WHAT: “Native Micro Prairie Gardening” with Jordan Franklin, Clemson Extension
Are you tired
of your boring old lawn and landscape? Want to attract beneficial insects and birds to your yard? Learn how to grow a native micro prairie in a quarter-acre yard or larger.
WHEN: Thursday, October 7, 2021 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (You may enter the Zoom room after 11:45 am on the day of the event)
Participants will learn about the importance of soil health as well as the benefits and how-to’s of planting cool-season supplemental food plots for wildlife.
ONLINE & SELF PACED VIA CLEMSON ONLINE (Clemson Canvas)
TRAINING IS FOR CORE EXAM AND CATEGORY 3 – TURF AND ORNAMENTAL
Cost: $100 per person
This prep course is designed to help serve as a guide through the manuals to better help you prepare to take the commercial pesticide applicator exams. The course takes the participant through the exam study material and provides practice exams. FIND OUT MORE.
Laura Haddon,Cherokee County Clemson Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent
Shake, shake, shake your ice cream!Students enjoying the process of making their own ice cream!
The school year ended with a sweet treat. The youth enrolled in the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Upstate in Cherokee County concluded a year’s worth of 4-H STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) activities by making ice cream. They connected ice cream to science by discussing what factors caused the changes in the states of matter (liquid whipping cream to solid ice cream) and the part that salt plays in that change. After 10 minutes of shaking their ingredients they had a new appreciation for the work-saving technology that allows us to make ice cream at the push of a button. They topped their homemade vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. While they enjoyed the sweet treat they listened to a read aloud of the book, Tales of the Dairy Godmother: Chuck’s Ice Cream Wish, by Viola Butler, which shares the journey of ice cream from the farm to your bowl with a twist on an old fairy tale. It was a delicious way to wrap up a busy year!
Laura Haddon,Cherokee County Clemson Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent
June was our first month of in-person activities since we went virtual in March 2020 due to the pandemic. We hit the ground running and haven’t stopped!
One of the first things on our Cherokee County 4-H calendar was our Nature Fridays hosted at the Duke Energy Outdoor Education Center. A total of 26 youth attended at least one of the four Friday workshops. Each Friday was devoted to a specific natural resources topic: watersheds, pollinators, aquatic wildlife, and terrestrial wildlife. Games, crafts, and hands-on activities connected the youth to the natural beauty of Cherokee County. We heard from guest speakers each week that offered practical applications and future career connections to the important topics being covered at camp each week. This set of workshops was very well received and could only have been accomplished with the assistance of Cherokee County Soil & Water Conservation District, York County 4-H, Greenville County 4-H, Oconee County 4-H, SCDNR, and Duke Energy.
4-Hers complete macro-invertebrate sampling in London Creek with the help of SCDNR.
Cherokee County 4-H also offered Clovers in the Kitchen Workshops where youth learned basic cooking skills such as making muffins, boiling eggs, and browning ground beef. Our youngest 4-H’ers, the Cloverbuds, had a workshop all their own where they experienced activities from all six 4-H project areas. Their favorite activities were the ones with the animals (worms, chicks, and a rabbit) that came to visit! Eleven girls signed up for Sewing 101 where they learned to operate a sewing machine and created several projects to take home including a pillow, bean bags, bookmarks, and drawstring bags.
Each of the workshops offered this summer has the opportunity to become a full-fledged 4-H club this fall. We are looking forward to building on our summer successes in the 2021-2022 school year!
Laura Haddon, Cherokee County Clemson Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Duke Energy Outdoor Education Center
Youth in Cherokee County received the first opportunity to put the Duke Energy Outdoor Education Center at the Lee Site in Gaffney to use. Twenty-six children, ages 8 to 14, attended Cherokee County 4-H’s Nature Camp each Friday in June. The hands-on lessons covered watersheds and water quality, pollinators, aquatic wildlife, and terrestrial wildlife.
Senator Harvey Peeler with Cherokee County 4-Hers Brody Church, Owen Davidson, Piper Wicks, Lilly Wicks, and Ellory Davidson at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
On Wednesday, August 25th five of the campers returned to show off the beautiful location to other members of the community at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. The children acted as tour guides for the invited guests, pointing out wildlife and sharing what they learned at camp as they followed a trail to one of the ponds on the property.
This project has long been a goal of Cherokee County’s Senator Harvey Peeler and was achieved by partnerships between Duke Energy, SCDNR, Cherokee County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Clemson Extension. The land is open to the public as one of SCDNR’s Wildlife Management Areas. Cherokee County 4-H is extremely grateful to be able to use this property to encourage youth to appreciate and protect our community’s natural environment.
Christopher LeMaster, Livestock & Forage Agent, Cherokee, Spartanburg, & York Counties
New farmers try their hand at temporary fencing and rotational grazing.
