Shelby County Today

August 10, 2015 - As more families grow their own food, there has been an increase in the number of people collecting their own seeds. Home gardeners who save their own seeds know exactly what plants they will be growing next year. Saving seeds also gives people a chance to swap seeds with other gardeners.

The general concept of seed saving is allowing specific annual vegetable plants to grow to full maturity — until the fruit is over ripe — and then harvesting and saving the seeds from the fruit.

Keep in mind with seed saving, you need to only collect seeds from healthy plants. If a plant appears diseased in any way, it will not be a good choice since some diseases are seed born and could cause problems in the future.
Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans and pea plants are great for beginning seed savers because they self-pollinate and typically don’t collect genetic traits from nearby plants.

Additionally, by collecting the seeds from plants that performed the best this summer, you can breed your own selection of vegetable plants and save many of the genetic characteristics that make those plants well suited for your particular garden.

For instance, if you grow a tomato plant that is resistant to a certain disease, allow that plant to reach maturity and save seeds from it so that this disease-resistant trait is passed along to future generations.

If you are not familiar with the idea of allowing a vegetable plant to reach maturity, this is when the fruits are allowed to fully ripen on the plant. This will allow the plant to produce viable seed, which can be saved for planting in future years.

For peas and beans, maturity is when the pods have dried and turned brown on the plant, but before they split open and release the seeds. The pods can then be shelled or broken open to remove the seeds.

To save seed from fruited crops (tomato, melons, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins), begin by selecting clean, disease-free, fully ripe (or over-ripe) fruits as seed sources. Cut the fruit open using a clean knife and scoop or squeeze the seeds into a clean container. Add water to the container and keep the container at room temperature, allowing the mixture to ferment for several days. Stir daily to help separate seed from the pulp.

After several days the mixture should be good and frothy. You will notice many seeds floating to the top of the container: these ‘floaters’ are nonviable, or at best will produce weak seedlings.

Strong, viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the container. Pour off the pulp and floaters, leaving the good seeds in the bottom of the container. Repeat this process several times, adding fresh water each time and allowing the seeds to settle before pouring off the water.

Tomato seed can be difficult to remove from paper or cloth towels, as well as paper plates or non-rigid plastic: you may want to test a few drying surfaces. Many tomato seed savers have good success with coffee filters.

Store the seeds in a cool, dry and dark place until they will be used. I often store my seeds in mason jars with a good air-tight lid and then place these in the refrigerator. If you place the seeds in paper envelopes for each type, many seeds can fit in the jars. The good news is that many vegetable seeds can last three to four years or more with proper storage.

Peppers are also easy to save. Allow the fruits to reach a wrinkled state on the plant. Then cut the fruit open and remove the seeds. They will need to dry before storing for the winter.

Next spring, when you start your seedlings, you’ll have one less trip to make to the garden store thanks to your saved seeds. You’ll also have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your garden will be full of plants well suited to your area.

Lane Dunn is the County Extension Agent for agriculture and natural resources for Shelby County. His email address is jldunn@ag.tamu.edu.

Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin.

July 27, 2015 - Whether it’s a first date or an anniversary surprise for your bride, going on dates doesn't always have to mean draining your wallet at fancy restaurants. There are plenty of affordable and entertaining dates you can go on with your beloved. After all, it's really the time you spend with your sweetheart that matters and not how much you're spending on the dates.

But dating for long-term couples comes with its own new his and her matching set of pressures, especially when kids are in the picture. You no longer have the time to make sure you have five minutes together without interruption, let alone set aside an entire evening to dote on each other. So when the stars are finally aligned — you've cleared your calendars, you've found someone not featured on America's Most Wanted to look after the kids — you want the evening to be perfect, which practically begs for a Murphy's Law moment. Don't sweat it! We’ve done the work for you. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Sabor A Pasion are hosting “Date Night with Dinner Tonight” that you don’t want to miss!

This event will be held Friday, August 7 from 6-8 p.m. at the Nacogdoches County Annex Building in Nacogdoches, Texas located on 203 West Main Street.

