Just a few moles can raise a lot of turf!

Question: Our lawn is being devastated by moles. How do they manage to tunnel so well through our heavy clay soil? How do we get rid of them?

Answer: Moles are built for digging. With a bullet-shaped head and nose, powerful shoulder muscles, and large, outward-facing front feet with strong claws, these earth miners literally swim through the soil in search of their favorite food, the earthworm. In fact, moles can dig surface tunnels at approximately 18 feet per hour and can travel through existing tunnels at about 80 feet per minute. If it weren't for their raised feeding tunnels and occasional mounds of excavated dirt, we would likely praise them for their habits. In the process of digging, they mix and aerate soil, provide tunnels for water to reach down to plant roots, and eat many destructive insects including grubs, beetles and insect larvae. Vegetation occasionally makes up a small portion of the diet

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I'm Ready for the Worms!

12 years ago I wrote a newspaper article about raising worms as part of my Master Gardener certification. I had the privilege of interviewing a local expert on worm composting who taught me that the proper term is vermicomposting. Visiting her at her house I discovered that she had many "worm composting pits" in her back yard. What surprised me the most however, was that she also had a can-o-wormsin her kitchen! Ever since, I have wanted to buy my own can-o-worms. The Can-O-Wormsis basically a multi-tray composting system raised up on legs with a tap on the front to drain excess water as "worm tea".

Since this popular unit costs over a hundred dollars, I was never able to get one.

Last year, I finally decided to try my hand at vermicomposting in a makeshift plastic bin. It was fun and worked for a little while. My bin didn't provide adequate air for them and since it was sitting on the basement floor, ants invaded the bin. I made all sorts of mistakes and the worm farm failed.

This year, my wife said that she would like to try again if we could find a cheaper alternative to the Can-o-Worms.

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Mountaineer Treeways accepting Applications

This program provides trees at no cost for various community projects. All trees must be planted on public property in WV. No matching funds are required. Application deadline is March 20, 2009.

Trees will be distributed in early April as weather and nursery conditions permit. Candidate sites may be schools, city streets, municipal property, public parks, highways, rest areas, and interstates, among others. Any civic group may apply.

Do your part to help make West Virginia a better place to live, work and visit by planting trees.

Mountaineer Treeways works with volunteer organizations and municipalities to foster and support public tree care programs in communities and cities. To learn how you can become a part of the Mountaineer Treeways program, download the application below.

Mountaineer Treeways Application

Outdoor burning restrictions start March 1

No burning allowed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily until May 31
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Officials at the Division of Forestry remind West Virginia residents that the spring forest fire season begins Sunday, March 1. Starting Sunday, no outdoor fires will be allowed during the daytime hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fires to burn brush or other vegetative debris may only be started after 4 p.m. and must be
extinguished by 7 a.m. Outdoor burning is restricted to evening hours when cooler temperatures, increased humidity and calmer winds reduce the likelihood of fires spreading.

Fire Staff Assistant Ben Webster says that since Jan. 1, the state has already had nearly 100 fires that have burned approximately 800 acres. “We’ve seen quite a few fires so far this year despite the snow and rain most of the state has received. Half of those were the direct result of fires where people started to burn debris that later were allowed to escape and burn multiple acres.”

Cut back Garden budget by using No-fuss seeds

One way to rein in your plant purchases this spring without putting a damper on your dream garden is to use annuals — especially those you can start from seeds sown directly into the garden. For 15 to 25 bucks — the price of one or two flats of flowers or hanging baskets — you can buy a fistful of seed packets that will produce hundreds of plants in a rainbow of colors and shapes.

Some annuals, such as morning glories, hyacinth bean, cardinal climber and moonflower, climb by leaps and bounds. Sunflowers, in shades of red, cherry, gold or white, turn their "faces" throughout the day to follow the sun. Some annuals are fragrant, like the night-scented tobacco flower, and others can add zing to a flower arrangement.

Unlike perennials, which typically return every spring, but usually flower for just a few weeks, annuals tend to bloom their little heads off from late spring right up until frost. When they finish flowering, they produce seeds and then head for that garden in the sky. You can collect the seed for freebie flowers next year and rearrange where you use them for a new look.

By sowing annuals from seeds, "your world opens to plants you never knew existed," says garden designer Patti Kirkpatrick of Joliet, Ill. "My advice to newbies and other gardeners is to just try it." Each spring, she sows seeds of Chinese forget-me-not (Cynoglossum), which offers shades of blue and pink and will bloom in full sun to light shade. "It's a must for those tiny little flower arrangements."

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Winter Blues Farmer Market - Morgantown

First Winter Blues Farmers Market offers variety of fresh produce
Meats, cheeses, breads, other products also available

Shop at the Winter Blues Farmers Market from 4-7 p.m. Monday (Feb. 23) at the Ramada Inn in Morgantown, and you won’t have to wait until summer to plan mouth-watering meals with locally produced meats, vegetables, cheeses, breads and other products.

