September E News 2022

They Are Here! Spotted Lantern Fly in NC

It was not a matter of if, but a matter of when this unwelcome visitor would arrive. A little refresher on this insect invader, Spotted Lantern Fly (SLF) is a native of China, India, and SouthEast Asia. SLF entered the United States via a shipment of Chinese landscape rock around 2014. Berks County, Pennsylvania (eastern portion of Pennsylvania) was the site of initial detection and identification. Since 2014 SLF has traveled to several additional states. Please see the attached map. The following is a list of SLF progression by state and year of detection: New Jersey (2018), Virginia (2018), Delaware (2019), West Virginia (2019), Maryland (2019), Connecticut (2019), New York (2020), Ohio (2020), Indiana (2021), and Massachusetts (2021). North Carolina is the latest state to identify an infestation of SLF on June 29, 2022 the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer service announced the discovery of SLF in Kernersville a suburb of Winston-Salem. Treatments and control measures are already underway in an effort to reduce SLF populations.

This expansion is a huge accomplishment for a plant hopper like SLF which are at best sub par fliers in comparison to other insects. SLF relies on alien modes of transportation for travel such as vehicles, railroad cars, cargo, trailers, firewood, etc. it is suspected that SLF probably arrived in NC by rail. The grape industry has the most to lose in NC, because a vineyard infested with SLF can see reductions in yield of up to 90%. This insect does damage by piercing and sucking out plant nutrients and leaving behind frass (or honeydew) that molds or ferments which attracts wasps, ants, and other unwelcome guests. This infestation in regards to population numbers and the vast amount of frass generated greatly reduces photosynthetic activity thus weakening the plant which in turn leads to poor health and disease susceptibility. SLF feeds on fruit and native trees such as apples, plums, cherries, peaches, dogwoods, oaks, maples, and beeches. In fact there are more than 100 species of plants that are susceptible to attack by SLF.

The first step to control is understanding the life cycle. SLF has to have the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima/TOH) to reproduce due to metabolites produced by the TOH which are essential for life cycle completion. Eradication of TOH on one's property is a good idea. Next month's article will look at control methods for TOH other than sawing. Please resist the urge to cut this tree down; this typically leads to a vast number of suckers which in turn increases the TOH population. Also, examine your vehicle and purchases for egg masses when traveling. Please educate yourself about SLF detection and TOH identification; this can all be done via NCSU Extension resources. A good place to start is forestry.ces.ncsu.edu.

Avery A&H Fair Entries

Avery A&H Fair Board along with Mitchell County Cooperative Extension invite you to attend the educational and family friendly Avery A&H Fair in Newland, NC, September 7th-10th, 2022.

Producers from Mitchell Counties are invited to submit their culinary, artistic, preserved, agricultural, and horticultural items for display. This is an opportunity to educate youth and community members on the various products that are produced in our area.
In addition, youth and producers from Avery and Mitchell counties are invited to compete in livestock shows and display their livestock.
Examples of entry submissions:
Culinary:
- Pies & Cakes
- Casseroles
Preserved Foods:
- Canned fruits & vegetables
Photography:
- Portraits
- Landscape
Agricultural:
- Livestock & Poultry
- Fruits & Vegetables
- Honey
- Etc.
Horticultural:
- Trees, Shrubs, and Potted Plants
- Cut flowers
Avery A&H Fair Entry Dates & Times
Livestock and poultry entries are being accepted Monday and Tuesday, September 5th, from 8AM to 5PM. Livestock entries must be scheduled and approved prior to 8AM to 5PM.
Livestock entries must be scheduled and approved prior to September 2nd , 2022.
Cut flower entries are being accepted September 6th , 2022; 8AM to 4:30PM
Culinary entries are being accepted September 7th , 2022; MORNING ONLY (9AM)
All other entries will be accepted, Saturday, September 4th thru Tuesday, September 6th, 2022; 8AM – 4:30PM.
For more information regarding agriculture education or the Avery A&H Fair, please contact Michelle South at (828) 688-4811

4-H Cloverbuds@ Greenlee Primary

Registration through September 15th

It’s that time again!! Rural Education Partners and Mitchell County Cooperative Extension are beginning 4-H Cloverbuds at Greenlee Primary.
4-H Cloverbuds will meet on Tuesday each week and will be 8 weeks per semester (dates will be sent to you).
The first session will be on September 20, 2022, immediately after school and will end at 3:45 pm.
We will be learning about bugs, insects and farm animals, as well as playing games and making crafts.
Rural Education Partners is working with Mitchell County Transportation to provide children a ride home if needed. There will be a form coming home with your child soon and it will need to be returned to the school by September 15, 2022.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Cooperative Extension at 828-688-4811 or Jennifer Swann at jgswann@ncat.edu. We're looking forward to another great year!

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Mountaineers 4-H Shooting Sports Club Advances To State

Mountaineers 4-H Shooting Sports Club competed at the 2022 West Region 4-H Shooting Sports Tournament on Saturday, August 13. It was held at Polk County Gun Club in Columbus, NC. Counties across Western North Carolina met to compete in the following disciplines: shotgun, rifle, archery, and pistol. Mitchell county kids had an outstanding showing at the tournament and have advanced to the State 4-H Tournament, which will be held in October.

In the Senior Shotgun Division, Troy Gouge, Deren Hise and Isaac Gouge advanced to State. In the Senior Rifle Open Sights Division, Troy Gouge, Tristan Justice and Bransen Pittman moved on to State. Dawson Silvers advanced in Senior Rifle Telescopic. Alex Buchanan and Dawson Silvers moved on to State in Senior Archery Compound. Alex Buchanan took second in Senior Archery Compound at the tournament. In Senior Small Bore Pistol Team Division, Deren Hise, Thomas Hise , Connor Miller, and Bransen Pittman advanced, while taking second place at the tournament.

In the Junior Shotgun Division, Daniel McClure and Addyson Roberts moved on to State. In Junior Rifle Open Sights Team Division, Daniel McClure, Aiden Sellers, Emma Sellers, Ezra McClure, and Keegan Robinson advanced, while taking second place at the tournament. Addyson Roberts and Riley Silver moved on to State in Junior Rifle Telescopic. Riley Silver took second place in Junior Rifle Telescopic at the tournament. In Junior Archery Compound Team Division, Emery Brown, Riley Silver and Ciara Silvers advanced, while taking second place at the tournament. Addyson Roberts moves on to State in Junior Archery Compound.

Go Mountaineers!

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Another summer has flown past and it is time to get ready for fall. At this time of year, when the nights begin to get cooler, we are still covered up with tomatoes from the garden. If it weren’t for all the school buses back on the road, it would be easy to pretend that summer never ends.

All good things must pass though, and it’s time for freezing, canning and pickling up the last of this summer’s goodness and getting some good exercise putting the garden to bed. All those tomatoes have to be dealt with before frost, too.

When I am tired of the endless parade of tomato sauce, salsa, and canned ripe tomatoes on my kitchen counter, I like to make green tomato pickles. There are many different kinds of green tomato pickles, but I like the sweet ones. The recipe includes spices, and remember it’s okay to omit or add whole spices when pickling, but the salt, sugar and vinegar in the recipes needs to stay the same to result in a safely canned product. For example, I don’t like celery seed, but I do like dried hot peppers, so I leave one out and add the other when I make my seasoning bag.