Watauga County River Clean Up

Watauga County Operation Medicine Cabinet

Fall 2014 Drug Take-back Days

Help us keep pharmaceutical and control-substance drugs off the streets and out of the rivers! No questions will be asked, and any prescription and over-the-counter medications and medical supplies can be turned in anonymously. For more information, please call the Watauga County Cooperative Extension 828-264-3061.

LOCATIONS

WATAUGA COUNTY

Saturday, October 25th

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Food Lion, Boone (Blowing Rock Rd)
• Food Lion, Deep Gap (HWY 421)
• Food Lion, Blowing Rock
• Foscoe Fire Department 

Spooktacular Bats

I love Halloween, not only because it’s my birthday, but also because there is candy everywhere!!!  Not to mention all the costumes and decorations  - You begin to really know that fall is here! 

Seeing all the bat décor around town makes me think about how awesome bats are in our environment and how much they do for us!  According to NRCS, bats are the single most important controller of night-flying insects, including mosquitoes, moths, and beetles. For example, a single little brown bat can catch up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour. Watching bats fly around light posts catching bugs can be an interesting nighttime activity.

A bat house in your yard will help attract bats and provide them with much-needed roosting habitat. The house should be placed on a pole at least 15 feet high in a spot that receives sun most of the day. Tree trunks are usually too shady for bat boxes. Some bat species such as gray bats, red bats, and hoary bats will use shrubs and trees for roosting under loose bark or in cavities.
Here are instructions on how to build your own bat box.....
Build a bat house directions

It's not particularly good to have bats living in your home, so here are directions from NCSU Cooperative Extension on how to exclude bats from a dwelling....  Bat Exclusion Directions

For more information about bats visit Bat Conservation International  http://www.batcon.org/

Many species of bats migrate in the fall and hibernate throughout the winter months in caves, mines, or buildings. If disturbed during hibernation, their metabolism is increased, depleting fat reserves and reducing their chances of survival.

Information for this article is from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USDA.

WNC AgOptions Announces Grant Program for Regional Farmers

Mountain farms will soon benefit from N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission's recent funding of WNC Agricultural Options. With support from the Commission, WNC AgOptions will award area farmers a new round of $3,000 and $6,000 grants, for a total of $145,000. WNC AgOptions is accepting applications until November 16.

WNC AgOptions, a program of N.C. Cooperative Extension and WNC Communities, continues its nine-year history of helping farmers diversify their businesses. "I am excited that the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission funded this program again this year," said Ross Young, Madison County Extension Director and WNC AgOptions steering committee leader. "There is no doubt that agriculture in Western North Carolina has become stronger because of WNC AgOptions and we expect the 2013 program to continue with outstanding applications from farmers hoping to keep their farms strong in these ever-changing times."

WNC AgOptions awards farmers who propose diversification projects that will help their businesses grow and succeed. The seed money offsets the risk of trying something new and gives farmers the chance to demonstrate new farming techniques and marketing tactics to the agricultural community. Applications are available at www.wncagoptions.org and at local Cooperative Extension Centers. Interested applicants should contact their local Extension Agents by October 12 to notify them that they intend to apply. The application postmark deadline is November 16.

Eligible farms are in: Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey counties as well as the Cherokee Indian Reservation. The WNC AgOptions steering committee strongly encourages eligible farmers who have never received grant funding to apply.

The administrator of WNC AgOptions is WNC Communities, a non-profit organization that has roots as far back as 1947 and hands in the development of such influential regional projects as the N.C. Arboretum, the WNC Agricultural Center, and, most recently, the WNC Regional Livestock Center. WNC Communities is dedicated to providing a unique forum for leaders in western North Carolina to carry out innovative programs to improve the quality of life for rural communities and to enhance the agriculture economy.

