September 2025 Newsletter Mitchell County Cooperative Extension

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, September 3 - Saturday, September 6th - Avery County Fair

Friday, September 5th - Saturday, September 13th - Mountain State Fair

Tuesday, September 9th - 5:30pm - Ag Options Information Session - Tractor Food & Farms -

Tuesday, September 9th - 6pm-8pm - Pesticide Safety Training - 2 - V Credits

Monday, September 15 -4:30-5:30 - Advisory Meeting

Tuesday, September 16 - 6:30pm-8:00pm - Post-Helene Water Response Team Community Meeting - Bowman Auditorium - Please Register Here

Thursday, September 25th Farm Safety Day - Lavonia Crest - more information to come

*See Website for Times and Details*

EFNEP Article

September is National Food Safety Education Month!

This month plays an active role in preventing foodborne illness (food poisoning). The Federal government estimates that about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually, or 1 in 6 Americans each year! These illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths each year!

Some Food Safety Tips

• Do NOT wash your: Raw chicken, Eggs, Fish
• DO wash: Fruits & Vegetables, Can & jar lids
• ALWAYS wash your hands before, during, after preparing food
• COOK food to proper temperatures
• Put leftovers away within the right amount of time ( 2 hours over cooking)
• Follow the 4 Rules for Food Safety: CLEAN, SEPARATE,COOK, CHILL

Everyone needs to physical active. Not sure what you like to do, try a variety of activities to see what fits you best. Try aerobic, which is things that get your heart pumping, muscle strengthening, or bone strengthening. Just be sure to check with your doctor being starting a new exercise routine and stop if you feel any pain.

Some Examples of these activities:

• Aerobic-biking, swimming, jogging
• Muscle strengthening- hill walking, climbing stairs, lifting weights
• Bone strengthening - jumping rope, walking, or weight lifting

Use the MyPlate link below to look at recommendations for the 5 Food Groups for you and your family. Plus, other nutritional information!

https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-plan

In EFNEP classes we learn about all this plus more! If interested or have any questions call Sarah Grinestaff at 688-4811 or email at sarah_grinestaff@ncsu.edu!

Step It Up In STEP-tember

Mitchell Cooperative Extension will be partnering with the Mitchell Senior Center to facilitate a walking group at 10am, Monday through Friday, beginning September 2nd and ending with a celebration on the 30th. If you are interested in improving your health while having fun and socializing, come out and join us! Calendars will be handed out to record your steps. Total steps for all participants will be tallied weekly. Our goal is 973 miles, we are walking to Key West y'all!

Alzheimer's Classes

"Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body"

• Mitchell County Senior Center: September 10th @ 12:30pm
• Yancey County Senior Center: September 16th @ 10am
• Yancey County Public Library: September 17th @ 10am

Mountaineer 4-H Shooting Sports Club District Tournament Results

On August 9, 2025, members of the Mountaineer 4-H Shooting Sports Club traveled to the Polk County Gun Club to compete in the 2025 West District 4-H Shooting Sports Tournament. This annual event provides youth from across the region the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a variety of disciplines, including shotgun, rifle, small-bore pistol, archery, muzzleloader, air pistol, and air rifle.

The Mountaineer 4-H Club is proud to announce that 14 youth members qualified to advance to the State 4-H Shooting Sports Tournament, which will be held in October at Millstone 4-H Camp. Representing the club at the state level will be: Blake Duncan, Bryson Miller, Ciara Silvers, Daniel McClure, Daren Hise, Thomas Hise, Emery Brown, Ezra McClure, Katie Duncan, Keegan Robinson, Kenrick Beck, Ryan Boston, Tristan Justice, and Brandon Robinson.

By: Erin Silver

CED/Agriculture

NC Cooperative Extension presented the Outstanding Partnership Award to Mitchell County Board of Commissioners

Mitchell County and N.C. Cooperative Extension – Mitchell County Center have built a uniquely collaborative and impactful partnership. The county secured the former Bowman Middle School campus as Extension’s new home, establishing a hub for education, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and emergency preparedness. Extension is fully integrated into county operations, with the County Extension Director engaged in long-term resilience planning, disaster response, and strategic efforts such as digital inclusion and wildfire mitigation. County leaders serve on Extension advisory boards, volunteer in 4-H programs, and advocate for Extension at the state level. In-kind support includes vehicles, facility space, and public communication platforms like the “We Are Mitchell” podcast. This deep, trusted relationship allows Extension and county government to co-develop innovative, community-focused solutions—making their partnership a model of collaboration, adaptability, and service.

PESICIDE TRAINING - 2 V CREDITS

Food Abundance on A Small Holding

In June, with the assistance of two other Mitchell Extension Master Gardeners, I hosted a workshop at my half acre homestead to teach attendees about building food abundance on a small plot of boulders, rock, clay and minimal sun. The two hour workshop included the topics of multi-cropping, polyculture and how to work around less than perfect growing conditions.

As part of a plan to enjoy an abundance of nutritious garden foods, this article will address fall planting (it’s time!) and gardening year round. Let’s start with fall planting.

If you’re not sure what you can plant now, visit the Extension office for a garden planting guide. There are plenty of crops that can be planted in your garden now to produce food that can – with a bit of effort – even provide you with nutritious food through January. I personally have picked spinach, kale and Swiss chard in the middle of February here on our homestead.

Of course there is a season for everything and fall is not the season for tomatoes and cucumbers and all of those other sun and heat loving crops. But there are plenty of crops that love the cooler temperatures. Some relatively fast growing vegetables you can plant now include radishes, lettuces, kale, spinach, bok choy, Swiss chard, mustards and collards.

For year round gardening, keep this general rule in mind – for every layer of frost protection you add to your garden beds you gain four degrees in temperature. So if you cover a garden bed with a layer of frost blanket (available at most garden centers) your fall/winter crops will withstand temperatures down to 28 degrees.

But you can extend your growing season even further by adding a second layer of protection. Here on our homestead I cover my tender plants with frost blanket once the temperatures start to hover around the freezing mark. As it gets colder each day, I add a second layer of protection by making hoops out of flexible pvc pipe that I simply insert into the ground on either side of the bed. Using 4ml plastic, I cover the hoops and anchor the ends and edges of the plastic with logs or rocks to keep the heat in.

Bear in mind that this method is labor intensive because the plastic creates a mini greenhouse and it can really heat the bed up on a sunny day. Typically, I loosen the ends of the plastic around mid morning to vent some of the accumulated heat. As the day warms up, I remove the plastic and later in the day – as long as it’s above freezing – the layer of frost blanket too. As the day wanes and temperatures begin to drop you simply reverse the process so that by evening the bed has been re-covered with both the frost blanket and the plastic.

Two crops that can be eaten even after freezing solid are spinach and kale. Simply wait to pick them until after they’ve “thawed out” after a really cold night.

Having fresh, nutritious greens to eat in the dead of winter is like inviting spring back into your kitchen with the freshness of newly picked greens. Try these methods and enjoy!

Contributed by Jackie Wall