Alexander County 4-H Newsletter

4-H Mini Garden Project for Kids

The N.C. Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center is looking to engage youth in a garden program. Students will be provided seeds and information material to start their own little garden. This will encourage them to learn about how to grow vegetables. Participants will be asked to share pictures throughout the year on social media. A contest will be held once gardens are producing by having judges come out and look at the gardens. Ages 8-under, 9-12 years and 13-18 years will be judged. Date for judging will be sent out closer to date, but will be in June or July.

Prizes will also be given to those who have the best project books.

Kits are limited to the first 25 families to register, but we will also be taking a waiting list for those who are interested. Registration will be open until full, kits will be available April 10th and can be picked up through May 1st. For additional questions, please contact DJ Salyer at dj_salyer@ncsu.edu. Use the following link to fill out registration: Alexander County 4-H Mini Garden Registration

Calling all young creative writers who love honeybees!

Enrolled North Carolina 4-H youth are invited to research and write an essay for the state 4-H Beekeeping Essay contest.

The 2023 essay topic is, “The Importance of Beeswax.” Although honey bees are much beloved for honey, bees also produce beeswax that can be used in many ways. For this essay, a 4-H youth should discuss why beeswax is so important to the hive (it’s a pantry, it’s a nursery, it’s the dance floor), but also discuss their favorite way to use beeswax outside the hive. Photos of candles, soaps, or lip balms that are made to show the 4-H’er’s skill in using beeswax are welcomed as are recipes or brief instructions. For more information please contact DJ Salyer at 828-632-3125 or email dj_salyer@ncsu.edu.

Community Service Project Opportunity
Shockers 4-H Club is still needing your help with their community service project! They are collecting warm winter items for patients of the Alexander Dialysis Center. Donations of gloves, scarves, wool socks, diabetic socks and blankets are greatly needed for these patients. A drop off box has been placed at NC Cooperative Extension-Alexander County Center. If you have any questions please contact the 4-H office. All donations are greatly appreciated.

ALL 4-H members and volunteers MUST be enrolled in 4-H Online to participate in any programs or clubs that are provided by Alexander County 4-H.

For more information and to start the enrollment process please visit the following link:

https://alexander.ces.ncsu.edu/2022/01/time-to-enroll-in-4-h/

If you have any questions regarding enrollment or need help with enrollment please contact DJ Salyer at 828-632-3125. Again, no child or volunteer can participate in 4-H events without being enrolled.

Programming in Alexander County Schools

Alexander County 4-H conducted the Embryology Program in 20 second grade classrooms in the Alexander County School System in March. Through this program, students get hands-on experience as they learn about the life cycle. Fertilized chicken eggs are donated by Tyson Hatchery in Hays, NC and are incubated for 21 days in the classroom. Eggs began hatching on March 28th! The picture shows DJ Salyer, Alexander County 4-H Agent, showing a class how to candle the eggs to check their progress.

Alexander County 4-H Garden Club learned all about trees in honor of Arbor Day the month of March! We learned about the history of Arbor Day, how trees are structured, and how trees work from the inside. Our 4 H’ers learned about xylem and phloem, where they each are located in the plant, and how each of them work for the plant. In the pictures below you can see our youth experimenting with food color dyed water and a celery stalk. In one of the pictures you can see blue strips in the celery stalk. These blue strips are actually the xylem bundles or tubes that run up through the celery stalk providing water throughout the whole plant, even up to the leaves. In one picture you can actually see blue mottling in the leaves!!