Loading

Growing Chatham NC Coop. Extension~Chatham County~July 2022

No time to read Growing Chatham? No problem! Listen to the podcast!

Check out this month's Growing Chatham Video Highlights

Find fresh, locally grown food when you download the Visit NC Farms App!

The Visit NC Farms App connects the dots in communities across North Carolina. Using cell phone technology, residents and visitors can find farms closest to them with products and activities that interest them.

Visitors can use the app to explore farms, farmers markets, and local restaurants that are off the beaten path and unique to each community.

These Chatham County Farms Can Be Found on the Visit NC Farms App!

Fun at 4-H Day Camp

We had a blast at summer camp!

The pictures speak for themselves!

Chatham 4-H’ers Win Gold and Silver at 2022 District Activity Day

On Friday, June 17, 2022, six Chatham County 4-H members competed at the North Central District 4-H Activity Day in Wilkes County. These members competed alongside youth from 19 surrounding counties in the district, and of the six competitors from Chatham, five were first-time presenters or 4-H Entertains performers.The 4-H participants included Hailey King, 4-H Member-At-Large, and Reyna Nava, Kenia Uribe, Giancarlo Lopez, Avery Wright, and Haliey Zarate-Cruz, who are all members of the Chatham County Clover Creators 4-H Club.

The results of the competition were as follows:

  • Hailey King, 4-H Entertains Performer, 11-13 Age Division: Blue Ribbon Winner
  • Haliey Zarate-Cruz, Forestry & Wildlife Category, 8-10 Age Division: Gold (First Place)
  • Avery Wright, Horticulture Science Category, 14-18 Age Division: Gold (First Place)
  • Reyna Nava, Open Class Category, 14-18 Age Division: Gold (First Place)
  • Kenia Uribe, Science & Technology Category, 14-18 Age Division: Gold (First Place)
  • Giancarlo Lopez, Wheels & Engines Category, 14-18 Age Division: Silver (Second Place)

Reyna Nava, Kenia Uribe, Giancarlo Lopez, Avery Wright, and Haliey Zarate-Cruz qualified for the NC State 4-H Presentations contest scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 2022, on the campus of North Carolina State University. Best of luck to them as they advance to compete at the state level! Congratulations to Reyna, Kenia, Giancarlo, Avery, Haliey, and Hailey on their accomplishments!

We still have spaces available, and parents can sign up if they pay and complete medical physicals no later than July 11th.

Chatham 4-H'er Wins NC 4-H Horse Program Scholarship

Congratulations to Victoria Smith, Chatham County Horsekateers 4-H Club Member, for being selected as a 2022 NC 4-H Horse Program Scholarship recipient! We wish Victoria much success on her future academic ventures.

4-H STEM Lab Recipe: SOLAR OVEN S'MORES

Learn about solar energy while cooking s’mores in a cardboard box!

Diagnosis and Management of Pests and Diseases of Tomatoes

Late blight of tomato. Photo by Dr. Inga Meadows, NC State University.

Extension Master Gardener Webinar: 7/12/2022, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Access to fresh tomatoes is among the most rewarding aspects of home vegetable gardening, and at times, the most challenging. Warm nights, high rain and humidity, and resulting pest and disease pressure can frustrate even experienced gardeners. Join Matt Jones (Extension Horticulture Agent) for a webinar on identifying and managing the most common pests, diseases, and physiological disorders of home-grown tomatoes. When feasible, organic management options will be emphasized.

Tips For Selecting Cut Flowers in the Store

  • Staff: Knowledgeable, engaging
  • Flower Age: Select flowers that are newly arrived.
  • Coolers: Clean and tidy
  • Water: Clean, fresh-smelling water. If there are bacteria growing in the water, it may clog the flower stem preventing water uptake.
  • Stems: Clean, not slimy, firm, not scared or broken, no evidence of rough handling
  • Flowers: Fresh with no fuzzy gray mold. Upright, not drooping or damaged petals. Extend the vase life by selecting flowers that are just beginning to open. For roses and other single flowers, select blooms that have only one petal unfurled. For gladiolus and other spike flowers, choose stems with only the first two or three flowers open. For daisy-type flowers, like sunflowers, select flowers with centers that are still greenish.
  • Leaves are not yellow, spotted, or drooping.

Late Spring Spiders Common But Not Dangerous

We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about spiders hanging around and coming inside homes lately. Some have been mistaken for brown recluses (Loxosceles reclusa) despite this species being extremely rare in the state. Other spiders are active and a bit too fast for people’s liking. Several people have submitted images of nursery web spiders (Pisaurina mira). These medium to large spiders (see below) can be a bit scary due to their size and being mistaken for recluses. However they are not aggressive nor dangerous to humans. They are called nursery web spiders because the females often construct a nest made of leaves where they raise their young. They can be distinguished from recluses by their 8 eyes (6 in recluses), spiny legs (recluses have no thick spines) and patterns on the body (recluses have only a violin pattern on their “head”). More information on recluses and their ID can be found on the ReclusOrNot page at Spiderbytes.org.

