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Think Safety With Fresh Cut Trees In Your Home

With the Christmas holiday season, many families love the tradition of selecting a free tree for their home. But that comes with some additional work and maintenance.

Eric Douglas spoke with West Virginia University Extension Service Forest Resources Specialist Dave McGill to find out what you and your family can do to safely enjoy your tree all season long.

Douglas: Where does the Christmas tree farming industry in West Virginia stand now?

McGill: Over time, the number of farms has decreased, but the state of the Christmas Tree Growers Association is actually strong. There’s always a great demand for these trees. And people will sell out of the trees that they have available. Even this year someone was calling about trying to get some wholesale trees. And there was just no one selling wholesale because they’re holding them for their “choose and cut” operations where people select the tree they want and cut it down themselves.

That’s the main thing. People are in this industry to make money, but there’s a huge intrinsic value in growing Christmas trees. There’s a lot of maintenance, there’s a lot of thinking about these products out there that take seven, eight, sometimes nine years to produce. But when families come in with their kids and buy these trees, the kids are wide-eyed and fascinated with looking around and using a saw to cut a tree down and bring it home and put it up.

Some of these growers have been around a long time, and then they see these children grow up and then bring their children.

Douglas: Let’s talk about those safety, the safety things or the safety aspects of bringing a live tree into your home. What do you need to know to enjoy the tree and keep your home safe?

McGill: So the first thing people think about with trees is fire, right? We see forests burn up all the time. We know trees burn and we know coniferous trees, these trees with resins that are so beautifully shaped, they burn well. But if you plan it right, you can guard against any kind of hazards like that.

One of the main things is don’t let fire or dryness get into your tree. Start out with a fresh tree, so that’s why choose and cut is so good, because you know how fresh it is. Sometimes you go there and the trees have been cut. During the active season, there’s a lot of turnover, so they cut some trees and bring them in. Maybe one will sit there a couple days, but even that would be okay, because of the temperature. It’s very cool, with a low loss of moisture right now. The other recommendation is always make a fresh cut on the bottom and to get some of those plugged up resin canals out of the way to get a flow of fluid of water from your stand, which you always want to keep filled with water up to keep it moist.

Douglas: Do you need to add anything to the water? Is it just water?

McGill: There are products you can get to add to the water. Some people swear by those. I have done both. If you keep it watered, and then keep really flammable materials away from it. You don’t want to put a whole bunch of paper decorations around the tree where it might make a ladder from some kind of heat source into the tree.

At the beginning, it really sucks up water and then as it gets older, it kind of sucks less water. By about that time, you probably want to get it out on the street.

Douglas: What’s the ideal time if you’re planning to bring in a fresh tree?

McGill: A lot depends on one of the things we didn’t talk about. Different species have different abilities to retain their needles — six weeks to seven weeks. You’ll want to have it outside because even though it’s kind of still okay, you know, the leaves will start to fall off. And you don’t want those all around the house.

Douglas: I guess the short version of that is any of (the trees) are good from now through the first of the year.

McGill: Yeah, a couple of weeks into the year, it’d be fine.

For more information on fresh Christmas trees, visit the West Virginia Division of Forestry’s website for their Christmas Tree Book.

Energy Express, WVPB bringing youth program into homes this summer

WVU Extension Service and West Virginia Public Broadcasting have partnered to bring youth programming into the homes of West Virginia families.

WVU Extension Service’s Energy Express, a six-week, summer reading program hosted by Joel Brown, have begun broadcasting across West Virginia this summer. The 30-minute episodes will air Monday through Friday at 9:30 a.m. and feature engaging activities in literacy, STEM, art, cooking, nature, nutrition and more.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to partner with West Virginia Public Broadcasting. It will allow us to complement the virtual and at-home programming we already have available for children enrolled in Energy Express, while expanding our reach to other children and families across the state,” Andrea Price, director, WVU Extension Service Energy Express, said. “Viewers will learn about animals and insects; how to grow your own food; how to make quick, delicious recipes; build machines; follow along with celebrity readers; and much more. Our faculty, staff and partners have worked hard to develop this engaging, creative programming for families across the state.”

WVPB Executive Director Chuck Roberts said adding Energy Express to WVPB’s lineup is a continuation of public broadcasting’s efforts to bring at-home learning to children across the Mountain State.

“We see the toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on our educational system,” Roberts said. “We found that many children don’t have access to internet, computers or tablets. One county may provide equipment. Another county may not have the resources. Education is our priority and being able to take high-quality, locally produced educational programming into children’s homes is a pleasure and helps us fulfill our mission.

“Plus, the show is great!” Roberts added. “Energy Express is full of engaging programming, fun experiments and much-needed guidance for kids about healthy eating choices.”

WVPB is available on many cable systems throughout the Mountain State as well as over the air. To view Energy Express segments online, visit energyexpress.wvu.edu.

During a typical summer, WVU Extension Service’s Energy Express reading program pairs children with caring AmeriCorps members and other volunteers who work with them in person to improve reading and comprehension using books, journals, art, STEM, games and other activities. Earlier this year, Energy Express program adapted this traditional “in-person” format to a virtual and at-home format to address public health concerns. Through the partnership with WVPB, Energy Express on-air programming will provide greater access to literacy and other learning activities for children and families statewide.

For more information about Energy Express, visit energyexpress.wvu.edu.

