RG 101 - Residential Rain Garden Design for Homeowners Workshop

May 6, 2011 
8:30-5pm
Watauga County Agricultural Conference Center
252 Poplar Grove Road
Boone, NC 28607
To Register: contact Wendy Patoprsty at 264-3061, or email Wendy_Patoprsty@ncsu.edu
Registration Fee is $20

About the workshop:
As homeowners and property managers become more aware of the issues of stormwater management many of them are choosing to manage the runoff from their homes and businesses with rain gardens. Rain gardens are shallow depressions and serve as landscape features that can effectively collect and treat stormater and reduce localized flooding.
Rain gardens can be integrated into the existing landscape as a retrofit or be included in the initial landscaping plan. To effectively manage stormwater, rain gardens must be accurately sized and properly constructed. This 1-day workshop will present a method for sizing and designing rain gardens and detail proper construction techniques.
Workshop participants will be installing a rain garden. Participants should dress accordingly for the weather (this will take place RAIN or SHINE). Close-toed shoes are highly recommended. Bring sunblock/hats/gloves if preferred.  Lunch will be provided.

As a result of this training you will:
• Understand why stormwater needs to be managed,
• Understand the principles of rain garden location, design, construction and maintenance,
• Be able to select appropriate vegetation, and
• Design, build and plant a small rain garden.
Who Should Attend
• Homeowners
• Property Owners
• Master Gardeners
• Homeowners Association representatives
NOTE: This is a new workshop developed just for homeowners, master gardeners and other non-professionals. This is a one-day workshop and does NOT include a certification.

To Register: contact Wendy Patoprsty at 264-3061, or email Wendy_Patoprsty@ncsu.edu
Registration Fee is $20

Championing Youth

Youth and Adults can advocate for youth issues.

How many of us have concerns for our youth and their lives? Perhaps it is parenting issues with your own child, or even, broader quality of life and child well-being concerns: health, education, safety, economic security, maltreatment, juvenile justice issues, to name a few. People of all ages can be champions for youth. Identify what you feel strongly about and find ways to engage.

Here are 10 tips from Action for Children NC on ways to make a difference in the lives of young people:

1. Study up on the issues

2. Get involved with child-serving groups in your community. Many great groups in our community are serving young people. See the Community Resource Directory for a large selection

or E211

3. Register to vote and participate in elections

What is your voter status or voter location?

4. Encourage others to vote and become child advocates

5. Write, call or visit local or state- elected officials

Here is a list of our county’s officials

6. Get the message out- Write papers, use internet social networks

7. Volunteer your time and expertise; Here is a listing of some volunteer opportunities

8. Contribute to organizations that promote the welfare of children

9. Encourage your workplace, neighborhood groups and faith community to improve the well-being of children and youth

10. Evaluate. What’s the next step?

For more advocacy tips, check out the Young Advocates Toolkit, A Guide to Being a Champion for Children

4-H offers many ways for young people to be involved in citizenship. Click here for a few NC 4-H citizenship events

Building a Calving Bucket

It’s March and most people are looking for spring. For cattlemen, spring means that calving season is approaching. We turn our thoughts to the expectation of seeing the next calf crop safely on the ground. A major part of having a successful calving season is in the preparation that takes place before the calves hit the ground. Besides the major things that effect your calving season (such as using bulls with appropriate birth weights and a defined calving season), there are several ideas to help prepare you. One of those ideas to help during this time is to organize a calving bucket.
I find having a calving bucket very handy because it helps me to be organized and complete jobs more efficiently. My calving bucket is a tote tray with organized sections which makes for easy access and is easy to carry around or store in my truck or barn. Any kind of bucket, tray, or tool box works well. If your cows have a tendency to be curious and get into things that they shouldn't, a tool box is a simple solution. All items in the calving bucket can be purchased at your local farm supply store.
There are several things that should be included in your calving bucket, these will help with the calving process. One of the first items that should be put into your bucket is OB chains and handles. OB sleeves are also great to include to prevent disease transmission between cows and humans. Be sure to include lube in your bucket, this is used when pulling calves. J-lube or any obstetrical lube will work fine. Do not use dish soap or mineral oils to help protect the fetus. A calf catch or a good sturdy hickory cane works well as an extension of your arm to catch calves. Nylon webbing is also a good item to have in order to make a snare to pull a calf.

