair Hay Ring
- Purchase and/or check/repair water trough and heater
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Check fences, shelters, or make shelter
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Pregnancy Checking Cattle
REASON
Our main goal in the cattle industry is to produce calves. An optimal goal is for a cow to produce one calf every 365 days (1 year). This can be difficult at times because producers have to ensure that a cow is being bred on her first or second cycle after giving birth to her calf. The reason for this goal is because the cost of maintaining a cow is expensive and if that cow is not bred (pregnant) then she is eating food that is an expense without the producer receiving anything back (a live calf). In order to reach this goal, producers must try to be as efficient in their breeding operation as possible. To do this, they must know when a cow is bred (pregnant) and when she is open (not pregnant). If a cow is not pregnant, the producer either needs to put the cow back in with a bull, artificially inseminate, or cull (sale) the cow. To make this decision accurately, the producer must ensure that the cow is open (not pregnant). There are a couple of methods that a producer can ensure this information, of which include ultrasound, palpation, and blood draw/testing. Producers are unable to ultrasound their animals unless they are a veterinarian or hire a veterinarian to do it for them, which can be expensive. Some producers do palpate on their own and are successful in this method, but not all are trained accurately. The best and most cost effective option for small scale producers is to utilize the blood draw/testing method.
COST EFFECTIVE EASY METHOD
This method is relatively cheap being $2.50 per test per cow in addition to shipping. It also can be utilized by any producer who can handle their cattle and give vaccinations. Once trained by a knowledgeable person, many producers can carry out this method on their own, saving them time and money. The blood of the cattle is taken from a major vein in the tail. This vein is easily accessible and safe for inexperienced producers to draw blood from. The blood is then sent off to a laboratory where a protein is detected, and therefore, determined if the animal is pregnant. Typically the results are sent back to the producer in under four days, providing the producer with the tools they need in determining what decision needs to be made in regards to that animal.
HELP ON YOUR FARM
If you would like to pregnancy check your animals to help make a decision on your operation or to make your operation more efficient, please feel free to contact Michelle South at the NC Cooperative Extension, Mitchell County Center at 828.688.4811.
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NC 4-H's Plan to Initiate Face-to-Face Programming
North Carolina 4-H
NC State Extension
COVID-19 Re-Initiation of Face-to-Face Programming
Best Practices Implementation Plan
This guidance is based on the NC State University Extension Office Reopening Guidelines and is designed to align with Governor Roy Cooper's Re-opening Guidelines. Because local ordinances and circumstances may differ, all face-to-face 4-H programming must be approved by the County Extension Director. Any 4-H activity may necessitate the use of the following by Extension employees, volunteer leaders, 4-H youth, and others associated with the activity:
Þ Personal protective equipment
Þ Practicing social distancing
Þ Collecting names of participants
Þ Exclusion from the activity due to recent or current health status.
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A.L.I.V.E Program
Active Life-Skill Instruction and Vocational Exploration
Money Management for Teens
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mart money management habits will serve teens well when they head off to college and are making more of their own decisions, and will help even more if they have a job currently. Good habits take time to develop so the sooner the better.
A simple and interactive way to teach money management to teens is by playing a game. "The Bean Game" created by Jana Darrington, from Utah State University Extension is an interactive way to look at what is important for teens and how they plan to manage their money based on a "20 Bean Salary".
Go to:
THE BEAN GAME
where you can have access to print off and play while learning about money management!
Don't have access to a printer? No problem! There is a virtual "The Bean Game". Just click on the link:
https://www.ngpf.org/blog/budgeting/extensions-to-the-bean-game/
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"...And the District Gold Winners Go to Mitchell County 4-H"
Thirteen Mitchell County 4-H members accepted the challenge of having to tape and submit their presentations via zoom or camera and projector for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 500 members competed from across the state.
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Mitchell County 4-H Named Top Program in the State Electric Project Area
Six Mitchell County 4-H Youth were selected as delegates to represent the County Summer Fun and Mega-Bytes Electric Program at the 2020 4-H Electric Congress. Scheduled to be held at Chowan College in Murfreesboro, North Carolina in July, the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and the sponsoring electric utilities moved the Congress to a virtual format because of COVID-19.
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