Tag Archive for: #homeandgardenshow

Avian Flu on Weekly Home and Garden Show

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Until further notice, all poultry shows and public sales of poultry are suspended until further notice because of the ongoing threat of avian influenza, according to state veterinarian Mike Martin. This includes all exhibitions, farm tours, shows, sales, flea markets, auction markets, swaps and meets pertaining to poultry and other feathered fowl in North Carolina, according to a press statement issued Tuesday by the N.C. Department of Agriculture.

Jonas Asbill, a poultry extension agent for a 20-county area that includes Vance, joined Paul McKenzie and Wayne Rowland on Wednesday’s The Local Skinny! segment to provide details about the seasonal influenza that is transmitted from wild waterfowl to domesticated and commercial poultry.

Several sites in Johnston County already have had to euthanize thousands of turkeys after finding the avian flu among the stock.

Asbill urges all poultry owners – even if you have a few layer hens in the backyard – to use strict biosecurity measures to make sure your animals stay safe. Asbill recommends that poultry stay in coops or otherwise contained and that they not come into contact with wild migratory waterfowl.

Migratory waterfowl are asymptomatic carriers of the influenza and shed the disease in their feces. Think about the Canada geese or seagulls that make stopovers at area ponds, parking lots and golf courses in the area. Local poultry owners could potentially bring back remnants of contaminated fecal matter on the bottoms of shoes and then unknowingly introduce it to their own poultry.

It’s just better to keep them contained during the annual migration times, and to keep them away from where migratory waterfowl may congregate.

“We’re a heavy ag state,” Asbill said, “and a big part is poultry.” Once a case is detected, the whole population has to be destroyed; the turkeys or broilers do not continue into the food supply chain.

While the CDC considers transmission to humans a very low risk, Asbill said there have been rare cases of the avian flu being found in other species.

“We do not make this decision lightly. HPAI is a serious threat to our poultry industry and this is a precaution to help limit the introduction of the virus to backyard and commercial flocks,” Martin said in a press statement.

North Carolina joins several other states, including Georgia, that have also cancelled or altered poultry events due to HPAI. Poultry owners across the state need to practice strict biosecurity. This includes keeping flocks indoors without access to outside and reporting sick birds to your local veterinarian, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Veterinary Division, 919.707.3250, or the N.C. Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory System 919.733.3986.

To learn the signs of avian influenza, biosecurity tips and more information go to www.ncagr.gov/avianflu.

On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Mowing season is here. Always check your lawn for objects that can become projectiles before mowing. Please No Extra Riders On Mowers. One Seat Means One Person On the Mower!
  • Check mowing height, but it’s too late for seeding, fertilizer and weed killers.
  • Vegetables you can now plant: Arugula,,Snap beans,beets,broccoli,cabbage,kale,leeks,bulb onions, Irish potatoes,turnips.
  • Avoid insecticide applications to lawns unless there is a specific identified problem.
  • Purchase healthy transplants, good color, not pot bound
  • Hold off on planting frost sensitive plants, including warm season vegetables and flowers.

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Home And Garden Show 03-30-22

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Check moisture level of garden soil before tilling that soil
  • Check your fruits trees for cold damage
  • Vegetables you can now plant: Arugula,asparagus,Snap beans,beets,broccoli,cabbage,kale,leeks,bulb onions, irish potatoes,turnips.
  • If fruit has started to form start your fruit spray program
  • Purchase healthy transplants, good color, not pot bound

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Home And Garden Show 03-16-22

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Check moisture level of garden soil before tilling that soil
  • Finish up your pruning chores, fruit trees, grape vines, broadleaf evergreens.
  • Vegetables you can now plant: Arugula, asparagus, snap beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, kale, leeks, bulb onions, Irish potatoes, turnips.
  • Treat lawns for broadleaf weeds.
  • Garden Tiller won’t start roll it out into sunshine for about a hour this should help it start better
  • Apply crabgrass preventer.
  • We have excellent gardening publications at Cooperative Extension
  • Make a light application of fertilizer to tall fescue, especially if you missed the February application

 

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Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Clean and till up vegetable beds and add compost to the beds to increase organic matter.
  • Plant cool season crops.
  • When growing seeds indoors check the media before watering. If the media has moisture check the next day before watering.
  • Get ready to start seed for many warm season crops. I suggest sowing indoors about 4 to 6 weeks before you plan to plant outdoors.
  • On warm days 70F or warmer provide ventilation in greenhouses and cold frames if growing plants in them.
  • Add dill and fennel to your garden to support swallowtail butterflies.
  • We have excellent gardening publications at Cooperative Extension
  • Don’t spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a garden or landscape project without first spending $4 for a soil analysis.
  • Always check moisture level of garden soil before tilling that soil

 

Home And Garden Show 02-23-22

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Check your garden equipment. Ex wheelbarrows, Tillers, lawnmowers
  • Mark the frost free date on your calendar.
  • Growing seedlings indoors make sure they are getting enough light.
  • Apply crabgrass preventer.
  • On warm days 70F or warmer provide ventilation in greenhouses and cold frames if growing plants in them.
  • if you plan to install a warm season lawn, start work now.
  • We have excellent gardening publications at Cooperative Extension
  • Plant pansies
  • Always check moisture level of garden soil before tilling that soil