Items that are used in the management of your herd should be placed in your calving bucket. Ear taggers, ear tags, and a ear tag marker should be included. Another great thing to include in your bucket might be banders and bands (for bloodless castration) if you like castrating those calves when they hit the ground. Syringes and needles might be good to have, if giving any vaccinations. For permanent identification tattoo pliers and ink may be a good thing to add to your bucket. Disposable gloves are great to include to prevent ink staining. If calves have horns or scurs then having button paste and calf dehorners may be a good idea. These tools should be used in meeting practices recommended through BQA (Beef Quality Assurance).
There are several simple items that can be over looked that are useful at calving time. Disposable gloves, paper towels, and non-irritating antiseptic (iodine) to disinfect things. Scissors are good for trimming the umbilical cord and string for tying off the umbilical cord. Be sure to include a flash light with fresh batteries. A pocket knife is always handy to have around as well. One of the most important items that people forget is your calving record book and vaccination sheets. A good cattlemen needs to be a good manager.

An esophageal tube feeder is good to use when a calf has trouble nursing. The number one cause of calf death loss is starvation. IV sets are great for treating cows that have milk fever. To clean mucus from a calves airway after birth use a bulb aspirator, it works great for draining those calves. If you live near a dairy farm and can get some fresh colostrum, it can be stored frozen to give weak calves, or calves who are not able to nurse. If fresh colostrum is not available then a high quality colostrum mix using real milk ingredients can be substituted.
Organizing a calving bucket is a great way to prepare for calving season. A calving bucket makes the calving process easier in the sense that all the tools needed are all in one place. I encourage each of you to build your own calving bucket.

− Daniel Brown
Extension Intern


CHECK LIST FOR CALVING BUCKET

____ OB Chains & 2 Handles

____ OB Sleeves

____ J-Lube or Powdered Lube Mix

____ Calf Catch

____ Nylon Webbing

____ Ear Tagging Equipment

____ Banding Equipment

____ Syringes & Needles

____ Tattoo Equipment

____ Dehorning Paste (Button Paste)

____ Paper Towels

____ Non-irritating Antiseptic (Iodine)

____ Scissors

____ String

____ Flashlight & Fresh Batteries

____ IV Sets

____ Esophageal Tube Feeder

____ Fresh Colostrum or Colostrum Mix

____ Pocket Knife

____ Bulb Aspirator

Do BMP’s Work? You decide.

During Monday’s heavy rain, I was out during lunch and decided to grab some runoff samples from various parking lot areas in Boone. Particularly, I was interested in comparing the new pervious parking lot at Casey and Casey Law offices with an impervious surface, such as the mall area. You can see by the two samples that there was a big difference in the two parking areas water quality.

First off, what is a BMP? According to the EPA, a BMP (Best Management Practice) is a vague term, broadly used to describe the most effective, feasible method that does the job. In the context of storm water management, it is often used to mean a structure or technology used to manage or treat the water such as a rain garden, catch basin, stormwater wetland, pervious parking, cistern, or other filtering system.

During the rainstorm on Monday, I was able to capture the dirty water coming off the impervious parking at the mall. Impervious just means that water is unable to penetrate the surface, so all the salts, oil, gas, and other car fluids sitting on the parking lot are picked up by the stormwater and then runs off into the nearby creek. I also collected water from the pervious lot, which allows rainwater to infiltrate at the surface rather than run off.

You can definitely tell which water trout would prefer to live in, people would rather recreate in, and of course which water would be easier to clean for human consumption. Everyone can do his or her part to keep our water clean. To learn more, contact the Watauga County Cooperative Extension at 264-3061 for upcoming workshops related to stormwater BMP’s.

