It's Fair Time

Share the bounty of the summer.  What has kept you engaged and creative this year?  The Mountain State Fair is an opportunity to display your talents.  All sorts of fun will be taking place at the Mountain State Fair on September 6-15 at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher.  Rides, foods, cooking contests, entertainment and exhibits will be in store for visitors.  Exhibits range from crafts, photographs, art, and jewelry to honey products, fruits and vegetables and animals.  While attending the fair is lots of fun, getting your entries down there beforehand may be inconvenient.  The Pony Express picks up your non-perishable items and delivers them to the fair so all you need to do is go down and see all the goodies.  Your items will be delivered back after the fair, along with any ribbons you may have earned.  You can find the whole catalog online now here.

Items are due to the Cooperative Extension office by August 19.   Be sure to include an entry form.  See here for Pony Express details.

Youth are encouraged to participate.  Perhaps they made lots of crafts this summer or grew some beautiful veggies.  See here for a summary of youth entries. 

Pesky Blackberry Foes

From: Emma Lookabaugh, Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, and Barbara Shew, Extension Plant Pathologist 

Here in North Carolina, blackberry season is in full swing! For many North Carolinians, that means it is the perfect time to stock up their freezer or pull out those Ball jars and preserve some tangy blackberry jam. Blackberry season brings back sweet summertime memories of riding my bike down the road to the blackberry thicket at the edge of the woods, gorging myself with fresh, juicy berries (probably picking up a few chiggers in the process), and heading home with purple stains on my hands, face, and clothes. Whether you prefer to pick your own berries or buy a pack from the local Farmer’s Market, we can all agree that blackberries are a signature snack for a late summer’s day. Unfortunately, blackberries, like all things delicious, come with their fair share of pests and diseases that impact fruit production.

This summer, we have seen two similar but different diseases on blackberry samples: orange rust on blackberry and black raspberry and leaf and cane rust on blackberry. Orange rust is typically the more devastating disease because it can become systemic, moving from leaves into other parts of the plant. The orange rust fungus has two forms, Arthuriomyces peckianus (formerly Gymnoconia peckiana) and Gymnoconia nitens, which differ only in the number of spore stages produced. Pustules full of orange-yellow spores develop on the undersides of leaves in late May and early June. These spores are blown to healthy leaves and infect when humidity is high and leaves are wet. Heavily infected leaves may die and defoliate. Once the plant is infected, the rust fungus becomes systemic. It grows down the infected shoot, into the crown, and then can enter newly formed roots. Symptoms associated with shoot infections include proliferation of shoots, weak and spindly canes, and lack of spines on the shoots. In mid-to-late summer, brownish black pustules that contain dark teliospores develop on the undersides of lower leaves. Teliospores do not infect, but germinate to produce basidiospores that can infect new buds or shoots, or the teliospores can overwinter on leaves before producing basidiospores the following year. Infected plants remain infected throughout their lifetime and do not recover. Orange rust does not kill the plant outright, but infected plants are completely lost to production due to their inability to produce blossoms and berries.

 Cane rust on blackberry

Controlling orange rust is largely achieved through cultural practices. Plant disease-free stock plants, eradicate diseased plants and wild berries in the surrounding area, and completely remove and destroy the entire plant as soon as symptoms develop on canes or leaves. Thin healthy plants to promote air circulation and to reduce leaf wetness. Leaf and cane rust is caused by the fungus Kuehneola uredinis. Leaf and cane rust produces yellow spores in pustules that split the bark of infected canes, causing them to become weak. The pustules can also be found on the undersides of leaves. Diseased old canes should be pruned after fruiting. Alternate-year fruiting programs can help reduce disease pressure and routine fungicide spray programs may be effective in preventing new infections. Care must be taken to differentiate systemic orange rust from leaf and cane rust because leaf and cane rust does not require drastic removal methods to control disease. Identification of the rust pathogen requires a microscope and considerable knowledge in rust morphology. Suspect samples should be sent to the Plant Disease and Insect Clinic for a formal diagnosis.

