Grow Boxes and Other Resources

 

Fall Edition Leaves are changing. Temperatures are dropping. Fall is here! Take a break from the screens with a Grow Box! The September/October Grow Box on fall gardening was a hit! Did you miss your chance to get one? Don't wait - the November/December Grow Box is available now! This box will be packed full of activities on propagation. We are shipping your young gardeners succulents to try leaf propagation, seeds to experiment with how to break seed dormancy, houseplant cuttings to root, and so much more! Each box contains the activity materials, a magazine with activity instructions and information, and access to online resources for even more activities. Order your Grow Box today! Holiday Creations at Home A new twist on a beloved JCRA Children’s Program tradition! Let’s celebrate the winter season with crafts from the garden. We will gather fun natural materials from the Arboretum gardens and pack them all up for you to pick up. You provide the table at your house to craft on while we meet over Zoom! Parents or caregivers need to be “hands-on” during this activity since smaller hands will need supervision and might need a little extra help with some craft activities. The Zoom portion of the program will be recorded and available to registered participants in case you are unable to attend the live program or need to review a craft! Material Pickups: Thursday, December 3 12:00 – 2:00 pm Friday, December 4, 2020 10:00 am – 12:00 pm  Virtual Program to craft together: Saturday, December 5, 2020 10:30 am Virtual Garden Storytimes Ms. Joy is inviting special guests to help read stories for the last storytimes of the year! Make sure to join her to hear our final 2020 stories. Upcoming storytimes: November 13 and December 13 Subscribe to the Garden Storytime playlist on YouTube. Are you following us on social media? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for pictures of what's happening in the gardens while the gates are closed.  ‌  ‌  ‌ Visit the JCRA website Questions about a children's program? Contact Elizabeth Overcash, children's program coordinator, at elizabeth_overcash@ncsu.edu.

An Extravaganza of Local Foods

It might have been an early morning for the Extension staff but it is one of our favorites.  Time for the Robeson County Farmer's Market, Summer Extravaganza.  For the last four or five years we have partnered with our local farmers to offer one heck of a sampling of the local foods they grow.  The farmers donated a great deal of what we "cook up" often with a healthy twist.  This year on the menu our staff included: Dirty Mashed potatoes, veggie pizza, cucumber salad, boiled nuts, egg plant mozzarella, sliders, much more (including blackberry lemonade and mint cucumber water to wash it all down with).
The Master Gardeners were on hand answering questions and helping the Jr. Master Gardeners sell some plants.  The hospital was on hand to make blueberry watermelon smoothies.  Lets not forget all the farmer's who were on hand making sure that everyone could buy everything they had sampled and more.
  We hope the extravaganza heated things up for our local farmers and their incredibly wonderful local foods.

Weaving a New Path

The monthly meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts club was weaving all sorts of new patterns and not just in their craft project.  You see this month the club celebrated former club leader, Jessica Drake, becoming the new 4-H Agent in Cumberland County while realizing she would no longer be able to lead their club.  At the same time Club leader Tanya Underwoood introduced the members to a new club leader Sandra......  She is very crafty and very excited about becoming a 4-H volunteer and working with our youth.  While all of this adjustment in leadership was going on the club also welcomed a new club member, Madison, to their ranks.

  Of course the club worked on a skill they have been introduced to before, weaving, and worked on it in a different manner.  Perhaps you remember the red plastic looms and elastic loops from your childhood?  For our youth this was a fun new project and they were able to complete pot holders during their club meeting.  They also learned about some other things they were able to make by weaving such as rugs, clothes, and placemats.  It was a lot of fun making their colorful creations and learning how to do an age old craft.

  For more information about this or any other 4-H Club please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Assistant, at Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu or (910) 671-3276.

The Votes Rolled In

Each September we hold our election for 4-H County Council and Volunteer Leaders Association officers.  This year our current officers wanted to try something different.  Since traditionally, this meeting has the poorest attendance of all four meetings the officers put their heads and budgets together to come up with a plan.  Each group voted during their last meeting to take $100 out of their budgets to hold the election at Mr. P's Skateworld in Lumberton.  Their goal was to increase the number of meeting attendees, number of possible officer candidates, and voting groups.  Boy did they succeed.  We had almost 60 people show up to the meeting which is three times the normal number that usually attend this meeting.

Just after 6:30 we had enough officers and members present to call the meeting to order.  Shabreya Vample, President of the County Council, called the meeting to order and with the help of Megan Hurst, the Sergeant at Arms enlisted the help of two 4-H members to lead the pledges.  After the pledges, our 4-H Agent shared some exciting no with everyone.  Megan Butler of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony  Club qualified at the state horse show for regionals held in Monroe, Louisiana (yes, home of Duck Dynasty).  She did a fantastic job representing our state at this National event.  Also we have had a team place first at state in Poultry judging and they will be going to Louisville Kentucky for National competition in November.  Also she talked with the volunteers about Rock Eagle which is coming up and made sure to let them know that they need to state their intentions by Wednesday this week if they are going so we can get them registered in time.  Rock eagle will take place in Georgia this year October 3-6.  Also volunteers were encouraged to nominate someone for the volunteer of the year award, and to get those forms in before October 1.