Members of the WNC AgOptions steering committee include: representatives from N.C. Cooperative Extension, N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services–Marketing Division, WNC Communities, Appalachian Sustainable Agricultural Project and other leaders in agribusiness. RAFI-USA's Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund manages a similar grant program for farmers in the Piedmont, Central and Coastal regions of North Carolina. For more information, see the following: WNC Agricultural Options: www.wncagoptions.org; N.C. Cooperative Extension Centers: www.ces.ncsu.edu; N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission: www.tobaccotrustfund.org; WNC Communities: www.wnccommunities.org.

Environmental Field Days

Each year, the Watauga Cooperative Extension assists the county's Soil and Water department with Environmental Field Days. Over 300 of the county's 5th graders from most of the county schools come out each year to the Valle Crucis Community Park to learn about the environment, rotating through different stations. This year, Meghan Baker introduced the kids to the basic principles of Integrated Pest Management while Karee Mackey taught kids the finer points of cultivating earthworms and their benefits to soil through vermicomposting.

Trash to Art "Visions of our Future" Competition

2004 competition - The Can Dance

Thinking of trash typically makes us think of dirty, smelly items that will end up in the landfills or on the sides of roads as litter.  But much of this “trash” is recyclable, reusable, and is a resource we shouldn’t so quickly “throw away”.  Where is “away” anyways?  It’s still on the planet.   Trash doesn’t have to go to a landfill or be a part of a negative environmental impact.  It can be recycled, reused and redesigned into beautiful art as well as functional items. 

Colors!

Won’t you please join us in creating “Visions of our Future” trash art!  You may be wondering, “What is Trash Art?”  As part of the educational campaign for keeping litter out of our environment and waterways, the Mountain Keepers, Watauga River Partners, Watauga County Recycling, Watauga County Extension, Town of Boone, Watauga CountyLibrary, Elkland Art Center, Mast General Store, Stickboy Bread Co., and Earthfare, are sponsoring a “trash to art” contest.  

According to Watauga County Recycling Coordinator, Lisa Doty, an average of eight tractor trailer loads a day are sent to a landfill in Lenoir.  Last year 39,784 tons of trash were exported out of Watauga County at a cost of $1,330,991.  Recycling is not only good for the environment, but also for the County’s budget since we receive revenue from the sale of recycling.  Recycling rates for all materials have continued to increase over the past few years with a 61 percent increase in plastic recycling since plastic bottles were banned from landfills in October of 2009, but there is still a lot of recyclable material that is being thrown in the trash.  According to Watauga County Extension Agent, Wendy Patoprsty, “during this Falls River Clean Up, about 35% of the litter collected was glass and plastic bottles, and aluminum cans.”

Phone face created in 2004 Trash to Art Competion

We throw away a lot of good trash.  It’s amazing how usable our trash is, and we want to see the trash get a second life!  Cindy Ball of Elkland Art Center says “trash is a really affordable medium to work with and its totally available, everywhere, literally.”   It’s fun to start rethinking trash and how to minimize local and global impacts.  Judith Winecoff of Watauga Library makes a good point when she said “we’re doing two things at once, cleaning up as we create art.  So many times we don’t realize how much trash and litter is out there until we work with it and then we begin to take notice.”   According to Marsha Story “recycling has skyrocketed over the last quarter in the Town of Boone, in fact curbside residential recycling was 81% participation over the last quarter!” 

Entries can be brought to the Watauga County Library from October 3-8.  Please turn your artwork in to Judith Winecoff.  Judging will take place the week of October 10^th.   Rules: The art can be no larger that 3ft x 3ft and must be creations that consist of at least 90% reused or recycled materials, nothing in the art can be purchased!  There will be two age divisions, youth 16 and under and adults over 17.

Awards will be given in each division to the top three and each participant will receive a gift package and certificate.   Art must be picked up the week of October  24^th and you will receive your gifts and awards when art is picked up.   Please contact Wendy Patoprsty at 264-3061 or email Wendy_Patoprsty@ncsu.edu with any questions.