Scouting Field Day, May 25th

The NC Cooperative Extension- Watauga and Ashe Centers will be hosting a insect and weed scouting field day on Tuesday, May 25th from 2-4PM. We will discuss various pest and beneficial insects commonly found in Christmas Tree farms and control options.  Demonstrating scouting techniques followed by actual field scouting will help growers learn how to scout on their own farms.   2  hours of pesticide credit in categories G, L, N, O, D, and X will be available to participants.
 
Directions: From Boone continue on Hwy. 421 South past the intersection of old 421 and new 421 (Food Lion intersection) and travel approx. 1-1.5 miles turning left onto Laurel Gap Ridge Rd. (the second left after the intersection).  Follow Laurel Gap Ridge Road for approx. 1/ 2 mile.  After coming down the hill and curving left, look for a metal farm gate on the right, just past a house trailer.  Go through the farm gate and travel down gravel road.  Veer left continuing on the gravel road and then continue until you reach a grass parking area at the end of the farm road.  Signs will be posted.
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For more information:  Meghan Baker Extension Agent, Agriculture Christmas Trees and Commercial Horticulture NC Cooperative Extension Watauga County Center 971 West King Street Boone, NC 28607 Meghan_Baker@ncsu.edu Phone:828-264-3061 Fax:828-264-3067

Be sure to ventilate your greenhouses

Greenhouses, Cold Frames, Hoop Houses, and other season-extension technologies do a great job of allowing us to continue growing tasty local vegetables during the "off-months" of winter. However, with the arrival of warmer weather, and the Springtime sun is traveling ever higher through the sky, one must be careful to avoid too much heat. These spinach leaves scorched due to a combination of too much heat and strong sunlight hitting the leaves while there was still water from morning's irrigation beaded-up on the leaves. Spinach is a cool-season crop, so it loved the greenhouse during January and February, but even by April greenhouses get too hot for Spinach to thrive.

To avoid similar problems in your own cold frames and greenhouses, be sure to water as early in the morning as possible so that water can evaporate off the leaves gradually before the sun gets too strong. Also, be sure to keep air moving as much as possible in any cold frame or greenhouse. Sides that roll-up or down are great features if you are putting up a new hoop structure. Removable end-walls will allow the hoop house to continue to be useful well into the summer: eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes all do better with some shelter from the rain and the extra heat early-on, but you need to keep maximum indoor temperatures below 90* F. or so for the plants to continue to thrive into the summer.

If your greenhouse lacks enough vents to move air passively, you may need to employ extra fans to cool things off. Keeping air moving will also help reduce disease problems such as damping-off problems in seedlings (i.e.- Pythium, Rhizoctonia).

Virtual Pond Management

On Thursday, May 13, Cooperative Extension hosted a Pond Management Seminar via Elluminate...a web-based educational networking program. Watauga County Extension served as a remote hosting site. NRCS District Conservationist, David Tucker (shown here) presented on pond construction and permitting considerations with a laptop and microphone. Over 80 participants in remote sites across the state participated in the training.

2010 Extension Master Gardener Graduates

The Watauga County Extension Master Gardener Program congratulates recent graduates from the 2010 spring training program. Participants completed 11 weeks of training in horticultural topics including plant growth, soil health, composting, identification and prevention of insect and disease problems, and plant propagation. Volunteers are working on completing horticultural fact sheets for the general public and are also developing landscape design plans for garden beds around the Watauga Extension office.

To complete their volunteer service, graduates will each contribute at least 40 hours of assistance throughout the county. These volunteers are essential partners in meeting the vast home horticulture needs of county residents.  Graduates include: Joan Brannon, Gale Buchanan, Ana Maria Castanheira, Arlena Creasman, Jimmy Davidson, Leon Hodges, Pat Howell, Slade Howell, Russell James, Nell Kline, David Kline M.D., Kathy Lee, Coleman McCleneghan, Liz Rose, and Renee Williams.

For more information on the Watauga Master Gardener Program, please visit the Lawn & Garden section of the watagua.ces.ncsu.edu website. If you have an idea or need for community gardening projects or other questions about the program, please contact Meghan Baker at Meghan_baker@ncsu.edu or 828-264-3061.

Summer Transplanting Study for Fraser Fir

So what would happen to your Fraser fir if you transplanted to the field in mid to late summer instead of spring? Would the seedling get a head start for next season's growth? Or would transplant shock and heat stress kill it? Dr. John Frampton, the Christmas tree geneticist at NC State is trying to find out. Based on some outplanting methods learned from European growers, Frampton has designed an experiment to test late outplanting with Fraser, Turkish, and Nordmann fir.

For the experiment, transplants from each species will be planted at regular intervals from May through October on the same sites under similar conditions to see how the seedlings react.  IPM Technicians Doug Hundley and Brian Davis, and Watauga County Extension Director Jim Hamilton are assisting with the research. Hopefully this research can tell us more about the transplanting thresholds or windows for outplanting Fraser fir and maybe allow growers to get a head start on field production.

Rain Barrel Sale Now in Progress

Protect our Water Resources.
Since we can’t see into future weather patterns, and we don’t know what this summer holds, why don’t you go ahead and get your Moby 65 gallon rain water harvesting system today.

How to order:
Go to the following website to order your rain barrel.
http://www.rainbarrelprogram.org/watauga-county
You must place your order by May 28th, 2010 in order to get the discount on the barrel. The barrels will be shipped up June 4th for the one-day pick up event.
The June 4th pick up event will host The Town of Boone Every Drop Counts program, demonstrations on how to set up the barrel, and hourly door prizes. Bring your kids by after school to receive activity books and other goodies.

Enter to win a free barrel from the Town of Boone Public Utilities office at 321 East King Street or call 268-6250 for more info.

What sets this rain barrel apart from others?
- Made in NC from 100% recycled plastic.
- The shape of the barrel is designed not to crack and split when frozen. Check online for winterization guidelines.
- Mosquito proof
- Best in class overflow set up to withstand heavy rains so barrel won’t back up into gutters. This barrel has optional flow direction with capabilities to attach multiple barrels.

Rain barrels are a great way to conserve water and save money. Use a rain barrel for watering lawns and flowers, as well as, washing cars and driveways.