Moles May Be Invading Your Lawn

Moles May Be Invading Your Lawn

The warm weather the past couple of weeks has allowed many people to venture into the yard and check things out. You may have noticed that the yard is lumpy and spongy, with what appears to be tunnels stretching across the lawn. This is the probably the shallow surface tunnels of Eastern Moles (Scalopus aquaticus).
Moles are omnivores, and can be identified by some unique characteristics. Moles have a hairless, pointed snout that can extend up to ½ inch in front of their mouth. Both their small eyes and the openings of the ear canals are concealed in fur. The moles forefeet are long and broad, with palms wider than they are long. The moles forefeet are designed for digging, they are webbed to the base of the claws. The back legs are small and allow the mole to turn around in the small tunnels. The average length of male moles is 4 to 7 in. and the female will be slightly smaller. The moles fur has no direction to allow them to move forward or backward at rapid speeds. The fur is very soft and has been desired for fur coats. Queen Alexandria ordered a coat made of mole fur to start a trend and reduce the mole population in Scotland.

The moles diet is mainly insects, grubs, and worms but also will eat some bulbs, but this is rare. They eat from 70% to 100% of their body weight daily. Many people think they have been hibernating but that is not true they are active all year long. Why do we see more tunnels this time of year? The surface tunnels are only used in spring, summer, and fall. The moles have deep permanent tunnels used year round as travel routes. Nest cavities and home areas, 6 inches in diameter and lined with vegetation, can be found 12 to 18 inches beneath the surface.
Moles are antisocial animals they live alone except to breed, in February and early March. They give birth to 2 to 5 large hairless young 45 days later. The young leave the nest in 5 weeks and reach maturity around one year.
Many people think that with all the tunnels appearing in their lawns that there must be a large number of moles. Moles can burrow as fast as 1 foot per minute. They eat almost constantly to meet their high energy demands. This speed and insatiable appetite makes it possible for one mole to do large areas of damage to lawns. Usually no more than 2 to 3 moles live on an acre.

Management and control is difficult. White grubs are a food source for the moles and controlling white grubs will help to a small degree. Moles also love earthworms and caches of earthworms 2 inches in diameter have been found stored in moles nest cavities. For small areas exclusion is the most effective method. Packing the soil, will decrease the desired habitat. The use of castor beans, placing chewing gum in the tunnels, and electromagnetic devices are unproven control methods. The so- called mole plant or caper spurge (Euphorbia latharis) is advertised to act as a repellent when placed around beds. There is no known research that supports this claim.
Trapping is difficult and labor intensive, but is the most effective way of control. Trap site selection and timing are critical for success. Most trapping is done on surface burrows where the mole is most active. The best time to trap is after a rain. You must set the trap on an active burrow. To find a good trap site tamp down the soil on a burrow, active burrows will be repaired within 12 to 24 hours. Traps do best when set in late afternoon or early evening. There are 2 basic traps that are recommended for moles they are the Harpoon Trap and the Scissor-jaw Trap.

The Harpoon Trap

Before starting to set traps be sure that moles are the culprit and that they are doing damage. Moles play an important part in soil management. Moles eat grubs that destroy lawns and help aerate the soil. They also mix soil and subsoil bringing nutrients closer to the surface and humus further down.
Moles can be very damaging but may also help to improve the soil in your lawn. If you would like more information please contact the extension office at 264-3061.

Preparing for the Gardening Season

With spring-like weather teasing us to get outside and start gardening, it can be hard to practice self-control and keep ourselves from planting too early! The average date of the last spring frost for Watauga County is May 15th... not February 15th as the recent weather would have us believe!

While we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, winter weather and temperatures are surely going to reappear. To keep you motivated until planting season FULLY arrives, catch up on some basic gardening guidelines. Here are two brief factsheets written by Watauga County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers to help home gardeners start the season off with success:

1. Spring Gardening

2. Crop Rotation for the Small Garden