Clay County Barn Quilt Project

Master Gardeners participated in the County Barn Quilt Project by painting this flower quilt from a design by the Anderson family of Shooting Creek. On a backing of wood and metal, the quilt will be raised on the Andersons' restored barn.
Look for a trail of barn quilts throughout Clay County as the project is completed.


The quilt is now mounted on the Anderson barn.

The Community Garden Flourishes

In its beautiful setting, the community garden has many aspects.

There is beauty...

There is creativity...

There is ingenuity...

Videotape strung between stakes shimmers, shakes and scares the crows away from the newly planted corn.

There is discovery...

The school garden has tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, squash, and now a bean teepee.

And there is bounty.



In June the Master Gardeners donated 199 pounds of produce from their plot to various Clay County assistance programs.

By August over 500 pounds had been donated.

This harvest of about 40 pounds went to both the Senior Center and Social Services in Clay County.

Gardening Tips from The Extension Office

As Spring rains appear to linger, humidity and dampness can cause garden plants to suffer in a number of ways.  Here's a few tips to managing your garden during such times.


1) Monitor often.  Disease can appear overnight, however, the extent of the damage can be curbed if you visit your garden often and inspect your plants.


2) Scout plants for diseases.  Many diseases, such as "early blight" in tomatoes or "downy mildew" in cucurbits, will begin with small yellow or water-soaked spots on leaves.  If caught early, fungicides can be applied to keep diseases from spreading and enveloping the entire plant.


3) Manage drainage.  Wet weather can cause problems other than providing a suitable environment for disease.  Poor drained soils, even on slopes, can cause yellowing, or "wet feet," and even root rot.  Though many problems as such are corrected on their own as dryer periods come, if you have this problem, it's a good idea to add organic matter, sand or other material to your soil between now and next year's garden that will loosen the soil and allow water to drain more readily.  A good practice is to plant a cover crop (rye, wheat, crimson clover) in the fall and til it in the spring to loosen soils.


4) Develop a pest management plan.  Many disease have enough head start by the time we notice them, then get them diagnosed and to the store to find a suitable product to use to manage them.  So, simply having an idea of what tools you can use or are available can give you a jump on diseases.  The Organic Gardening class coming up on June 21, can help provide you with some ideas.  We can also help provide you with conventional solutions and products at the Extension Office.


5) Prevention.  Keeping plants dry is the one of the best disease preventions.  To do so, it's important to keep good spacing between plants to allow ventilation.  Also, it's best, when irrigating plants, to use drip lines, soaker hoses or water low to the ground as opposed to watering the entire plant.  Keep in mind that the roots are the part of the plant that needs the water.  


6) Watering tips:  Water in the morning so that the plant has the day to dry off.  Water adequately during the dry season.  Plants need an average of 1 inch of water per week.  If you're using a sprinkler, you can set a tuna can (usually about an inch in depth) or other basin in the garden and cut the water off when you reach the one inch mark.  Watering too little, or just sprinkling the garden, especially during the dry season will not go very deep and can actually lead to scorching of the top layer of feeder roots of plants.  One to two soakings per week is sufficient.  Watering daily is more than the plants need and will also wash out, or leach, needed nutrients, such as Nitrogen, out of the soil.

June is Community Garden Month

WHEREAS, access to fresh fruits and vegetables encourages healthy eating habits, lowers rates of obesity, diabetes and other diseases; and

WHEREAS, community gardens encourage healthy eating and increase access to local healthy foods; and

WHEREAS, community gardens help strengthen communities and provide opportunities for neighborhood and community development; and

WHEREAS, community gardens encourage physical activity and education; and

WHEREAS, community gardens encourage the protection of green spaces; and

WHEREAS, developing healthy eating habits and participating in physical activities are critical to overall health and physical fitness; and

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina joins Nourishing North Carolina, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, North Carolina Recreation and Park Association, North Carolina Community Garden Partners, as well as communities across our state, in promoting access to local, fresh fruits and vegetables through community gardening; 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 2012, as “NORTH CAROLINA COMMUNITY GARDEN MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.  I further encourage citizens to explore ways to include community gardens in their own neighborhoods as a start to living a more healthy life.

BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this seventh day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

Transplanted community garden will flourish

Not only plowed, but now twice-tilled, our new bottomland garden is almost ready. Prospective gardeners can sign up for a 20x20' plot and attend an organi-zational meeting at the extension office on either Thursday: April 12, or April 19 at 4 pm. For details, call the extension office - 828-389-6305.

Fruit Trees: Ornamental and Bearing

Yoshino Cherry Trees

This President’s Day I did wonder how the whole cherry tree/President Washington thing got going.  From the little research I did, it was probably a myth created by an early biographer to illustrate Washington’s honesty.  But, honestly, I do love cherry trees!  This is a wonderful time to begin some fruit magic, both ornamental and husbandarily (oh, a bit of a stretch to mean the eating kind!)

If you drive on Rt. 64 near Subway you will see deep pink cherry trees (Okame) the earliest ornamental fruit tree to blossom.  They are a wonderful balm to bleak winter but often get zapped by frost.  Sticking with cherries the next to bloom will be Yoshino (the ones that strut their stuff in Washington).  These fast growing trees produce lovely light pink blossoms in a canopy that is wider than tall.  Kwanzan is the last variety to bloom with fluffy, double petaled flowers after the leaves have arrived.  With just these three varieties you could cover spring with pink petals.  However, there are varieties that will actually produce fruit.  This part of North Carolina can sustain sour cherry trees more easily than the sweet variety, but recently developed varieties do well.  ‘Montomorency’, a variety of sour cherry, and Black Tartarian, an early sweet variety, may do better than most.

Soon our countryside will be dotted with those lovely blossoms of pyrus calleryana (ornamental Pear), another early bloomer.  Oh, they are soooo tempting, but a Bradford Pear does have BIG liabilities.  It’s overgrown, has stinky blossoms, and is a very weak-limbed tree.  The ‘Cleveland’ variety is a better choice if you must, but it is narrow.  A ‘Kwanzan’ cherry would be an excellent substitute.  But why not go for the real deal!  Fruiting pears do well in our area.  There are two main kinds, Asian and European.  Both need at least two cultivars to ensure adequate pollination (and they will not be pollinators for each other).  The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service has a list of varieties that have been tested here and do well.  For Asian Pears, they recommend Twentieth Century (Nijisseiki), Nititaka (a pollen source), Shinjseik (New Century), and Chojuro and for European varieties: Moonglow, Magness, Kieffer, Harrow Delight, Harrow Sweet, Harvest Queen, and Seckeil.

Peaches are another beautiful tree with scrumptious fruit.  I had assumed they would do poorly here, but I was misguided.  N.C. State has a peach-breeding program to develop excellent cultivars for our area.  They do not require pollinators, but do require a spray program during the growing season.  There are many varieties available, but as with cherries, choose those that require at least 750 hours of chilling.

All of these need full sun, good drainage, and fairly fertile soils with a Ph of 6.0 to 6.5. 

As you imagine, there is more to this than these few words can cover.  The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service has brochures and on-line guides for all the fruit available for North Carolina gardeners.  We’ll try to cover more next time.  

Eleanor Moyer

New site for the community garden

After struggling with a lack of water in one location and and then squeezing around shady trees in our last location, the community garden is now being moved to a sunny location alongside a creek. Scott Penland, Superintendent, has promised that he will have an entrance across from Elementary School Dr. and mark out a spot along the edge of the huge hayfield for us to plant our crops. Water is somewhat accessible, but we'll have to lay pipes to bring it to the garden. This is school-owned property, and we hope that our garden is positioned such that it can stay in this location long term.