Summer seems to be a busy time for everyone. You would think that since school is not in session, there would not be as much demand on our time, but it seems that it is actually the opposite.

Summer is the time for family vacations. We are going places and seeing things and stopping by to see relatives and friends as we travel. Or our relatives and friends are stopping by to visit with us as they travel. Summer is the time for weekend getaways -- sometimes just to the beach for the weekend and sometimes to other interesting sites within easy driving distance.

Summer is when the grass grows, requiring us to mow lawns at least once each week. Summer is when the weeds grow, making it necessary to spend extra time in the garden and flower beds pulling out those things that don't need to be there. Summer is when gardens grow the best, so we spend hours tending our gardens and freezing fresh fruits and vegetables.

Summer is the time for ball games, picnics, pool parties, cookouts, and much more. Simply put, summer is a busy time for everyone.

As I reviewed the calendar at my office, it seems that summer is a busy time for my staff as well. In addition to trying to schedule their vacations, they are providing a tremendous variety of activities for people throughout the county.

As I write this column, our 4-H staff is busy preparing summer day camps for our youth. Throughout June and July, Aggie Rogers, Nikki Edwards, and Mable Haywood will provide 25 different day camps for youth ages 5-16 that will teach almost anything imaginable. These day camps are designed to be fun for the youth, but they are designed primarily to teach very valuable lessons. Topics include such things as manners, safety, electricity, woodworking, environment, sewing, and much more than I cannot list in this short column.

Shea Ann DeJarnette, our 4-H Agent, is busy preparing our staff, dozens of volunteers, and a whole bunch of young folks for District Activity Day. This is a time when the 4-H'ers from our county compete with 4-H'ers from the other 13 counties in our district to see who is the best. They compete in dozens of different categories, including talent and public speaking, to see which ones can advance to state competition.

Missy McLean, our Urban Horticulture Agent, is providing summer activities for the Robeson County Master Gardeners. This is special time of the year for them, because this is when their landscapes are most beautiful, and they can share their treasures with everyone. Missy is also providing pesticide education training for our farmers, so they can keep their pesticide license up to date.

Georgia Love, our Crops Agent, is busy helping farmers properly identify disease, insect, and weed problems on their farms and providing recommendations on the best management practices for these problems. On Tuesday, June 22, she will be training local cotton scouts how to properly identify cotton pests. On Thursday, June 24, she will be offering a late afternoon tour for tobacco farmers, giving them the opportunity to view some of the research and demonstration work that is being done on the Jimmy Powers farm to test various products and practices to manage tobacco diseases.

Tiffanee Conrad, our Livestock Agent, is busy working with key leaders in Robeson, Hoke, and Scotland Counties to develop County Animal Response Teams that will be prepared to better handle emergencies with both farm and companion animals in case of natural disasters, such as hurricanes. She is also providing leadership for the Livestock Associations in these counties which usually meet each month. With her leadership, the members of these associations are better able to stay up to date on the latest issues they are facing and become more knowledgeable of the resources available to them, so they can be more efficient and more profitable.

Susan Noble, our Foods and Nutrition Agent, spends much of her time during the summer sharing information with people throughout the county about food safety and food preservation. She shares this information through workshops, newspaper articles, meetings, and hundreds of phone calls.

Nelson Brownlee, Farm Management Agent, and Martin Brewington, Agricultural Technician, become especially busy during the summer as they work with hundreds of small and part-time farmers in the county. With the cooperation of several small farmers, they have developed on-farm demonstrations that show the advantages and proper use of plastic mulch and irrigation for intensive vegetable production. In addition, they are offering a tour on Tuesday, June 22, that highlights some of the intensive vegetable demonstrations in the county.

Summer is a busy time for everyone. Take advantage of the opportunities for vacation and travel, but also take advantage of all the opportunities to learn new things.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 6/30/04