Coronavirus Sprouts A Budding Interest In Gardening, Local Food In W.Va.

To help decrease the spread of COVID-19, residents across the country, and here in West Virginia, are being asked to stay home, except to get the essentials such as food and medicine. Although the National Grocers Association assures there’s not a food shortage in the U.S., some store shelves are sparse.

As spring unfolds across the Mountain State, the pandemic is driving an influx of West Virginians back to the garden and to some of the state’s local farmers.

WVU Extension Service has seen firsthand the growing interest in planting and tending a garden. The WVU Extension Family Nutrition program runs an online gardening program called Grow This. It’s supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

Interested participants fill out an online survey and get free seeds for four crops. This year the crops are microgreens, peas, tomatoes and butternut squash. The program is open to anyone in West Virginia and, in recent years, a few hundred people have participated.

“This year, within three days of posting the first post for the year, we had over 1,000 people sign up, and we now have over 5,000,” said Kristin McCartney, a public health specialist with the Extension Service.

In the month since the program went live, more than 25,000 people have requested seeds. McCartney said staff is working from home to fulfill the requests, targeting those most in need.

McCartney’s first post included an image of a victory garden — the war-time morale-booster that encouraged people to plant food at home. In this time of COVID-19, she said the idea of growing more food seems to have resonated with many West Virignians.

“This is the time to pull together as a community and do what we can for ourselves and other people around us,” she said. “Part of that right now is just staying home, and another part is ensuring that our food supplies are secure and people can be fed.”

A screenshot of the victory garden post made by Grow This.

That’s a role some of the state’s farmers are taking on, according to Fritz Boettner, who heads the Turnrow Appalachian Food Collective located in southern West Virginia. The organization serves as a food hub and helps get produce from dozens of small growers into the hands of schools, restaurants and people across central Appalachia.

Some of the biggest markets for Turnrow growers included restaurants and schools, both of which are largely closed due to the coronavirus. That sent some farmers scrambling to find buyers for truckloads of salad greens, for example.

But during this pandemic, Boettner said a new market is flourishing — regular West Virignians seeking fresh produce. Turnrow has seen record sales from individuals placing orders through their online marketplace.

He thinks it highlights the vital role small farmers play in West Virginia. West Virginia is home to about 20,000 farms, and almost all of them are considered small. Ninety-three percent are family-owned, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We need to think about food security and our food system in West Virginia and central Appalachia will help get us through this.” he said “And I think people are wanting to invest in that.”

Pop Up Market Brings Food to Daycare Doorstep

Pop Up Farmers Markets, they’re a unique idea bringing farm fresh fruits and vegetables to people who don’t typically have access to those kinds of foods. One in Wayne County recently focused on expanding access to the youngest of children.

Stephanie Dawson’s two-year old son Luke attends the Playmates of Ceredo Daycare, the site of a new one-day pop up farmer’s market last week.

“I think it’s pretty awesome, especially teaching kids about vegetables and you know farmer’s market learning and letting them experience the shopping world as well,” Dawson said.

Jackson Kent fills his bag with fruits and vegetables at the Pop Up Market.

The pop up market set up shop at the Ceredo daycare for four hours one afternoon recently. It’s a partnership of West Virginia University Extension Services and the state’s Women, Infants and, Children Food and Nutrition Service. Children at this daycare are given WIC vouchers worth $4 to shop at a stand full of vegetables set up right in their daycare parking lot.

Kristin McCartney is a Public Health Specialist with WVU’s Extension Services who said the program has two purposes. The first is to allow the kids to experience the fun of shopping for healthy foods themselves.

“We’re really just trying to give these young kids this experience of meeting farmers and being exposed to different produce and having the opportunity to use their own money to shop which really gives them some empowerment around their food choices,” McCartney said.

The second purpose of these pop up markets, McCartney said, is to help parents by providing them access to healthy foods they can cook at home.

“Anyone that’s a young parent knows that it’s hard to even go to the store, but to make an extra trip to go to a farmer’s market is even more challenging with young kids,” McCartney said. “So we’re trying to encourage more participation in farmer’s markets by young parents by bringing it to them where they’re at basically, so childcare centers are a great way to target those young parents.”

Squash medley prepared on site to show the kind of dishes that can be cooked with homegrown ingredients.

The farmers who bring their products to these pop up markets are reimbursed for the vouchers they accept. Sherrie Taylor runs Faithful Valley Farms in Mason County. She said she tries to give the children a true market experience.

“To me it blesses me because I love to watch the kids,” Taylor said. “My whole thing when I started this was to teach people to eat healthy, no chemicals, no antibiotics and no hormones and I think that’s really important for healthy living.”

Other pop up markets have taken place in places like McDowell County.

WVU Extension Service Offers ATV Safety Courses

The West Virginia University Extension Service is offering a safety course for all-terrain vehicle operators.

WVU says in a news release that a grant from the National 4-H Council allows the four-hour course to be offered at no cost to participants.

The course is offered as West Virginia gets ready for the start of the two-week gun season for deer beginning next Monday.

WVU Extension Service agent Mark Whitt in Mingo County says ATV education could help reduce preventable accidents and fatalities each year. According to the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, at least 20 ATV fatalities occurred in West Virginia through September, and 90 percent involved people who didn’t use helmets.

The course is available by contacting Whitt at (304) 235-0370. The course also can be taken online at www.atvsafety.org.