The Dirty Rascals Suds Up!

The monthly meeting for the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master gardener 4-H club was anything but dirty this month. The group started their meeting Thursday with their traditional pledges, and then checked out the latest piece of equipment they helped purchase for the extension office, a three piece AeroGarden set.
The AeroGarden is actually a donation from the Robeson County Master Gardener Association and the "Dirty Rascals" Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club. The two groups paid for and donated the equipment (and 4-H volunteer and Master Gardener Larry Russ built and donated a stand for the equipment) to be used for the "Dirty Rascals" club members to raise their seedlings for the annual plant sale, and for both groups as well as the Robeson County Extension Center staff to use for education. When the youth are not using the equipment to start seedlings Janice Fields, will grow herbs and vegetables in the AeroGardens to use as part of her healthy eating activities. Kerrie Roach, the Horticulture Extension Agent, will use the machines to teach adults about hydroponic gardening. While Shea Ann DeJarnette and Kerrie will use the equipment as part of their 4-H Summer Fun Junior Master Gardener Day Camp this August.
After checking out the new piece of equipment they bought for Extension, the group then settled down to talking about the annual plant sale. The Master Gardener Plant sale takes place on the last Saturday in April in the Cox Furniture parking lot. The event starts at 7:00 a.m. and is over by mid morning or when they sell everything they have brought. The plants are propagated by the Master Gardeners and everything, regardless of size is $2. The Junior Master Gardeners often start herbs from seeds, and bring other plant material donated to them to sell. As part of their sale they also provide recipes on how to use the herbs that people purchase. The money raised goes back to the two organizations and helps support their educational efforts in the community.
After all that fun the "Dirty Rascal" members settled down and stirred up some suds. The group made glycerin soap bars that they hope to sell at the plant sale. They had a ball melting things down stirring in scents like strawberry and honey almond and adding colors to make truly unique items.