Operation Medicine Drop 2011

Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet! Henderson County Sheriffs Department will accept and safely dispose of your expired, unused, unwanted medications. Saturday March 26, 10am-2pm, four Ingles locations: Etowah, Fletcher, 64E & Howard Gap Rd and Hwy 176 & Highland Lake Road. Help us keep medication out of the hands of those who would be hurt by them!

Take the 40 Gallon Challenge

The 40 Gallon Challenge is a call for residents and businesses to reduce our region's water use on average by 40 gallons per person, per day. The challenge began in 2011 as a voluntary campaign to increase water conservation.

The 40 Gallon Challenge encourages people to save a minimum of 40 gallons a day by adopting new water-saving techniques. The pledge card outlines water-saving practices and the daily water-savings to expect. You can use the pledge to review the water-saving practices that you or your family currently puts to use. By pledging new practices, you will see the total daily savings expected for your household.

The 40 Gallon Challenge also provides maps and charts to see pledge activities in your state and across the United States. For more information click here.

Ag Support Rally

The Agricultural Support Rally has been set for Monday, March 28 at 9:00 am in the Virginia Boone Building (log cabin) at the WNC Agricultural Center. It should conclude by 10:30. Breakfast will not be served, but refreshments will be available. Come if you love agriculture!

Fish Truck coming to Edneyville 3/12/2011

For those of you that have been waiting on Farley's Fish Truck to come back into town, they will be at the Edneyville General Store this Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 7:30am-8:30am. See this website for prices in North Carolina. This is a great opportunity to stock your pond or control pond weeds with grass carp.

Boxelder Bugs

This past weekend as I was pulling into my driveway I noticed a large mass of insects crawling on my neighbors foundation. Closer inspection confirmed that what I was seeing was actually Box Elder Bugs. This time of year, these insects are very active, especially on warmer days.
Boxelder bugs are elliptical and about 0.5 inch long. The thorax has 3 red stripes; the leathery parts of the wings are outlined in red; and the eyes are red. The remainder of the insect is dark gray or black.
Adult boxelder bugs emerge from their overwintering shelters in March and early April and feed for about 2 weeks before mating. These insects prefer sunny areas and, therefore, are found most abundantly on trees in a southern exposure and on sides of buildings facing south. Eggs are deposited in masses of 10 or 11 eggs usually in bark crevices.

These insects are more of a nusience than anything and control is not normally needed. However, if you would like more information on how to control these insects see: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/O&T/houseplants/ort040e/ort040e.htm

USA: World without farmers - One Hungry Planet

Rain Garden Design - March 16th, 2011

RG 101: Residential Rain Garden Design for Homeowners (NEW!)

This is a new workshop developed just for homeowners, master gardeners and other non-professionals and does NOT include a certification.

Training Date/Location:
Asheville, NC - March 16, 2011

About the workshop: As homeowners and property managers become more aware of the issues of stormwater management many of them are choosing to manage the runoff from their homes and businesses with rain gardens. Rain gardens are shallow depressions and serve as landscape features that can effectively collect and treat stormater and reduce localized flooding. Rain gardens can be integrated into the existing landscape as a retrofit or be included in the initial landscaping plan. To effectively manage stormwater, rain gardens must be accurately sized and properly constructed. This 1-day workshop will present a method for sizing and designing rain gardens and detail proper construction techniques. Workshop participants will also be installing a rain garden. As a result of this training participants will:

* Understand why stormwater needs to be managed,
* Understand the principles of rain garden location, design, construction
and maintenance,
* Be able to select appropriate vegetation, and
* Design, build and plant a small rain garden.

These workshops are sponsored by NC State University Dept. of Biological & Agricultural Engineering and NC Cooperative Extension. For more information and to REGISTER ONLINE, please go to this website.