Summertime for a livestock agent means early morning farm visits under shade trees and retreating to the air-conditioned office during the hot afternoon. Working on publications for the Land Grant Press and our blogs was an excellent way to escape the oppressive summer heat. The much-appreciated office time also allowed me to develop several rental kits to promote a better use of resources for livestock and forage producers. I put together a rotational grazing toolbox containing all the necessary but uncommon components to begin better grazing methods. These kits have served as a gateway for farmers “on the fence” about using temporary electric fencing in a rotational grazing system. Other kits include a small legume spreader to promote the establishment of clovers, GPS guidance system to promote the more accurate application of fertilizer, herbicides, seeds, and pesticides, and a plot sprayer for small, new farmers. Aside from providing a piece of equipment, the most significant benefit is developing a relationship with clients and a foothold for adding another improved practice to their farm. The necessity of these tools became apparent with the “zoom boom” or the influx of people moving into the area to escape the cities and try their hand at farming. Many of the necessary farming tools are cost-prohibitive for small or beginning farmers, and this was an excellent opportunity to meet their needs and offer an educational opportunity.
While I’m excited to see the summer heat fade away to fall, I’m even more excited about our upcoming livestock and forage programs. I look forward to seeing everyone at the Cattlemen Association meetings and anticipate good attendance for our hands-on fencing workshops. In addition, I’m offering a hay marketing workshop and a fescue fertility workshop. I’ve been working with other agents for several months to put together a course that outlines the fundamentals of beef cattle production. This course is targeted at beginners and those that have had cattle for a while. This is a direct response to requests from our new farmers, but I know many veteran cattle producers will find it helpful to evaluate some of the foundations of our beef industry.
Thank you so much for being so supportive, and please reach out to me with any feedback so that we can continue to develop a program to serve our county better.
The Water Resources Team has been busy working to provide a variety of resources for SC residents. Ponds continue to be one of our most popular topics, so in addition to responding to the numerous calls from individuals across the state, we created a three-part Healthy Pond Webinar series to provide seasonal recommended actions and considerations in a timely manner. We also published the first in a series of Land Grant Press articles related to ponds: Ponds in South Carolina.
The Water Team also developed several programs to inform and empower residents throughout the state, the most recent, Dam Ownership in SC, provides virtual, on-demand education on dam maintenance and considerations. The recently released Streambank Repair Manual provides low-cost, effective suggestions to help stabilize small streams.
Amy Mallette, Cherokee County Administrative Assistant
The latest meeting of the Cherokee County Extension Advisory Council met on August 19th at the Cherokee County Administrative Building. Topics included an overview of the Census, a new agent, and the Duke Energy Site.
CUCES Upstate District Director George Dickert cited the Census and stated that South Carolina’s population grew to 5 million and becoming 24th in the country for population. Cherokee County alone increased 3.3% and revealed a high poverty rate within its borders. At this point, George mentions that the Cherokee office will be receiving an Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program or EFNEP agent. He or she will cover both Cherokee and York counties. Since Cherokee has a high poverty rate, an EFNEP agent will significantly impact Cherokee food assistance programs.
Heather Nix, Upstate Water Resources Agent, discussed several upcoming events in the water resource department. They are looking to add more free online courses, such as their dam maintenance course. They are bringing Be Well Informed to our state and will test private drinking water wells for bacteria. They also plan to tackle the cyanobacteria or blue algae problem plaguing upstate ponds by using a grant to teach preventative tactics.
Livestock & Forage Agent Chris LeMaster described various completed action items from previous meetings, including adding Extension to the Administrative website and collaborations to make Cherokee more family-oriented. One of those collaborations is with the Duke Energy Site. 4-H Agent Laura Haddon has already held many successful day camps at the Outdoor Classroom this summer. She and Chris reminded council members to join Duke Energy and Clemson Extension personnel for the ribbon cutting at the Duke Energy Site.
Members of the Cherokee County Extension Advisory Council listening to speaker, Chris LeMaster.
Along with summer camps, many 4-Hers participated in individual projects, including the Honeybee Project, collaborating with Jerry Smith, Cherokee County Bee Club’s president.
Laura announced that she and Chris applied for and received a $1000 grant. This grant will fund the transportation of every second grader in Cherokee County to attend Down on the Farm Day, an idea inspired by Loretta Holmes. This event will take place on April 1st, no joke.
Chris announced a few more upcoming events, including the 1st Cherokee Livestock Show. He listed a couple of locations that present great opportunities for family-oriented activities: Broad River Electric Auditorium and Duke Energy Site.
Frannie Stockwell, Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Director, offered to share her radio time with WZZQ and Hope Broadcasting to help spread the word of Extension.
To close the meeting, Andy Rollins, Upstate Commercial Fruit & Vegetable Agent, spoke about a proposed Peach Museum for the Upstate. He requested anyone that would like to contribute ideas, pictures, or information to contact him. Andy then gave a detailed demonstration of picking the perfect peach. He brought a variety of fruit to sample, including peaches, nectarines, and pluots. The sampling was a hit, and many members left with fruit.
