Robeson County 4-H

This article was written for the Robeson Living Magazine.  It can also be found published on the Robeson County Cooperative Extension Web Site . Are your children’s idea of a summer vacation sitting on the couch playing video games?  When I was their age, I had similar plans of sleeping in and sitting on the couch watching TV (because there were no video games back in the day).  My parents, on the other hand, had other ideas with the goal, as they plainly stated over and over again, to keep me away from the TV.  I had tennis lessons; swimming lessons; outdoor chores, which involved pulling dandelions and other noxious weeds; washing cars; and if lucky, I got to ride my bicycle and do some babysitting when I wasn’t away at camp for five weeks. Looking back, I am thrilled to have had the opportunities I had, even if I didn’t think much of them at the time.  I encourage parents to find new and exciting ways to expose the world to their children during t...

Its been a tradition ever since the day of caring started that our Dirty Rascals head over to Hospice House and plant a little area each year.  The area which has allowed family and staff the opportunity to have a quiet colorful place to sit and enjoy is a favorite for our young gardeners.  This year the members wanted to add an element to the garden area that fits in with keeping healthy.  You might be asking yourself how in the world they might do that?  The answer is fairly simple, they wanted to add some edible plants to the landscape area.  With the permission of Southeast Hospice House they did just that. This year added to the annuals (plants that are planted every year because they do not survive the winter months outside) that they planted were some hostas, blueberry bushes and cherry tomato plants.  The hostas and blueberry bushes will come back year after year and were planted among the petunias, impatience, and other colorful flowers.  ...

Difficult conversations happen.  You may want to avoid them and hope it works itself out, but in the end you have to have them, and there are ways to do it and not do it.  Harriett Edwards, from our state office came down to share tips, tools and ways to go ahead and have those conversations as part of our second 4-H 4 County Volunteer Training.  This training was hosted in Cumberland County and was attended by volunteers from Cumberland, Hoke, Moore, and Robeson Counties.  Volunteers had the opportunity to learn about different principles of fierce conversations, identifying helpful strategies when having these conversations, and practiced the skills.   Volunteers walked away with new information, a check list of things to look for, and ideas of ways to start these difficult conversations.  Many of the volunteers had the opportunity to share how valuable this training was on the way back to their respective counties, and several have reported utilizing ...

April showers may bring flowers, but in the world of Robeson County 4-H we are growing animals instead.  Today marked the annual animal science workshop where our youth get their animals and learn how to raise them (not quite in that order).  We started with our rabbit training that included information on rabbits and how to care for them.  Unfortunately our rabbits will not appear until Monday, but our youth learned a lot and had the opportunity to make more plans for their new animals when they come home. Up next were our poultry competitors.  This year our laying hens are domincs, and very pretty bird that should produce large eggs by next year.  Our youth learned about feed, how to make sure to work at making their coops predator proof, and what to look for in the birds they bring back to the fair.  Each person received 8 biddies to take home, and they will bring their best two back to show at the fair in October.  For those raising broilers they ...

It's that time of year again, time for 4-H to work with some incredibly creative and brave second and third grade teachers to implement embryology in the classroom.  This year almost 40 classrooms took part in our classroom adventure, and we added a new twist.  This year we set up a virtual incubator in our office and the results were outstanding.  Almost 1,000 more viewers tuned in from around the country to see our chicks hatching out of the eggs live on camera.  We couldn't have hatched a better project ourselves.  A big thank you to our teachers who implement the program, fill out evaluations and paperwork to make sure their students are recognized as taking part in this.  We also appreciate the level of learning that our students get from this as well.  If you would like to see the photos of our chickens feel free to click this link .  As we get updates we will let you know.  So fair everyone is doing well at their permanent chic...

You are never too old to learn something new.  Especially when it is as fun as making balloon animals.   The members and volunteers of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts club had a ball making all sorts of things from balloons during their May meeting.  Now I'm not going to say we didn't pop a few along the way but it was pretty awesome when some younger folks came through and got their own balloon creation.  As Alex Evans said, "It's awesome to make something and give it to people and see them smile."  The group also made a bunch to give to our 4-H member who has been in the hospital.  They figured live flowers might not work but balloon flowers are awesome.  They don't need much care and they are always blooming. The club's next meeting will be June 2 and they plan to work on being crafty with electricity.  For more information about this or any 4-H club in Robeson County please contact Wendy Maynor at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Mayno...

For all our 4-H members interested in the latest in the world of horses, please find the latest link the the state 4-H Horse Newsletter .  Also a quick reminder about deadlines. There are two deadlines that are upon us: 1. Artistic Expression online registration must be completed by  May 1 . 2. Creative Writing entry forms and writing submissions must be postmarked by  May 2 .  Details about both of those deadline are in the newsletter.