Thermal Pollution and Snot Otters

RiverGirl Outfitters new Hellbender on display in Todd, NC

If you’ve ever dipped into a stream in the High Country you know how cold the water is, no matter what time of year it is!  That cold water is really important for many of our native fish, salamanders, and other aquatic life.   The secretive hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) that lives in our cold headwater streams can be compared to the “canary in the coal mine”.  If hellbender populations decline that can mean that our water quality is also declining. 

You may not think that hot water would be considered a pollutant, but a few degrees can be the difference between life and death to temperature sensitive organisms like the hellbender.   Hellbenders are typcially found in pristine streams of the mountains and foothills of the eastern United States however, they do have cousins in China and Japan known as giant salamanders that can actually grow up to 5-6 feet long!

Our Appalachian Hellbender aka, "snot otter", "devil dog", "mud-devil", "grampus", "Allegheny alligator", or "river dog" by locals, can grow to over a whopping 2 feet long!  But their populations have decreased in many places because of sediment runoff and habitat changes.  Temperature and dissolved oxygen plays a really important role in the health of the hellbender, and as stream side trees and shrubs are cut down, sunlight warms the water temperature.  Stormwater runoff also contributes to temperature increases.  When it rains on a hot rooftop or parking lot, heat is transferred to the water which typically runs into a nearby stream.  Stormwater runoff has shown to increase water temperature significantly, decreasing the chances for hellbender and trout survival. 

Kelly McCoy of RiverGirl Fishing Company recently acquired the High Countries first bred in captivity hellbender!  She received a permit from the state to have a live hellbender on display in a chilled tank at RiverGirl Fishing Company.  RiverGirl’s new little buddy is an “Ambassador” for all the hellbenders out there.  Once you lay your eyes on it (I say it, because they won’t be able to tell the sex for another few years) you’ll fall in love!   Right now, they feed the little buddy crawfish, minnows, and nymphs, but as it grows, mice will become part of the menu. 

The chilled tank stays at a constant 57°F with a pH of 6.8-7.0.   Every week the hellbender is weighed and monitored for health.  This hellbender is from eggs collected from the Davidson River, which were transported to the Fort Worth Texas Zoo, where it was born and raised until coming back home to North Carolina this summer.  Kelly recently captured on video the hellbender molting its dull layer of skin, then eating the skin and turning into a brilliantly glossy "snot otter".  You can stop by RiverGirl Fishing Company in Todd daily from 10am-5pm to view our new little friend of High Country Rivers!

Youth Needs

The High Country Workforce Development Board recently held a High Country Youth Summit in Blowing Rock.  Attendees came from a seven county area and represented a wide segment of the community, from schools, agencies, and non-profits to businesses.    The purpose was to discuss ways to cultivate the high country’s future workforce.  The forum set the stage with information from the perspective of one local school system, state data, young adults who are mobilizing, and beyond.   The forum emphasized the need for school drop-out prevention, building community capacity so that youth have opportunities in our area (job and youth development), and the importance of career development awareness.   While much information was shared and discussed, several things stood out.

Avery County Schools Superintendent, David Burleson presented some striking information.  He emphasized that two things help lead youth out of poverty and to educational and career success:  education and relationships.  School success is dependent on each youth having one caring adult in their life.  “No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship”. 

There are so many important people who can provide that significant presence in a young person’s life.   Many programs, agencies and events provide a way for us to make a difference and there are many ways we can help our schools.

Other key thoughts that popped out included continuing to find ways we can:

Keep the needs of youth in mind when serving them

Connect young people to the world of work

Help youth become aware of their interests, skills and abilities

Provide relevant, “real world” learning opportunities

Champion shared visions, community involvement and collaboration

Let's all think about how we can make a positive difference in the life of young people and support these ideals.