Working with the West Virginia University Extension Service, farmers from throughout West Virginia and neighboring Maryland counties will turn the Ramada Inn lobby into a one-stop shopping excursion, offering fresh produce, frozen meats and finished foods and goods.

Goat cheese, potatoes, onions and garlic are among the fresh items. Lamb, pork, chicken and beef will be packaged, frozen and ready for consumers to carry home.

You will find a variety of value-added (finished or ready-to-use) farm products. Locally grown tomatoes, for example, are ingredients in jars of salsa. The value-added list also includes sourdough artisan breads, Bloody Mary mix and apple butter. Preston County wool will be available as yarn and as scarves, mittens and hats.

Wool from WVU ewes will be on sale as wool blankets. Cornmeal – ground at the old mill in the famous WVU Jackson’s Mill Historic Area in Lewis County – also will be among the vendors’ wares.

Live blues music will add to the “open air” shopping experience, said Susan Sauter, a volunteer with WVU Extension’s West Virginia Small Farm Center.

The winter market, she said, is a new event for the annual West Virginia Small Farm Conference, which runs from Tuesday through Thursday (Feb. 24-26) at the Ramada Inn. Although the market closes Monday, the local foods theme will season the conference, and the Local Foods Banquet is set for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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WVU Extension Service to host Mountaineer Camping Institute

WVU Extension Service to host Mountaineer Camping Institute
Registration deadline is Feb. 25

How can camp organizers keep their programs current to reach today’s diverse groups? Do youths prefer computer games to campfires?

These questions and more will be answered during a three-day training conference that will help camping professionals learn the latest trends for targeting young people. The conference will take place March 10-12 at West Virginia University Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp near Weston.

Mountaineer Camping Institute, hosted by WVU Extension Service, brings together experts and camp organizers to share information about creative and effective ways to recruit campers and train staff members. MCI offers workshop presentations in areas such as day camping, operations and staff training.

Jim Cain, Association for Challenge Course Technology executive director, will be the keynote speaker. He is the owner and operator of Teamwork & Teamplay, a worldwide teambuilding program for corporations, colleges and camps.

In addition, Cain will present several workshops, sharing his experiences in innovative staff training methods, teambuilding and recreation.

“Camp organizers know that it takes more than singalongs and s’mores to attract today’s youths,” said Bill Beckley, WVU Extension camping specialist. “WVU Extension faculty members, combined with outside experts, offer a unique training experience that infuses heritage, tradition and trends.”

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Web-Based Tree Picker Helps You Branch Out

LOGAN, Utah -- Utah State University Extension Forestry released a new online tree browser, http://www.treebrowser.org, in January to replace the Utah Tree Browser CD-ROM available from USU since 2002. This new interactive browser contains more than 1,000 full-color photographs of and information about 241 native and introduced trees growing in Utah and the Intermountain West.

Users can browse through a complete list of trees or narrow their choices by selecting from 21 general, growth-related, cultural and ornamental characteristics, including whether a tree is native or introduced. For each species there is a fact sheet, usually including descriptions of the leaves, twigs, buds, flowers, fruit, bark, wood, general comments about the tree's native habitat, and a description of its uses in cultivated landscapes, including its USDA Plant Hardiness Zone designation.

Extension Service recruiting for Extension Agent

West Virginia University
West Virginia University
“Career Opportunity”

WVU Extension Service is recruiting for a faculty, twelve month Extension Agent - position for Wayne County. Master’s Degree required. Educational background in families and youth including education, health, family and consumer science, communication studies, social work, agricultural education, leadership studies or human development are required. Applicant may qualify with any master’s degree plus three years of work experience in a required field.

For a complete position announcement and application process, visit our website at
http://www.wvu-edu/~exten/
Revised Closing Date: March 2, 2009.

What! A Master Vegetarian Program? Yes, It is true.

Confronted by rising food prices and global climate change, more people are reducing their carbon footprint and saving money by making changes to their lifestyle. If you find yourself wondering how your dietary choices affect the environment, your wallet, and your health, now is a great time to sign up for Veg 101 and the Master Vegetarian Program.

Modeled after the Master Recycler Program and the Metro Master Gardener Program, the nine-week Master Vegetarian Program was piloted by Northwest VEG in 2007 to teach interested members of the community about the environmental and epidemiological impact of food choices. Now in its fourth run, the program continues to attract both vegetarians and omnivores by offering thought-provoking lectures and discussion about the science and politics of food.

Master Vegetarian topics include the environmental effects of food choices; organic agriculture; issues on animal agriculture and animal treatment; nutrition; the effects of diet on health and chronic disease; effective communication; and social issues. The program is co-sponsored by People's Food Co-op and the National College of Natural Medicine.
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