Alexander County Center
May 2021 Newsletter
The Alexander County Center is now open to the public. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the health of county employees, citizens who are sick or running a fever should not visit these facilities. Citizens who do visit are required to wear a cloth face covering and maintain social distance of at least six feet.  The county still encourages business to be conducted via phone or email when possible, but realizes that in-person interaction is necessary in some cases. Agents are still available, so please call them at 828-632-4451 or email. For a list of email addresses click the following link:  
Welcome to Alexander County!
Hello Alexander County! My name is Cari Mitchell and I am the new Horticulture Agent for the county. I graduated NC State University in May of 2020, with a B.S. in Agricultural Science and minors in Horticulture and Crop Science. I am here to help with any horticultural projects you might be working on or any related problems you may have. Please give me a call (828-632-4451) or stop by our office (151 W Main Ave. Taylorsville) if you need anything or would just like to say hello. I am so excited to be of service to this community and eager to get to know you all!
Protective Equipment Provided to Farmers
We have been busy sorting and delivering PPE items to some of our farmers recently. North Carolina Cooperative Extension has partnered with DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) to provide local farms with farm workers, PPE (personal protective equipment) at no cost. This PPE will help protect farm workers as they continue to do their job of growing and harvesting fruits, vegetables and other agriculture products. We appreciate the extra effort to provide us with high quality and safe food, for us locals and people across America! If you are a farmer with farm labor and are in need of PPE supplies, please contact us at
632-4451. We are here to help.  
Great Mother’s Day Gift Ideas from your Local Farmers

Mother’s day is right around the corner? Have you already gotten her something yet? This year, give your mother a gift that’s unique, different, with lasting impact. Take the time to shop local and help your local farmers out. Alexander County is home to many diversified farmers with a plethora of gift ideas to give. Here are a few suggestion that you can try.

Take a hike out towards the western parts of Alexander County and visit the local greenhouses such as Country Road Greenhouse and Carmen’s Greenhouse to purchase your mother a flower pot. If she likes gardening, go ahead and grab her some vegetable plants as a gift.

Head north and visit our local orchards such as Perry Lowes and Deal Orchard right off Hwy 16. If your mama’s into baking, they’ve got some great apples among some other amazing local products such as dried apples and honey.

If your mother’s a cook and ready for some sampling of summer’s bounty, contact Old Mills Acre Farms to pick yourself a basket of hydroponically grown veggies, herbs, and mushrooms.

Start planning a head and visit the south eastern parts of Alexander where Campbell’s blueberries is situated and pick your mother a blueberry plant or a gift certificate for when blueberries are in season—you’ll definitely want to come back to pick your own gallon of blueberries in July.

Oh, and if you’re cutting through Wittenberg in the southern areas of Alexander County, make sure to stop by Farmers Daughter and pick yourself a gallon of the sweetest, juiciest strawberries of the season.

Shopping locally has a rippling effect within our community. Shopping local farms means knowing your farmers and knowing where your food comes from. By shopping local farms, you’re helping the local economy. Your local farms may shop local at the feed stores, helping to revitalize the local economy. When you shop local, you’re supporting small family business and not some major corporations.

This Mother’s Day, take a trip to visit beautiful Alexander County, go for a drive with your mother, and purchase some local goodies from your local farmers. For a list of potential farms to visit or if you have a specific item that you would like to purchase, please contact our office at 828-632-3125 or email [email protected].
Deliciously Der's Recipe
Alexander County 4-H Update
The month of May the Alexander 4-H Newsletter was sent out with all 4-H events and updates. If you would like to see the Alexander 4-H Newsletter click the learn more link below. If you would like to receive the Alexander 4-H Newsletter each month please email DJ Salyer at [email protected], or when you visit the link below, click on the Join Our Email List button at the top.  

Mosquito Control
With warmer days and rain to come mosquitoes are expected. Being surrounded by these pesky blood suckers is not fun, especially when they’re known for transmitting disease such as West Nile Virus, but the key to reducing their numbers is in the way you control them. Before you call the exterminator, it’s important to understand their life cycle and determine what control measures is most effective.

All mosquitoes need water to complete their life cycle. Have you ever taken a look outside in a bucket of standing water that’s left alone for a few days? Chances are, you might encounter one of their larva. Have you ever noticed that after a hurricane and other severe storms, comes a flush of mosquitos? It’s important that you try to reduce as much stagnant water as possible. The first step you can take to controlling these bugs is to reduce the amount of standing water around your landscape. Make sure there’s no stagnant water in your birdbaths, discarded tires, buckets, gutters, an even tree holes. Tip and toss. Even the tiniest amount of water in an overturn flower pot can be breeding grounds for mosquitos. Flush your birth baths at least twice weekly. Store boats, canoes and other objects in area where they won’t collect water. Keep your roof and gutter free of debris that prevents rain water from draining.

There are many chemical controls that you can use to target mosquitos. Spraying or fogging can be quite expensive, hard to apply, and only serve as a temporary solution to a pesky problem. Once the chemical spray is gone, mosquitos from surrounding areas may readily move back into these areas. If you’re thinking about paying someone to spray take these precautions into considerations. Ask for a copy of the product label for pesticide in the case of drift and damage to your neighbor. Some sprays are extremely toxic to bees and other animals. For small areas such as ponds or pools, there are chemicals that you can use to kill the mosquitos but not harm the wildlife. These are usually formulated as dunks or granulated that contain Bti but you’ll have to continuously put out to control the mosquito population. As always, read the labels before using.

You’ll never completely eliminate mosquitos, but control should be key.

For more information on controlling mosquito around your home or building, contact the N.C. Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center at 828-632-4451.
NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension.

If you have a disability or desire for any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact Alexander County Cooperative Extension at
828-632-3125 during business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at least two weeks before the
date of event.