The Amazing Spiders of North Carolina

Visit the Pittsboro Farmers’ Market in Their New Location!

The Pittsboro Farmers’ Market has moved a couple of miles east down the road and is now located at The Plant at 220 Lorax Lane in Pittsboro. Nothing else has changed…the market is still held from 3-6 p.m. every Thursday with the same wonderful vendors that customers love. You can now visit your favorite vendors under the solar panels and also explore the other businesses at The Plant!

Visit the Growing Small Farms website to see photos of vendors at the new location.

Register Now for a Summer Tour of the Pollinator Paradise Garden!

Summer tours of North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden in Pittsboro start in early July!

The garden features over 225 species of perennials, trees, shrubs, vines, and grasses, and 85% of them are native to North Carolina. This is a great opportunity to visit the popular gathering spot for honey bees, native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and beneficial insects in addition to their human admirers! The tours are led by Chatham County Agriculture Agent Debbie Roos.

There is no charge for the tour but registration is required to limit group size. The tours fill up very quickly so don’t delay in registering if you really want to attend.

Fiber Hemp Field Day

July 19

Join the NC State Alternative Crops Program at the Piedmont Research Station on July 19th from 9 am-noon for the inaugural Fiber Hemp Field Day. On display will be NCSU's planting date and variety trial, a cover crop no-till weed management trial, new variety observation plots, and FFAR Hemp Research Consortium fiber and grain trial.

Chatham County Youth Livestock Team Takes on Clinics!

Four members of the Chatham County Youth Livestock team travelled to Raleigh to participate in the Skillathon and Livestock Judging Clinics in June. Members were able to observe and learn more about farrowing sows, cattle reproductive tracts, fecal egg counting, beef quality assurance, and more.

Importance of Hay Testing

For just $10 per sample, the NCDA will analyze your hay and send back a report on the nutritional value. Using this analysis, you can determine if the hay you've grown or purchased is of good quality and in building a ration that provides all the nutrients your animal needs. Check out this website for more information and the testing form: https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/07/forage-and-feed-testing-form-now-online/

Starting a Backyard Chicken Flock

Prescribed Fire Liability Report

Liability is an important consideration for private landowners and others who conduct prescribed burning, and liability concerns often are cited as a primary reason that landowners are reluctant to use prescribed fire. Each of the thirteen states in the Southern region has a law in place related to prescribed burning, but the laws vary regarding the legal obligations imposed and the guidelines for liability protection. This Report from the Southeast Regional Partnership for Planning and Sustainability (SERPPAS) summarizes these laws, associated regulations, and known court cases for each Southern state in order to help increase understanding and minimize landowners’ risk of liability associated with prescribed fire.

Tree Fall Liability: Who Is Responsible for Property Damage?

Bad weather reminds us how quickly a tree or limb can fall across property lines and cause damage. Who is responsible in these cases? As a practical matter, a homeowners or farm hazard policy should cover structural damage and removal costs from a tree or branch falling on the property, though the tree is rooted across the property line. Learn more from Andrew Branan, NCSU Asst. Extension Professor in Agricultural & Resource Economics, regarding hazard policy and liability by clicking on the link below.

NC Tree Farm Program Online Learning Portal

Learn about a variety of forestry topics through webinars, videos, and online courses offered through the NC Tree Farm Program and associated partners.

GRILLING SAFELY AT HOME

Keep you and your loved ones safe from foodborne illness this summer with this information and these tips.

Upcoming Blood Pressure 5-Week Series

If you're looking to learn more about managing your blood pressure through food while picking up some helpful cooking tips, this series is for you. You'll also be given vouchers to shop at the Pittsboro Farmers' Market to practice what you learn in the classes! Scan the code below or visit the website listed to see if you qualify. Please plan to attend all 5 of the classes before registering, space is limited!

What's in Season?

Summertime is here and so is the abundance of NC grown vegetables and fruits! This chart is a handy guide for helping you buy locally grown goodies, which means delicious, fresh flavor and likely less costly than buying out of season produce. Enjoy!

Baked or Grilled Peaches

Baked or grilled peaches make for a satisfying summer dessert - quick to make, scrumptious, and can even be topped with a little ice cream! Try out this delicious recipe for peach season.

Baked Peaches

Recipe adapted from Well Plated (www.wellplated.com)

Serves 6, ½ peach with sauce

Ingredients:

2 fresh, ripe peaches

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup or honey

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon salt

Directions: Preheat your oven to 350°. Wash and dry peaches. Cut in half and remove pits.

Arrange peach halves into an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish that is lightly spraying or coated with cooking oil.

In a small mixing bowl, combine oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt until blended.

Spoon mixture over peaches into the center and over the sides of each peach half.

Baked for 20-30 minutes depending on your desired level of doneness.

