Household Hazardous Waste Collection, Clothing Drive and Electronic Recycling Event

Brunswick County will collect household hazardous waste, clothing and electronics at the Southport Wal-Mart on Sept. 16 from 9 am to 2 pm. This is a one-day collection only – items will not be picked up with regular trash service and will not be accepted at the four convenient sites or at the landfill. This collection is free for county residents and farmers only – no commercial or industrial waste will be accepted. For info call 253-2520.

Litter Sweep 2006

Volunteers needed! The NCDOT’s annual Litter Sweep Fall Roadside Clean-up will take place Sept. 16 – 30. Brunswick County will waive tipping fees at the landfill In Bolivia for anyone bringing in DOT bags from a roadside clean-up during this time. Contact the DOT office (754-4540) to register. DOT will provide gloves, safety vests and trash bags.

Free mulch

Brunswick County is giving mulch to county residents only. The mulch will not be delivered, but will be loaded at the landfill in Bolivia only. For info, call 253-2520.

Fall Clean-up

The Brunswick County Fall Clean-up is scheduled for Sept. 11–16. During that week, county residents can dispose of all materials except regular household trash for free. This applies to material brought to the landfill in Bolivia only – items will not be picked up with your regular trash service. The four convenient sites will maintain regular fees during this time. For more info, call the Brunswick County Solid Waste Department at 253-2520.

Bug Fest

Want to have some fun? Attend BUG FEST at the Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh on September 16. Free food….hope you like bugs!

New Projects

Lots of new projects are in the works. Some ideas include:
• Installing lighting in the Botanical Garden area.
• Continuing to bring in different varieties of crepe myrtle; when finished we will be the only garden in the U.S. with every variety of crepe myrtle. We will hold an open house when all are in bloom.
• Creating a semi-tropical planting area outside the conference room door.
• Beautify the area around the entrance to the greenhouse, including installing additional drainage and irrigation, new beds, new plantings.

We will also be acquiring PowerPoint presentation software and developing some presentations and/or editing NC State programs for the seminars we provide in the community.

Refreshments

If you are providing refreshments at the meetings, are you aware that you can be reimbursed? Just save your receipt and give it to our Treasurer…I think there’s a cap of $25.00.

Have you noticed?

Have you noticed how nice the planters in front of the Extension Office look? How about all the changes – improvements and new plants, etc – in the Botanical Garden and where the planting area is being extended out from the Garden? Our volunteer work groups are doing a great job in these areas, with a LOT of help from Jim, too.

He Didn’t Really Mean It….

When Charlie Spencer announced that he will be retiring at the end of September, he really thought that’s what he would do. But, as he announced at the General Meeting in August, there are just too many exciting things on the horizon here at the Extension Center and he just can’t leave and miss the opportunity to be involved. Thanks, Charlie, we’re glad you’re staying on.

Other dates

• NC State Fair is Oct. 13 – 22.

• Mark your calendars for the next COASTAL GARDENING SEMINAR on September 29 (the August newsletter said Sept. 21 - sorry). Topics and speakers will be announced soon.

• Our next PLANT SALE is scheduled for October 12, 13 and 14. There will be no pre-sale of plants at this or any future plant sale. Come in, help out.

• We have SEMINARS scheduled and Charlie’s looking for volunteers to help – here are the dates, places, times:

• Sept. 11, 10:30 am, Roark Library, Shallotte
• Sept. 14, 9:00 am, Oak Island Library
• Sept. 22, 2:00 pm, Hickman Crossroads Library
• Sept. 25, 1:00 pm, Coastal Garden Club (Richard Boland has the details)
• Sept. 28, 2:00 pm Southport Library
• Sept. 30, 10 am – 1 pm, Southport Wal-Mart, including a plant clinic
• Leland Library will also have a seminar – date and time will be announced when it’s scheduled

Reunion Garden Party

Planning continues for the Reunion Garden Party on November 10. We’re looking for photos, too – if you have any photos of MG events that you would like to share, let Barb McCoy know (575-7679; mccoyb@atmc.net) – her group is going to set up a history display as part of this event. And…we’re still searching for a 1996 class list! And, as always, we’ll be looking for help with setting up, cleaning up, etc. – the more help, the easier for everyone.

Life on the farm

Life on the farm will start up again during the last two weeks of October. We will probably work with three schools each week. We will have more information as the time approaches, but keep this in mind and let Charlie know if you can help

September Meeting Speaker

Soil Science will be our topic at the September 28 meeting. Our speaker will be Rick Morros; he is Regional Agronomist with the NCDA Agronomic Division. Rick works in Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland and Robeson counties. FYI, in case you’re wondering, the Agronomic Services Division analyzes soil samples, plant, solution and irrigation water samples, and animal, municipal and industrial wastes. Recommendations are designed to improve production efficiency and protect natural resources. Regional agronomists help growers solve field problems and implement recommendations.

Got Recipes????

A number of respondents to the Newsletter Survey said they would like to see some favorite recipes in future issues. We had some great food at the Recognition Banquet and a couple of people left a copy of the recipe with the food, but I didn’t take the recipe because I wanted others to see it, too.
So…if you have a recipe you want to share with your fellow Master Gardeners, send a copy to me at rcd@nfcexperts.com and I’ll be happy to include in future newsletters. Thanks!

Refreshments

Whoa! The “Refreshment Team” Blinked! And we almost didn’t have refreshments at the July meeting except for fast work on Cathie Rod’s part. These are our “Teams” for the rest of the year:

August: Anita Waite, Gail Earley, Charlie Spencer
September: Ann Duke, Nancy Gooding
October: Croly Petrea, Mary Ellen Clagett, Grace Wrigley
November: Anne Marie Bellamy – we need someone else – let Cathie know if you can help with November’s refreshments.

Large patch

Treatment, if needed, should start in early September so now’s the time to start thinking about it. Charlie will be writing an article on this problem and on the options and schedule for treating with Bayleton, Banner MAXX, Heritage, etc. for next month. Charlie also mentioned that Wal-Mart may begin to stock less expensive sizes of the effective treatments – which will be a help to the home gardener with not a lot of area to be covered.

Troops collections

We’re collecting items for our troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. There is a box in the lobby of the Extension Center – bring in all those hotel/motel soaps and shampoos that you’ve been saving, and any other toiletry items you have that you want to send to the men and women who are serving our country overseas.

Many Thanks to Gina

We took a few moments at the July General Meeting to thank Gina Britton for all the help she gives the Master Gardener Association’s members and programs. Gina is always happy to work with us on things – most recently she has done a great job of cleaning up the list of past MG classes – and we do appreciate everything she does!

Appointments and resignations

It was announced at the July meeting that Al Hight is returning to the Brunswick County Extension Office as Interim Director, effective August 1. So….welcome back, Al, and we hope you stay for a good long time.

But, we’re going to miss you….

The next time you are in the Extension Office, be sure to stop by and wish Billy Privette the best. He will be retiring at the end of August from his position as Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development.

And Charlie Spencer announced that he will be retiring at the end of September. The Extension website lists Charlie as “Agricultural Technician,” but we know better… Charlie coordinates and organizes and staffs and mentors and runs things…and he cooks, too.

Both will be sorely missed, but we wish you both well.

Other dates

Mark your calendars for the next Coastal Gardening Seminar on September 21. Topic and speakers will be announced soon.

Our next PLANT SALE is scheduled for October 12, 13 and 14. There will be no pre-sale of plants at this or any future plant sale.

The State Fair will be October 20 through 29.

Have we mentioned that the Hot Line needs you? Please sign up and come on in and share all your gardening wisdom with the community.