LINCOLNTON - Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less, a weight management program with NC Cooperative Extension, will be offered in Lincoln County starting on Wednesday, September 1st at 5:15 p.m. and will continue every Wednesday for 12 weeks in the James W. Warren Citizens Center.

Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less uses strategies proven to work.

Each lesson informs, empowers and motivates participants to live mindfully as they make choices about eating and physical activity. The program provides:

By Melinda M. Houser | Extension Agent
Family and Consumer Sciences

LINCOLNTON - Lincoln County Extension & Community Assoc., Inc. (ECA) is sponsoring a tour October 12-15th to the Amish Country in Lancaster, PA.

The tour includes round trip Motor Coach transportation, admission and reserved seating to Joseph at the Millennium Theater and Church Basement Ladies at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater, visit to Hershey Chocolate Factory, guided tour of Gettysburg, three nights motel accommodation, 2 dinners, and three full breakfasts.

By Kevin D. Starr | County Extension Director
N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLN COUNTY - Are you interested in becoming a Master Gardener? If so, I want to invite you to attend an informational session at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 7. The meeting will be held in the Extension demonstration kitchen on the first floor of the James W. Warren Citizens Center in downtown Lincolnton.

What is the Master Gardener program? It begins with a course which covers the basics of plant science and soils and then touches on most areas of horticulture including how to care for lawns, flowers, trees, shrubs, fruits, and vegetables. Approximately forty hours of training are provided. In exchange for this training, prospective Master Gardeners agree to serve in various volunteer capacities for the Extension Service.

By Kevin D. Starr | County Extension Director
N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

One of the best summer vegetables is okra. Although it’s known as a vegetable popular in the southern U.S., it’s actually native to Africa and is eaten in numerous cultures.

I have to confess that I like okra. My favorite way to prepare okra is to coat it in corn meal and fry it.

These days, we substitute oven-frying most of the time. Another personal favorite is a homemade soup which features okra, corn, tomatoes, and blackeyed peas.

We enjoyed all these vegetables last night, but not in soup form. That will come later when cold weather arrives. A few pods thrown into a pot of pinto beans during the last few minutes of cooking are mighty tasty. I've even been known to eat a few small pods of raw okra, a habit which I'm sure some will find distasteful. Then we can't forget about okra pickles.

By Melinda M. Houser | Extension Agent
Family and Consumer Sciences

Watermelon is a summer favorite at picnics, cook-outs, other summertime events, and a great snack for kids and adults.

The red pulp provides a powerhouse of nutritional value. It is a good source of vitamin A and vitamin C. A plant pigment found in only a few red plant foods such as tomatoes and watermelon, lycopene, like vitamin C, neutralizes cell-damaging free radicals. While tomatoes traditionally have been used in lycopene research because of their established lycopene levels, scientists recently discovered that watermelon have as much lycopene–or more than—that found in raw tomato. Deep red flesh is the best indicator of the sweetest and most nutritious watermelon.

Kevin Starr | County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

Over the years, I’ve talked to many home gardeners and tried to give them helpful advice. With some questions, there are two different types of answers—the theoretically possible answer and the real world answer.

Here’s an example.

Question: Is it possible to get rid of Bermuda grass in a fescue lawn?

Answer (theoretically possible): Yes.

Answer (real world): Not unless you move.

LINCOLN COUNTY - Your home is more than just a shelter. It’s a place of special memories, a place for privacy, and a gathering spot for the family. It can also be a major financial asset. With the downturn in the economy, more senior adults are talking about making ends meet by accessing their home’s value with a reverse mortgage.

For many Americans, their home is their largest financial asset.

By Kevin Starr | County Extension Director

With the recent stretch of hot, dry weather, this seems like a good time to review some considerations for watering landscape plants.

Most established landscape plants can withstand short periods of drought without significant damage. But long periods without significant rainfall call for vigilance and watering. Watering is not as simple as waiting until a plant wilts or using some predetermined schedule. Watering is influenced by a number of factors. Soils differ in how quickly they dry out after a rain or watering. A clay soil will not need watering as frequently as a sandy soil since clay soils drain slowly and sandy soils drain quickly. The addition of organic matter will increase drainage in clay soils and moisture retention in sandy soils. Mulches help keep the soil cool and reduce water loss through evaporation, thus extending the time between waterings.

By Melinda M. Houser | Extension Agent
Family and Consumer Sciences

Locally, fresh fruits and vegetables are available now. Local farms and Farmers’ Markets have an abundance. Vegetables and fruits are two of the most important foods to be included in our diet everyday. The following information will provide food safety tips for fruits and vegetables.