Serve with ice cream, yogurt, or cream.

Notes: Option to add 1 Tablespoon of rum, brandy or bourbon to the syrup mixture. Texture could also be added by including a sprinkling of quick cooking oats or topping with granola after baking. Baked peaches can be refrigerated for 4 days or frozen and reheated by microwave or baked for 10 minutes to heat through.

Good Egg or Bad Egg? Take the Egg Test!

Simple Tips to Eating Healthy on a Budget

Meal planning is one of the most important steps to being able to eat healthy on a budget. If you go into the store with a plan, you will more than likely come out of the store saving some money. It takes a little extra time to write out a meal plan, but by taking the time to look at your social calendar and see what meals you will be able to prepare throughout the week with the time that you have, that will really help you stick to your meal plan and help your budget stretch a little further.

When making your meal plan, I recommend always starting by looking in your refrigerator/freezer first, then head to the pantry to look at all the ingredients that you have available. After knowing what you have on hand, make your weekly meal plan, and then write out a grocery shopping list of those items that you are missing that you will need to make your weekly meals. You should notice this makes your list a lot smaller because you already have many of the items if you build your recipes around what ingredients you already had available.

Inflation Then and Now

Sometimes we should look into our past to see what our future may look like.

Remember the Gas Shortages in 1973?

John Cooper offered advice to the Chatham County farmers in the July 5, 1973 edition of the Chatham Record. Some of his advice can be used today, but with today's diesel prices, some of his suggestions may not be as useful as they once were in 1973.

From the Chatham Record July 5, 1973

Community Partners

Chatham County Installs Two Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Electric vehicle charging station at Smithfield Restaurant, Siler City

Post Date:06/13/2022 1:32 PM

Chatham County is thrilled to announce the installation of two electric vehicle (EV) charging stations with the aid of a grant from the State of North Carolina and the Volkswagen Settlement Fund.

Chatham County was awarded two grants in 2021 to install an EV charging station in Siler City at the Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q restaurant and in Pittsboro at the Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center (CCACC). These grants are administered by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and funded by the North Carolina portion of the Volkswagen Settlement Fund. The county worked closely with Duke Energy and ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging station manufacturer, to design and build the two stations. Installing these two stations aligns with the county’s Comprehensive Plan goal to encourage adoption of electric vehicles and reduce carbon emissions in the county. The two stations charge EVs at different rates and are designed for different purposes.

“The direct current (DC) fast charger at Smithfield’s is designed to quickly charge a vehicle and will be mostly used for driver’s charging with a destination farther away,” said Kevin Lindley, Chatham County Environmental Quality Director. “The location near the junction of Highway 421 and Highway 64 is ideal for a charging station like this. The level 2 station at the Agriculture and Conference Center will more often be used as a destination charger since it charges more slowly. This will be ideal for people who want to drive their EV to an event at the Center but might not have enough range to make it all the way there and back without charging.”

Electric vehicle charging station signs at Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center, Pittsboro
Electric vehicle charging station at Chatham County Agriculture and Conference Center, Pittsboro

EV owners who want to use these two stations will need to create an account with the ChargePoint network. There is a charge to use the stations, which was set by the county to recover the cost of electricity used to charge the vehicles. For more information, contact Kevin Lindley, Environmental Quality Director, at (919) 545-7875 or email at kevin.lindley@chathamcountync.gov.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of age, color, disability, family and marital status, genetic information, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sexual identity (including pregnancy), and veteran status. NC State, N.C. A&T, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. Persons with disabilities and persons with limited English proficiency may request accommodations to participate by contacting Ginger Cunningham, County Extension Director, at 919.542.8202, ginger_cunningham@ncsu.edu, or in person at the County Extension Office at least 30 days prior to the event.

Created By
Tiffany Hancock
Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by wavebreak3 - "Black berries in bowls with 4th july theme" • Karen Roach - "We are closed 4th of July wood sign of US map with retro star" • Pruksachat - "Adorable African American chubby kid girl smiling standing and holding small USA flags in hand at home. Celebrating 4th July Independence Day. Copy space. Side view. White background" • kirkikis - "An American flag waves on the front of a home decorated with a small garden on the Fourth of July" • lightrapture - "american flag in rose garden" • Jon - "Farmer leaning on metal fence in grassy agricultural field, American flag draped over fence, blue sky white clouds" • JinnaritT - "Piled stacks of dry straw collected for animal feed. Dry baled hay bales stack." • Maria Sbytova - "USA flag with nature view on background" • bartsadowski - "Downed Tree after Storm" • Brent Hofacker - "Homemade Memorial Day Hamburger Picnic" • kellyvandellen - "Grilled Peaches and Flames" • Lazy_Bear - "USA national flag and the dollar bills. Business and finance concept" • maglara - "Empty wooden deck table over USA flag background" • Brocreative - "Kids watching an Independence Day Parade on a Summer Day"