Category: Environment

Blueberry Workshop

Debbie Roney Smith on

The Jackson County Extension Office is hosting a blueberry workshop this September. It will be held Thursday, September 29th at the ag center from 8am – noon. The workshop costs $10 per person; pre-registration is required. The workshop will feature several UF and FAMU specialists. They’ll cover soil preparation, soil health, insects, disease control, and more. There will also be updates about the emerging practice of growing blackberries in the Panhandle. 

If you can’t make the September class, it will be repeated on Tuesday, October 25th, at the Washington County Extension Office in Chipley. 

Guided Three Rivers State Park Hike

Debbie Roney Smith on

The Jackson County Extension Office is hosting a guided walk at Three Rivers State Park this September 30th. The hike will begin at 8am and take participants along the Dry Creek Loop Trail. The trail is a distance of .60 miles and should be completed by 11am at the latest. The hike is rated as a beginner to moderate hike. The guide will talk about the terrain, habitat, flora, fauna, and more. 

The guided hike will cost $5 per person. The cost includes entry to the park itself, the guided tour, water, and snacks! It is recommended that participants bring reusable water bottles, bug spray, sunscreen, and anything else they’d need to remain comfortable in the Florida heat. 

Visit the Jackson County Extension Office at 2741 Penn Avenue, Suite 3, Marianna, FL or visit http://JacksonCountyFCS.eventbrite.com to register. If you have any questions, call the extension office at 850-482-9620.

Tri-County Plant Swap

Debbie Roney Smith on
This Saturday, September 24th, is the first annual Tri-County Plant Swap. The event is free and open to the public; it will run from 11am – 1pm (EDT). The Plant Swap is a social for gardeners of all levels to come together and chat about plants, swap goods, and more! There will be bulbs, seeds, seedlings, plants, produce, gardening books, pots, and more to swap. If you want to participate, please remember to label all seeds, cuttings, and plants with the name (common and scientific preferred). Additionally, Pemberley Farm will have some of its homemade goods for sale. The event will be held at 1745 Ben Road in Chipley. Ben Road turns East off Highway 77 just South of Wausau. Visit the event Facebook page here to learn more and stay up-to-date with event announcements. 

Greenpeace Day

Debbie Roney Smith on

Greenpeace Day has observed annually on September 15th to mark the founding anniversary of the famous international NGO. Greenpeace has evolved from a single organization to a network of organizations that crosses more than 55 countries on all inhabited continents. It is the world’s largest environmental organization starting with Greenpeace International and 26 largely autonomous regional offices. The day is also considered a celebration of environmental activism in general and is dedicated to bringing about a change in how humanity treats the environment. Celebrate this day by participating in peaceful protests to improve air quality, reduce dependency on fossil fuels, avoid excessive and unnecessary plastic usage, improve water quality, and more. 

Jackson County Gardening Assistance

Debbie Roney Smith on

There is going to be a series of talks held at the Jackson County Agriculture Center in Mariana (2741 Penn Avenue). This will be a huge benefit to gardeners in Jackson County who wish to grow their own food. The first focuses on Companion Planting and will be held Wednesday, September 14th from 10-11:30am. It will cost $5 per person. There is no pre-registration required. However, you can call to reserve a spot to guarantee your spot; call 850-482-9620 to get your name on the list.

The second class focuses on Fall Gardening. It will be held on Saturday, September 17th from 9am – noon. Participants will get to take home a variety of seeds. This class will cost $15 per person. 

The third class focuses on Garden to Table: Herbs. It will be held Tuesday, September 27th from 6-8pm. This event costs $15 per person. Participants will receive a small planter of herbs and a sample jar of dried herbs to take home. Additionally, they will have the change to taste several ways to use herbs in cooking during the class. 

Benefits of Backyard Bats

Debbie Roney Smith on

Sandhills Native Nursery is opening for Fall hours on September 22nd. To celebrate, they are hosting a Benefits of Backyard Bats class with Cre8ive by N8ure. The class will run from 9:30am – 10:30am on September 23rd and 24th. Led by Nate, creator of Cre8ive by N8ure and bat educator, the class will focus on how the bats provide insect management, their reproductive cycle, their habitat and diet, and flora and fauna that is beneficial for bats. Due to parking limitations, the class has only 10 spots and you must register to secure your parking spot; the cost is $10 per car. However, these spots are counted by the vehicle not individual, so the nursery encourages carpooling with friends or family. 

Additionally, there will be a second class opportunity on both days. If you are interested in building your own bat house to take home, hang out at the nursery for roughly 30 minutes after the Benefits of Backyard Bats. The delay is designed to give participants time to grab a drink, walk around the nursery, or have a quick lunch. Please note that the Build Your Own Bathouse class costs $45 per person. All required materials and instruction from bat house building expert Nate will be included in the cost. 