After getting the news out of the way. It was time to get down to the real business of the meeting, elections.  With Dillon McCartney moving up to President and Joshua Moore the only person declaring his intent to run for a position (Sergeant at Arms) the other three positions were opened to the floor for nominations.  T'Asha Shelby was nominated for President Elect, Tyron Alford was nominated for Secretary/Treasurer, and K'Shawn Cooper and Megan Hurst were nominated for Reporter.  T'Asha, Megan, and Joshua all got up and spoke on why they would like to be elected to the various positions they were nominated for.  

  After the speeches it was time for the Volunteers to start up.  Veronica Powell, President of the County Volunteer Leaders Association stood up and opened the floor to nominations.  Vanessa Moore will be moving into the President position and Veronica will be moving into the Past President or Advisor role which left four positions open.  After much pointing and cajoling the slate came down to Joyce Peay for President-Elect, Pam Walton for Secretary, Katherine Bethea and Jessica Drake for Treasurer, Jane Hurst for Reporter, and Marilyn Merriett for Parliamentarian.  

  After all the nominations were made representatives of each club were called up to get a ballot and the voting commenced.  We had representatives from 9 of our 11 active clubs.  Each club discussed their votes and turned them in to Veronica Powell who counted each and every last ballot.  Of course by this time you could not hold the kids back from the skating rink so they had donned skates and were rolling around as Marilyn Merriett made the motion to destroy the ballots, which was seconded by Pam Walton.  Everyone in attendance at that part of the meeting voted in favor and Veronica destroyed the ballots.  At that point the meeting was concluded.

  While our skaters, of all ages hit the rink the music person of the night announced our officers.  For the 4-H County Council our 2014 officers will be: Dillon McCartney, President; T'Asha Shelby, President-Elect; Tyron Alford, Sectary-Treasurer; Megan Hurst, Reporter; and Joshua Moore, Sergeant at Arms.  The officers will be inducted as part of Youth Achievement Night in December.  For the 4-H Volunteer Leaders Association the 2014 officers will be:  Veronica Powell, Past President/Advisor; Vanessa Moore, President; Pam Walton, Secretary; Katherine Bethea, Treasurer; Jane Hurst, Reporter; and Marilyn Merriett, Parliamentarian.  These officers will be inducted during Volunteer Appreciation in October.  Cheers went up from around the rink as the officers names were announced.  Quickly after the music cranked back up and the roller rink was filled with squeals of delight as the wheels rolled across the floor.

 A Big Thank You to Mr. P's for allowing us the opportunity to hold our meeting at your business, and providing us with a ton of fun!  Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to everyone who was willing to run.  Our first 2014 County Council and Volunteer Leaders Association meeting will be in February.  I am sure these officers will do everything they can to meet the goals and fund created by the 2013 officers.

A Stroke of Genius

 

Tonight marked the monthly meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club.  As you also know September is often the last meeting for our clubs before the fair.  So we can tell you much of the meeting can not be discussed because 4-H club fair booth plans are top secret.  This is tough competition and our youth and volunteers take the educational fundraiser seriously.
  So the club called their meeting to order and the first point of business was to discuss the booth.  After working together to come up with a stroke of genius, they got down to business.  They made phone calls to make sure it could happen and people were in place to help create their work of art.  As part of their booth many canvases will need painting.  We can't tell you the theme, what, or why they are doing things the way they are but we can tell you art and creativity ensued and by the end of the meeting they had some awesome works of art.  As a matter of fact we think their creativity will spill over at home.
  Although we would love to tell you more we can't divulge the plan.  What we can do is invite you to the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair on October 4-12 to check out this and all the other 4-H Club booths.  Stay tuned, these will be a revolution in creativity.

Getting our Thumbs on the Pulse of Creativity

  The second Tuesday of the each month marks the monthly meeting for the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club.  This one was one to put in print.  The group called their meeting to order and then shared all of their summer experiences.  Boy did this group have a lot of fun!

  When it came time for the activity Mrs. Tanya, the club leader worked with the group on really cool Butterfly facts.  Do you know if butterflies eat?  How fast do they fly?  Well our JMG's are just about experts.

  After learning the facts it was time to get down to the messy business of fun.  Using handkerchiefs, paint, fabric markers, and our thumbs we created our own, one of a kind bandannas.  Using different color paints. Used our thumbs to leave paint prints that would make bees, flowers, hearts, ants, ladybugs and other cool stuff.  Using the fabric markers. Filled in the details and no two bandannas were alike.  The club members did an awesome job!