The evening will include food demonstrations prepared by Stephen F. Austin’s very own Chef Todd Barrios, Executive Chef Simon Webster of Sabor a Pasion, and Family & Consumer Sciences Extension Agent Mandy Patrick. Food demonstrations will highlight recipes that are easy to prepare and fit into a healthy meal plan with a few surprises from our chefs as well. Samples of the recipes will be available for tasting by the entire audience.

Each participant will receive a flash drive copy of the 52 page Dinner Tonight Cookbook and door prizes will be given throughout the evening. Jessica Theimer, RDN, LD Program Coordinator for Dinner Tonight! will be on hand to demonstrate new and innovative kitchen gadgets that are sure to make a couples dinner more fun.

The cost of the event is $35 per couple in advance or $40 at the door. Tickets can be purchased from 8:00 am- 5:00 pm at the County Extension Office located on 203 West Main Street in the Courthouse Annex Building in Nacogdoches Texas.

For additional information, contact Nacogdoches County Extension Agent Claudann M. Jones at (936) 560-7711- email cmjones@ag.tamu.edu, Holly Black, Anderson County at (903) 723-3735 -email hdblack@ag.tamu.edu, Jheri-Lynn McSwain, Shelby County jlmcswain@ag.tamu.edu, 936-598-7744, Carolyn Tyler, Henderson County Carolyn.Tyler@ag.tamu.edu 903-675-6130, Mandy Patrick Houston County, mkpatrick@ag.tamu.edu 936-544-7502. You can also view recorded food demonstrations on our Dinner Tonight Website at http://healthyliving.tamu.edu with recipes that are easy to download.

July 24, 2015 - The Shelby County Extension Office hosted another beekeepers meeting on July 16. This meetings subject was summer beehive management.

This insect that we depend upon for a third of our food has a number of natural problems even before human neglect can run its course. In fact, beekeepers spend a good amount of time treating for the problems both in and outside the hive.

Honeybees have their own diseases, insects, mites, and four-legged problems. While is sounds counter-intuitive, beekeepers do indeed use “pesticides” to keep some of these “pests” from harming the honeybee.

The Varroa mite is considered by many to be the most serious malady of honey bees. It now occurs nearly worldwide. This external parasite feeds on the blood of adult bees, larvae and pupae. In addition this blood sucking parasite is responsible for spreading some diseases.

The small hive beetle, North America's newest beekeeping pest, was first discovered in Florida in the spring of 1998. Small hive beetle larvae consume pollen and comb but also will eat larval honey bees. After completing the larval stage, they crawl out of the hive and pupate in the soil. Adult beetles will feed on honey bee eggs.

Adult female wax moths fly at night and deposit masses of eggs on unprotected beeswax combs and in the cracks between hive bodies. After a few days these eggs hatch into caterpillars or larvae. The larvae crawl onto the comb and begin their feeding activity in protected areas, often near the center midrib of the cells.

Mice are a serious pest of stored combs and active honey bee colonies during the fall and winter months. These rodents chew combs and frames to make room for building their nests. Mouse urine on combs and frames and bees are reluctant to use the combs or clean out these nests in the spring.

Also, nosema disease, an adult disease caused by a protozoan, weakens the digestive track of infected bees and may allow pathogens to enter the honey bee's gut where they can cause significant damage.

In some areas, skunks are a serious threat to successful beekeeping, since they hamper the development of strong colonies. Being insectivorous (insect-eating), skunks will raid bee yards nightly, consuming large numbers of bees. To capture bees, skunks scratch at the hive entrance and guard bees that come out to investigate the disturbance. A successful skunk will repeat the process several times and may feed at the hive entrance for an hour or more to rapidly depleting the bee population. Colonies visited by skunks may become defensive since skunks usually return night after night.

July 21, 2015 - The 15th annual Comal County Shotgun invitational was held at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio on July 11-12th. This competition is commonly called the state warmup tournament with over 350 participants. Shelby County 4h Shooters had four kids participate; Colton Gutermuth, Lance Holloway, Logan Holloway and Seth Shamblin.

Jr. Division - Seth Shamblin 3rd skeet

We would like to say Congratulations on a job well done representing Shelby County.