Extension News July 2023

Berry Delicious

July is National Berry Month. Summer brings lots of special treats, and berries happen to be one of my favorites. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are all in season and absolutely delicious!

Not only do berries taste good, but they are full of vitamins and minerals, many of which are classified as antioxidants. Researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries were among the top 11 foods for antioxidant activity. Antioxidants may help increase our immune function and protect against cancer and heart disease. Berries are also a great source of fiber. For example, raspberries have eight grams of fiber per cup with just 15 grams of carbohydrates.

• Most berries are naturally sweet and require little effort to prepare.
• Berries do not always have to be fresh; you can keep a variety of frozen berries on hand to add to yogurt, oatmeal, or smoothies! Blend fat-free or low-fat milk or yogurt with fresh or frozen fruit for a smoothie.
• Berries can be added to foods you already eat. Try adding sliced strawberries to a bowl of whole grain cereal or sprinkle blueberries on a salad.
• Often, we hear that berries are too expensive. Make kabobs. Skewer sticks are not expensive, and kabobs are a way to incorporate berries with less expensive items like pieces of apples or watermelon.

Use these hints when shopping for berries.

• Avoid buying bruised or oozing berries, and make sure you turn the container over to check the berries at the bottom.
• Look for firm, plump, full-colored berries. At home, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Wash fruits before preparing or eating them. Under clean, running water, rub fruits briskly with your hands. Pat dry with a paper towel.

Berries are one of the easiest things to add to your freezer. Run cool water over the berries in a colander. Pick out any damaged berries, leaves, or stems. Shake off some of the water and pat dry with a paper towel. Spread the berries on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Once frozen, the berries can be transferred to a freezer bag or container or sealed with a vacuum sealer.

I love ice cream, and upside-down berry sundaes are a great way to make your cool treat higher in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Instead of a big dish of ice cream TOPPED with a handful of berries, turn it upside down. Enjoy a bowl of berries with a small scoop (about 1/2 cup) of ice cream on top.

ONE cup of a combination of blueberries and raspberries is about 75 calories plus fiber, folate, potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants. A half cup of light ice cream adds about 100 calories as well as calcium.

For a total of around 175 calories for the fruit plus ice cream, your taste buds AND your waistline can be happy!

Not only are berries, berry delicious, they are berry nutritious! Think about ways you can incorporate more berries in your day!

Are You A Grill Master?

Summer Cookouts

Get Moving Outdoors! Join Us Virtually: July 6th

ECA North Central District Scholarship Winner

Extension and Community Association (ECA) North Central District Scholarship Winner

Congratulations to 2023 North Surry High School graduate Gwendolyn Bode, who was recently named the winner of the North Central District Extension and Community Association scholarship. Gwendolyn will attend Appalachian State University in the fall, where she plans to major in criminal justice with the goal of going on to law school and eventually returning to Surry County to practice law.

The daughter of Samuel Travis and Stephanie Lightfoot Bode, Extension has had a special place in Gwendolyn’s parents’ lives. Her mother worked at Sertoma, Millstone, Swannanoa, and Mitchell 4-H camps as a young adult. Gwendolyn’s parents were actually married at the Sertoma 4-H Center. Gwendolyn attended summer camps and classes through Surry County 4-H as she was growing up.

Best wishes for much success to Gwendolyn as she begins this next chapter in her life.

Mouth-Watering Watermelon

Many family picnics and barbecues have a nice juicy watermelon on the table. Watermelons are not just delicious; they are also good for us. Research has concluded that eating watermelon is an excellent way to increase our intake of antioxidants and lycopene. Therefore, every time we eat watermelon, we are improving our overall health.

According to the USDA, “the antioxidants in watermelon can help your body fight free radicals and slow down cell damage. The fruit's non-protein amino acids will also help to repair your body tissue, break down food from other meals, and even regulate your blood pressure”.

Tips to keep in mind:

• It is good to store whole watermelon on the countertop until ready to cut and eat instead of refrigerating it. This way, it can continue to ripen and build up antioxidants.
• When you are ready to eat it, make sure to wash it first before cutting it.
• Once sliced, it is important to refrigerate it.
• Place small amounts of cold sliced watermelon on the table at a time, keeping the rest in the refrigerator or a cooler.

Now you are ready to enjoy a refreshing and healthy ice-cold treat!