  The club will meet September 10th at the 4-H office.  If you would like more information about tis or any other club please contact the 4-H Staff at (910) 671-3276.

All Around Resistance?

  Thursday marked the monthly meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club.  Although I would love to tell you that this is one of our more relaxed clubs, I must say this meeting had a whole lot of resistance going on.  That's becuase they were working on resistance paintings.  Using doilies the members made an arrangement then sprayed it with clear gloss coating.  When it had dried the doilies were picked up, and all the holes in the doilies were preserved on the paper.  Using water paints they did a decorative painting and the paint would not stick where the gloss coat was left behind creating a new and interesting texture to their work.
  The club will meet again on September 5, at the 4-H office.  If you would like more information about this or any other club please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

Going Nuts Over Shooting Sports

                               

Today marked the monthly meeting for the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club.  The group met at the range in Fairmont and club leader Larry Russ sent this report.

  " First off, thanks to all the members and parents that showed up at our last meeting and stuck it out through the brief periods of rain. For those that did not attend, ya'll missed some really good shooting, especially with the pecans. And everyone was shooting well out at the 40 yard line.

 Even though we did not have an official business meeting we did discuss a little about the shelters. We're hoping to have them up by the end of July.
 Since our next scheduled date to be at the range will be the weekend of the 4th we've decided that our NEXT CLUB MEETING WILL BE the end of July. We will be meeting at the range at 9 am. Looking forward to seeing EVERYONE there."

Making the Best Better with a BANG!

                                               

It's probably not surprising that there would be a bang or two associated with the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club meeting.  As a matter of fact you might expect it.  But this month the bang was bigger than usual.  Club President Dillon McCartney called the meeting to order and the members talked about their community service projects, upcoming programs, and range expansion.

Range expansion?  you ask.  Yes.  Club leader Larry Russ with the help of club parents Tony Bullard and Mike Herndon have been working to expand the current range so they can incorporate an archery range and expand the club's shooting opportunities.  Even during the meeting construction was going on as Mike used his auger to drill holes in areas that were too difficult for a shovel to get through.  As part of this expansion telephone poles were cut and placed to mark out where the new range would be, separate the shooting range, and designate a parking area.

As part of the master plan, club member Anthony Bullard is work on erecting two shelters as part of his Eagle Scout Project that would allow the parents and members to get out of the sun during meetings.
   Besides range construction the group practiced with their rifles, then got to try something really new, shooting black powder.  Black powder is a throw back to the pioneer days of actually learning how to measure black powder and load a lead ball into the barrel of the firearm.  This was the first time for all the members to shoot a black powder rifle and they had a lot of fun.  Although they did admit it took an awful lot of time to load the weapon for one shot and can see why modern conveniences have been created.

Working on the same principal of the black powder rifle, club leader Larry Russ had a special surprise for the group, a cannon.  Built by hand this cannon didn't shoot cannon balls but wads of paper and glitter to give a loud boom and sparkly effect.  The cannon made an appearance at this club meeting for more than a giant lesson in black powder.  It was there to help us shoot our county video for 4-H Congress.
  For those of you not familiar with Congress it is a state 4-H leadership opportunity that happens on N.C. State University's campus and is the culmination of 4-H events state wide.  As part of this event youth representing their county bring their flags in as part of the flag ceremony.  Instead of walking the flag in this year the state officers asked each county to send in a video.  The video had to be less than 15 seconds, include the county name, include the phrase "we are 4-H", and everyone in the video had to wear some sort of 4-H attire.  The members of the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club were kind enough to shoot our video for us that will be played at Congress this year.
  The club's next meting will be held in June.  For more information about this club or other club opportunities please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

Things are Getting A Little Buggy Around Here

                             

The second Tuesday of the month means its time for the Dirty Rascals to get together for their monthly Junior Master Gardener 4-H meeting.  This month their meeting was a little creepy with various crawlies.  Mack Johnson, the Horticulture Extension Agent with Robeson County Cooperative Extension office worked with the youth and talked with them all about bugs.

  They got to see all different sorts of bugs in a display that the Extension office uses.  They also learned interesting facts about bugs; for example did you know that only 1% of the 100,000 species of insects in America are harmful?  How about the fact that butterflies range in size from 1/8 of an inch to up to 12 inches?  Have you ever seen where praying mantises come from?  Well this group did when they played bug detective.

   After learning all about these creatures the members got to make some sticky ones of their own.  Using glitter glue and a pattern they made their own creative glittery bugs.  Some had supper powers like leaping tall buildings while other bugs liked to eat lobster.  When the glue bugs dry on the wax paper that they were created on the youth will be able to peel them off and play with them sticking them in all sorts of places, kind of like real bugs.  

