Anson Farm & Garden March 2022

Upcoming Event:
March 26 Shiitake Mushroom Workshop

Anson Extension is hosting a home-scale shiitake mushroom workshop at the Anson Farmers Market, Saturday March 26, 2022! Join us! This fun workshop covers log cultivation. These mushrooms are native to Japan and second in popularity only to button mushrooms. Shiitake, or “mushroom of the shii (oak tree)” in Japanese, are highly regarded for their rich, buttery, meaty, earthy flavor, and medicinal properties. Shiitake cultivation in the U.S. has grown in the past 25 years as a seasonal specialty crop, fruiting late Fall and late Winter, about 8 months after inoculation. Offer your logs the right outdoor environmental conditions and they will produce mushrooms for 4-5 years.

Shiitake taste wonderful sliced in a simple stir-fry with olive oil, squash, onions, brown sugar, a coarse roasted garlic and herb seasoning, dash of cayenne, and salt/pepper. But there are a multitude of savory options to explore. Their meaty texture is even a simple meat substitute in pasta. Fresh shiitake keep well in the fridge for 2 weeks. If sauteed before freezing, they keep for up to two months.

The $20 workshop fee covers instruction and two demonstration logs participants will prep and inoculate, with tools provided on-site. The workshop will last an hour. To reserve a spot, please bring $20 cash or check payable to “Anson Extension”, to 501 McLaurin St., Wadesboro, NC 28170. To keep gatherings at a minimum, 4 mini workshops are staggered that morning – early afternoon: 10am, 11am, 12 Noon, or 1pm. Participants will register for one available spot. Questions, contact Anson Extension at 704-694-2915 or aimee_colf@ncsu.edu.

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, N.C. Cooperative Extension or NC State University will honor requests for reasonable accommodations made by individuals with disabilities. Please direct accommodation requests to: aimee_colf@ncsu.edu, or 704-694-2915. Requests can be served more effectively if notice is provided at least 10 days before the event.

Spring Pruning & Sanitation

Late spring is the best time to prune most fruiting and ornamental plants. Therefore it's important to know the species, its condition (health), and intent for pruning; is it to reduce plant size, formally shape, or structurally train a young tree. Pruning to remove damaged, dead, or heavily shaded branches can be done anytime.

Tips for flowering plants: If it blooms before June (azalea, forsythia), then it is blooming on last year's growth and should be pruned directly after blooming. Late summer pruning can be done on blackberries, pruning out canes that bore fruit. Light pruning of "bleeder" trees such as maple, birch, elm, and dogwood may also be pruned in summer. These trees might be pruned when they have out-grown their natural shape. For more information on how to prune specific plants see this publication. Hollies, pines, Deodar cedar, or arborvitae also have an evergreen pruning calendar.

Finally, don't forget sanitation. We are familiar with sanitation when it comes to the garden and gathering diseased leaves or turning under garden crop residue but consider also sanitizing your by-pass pruners after each cut, particularly when pruning trees and shrubs with past pathogen issues; this includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and apricots. Bacterial cankers and fire blight may appear asymptomatic inches away from affected bark but if your plant has a history of bacterial cankers which produce gummy ooze on branches and girdle limbs, or fire blight which causes blackened shoot tips hanging in the shape of a shepherd crook, be sure of prune 12" inches below the affected area. The goal is to prune out diseased wood when it is only affecting a fruiting spur and not impacted structural limbs or worse yet the trunk. Therefore it is important to scout often.

Pruning tools can be disinfected with isopropyl alcohol, 10% chlorine bleach, or other household disinfectant. Before disinfecting be sure to remove dirt, debris, or sap by wiping tools with cloth or paper towel. Sanitation is simply another tool to prevent the spread of disease-causing pathogens in the landscape.

Forestry: Timber Market Trends

Determining the right time to harvest is based on a number of personal decisions. Keeping tract of the market is just one factor. Extension recommends working with a knowledgeable forestry consultant and become familiar with timber market prices. They can help explain factors affecting how wood product prices compare to stumpage prices and continually assess market trends over time.

To help forest landowners become more engaged in tracking North Carolina's timber markets explore these price reports. A price report is available at the end of each quarter. Across the South, stumpage prices for all 5 major products are looking up. Pine pulpwood and hardwood pulpwood specifically have increased 31% and 47% respectively since 3rd quarter 2020, according to TimberMart-South.

- NC Standing Timber Price Report. This information is useful in assessing current market opportunities and calculating a landowner’s timber basis for tax purposes.

- Historic annual stumpage price for standing pine sawtimber, pine pulpwood, hardwood sawtimber, and hardwood pulpwood from 1976-2020 are reported as average market prices. Anson is considered in the Eastern NC region.

- TimberMart South includes state average prices by region for pulpwood, chip-n-saw, sawtimber to aid in timber harvest decisions, establishing a basis, and better understanding markets.

Anson Farm Highlight:
Abundant Living Farm

We are the Rodgers! We are a small family farm that enjoys growing the highest quality fruits and veggies that that glorifies God and promotes a healthy Abundant Living lifestyle. We use natural compost from tree leaves, grass clippings, and produce scraps which breaks down into very rich and nutrient-filled compost for each plant! This guarantees great taste and an abundance of nutrients in all our produce which is freshly harvested when we sell it. Our customers can enjoy the fresh fruits and veggies that help prevent or fight against lifestyle disease naturally. We are located in Peachland, NC (Anson County) which is in the south central part of the state on the NC/SC border. We hope to see you soon!

Like us on Facebook
See our website: https://abundantlivingfarm.com/

Email: info@abundantlivingfarm.com
Address: 11775 NC 109 South, Peachland, NC 28133
Phone: 704-465-8500

(back row left to right); Elijah Rodgers, Carlene Rodgers, (front row left to right); Cary Rodgers, Elene Rodgers

Daughter, Carlene Rodgers, is leading the family's Community Supported Agriculture efforts. She was inspired by her grandmother who was an avid gardener. She was raised on home-produce, then the Rodgers decided to grow their own. They started selling to the public in 2020 selling blueberries, plums, and okra. They love seeing their customers enjoy their produce as much as they do. (Below) is a sample from their Mixed Vegetable registration box.