4-H Summer Fun Programs

We currently have 54 youth signed up for our Summer Fun programs for June and July. The majority of the youth signed up are participating in 4-H for the first time. We are excited that our parents and youth are once again looking for educational opportunities since the pandemic has ended! Our summer camps include Sew Much Fun, Junior Master Gardeners, Pilot Mountain Nature Adventure, Life Skills Rodeo, All-a-Buzz, Chef and the Child, and Farmer for a Day. We will be taking registrations up until the day before the programs, as space permits. To culminate our Summer Fun, all participants are invited to the Dobson Square Park & Splash Pad on Friday, July 28th. We will have a morning of fun and staying cool, while enjoying a treat from the Chill Mobile. We would like to thank our Surry County Master Gardeners, Pilot Mountain State Park rangers and staff, Surry Community College, State Employees Credit Union, Jessica Jonczak & The Barn at Heritage Farms, the American Culinary Federation, The Farm, and the Chill Mobile for their partnerships in making these programs possible for our youth in Surry County.

The Great Pumpkin Growing Contest

The Salty Six For Kids

More than 75% of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and restaurant foods, not the salt shaker. Most kids get too much salt, but you can help set them on a healthier path from the start. The American Heart Association salty six popular foods:

• Bread/Rolls
• Cold Cuts/Cured Meats
• Pizza
• Poultry (Chicken Nuggets)
• Soup
• Sandwiches

Simple changes can be made to make sure they don’t consume too much salt. Fresh fruits and vegetables (apples, bananas, oranges, spinach, broccoli, and carrots) can help reduce sodium. Most kids don’t need a low-salt diet. Instead, they need a normal salt diet to avoid foods that are high in salt.

Heat Stress in Cattle

As temperatures warm up, it is important to consider how we can prevent heat stress and what signs to be on the lookout for. Heat stress can impact the reproductive efficiency and grazing performance of cattle on pasture as they start to breathe faster and eat less. Many factors can influence heat stress, including humidity, hide color, solar radiation, and even diet can impact the ability to regulate heat. Typically, cattle’s internal temperature will be at its highest two hours after the hottest time of the day. Cattle’s internal temperature also increases by digesting food, typically 4-6 hours after feeding. Knowing this, some things we can do are move/work cattle during cooler parts of the day, account for additional water intake, and provide shade. If you do have confined cattle feeding, splitting cattle up to allow for more airflow and timing feedings later in the evenings can help. By feeding later in the day as the temperature drops, cattle can digest their feed overnight, when temperatures should be cooler. Along with trying to prevent heat stress as best we can, it is also important to monitor cattle for any abnormal behaviors. Stages and categories of heat stress are included below. Seven-day heat stress forecasts can be found using the below link.

USDA's Agricultural Research Service:

Multi-Species Grazing Pasture Walk: NC State Small Ruminant Educational Unit

We hope you will join us for the Small Ruminant Educational Unit Summer Pasture Walk on Tuesday, July 25th, from 6-8pm! Learn about multi-species grazing systems, annual forages, plant ID, temporary fence, shade, and water options. This will be a fun evening to learn about grazing to improve pastureland ecology. Please bring a lawn chair if you would like a place to sit. For more information, see the website.

Register here! Small Ruminant Education Unit: 2200 Trenton Road, Raleigh, NC 2760

The New Beans Gone Wild Tool

Soybeans are one of the most widely grown crops throughout the state of North Carolina. Therefore, both farmers and industry personnel face multiple challenges in managing their soybeans, or providing recommendations due to the various soil types, and climates present throughout the state. To combat this challenge, the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association along with the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation have funded the development of an interactive online tool to catalog photos of soybean problems in the field and map them throughout the state.

These photos can be submitted either by farmers or by industry personnel and will be reviewed by an all-star team of NC State Extension Specialists, NC Extension Agents, the NC Plant Disease and Insect Clinic, and select NC Crop Consultants before being posted. After these photos are posted onto the interactive tool, they are accompanied by some background information about the problem, a conclusion about the situation of the problem, and also some educational resources to help address or prevent the problem in the future. The tool was launched last month, but in years to come, a user will be able to use the interactive tool to sort through multiple years of cataloged soybean problems with photos in fields throughout the state.

If you are interested in checking out the new Beans Gone Wild tool, feel free to use the link below:

Article has been revised from Dr. Rachel Vann, Soybean Extension Specialist from North Carolina State University.

