Robeson County 4-H

  Day 4 four our 4-H Jr. Master Gardener Day Camp and you could say it went to the animals.  I know that sounds a little fishy, especially when we are training our youth about gardening but the NC Zoo has some of the largest variety of plant life from other countries in one place.  Where else can you see plants native to rain forests, desserts, the plains of Africa, and even North Carolina.  Its really neat and so are the animals.   We started our day early and when we got to the zoo we split up into smaller groups to tour the mile and a half of pathways between exhibits.  We had the chance in the morning to visit Cypress Swamp, the Arctic, and even the dessert.  Along the way we learned about the importance of bees, how grizzlies stay cool, and that many animals are herbivores not carnivores.   After lunch at the halfway point, Junction Plaza, our group was energized and ready to hit the trail.  With a promise of giraffes and gorillas o...

  Today the topic for our 4-H Junior Master Gardener's was one they all could take a bite out of...food .  We started our day working on a scavenger hunt at the Robeson County Farmer's Market located in downtown Lumberton.  We had a lot of fun talking with farmer's and learning about what it takes to grow the items they do and bring them to the market.  After a brief photo op we headed back to the Extension office to compare lists and learn more about that delicious topic of the day.   After a brief snack we headed back to work and learned about food measurements.  Not cups or quarts, but bushels and pecks.  We also learned how to make a profit, and why prices at farmer's markets tend to be better than grocery store prices.  Then we made a plant web and talked about the different plant parts that are edible and the types of food they encompass.  After all of that it was time to concentrate on the seeds.  We created a garden in a glove...

Day two of 4-H Jr. Master Gardener (JMG) Day Camp and these campers didn't cloud up and rain about the early hour for our field trip, however Mother Nature was not as kind.  We left early this morning to head up to the Life and Science Museum in Durham .  It is an awesome place that allows us to have all sorts of hands on, and up close and personal experiences that are part of our JMG curriculum.   The rain started on our drive up and we did our best to adjust when we got to the museum.  Our first stop, the Butterfly Pavilion.  There we saw plants that we had never seen before, saw the largest fruit tree, and the largest seed in the world.  All of that before the most magnificent release of butterflies into the pavilion that contains between 800-1,000 various species of the winged creatures.  After holding, watching, and just being in awe of the beautiful creatures it was time to explore more creatures at the Museum.   Our campers had a blast ...

Summer is officially here for Robeson County 4-H.  This is our first week long day camp and the subject this week, Junior Master Gardeners .  For those of you unfamiliar with this program it is a curriculum from Texas A&M University.  The hands on curriculum allows youth to learn about soils, plants, insects, growing and preparing foods, team building and much more.  Our goal when we are done is to have every day camper certified as Junior Master Gardeners. Today our theme was "Getting Down and Dirty" and we did just that studying everything about soil.  We started the day learning to protect ourselves from the sun making our own recyclable sombreros.  We decorated them and had a fashion show, and it was tough to determine who had made the best chapeau.  Then we learned that newspaper is a very versatile recyclable and is biodegradable (will dissolve back into the soil).  Our youth used wet newspaper to make pots.  Currently their crea...

This press release was written and sent to the press on June 21, 2016.  It was also published on the Robeson County Cooperative Extension web page. A delegation of two Robeson County 4-H members and one adult attended 4-H Citizenship North Carolina Focus, which was held in Raleigh.  The Robeson County delegation returned home after three days in which more than 140 youth and adults representing 61 4-H programs across the state gathered to exchange ideas, gain knowledge, and learn through hands-on experiences about the importance of being an active and engaged citizen. Alex Evans and Maurice Rogers were the 4-H members who represented Robeson County at the June 13-15 conference.  Through various conference sessions and facilitated discussions, delegates learned and shared information related to local, state, and national government as well as learned how they could make an impact in the area of citizenship. The highlight of the conference was the Legislative Break...