Proceeds from both classes will be donated to a local organization that assists bats (organization TBA). Visit SNN’s event website HERE to sign up for the class and/or Bat House creation event.

Monarch Butterflies Now Endangered

Debbie Roney Smith on

On Thursday, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migratory monarch butterfly to the “red list” of threatened species.(1) One of the most recognizable butterflies in the world, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is famous for its seasonal migration.  Millions of monarchs migrate south from the United States and Canada to California and Mexico for the winter.(2)

It has distinctive orange wings with black lines and white dots. Monarchs live an average of 6-8 months, weigh under 0.001 ounces, and have a medium wingspan of 3.9 inches. Their move to the endangered list means they are just two distinctions from extinction. The primary causes of their move to the red list are loss of habitat and climate change. Want to help the monarch population during this critical time?

The number one thing you can do is plant native milkweed and supplementary plants. There is a number of native milkweeds to choose from – visit UF|IFAS’s Milkweed Species Native to Florida for the complete list. However, there are milkweeds that are essential for monarch butterflies to be able to complete their life cycle within your garden. Female monarchs prefer to lay on swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and common milkweed (A. syriaca).(3)

butterfly weed

Milkweed is crucial to the diet of monarchs; their distinctive coloring is not an invitation to be eaten but a warning to predators that they are poisonous. They have evolved to not only tolerate but use the toxicity naturally occurring in milkweed to protect themselves by storing it in the veins. Monarchs will feast on all milkweed varieties however, butterfly weed (A. tuberosa) is native to Florida, widely available, and has beautiful flowers. 

Supplementary plants are plants of other species that should be planted around milkweed to assist in a healthy ecosystem. These are plants that should be chosen based on each individual location’s soil, sun, and water retention rates as well as hardiness zone. Please remember to always choose native plants to increase the health of your soil and the natural benefits of your garden. 

 

Make Your Yard Florida Friendly

Debbie Roney Smith on

Next Saturday, July 30th, Native Nursery of Tallahassee is hosting a Florida-Friendly Landscaping class. From 10-11 am, learn how to help protect Florida’s environment and make your yard a wildlife habitat. Rachel Mathes will teach the class how to use the Nine Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping, her goals for the program, and then guide the class through the steps to creating a more sustainable yard.

Please note that registration is required via phone order. The fee is $5 and holds your spot in the class as it is limited to 15 participants. Please call (850) 386-8882 to pre-register. PARKING: Please use driveway next door to the nursery with ‘Workshop Parking’ sign seen from Centerville Road.

First Woman to Hike All 11 National Scenic Trails

Debbie Roney Smith on

Arlette Lann has become the first woman to hike all 11 National Scenic Trails on July 11th! Lann moved from Holland to Massachusetts, and has hiked around 19,000 miles to complete all the National Trails. She finished her record-setting hike at the Ice Age trail in Potawatomi State Park in Wisconsin. The other 10 Scenic Trails are as follows:

    • Appalachian Trail: a 2,180-plus mile-long public footpath in the Appalachian Mountains.
    • Arizona Trail: stretches more than 800 miles across the entire length of the state, from the U.S.-Mexico border to Utah.
    • Continental Divide: stretches across the United States approximately 3,100 miles between the borders of Mexico and Canada.
    • Florida: a federally-designated recreation trail of about approximately 1,500 miles.
    • Natchez Trace: five sections of hiking trail that runs roughly parallel to the 444-mile long Natchez Trace Parkway scenic motor road in Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
    • New England: covers 215 miles from Long Island Sound, across long ridges, to scenic mountain summits in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
    • North Country Pacific Crest: spans eight states, including Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wyoming.
    • Pacific Crest: covers a distance of 2,650 miles through California, Oregon, and Washington, all the way to the Canadian border.
    • Pacific Northwest: travels more than 1,200 miles through Montana, Idaho, and Washington, before reaching the Pacific Ocean near Cape Alava.
    • Potomac Heritage: travels through D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

 

Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center

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The Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center (NBSTCC) is “Giving sea turtles more tomorrows through conservation, education, and research.” A nonprofit organization founded in 2013, the NBSTCC is a working conservation and education center. They currently welcome walk-in guests at a reduced capacity Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm. Please note that, due to the reduced capacity, there may be a waitlist; check their Facebook page here for current information.

NBSTCC is a predominately volunteer-run organization that operates in a 2,010-square-foot conservation and education center. Learn more about volunteering with the organization HERE. Alongside walk-in visits and scheduled private tours, NBSTCC also offers paid experiences: Painting Tortoise Tracks, Honorary Animal Care Team Member, Shark School, and Shark Tooth Treasure Hunt. Visit the NBSTCC website here for more information on experiences, the organization, and turtle conservation.