Green Thumb Gazette, May 2022

Farmers Market is Open at a new location!!!

Many of you may have seen our local Farmers Market vendors these past few Saturdays at our new location! We are so excited to share that the Alexander County Farmers Market has moved to the front parking lot of the Alexander County Services Building, right beside the new park that will be opening soon! At our new location, vendors will be set up directly in front of the building across from AutoZone, while the public will be encouraged to park on the right side of the building. This parking arrangement will help keep everyone walking around safe as no cars will be allowed to “drive thru” the market area. Market members must hand-make their own crafts, produce their own baked goods or other food products, or home-grow their own crops or flowers. This helps to distinguish them as a respectable and local farmers market vendor. Vendor prices are $5 for each Saturday or $25 for the entire season (which is a steal), especially since our season has opened almost 2 months earlier! Once the park next door opens, there will be bathrooms available for public use and of course… kids can enjoy playing at the park and on the splash pad! Stop by and support your local vendors on Saturdays from 8am to Noon at our new location (151 W Main Ave) and if you are interested in becoming a member of our farmers market, stop by our office or give me a call at 828-632-4451 to get your paperwork!

Scale Testing Opportunity
If you buy, sell, or trade items based on weight, you need to have your scales certified annually. (Unless purchased brand new less than 1 year ago.) Scales need to be NTEP approved to be legal for use in North Carolina to comply with laws dictated by the NCDA&CS.

N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will be at the Alexander County Extension Office in the Alexander County Services Building on Wednesday, May 11, 2022 to test and certify scales for farmers market vendors, small businesses, etc.

This service is free – NO COST.

We are asking that you drop off scales Monday, May 9th or Tuesday, May 10th (8am - 5pm). You will be able to pick up your scales after 2pm on Wednesday, May 11th.

The following information is needed at the time of drop off: Name or name of Business/Farm, Address, Phone, and Email.

Appointments the day of are very limited. Please call or email if you need an appointment. Cari Mitchell: 828-632-4451 or cari_mitchell@ncsu.edu.

Eastern Tent Caterpillars – What are Those Webs in the Trees?

If you have been driving on a local highway or even on everyday backroads, you may have noticed a lot of webs in the trees near the roadside. These webs are the work of the eastern tent caterpillar. People usually call them the spring webworms because they produce similar webbing as the webworm, just in the springtime, rather than in the fall.

Eastern tent caterpillars are common native insects that are 2 inches long and somewhat hairy. They are black with gold, white, and blue markings. They create silk webs or ‘tents’ in the branch crotches of some tree species. Their favorites are rosaceous species such as cherry and apple. Eastern tent caterpillars have one generation per year and overwinter as eggs glued to twigs of host trees. The egg cases look like gray foam wrapped around twigs. The eggs hatch in early spring, feed together, and build nests together. Because the tiny caterpillars emerge from the egg masses just as the host plant buds break in spring, they may give their host plants the appearance of never sprouting. The leaves are completely eaten away just as they emerge from the buds. Eastern tent caterpillars often infest the same trees year after year. This is probably because they pupate in protected areas, like wood piles or under bark, near the tree where they hatched.

Even though they damage leaf buds on emerging spring trees, permanent damage to tree health is unlikely. The best management is to prune branches containing nests to remove the caterpillars. In some cases, it is enough just to damage the tents with a pole so caterpillars fall to the ground and predators, parasitoids, and birds can access the nests. Insecticides are not typically necessary and difficult to implement since the caterpillars spend much of their time in water-proof tents. If you have some in your landscape trees or shrubs, there are insecticides labeled for them if you do not wish to use this natural method of control or there are way too many. Please never use fire to destroy eastern tent caterpillars as fire is extremely dangerous to the tree, the operator, and any nearby property.

If you have any questions about these eastern tent caterpillars or controlling them, please give me a call at 828-632-4451.