Pond Management 101

Ponds are a very unique system, and they do require some sort of management to keep the system healthy, and to preserve the aesthesis as well. One of the best management tactics is to prevent things from getting into your pond. Barriers along the edge, such as grass strips, rock formations, or even burlap, can act as a filtration system to only allow water to pass through into the pond. Another task that may be easier said than done is to try keeping animals out of the pond. Livestock can trample and erode pond banks, and even waterfowl can carry weed seed lodged within their feathers.

If any unwanted weed growth starts to develop in your pond, the simplest method of control is to try hand-removing as much growth as possible before the problem spreads throughout the whole pond. Another good management tactic is to use a pond dye either in February or March to prevent any sunlight from reaching the bottom of the pond, which can help prevent any weed growth from starting to occur. A more natural way to control weed growth in ponds is to stock some Triploid Grass Carp. The size of the fish does matter when it comes to controlling weed growth; the smaller fish will target the smaller weeds, the larger fish will target the larger weeds. Stocking Triploid Grass Carp in your pond is always a great option to prevent any weed growth from getting out of control, but since they are a living species, they are susceptible to diseases, or even being eaten by predators.

Herbicide use in ponds should be considered a last-ditch effort. Herbicide use in ponds can not only get expensive, but it can also become tricky when determining application rates, and only treating certain sections of a pond to prevent fish kills. In the state of North Carolina, the label on a pesticide product is the law; therefore, it is ILLEGAL to use any herbicide product that is NOT registered for use in aquatic situations. It is important to know exactly what kind of weed you are facing in your pond before you make any application.

If you have questions on anything pond related feel free to reach out to the extension office, and we can try our best to assist you. If you are interested in completing a water test, or believe it or not, a soil sample for your pond, we have the corresponding forms. A simple water test will cost $5, and soil testing is free from April through November and only cost $4 from December through March.

Blossom End Rot

Blossom end rot is a common problem on tomatoes, although it can also occur on peppers, eggplants, melons, cucumbers, squash, and zucchini. Symptoms are seen on the bottom ends of tomatoes as they turn black or leathery. Blossom end rot is not a disease and does not spread from one plant to another. Instead, it is a physiological disorder caused by a lack of calcium in the developing fruit. This may be due to a lack of calcium uptake from the soil or to extreme fluctuations in the water supply. Incidence of blossom end rot is also increased where there is a low ratio of calcium to other nutrients, such as potassium and nitrogen.

Good results have been obtained by spraying foliage and stems with anhydrous calcium chloride (4 pounds per 100 gallons of water per acre) four times on a weekly schedule beginning when the second fruit cluster forms, or when symptoms first appear. Calcium chloride solutions are also available under several trade names for small-scale garden use. This helps to rapidly place calcium directly where it is needed in the fruits. Do not exceed the recommended rate. Calcium chloride is suggested only for tomatoes. Application should be done while temperatures are cool in the morning. Removing affected fruits when symptoms are first observed may be worthwhile for the subsequent development of other fruits on the plant.

Flowers No Cucumbers

Cucumber plants can have numerous blooms with no cucumbers. Why? Cucumbers are monoecious. Monoecious plants have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The flowers look alike except that the female flowers have small, immature fruits at their base. Bees and other pollinators transfer pollen from the male to the female flowers. When pollination is successful, the female flowers develop into fruit. The male flowers are the first to appear on the cucumber vine. Cool weather may delay female flowers from forming. When the male and female flowers are not present at the same time, cucumbers will not develop. As temperatures increase, female flowers should develop. Cucumber vines should start producing cucumbers within a few weeks as the number of female flowers increase.

Cold, rainy weather during bloom can also reduce bee activity. Fewer bees visiting the cucumber vines result in poor pollination and poor fruit set. Warmer weather is ahead, along with tasty cucumbers.

The Great Southeast Pollinator Count Clinic

The Great Southeast Pollinator Count is being conducted through the University of Georgia and is now partnering with N.C. State University and Cooperative Extension. With pollinators in decline, they are conducting this citizen science project to help determine the number of pollinators we have across the southeast. This count will help guide their research and hopefully, benefit everyone in the long run.

If you would like to participate in “The Great Southeast Pollinator Count” join Extension Master Gardener volunteers at the Mount Airy Public Library on August 19, 2023 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm at the newly established pollinator garden that is currently being installed.

There will also be a clinic held on July 27, 2023 at 2:00 pm to prepare counters for the upcoming county. If you are interested in either of these events, call the Extension Center at 336.401.8025 to register.