Sometimes You Feel Like You Live in a Zoo

  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 on the horizon they were ready.  After a trip to the Aviary where they saw not only birds but plants such as banana trees, chocolate trees, and other tropicals, it was time to hit the trail to Africa.  On the way we said hello to the gorillas got personal with the giraffes, asked the volunteers if zebras are white with black stripes or black with white stripes, and learned about animals and plants accidentally while having fun all along the way.
   The highlight of the day?  Well it had to be Nick.  Nick is one of the polar bears at the zoo.  When we came around in the afternoon he was playing in his pool and entertaining our 4-H members and volunteers.  I think we could have all stayed there and watched him for the rest of the afternoon but alas we had to head back to meet family and friends, as well as get ready for our last day of 4-H Jr. Master Gardener Day Camp.  Stay tuned, you never know what this group might dig up.

Sometimes Garden = Food

  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 planting seeds in a biodegradable substance (cotton) and placing it in the finger of a glove until it germinates.  We planted pumpkins, peppers, herbs and more.  All our seeds need are light and we should see some results in the next week or so.  After the hard work it was time for a game of what is in the bag.  It took lots of clues for some of the items, but we guessed all the fruits and vegetables that we were given.
  We took a break to enjoy Mrs. Wendy's famous grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and then we came back to keep cooking up a storm.  This time we split into two groups.  One worked with Mrs. Janice in the kitchen to dehydrated Blueberries (we can't wait to see how this turns out).  The other group made peanut butter with Miss Shea Ann and Mr. Mack.  We figured out how to make creamy and crunchy and now we can make our own snack if we have the ingredients at home.  After that it was time to pull out our olfactory senses and we had a smell test of fruits and veggies, and for snack we created our own fruit salad.  Some of the campers even tried new fruits to them and found out they really liked them.
  When we made our way back to the auditorium we had the opportunity to learn about a new career and put it in practice.  We found out about judging produce and learned what makes the grade.  Then we had four apples to judge and we looked and examined each one.  Most of us got the order right putting the least bruised ones at the top and the most damaged fruit at the bottom.  It was awesome.
  If you think today was intense, wait until tomorrow when we travel around the world to see plants from afar and learn what it takes to keep them alive in a strange climate.

Life and Science

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 watching ants in their habitat, finding the queen in a hive of bees, and running from hissing cockroaches (don't worry they were contained).  The poison tree frogs, hair spiders (and tarantula) were all big draws, but the microscopes, hands on opportunities and opportunities to explore insects under a microscope really got their attention.
  We took a brief break for lunch then headed back in to explore the inside of the main building.  Youth learned origami, weather patterns, and the power of wind.  Our youth got to direct satellites, learn about proportion, and see wildlife up close.  They had a chance to use technology to see what it would be like to try to collect sand in their hands, without ever touching it, and played a variety of games.
  All of that before we loaded the vans and headed back home.  One camper said it was the best day of camp ever!  With that being said, tomorrow is Wednesday and we are going to try to top it.  How will be do it?  Stay tuned...

Getting Down and Dirty

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 creations are drying and we will finish this project at the end of the week when we take home our own plant in our biodegradable pot.  While we were outside crafting our pots we got to see a beneficial insect up close and personal as it fed on a leaf, and a ground wasp as it was making a home and filling it with food.
  We did take a break from playing in the dirt to do a little team building exercise passing a hula hoop around a closed circle without using our hands.  Just to make it interesting we added a hula hoop after each round until we had 4 hula hoops in the circle and the goal was to make sure they didn't touch each other.  They did a great job getting the job done.
  Before lunch we jumped into composting and started our own vermicomposter.  If you are wondering what that is, it involved worms eating wast food (fruits and veggies) and utilizing their castings to great a nutrient rich soil.  The youth dropped in 120 worms into our composter and then fed the worms leftover salad.  We will check on it tomorrow to see if the worms liked their treat.
  After lunch we hit the fun JMG activities again, learning about composting critters like worms that help lawn clippings, food waste, and soil decompose into a rich soil that will help grow really great food in the future.

Then it was time to dig in and get dirty.  Mr Mack, our Extension Horticulture Agent taught us about all the different parts of soil (he gets upset when we call it dirt), and we did a couple of experiments that will separate the soil we collected outside the Extension Office.  We learned how to collect soil samples and send them to North Carolina Department of Agriculture (NCDA) to be analyzed and let us know how we can make our soil richer in nutrients.  We even reached into a box to feel the difference between clay, sand, and silt.  It was really sort of cool.  Best of all we got to make our own edible soil aggregate by using peanut butter (clay), brown sugar (sand), Marshmallows (silt), pretzels (organic matter), M&M's (water), and gummy worms (worms).  Then we ate it.  It is sort of fun when you are expected to play with your food.
  At the end of the day we played one last game where we interviewed someone we didn't know before.  It was interesting and we introduced them and the new facts about them to the rest of the class.  All of this was rounded off by everyone's favorite 4-H Day camp game, the silent game.
If it sounds like a full day it really was.  We got about 15 different activities under our belts and tomorrow we are leaving early for an adventure that will let us finish even more activities so that we will become nationally certified, Junior Master Gardeners.  How awesome is that?      

4-H Members Attend 4-H Citizenship Focus

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 Breakfast where delegates had a chance to meet and have photos taken with their elected officials.  Senator Jane Smith took part in the breakfast and exchanged ideas with the youth and talked about policies being discussed in Raleigh that would affect them.  Following the breakfast, delegates traveled to the Legislative Building in Raleigh to meet with their elected officials and their staff.  Representative Ken Waddell and Charles Graham took time from their busy schedules to sit down and talk with and encourage our youth.

North Carolina 4-H is Cooperative Extension’s youth development program.  The 4-H Citizenship North Carolina Focus is sponsored by North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives – Touchstone Energy.

For more information on this event or other 4-H programs, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 910-671-3276, by E-mail at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu, or visit //robeson.ces.ncsu.edu.  North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.