 

Home And Garden Show 02-09-22

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN

  • Avoid the rush get your lawn mowers serviced before the mowing season starts.
  • Get ready to plant your vegetable garden! Many cool season crops can be planted in mid-February. Get beds ready, check your seed supplies, and begin looking for quality transplants at local nurseries.
  • Clean reorganized your garden sheds.
  • Pick up some fertilizer for your tall fescue lawn. Get a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb.
  • On warm days 70F or warmer provide ventilation in greenhouses and cold frames if growing plants in them.
  • If you use a turf fertilizer that’s combined with a weed or insect killer, remember that you are handling a pesticide! Read the instructions carefully and follow all precautions.
  • Clean seedling trays 1 part bleach 9 parts water before adding media and planting seeds in the trays.
  • Don’t purchase fruit crops without doing variety research first.
  • Make your seed orders ASAP some varieties of seed are selling out fast.
  • Get ready to do a dormant spray on your fruit trees. Also check your stock of chemicals and spray equipment so you’ll be ready to make the necessary treatments that start soon after flowering.

 

Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • If you have brushy areas you can clean that brush out now because you can see what you are cutting.
  • Be very cautious about using bulk manure or hay as a mulch or amendment in your garden due to the risk of herbicide carryover.
  • Check house plants for insects and rotate your plants around your table to maintain their shape.
  • Get ready to fertilize your tall fescue lawn. Pick up a slow release turf fertilizer for application in mid-Feb. It’s fine to use one combined with crabgrass preventer, but I recommending avoiding other combinations.
  • Prepare your pruning equipment because pruning season is fast approaching.
  • You may want to go ahead and make sure any power equipment you will need this spring starts easily and runs well. If not, you still have time to service it before spring.
  • Check seedlings growing indoors, light and moisture are key.
  • If you have fruit trees, do some research on proper pruning techniques. Call us for reference materials, or check the internet for instructional videos.
  • Plan on growing a new vegetable this year that you haven’t grown before.

 

Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.:

  • Use sand instead of salt products on walkways and driveways during winter weather and sand don’t hurt plants like salt can.
  • Cut dead foliage off of ornamental grasses. Take care not to cut into the crown or growing point, which is at the center close to ground level. Also trim last year’s foliage off liriope and mondograss.
  • Check stored bulbs for decay.
  • Inspect large shade trees for damage from the winter storm. Look for broken or hanging branches. If you can’t reach them from the ground with a pole saw, then hire a professional.
  • Check your pruning equipment pruning season is just around the corner.
  • Don’t wait until spring to plant trees and shrubs. Plant them anytime now that the ground is soft enough to dig, so they’ll get a head start.
  • If you have seedlings started indoors check each day for moisture

 

Home And Garden Show

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On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.:

  • Clean your greenhouse check for mice
  • Use annual ryegrass as a temporary cover on bare spots in turf.
  • Plan out your garden now,
  • Be prepared to apply crabgrass preventer earlier.
  • Plan on growing one vegetable that you haven’t grown before.
  • Start checking the planting calendar to see what can be planted.
  • Build a small greenhouse or cold frame to raise your own transplants for 2022
  • If you want to raise transplants indoors, set up a system for artificial light.
  • Order 2022 new released varieties as soon as possible they will sell out quick
  • Get ready to prune grape vines.

 

Home And Garden Show

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What an odd weather forecast for the end of December and the start of January.  Temperatures have been well above normal with 70 plus degree highs this week and mid 70’s projected into the weekend before reality returns the first of the week with high temperatures on Monday staying in the 40’s but what can this unseasonable warm spell do to plants that have been dormant for winter?  Wayne Rowland with the Vance Co. Extension Service discussed that on the Home and Garden Show today (Wednesday) as part of the Local Skinny!  Rowland said that the warmth can effect many plants causing them to break dormancy. However, since we are still quite early in the winter season and the projected return of more normal temperatures next week damage to plants is not a major concern even if dormancy is broken.

“It’s a very unusual warm period,” Rowland said. “If it were to last two weeks it could be detrimental to plants,” Rowland continued. Rowland explained that any plant that has broken dormancy would return to that state once colder weather resumes.

One plant that may suffer are azaleas. Some people have reported that their azaleas are starting to bloom. Rowland says that since azaleas only have one set of blooms that these plants would have less blooms in the spring.

Wayne Rowland can be heard on Home and Garden Show along with Paul McKenzie every Wednesday at 11:30am as part of the Local Skinny! and the Vance Co. Cooperative Extension Report can be heard at 11:50am on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday on WIZS.

On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.

  • Get ready to start your 2022 garden journal
  • Cooperative extension has Carolina Lawns publication that will give you information A to Z in lawn care
  • Start planning your 2022 garden on paper now have a garden plan.
  • Check Your trees health,with the leaves off the trees you can see any damage
  • How current warm temperatures can affect your plants
  • Inventory your seed before ordering more seed.
  • Start preparing your seeding equipment for growing transplants
  • Build a small greenhouse or cold frame to raise your own transplants for 2022