The proportion of foodborne illness associated with fresh fruits and vegetables has increased over the last several years. It’s important to take steps in providing safer fruits and vegetables for your family.

By Kevin Starr | County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLN COUNTY - Sometimes clients will call and say something like “this is a dumb question” before they ask something. But when it comes to seeking information, there really aren’t any dumb questions. There are basic questions but those are just as important as others.

I was reminded recently that we sometimes assume too much when talking about our own area of expertise. A friend told me she was reading a recent column of mine and really didn’t understand what I was talking about until well into the column. This person is extremely well-versed in her own highly technical subject matter.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

Are you interested in having a small vegetable garden this year? If so, I want to invite you to one of the programs I’m offering on “Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening”. The first will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 8 at the Florence Soule Shanklin Library in Denver. The second will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23 on the first floor of the James W. Warren Citizens Center in Lincolnton. Both programs are free, but pre-registration is required. Just call Cooperative Extension at 704-736-8452 or e-mail me at kevin_starr@ncsu.edu and provide your name and phone number.

We’re going to focus on raised beds this year since these compact gardens are a great way to have a garden that is both manageable and productive. We’ll talk about raised bed construction, soil improvement, and some of the special techniques which work well with these beds. We’ll also talk about basics like planting times, watering, and mulching.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service


LINCOLN COUNTY - There will be a “New Growers Institute” for new and prospective vegetable farmers on Thursday, January 28 at the Burke County Extension Center. This program is being conducted by Extension agents involved in the “Foothills Fresh” effort to help meet the increasing demand for vegetable vendors at area farmers martkets. While we are seeing new growers at the markets, the supply of vendors has not kept up with the increase in the number of farmers markets.

The program will begin at 9:30 a.m. with registration and refreshments. Speakers will cover three topics before lunch including the “What to Grow” ,“Economics of Vegetable Production”, and “Scheduling Vegetable Crops”. Following lunch, there will be presentations on “Post-Harvest Handling”, “Marketing Grassroots Style”, and “Selling at Farmers Markets”. The program will conclude at 3:00 p.m.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
N.C. Cooperative Extension Service


LINCOLNTON - In our last Master Gardener class, we talked about how plants are propagated. While most of us are familiar with starting new plants from seeds and cuttings, one of the most fascinating ways to propagate new plants is by budding and grafting.

In most forms of grafting, a stem portion of a desired plant (referred to as the scion) is attached to the stem of another plant (referred to as the rootstock). Once the scion begins to grow, it will form the top of the new plant. All new growth originating below the graft will be removed. If you’ve seen a weeping cherry tree that has a straight trunk and then weeps at the top of that trunk, you’ve seen a classic example of a grafted plant.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service


LINCOLNTON - We started our latest Master Gardener training course last week. The course covers a lot of horticultural topics. But you have to start with the fundamentals and we started with the soil.

Anyone who grows a crop of any kind in this area needs to know a few basics about our soils. It’s no secret that most of our soils contain a lot of red clay. Red clays can be very productive if amended properly. Organic matter in a variety of forms is the needed addition. Compost is perhaps the ideal additive. This decomposed organic matter loosens up the structure of our clay soils. Cover crops are another good way to add organic matter, especially on a large scale.

STAFF REPORTS

LINCOLNTON The Extension and Community Association, Inc. (ECA) is sponsoring an Estate Planning session on Tuesday, October 6th, at 10:00 a.m.

The informational program will be held in the James W. Warren Citizens Center located at 115 West Main Street in Lincolnton.

A critical part of estate planning is creating documents that outline your wishes for distributing assets after you die.

By Kevin Starr

My wife, Sharon, put a couple of hummingbird feeders on our deck this year. She has maintained the feeders faithfully during the summer and the hummingbirds seem to have enjoyed themselves.

Following is an excerpt from N.C. Cooperative Extension’s publication, Managing Backyards and Other Urban Habitats for Birds that discusses how to use these feeders.

“Hummingbird feeders are good artificial sources of nectar for these birds and should be filled with a boiled solution of four parts water to one part white sugar.

Kevin D. Starr
County Extension Director
N.C. Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLNTON - The vast majority of lawns in this area are planted with tall fescue, a cool-season grass. September is the best time of the year to plant a new fescue lawn or to repair bare spots in existing lawns.

When preparing to seed a new area, soil preparation is essential. This involves a thorough tilling or disking of the soil. Prior to tilling, apply needed lime and fertilizer as indicated by a soil test. If no test has been taken, apply 75 pounds of ground limestone and 20 pounds of 10-20-20 (or the equivalent) per 1,000 square feet of area. Thoroughly mix these into the top 6-8 inches of the soil. You may also want to supplement this with a light surface application of fertilizer later in the fall.

Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service


LINCOLN COUNTY - There will be some special activities at the Lincoln County Farmers Market at Denver on Saturday, September 5.

First, there will be music provided by the Catawba Valley Music Revival Youth Band. This group of young people specializes in bluegrass. The band is based in Cherryville but its members come from various communities in the area.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLN COUNTY - As interest in local food and farmers markets has risen, there have also been more folks inquiring about developing value-added agricultural products. This description is applied to items where the form of an agricultural product has been changed, thus adding value to it. Common examples are jams, jellies, cider, and wine. Let’s say you’re interested in developing such a product. How do you get started?

I hope one of the first things you do is to contact us here at the Cooperative Extension Service in Lincoln County. We can help answer such basic questions as what kind of regulations apply to different value-added products. Jams, jellies, and baked goods usually just require a kitchen inspection by the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. However, making and selling pickles requires a person to pass a short course in acidified foods taught each year at NC State.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLN COUNTY - One of the great things about my job is that I get lots of opportunities to learn.

This can happen in a variety of settings but nowhere is the learning more intense than when I’m around one of our Extension specialists from N.C. State University. I recently had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Gina Fernandez, Extension bramble (blackberry and raspberry) specialist. This past Wednesday, I met Gina and Dr. Jorge Soria at the Piedmont Research Station near Salisbury to look at bramble test plantings. Dr. Soria works for INIA in Uruguay. INIA is the Uruguayan equivalent of the USDA. He is in the U.S. for about six weeks visiting fruit scientists and commercial plantings.

At the research station, it was interesting to see how the varieties compared and to take a look at some results of the N.C. State bramble breeding program. A variety undergoing evaluation now might be planted in a local farm or garden a few years down the road. Developing new varieties can involve years of making crosses and evaluation. But the results can pay big dividends. A good example is the commercial blackberry industry that has developed in our area over the last few years. This venture is all based on varieties that were released by the University of Arkansas.

Picture: Jorge Soria (left) and Zvezdana Pesic-Van Esbroeck (right) visit with Wayne Mitchem (center) in a blackberry field at Mitchem. Farms

By Melinda M. Houser
Extension Agent
Family and Consumer Sciences

LINCOLNTON - Canning is an important, safe method of food preservation if practiced properly. Home canning has always meant great-tasting food. Canning lets you take charge of the quality and character of the food you eat. There are no preservatives. No chemicals. Nothing but natural, nutritious fruits and vegetables – picked fresh, then preserved at the peak of perfection.

Pressure canning is the only safe method of canning all vegetables (except tomatoes). Jars of food are placed in a pressure canner which is heated to a temperature of at least 240°F. This temperature can be reached only in a pressure canner.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director
NC Cooperative Extension Service

LINCOLNTON - Did you know that National Pollinator Week is June 22-28 this year? I’m sure you already have it marked on your calendar. I thought it might be a good time to review the importance of pollinators in our state. The following information is from “The Value Of Honey Bees As Pollinators In N.C.”. This leaflet was written by the beekeeping specialist at N.C. State University, Dr. David Tarpy.

Many crops require insects to move pollen from one flower to another. Pollination ensures fruit set, proper development, more fruit, and viable seed. Honey bees are the most important insect pollinator for crops grown in North Carolina.

By Kevin Starr
County Extension Director,
NC Cooperative Extension Service

John and Evelyn Leatherman are life-long gardeners and it shows. I recently had a chance to see their garden and I was blown away. My vegetable garden has done pretty well this year but it can’t hold a candle to the Leathermans’.

John and Evelyn moved back to Lincolnton a few years ago and moved into a house they had built on a wooded lot. That means their garden had to be started on a piece of land where trees and a lot of topsoil had been removed. They had a lot of lime and compost brought in to get the soil in shape. Most gardeners don’t spend enough time on soil preparation.

LINCOLNTON - Cooperative Extension’s ECA group is sponsoring a 3 day tour through Historic Charleston, S.C. from Tuesday, June 2 to Thursday June 4.

The tour includes: 3 plantations and gardens, a riverboat cruise, visit to the aquarium, a guided tour through Charleston and other specials. Tour cost is $305.00/per person for a double. Registration and payment required by Friday, May 22nd.

Call Cooperative Extension at 704-736-8461 for more information.

The Basics in Home Maintenance

STAFF REPORTS

LINCOLN COUNTY - With saving money in mind, more people are trying to avoid costly home repairs by improving their home maintenance routine and trying “do it yourself” projects. Cooperative Extension in Lincoln County will be offering the Basics of Home Maintenance series to help homeowners improve their maintenance routine and basic understanding of how their home works.