  The Dirty Rascals will take June and July off and plan to meet again in August, just in time to plan their fair booth for the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair.  If you would like more information on this, or other, 4-H Clubs please contact the Ribeson County 4-H office at (910) 671-3276.

Live United

                           

The United Way Day of Caring is an annual tradition for Robeson County 4-H and this year was no

different.  This years event focused on one major project, a canned food drive.  Pulling from all corners of the county a goal of 20,000 pounds of food was set.  The day before the official day the county employee donation was weighed and came in at just under 13,000 pounds.  Inspirational Youth Leaders 4-H clubs donation came in right at 60 pounds of food.  Food was collected from a variety of sites, donated from Campbell's Soup, and was picked up by postal workers the day after the official day of caring.  Overall the goal was reached and surpassed.  All the food donated will go to the Robeson County Church and Community Center where it will be distributed to local families in need.

In addition to the canned food drive the third annual knit in took place at the Robeson County Church and Community Center.  More than 50 items were created that day.  Some of the items will be donated to patients at the Gibson Cancer Center, others will be donated to the hospital for new born babies.

 
Of course our favorite part of the day is the annual flower planting at Southeastern Hospice House.  The Dirty Rascal Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club members plant Ann area each year with flowers to brighten the lives of patients and their families in an outdoor garden area. This year an anonymous donor gave the flowers that were planted.  With the help of Master Gardeners it was quick work and a lot of fun that we hope will brighten the days of those who deserve some sunshine.  Once again showing that Robeson County 4-H lives united by caring about our community.

Getting Down to Business

  The first Monday of the month means it's time to get down to business and attend the Doin' It Big 4-H Entrepreneurial Club meeting.  Members and leaders were on hand to hold a business meeeting and determine upcoming dates for field trips.  Knowing that business and government go hand in hand club leader, Rhonda Drye, set up two trips one to the Lumberton Fire Station and the other to the Board of Elections.  Many would be small business owners don't think about the need for different types of insurance and how various regulations can affect their businesses.

  After talking about the upcoming field trips the group reviewed the information from their last meeting and started talking about their upcoming fair booth and encouraged members to get ideas for their award winning booth.

  If you would like to know more about this club please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

All Around Fun Blooms

                             

                         

There was something blooming in the air thanks to paper and craftiness at the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club.  Continuing their work from their April meeting the club members grew their skill sets into something new and exciting.

  Lead by parent Anna Marie Hatcher the club members learned about quilling.  Quilling is an art form where strips of paper are rolled, cut, glued, to form different shapes such as flowers, animals, and objects.  By placing several of the roles together designs and intricate patterns can be developed.  The designs can be placed on paper to create 3-D art designs, invitations, thank you notes, as well as stand alone designs for play and display.
  Youth learned that this is an art form that takes patience and creative thought to make happen.Youth and volunteers learned to make daisies, roses, and other unique flowers.  The goal is to make enough flowers to fill the painted pots they made at the last meeting.  The flowers will be secured using plaster of paris and given to shut ins, the sick, and elderly to brighten their days.  The youth had fun making the new flowers and will be spending more time with this creativity project to fill them up.the club's next meeting will be June 6, at the 4-H office.  For more information please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

Pine-ing Away for a Basket

Tonight marked the official April meeting for the Dirty Rascal Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club. Club Leader Tanya Underwood kicked off the club meeting in. Official fashion by having Layla Locklear and Tristan Page lead the pledges. Then she got down to serious business by offering shout outs to those who participated in the 4-H Talent Showcase, and those going on to District Activity Day.
Club members took a moment to check out the progress of their herbs in the hydroponic garden. This year the Master Gardeners have chosen not to have a plant sale so the Junior Master Gardeners are exploring other options for herb distribution this year.
After the formal meeting Connie Locklear, Master Gardener and Layla's grandmother, showed us how to make pine needle baskets. She brought some long pine needles from a tree at her house and got everyone started with the project. All they needed were tobacco twine (used for tying up tobacco leaves for curing back in the day), a large eyed needle, and many long leaf pine needles. Mrs. Connie said the hardest part is starting, and she was right. It took two good fold overs and wrapping the folded needles tightly with the tobacco twine to hold the beginning in place. Then she showed us how to add a few needles at a time and start the turning process for the base of our baskets. The key is to make us you continue sly add needles and you pull the twine as tightly as possible as the needles start make a flat circle. It was really cool, and some thing fun to learn. She also showed us some baskets she has made. She said you could use green or brown needles when working.

When we ended the meeting several people took home their projects to continue at home. Tristan finished his, making it a coaster. It was a really neat project.
The next club meeting will be held May 14th at the 4-H Office. If you would like more information about this or other clubs please contact the 4-H Staff at (910) 671-3276.