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County Extension

  • Can you really make your own 2-percent milk at home?

    I don’t make this stuff up. A friend recently posted this story on Facebook.
    Her husband went to the convenience store on the corner to get milk. Their family with two young boys usually drinks 2-percent milk. He discovered the store only had whole milk and 1-percent. This enterprising man (not wanting to drive to a full-service grocery store several miles away) purchased a gallon of each and informed his wife when he got home that if she’d mix them together they would get 2-percent.

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  • Rotisserie chickens and their love affair with sodium

    In last week’s column, I talked about my investigation into rotisserie chicken. I’ve always wondered if they were a “good deal.” We all know you can’t beat them for their convenience, but there is also a saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” They are not just simply a roasted chicken.
    While many companies label rotisserie chickens by saying they have no added steroids or no hormones, they all seem to have some added seasoning or flavoring.

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  • Protect your plants throughout the cooler winter months

    By Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman
    Master Gardener
    In this area of North Carolina, protecting your plants from cold is easy enough to do, since our winters are mild; however, certain plants need protection from the cold to survive the winter months.
    Protecting your plants in winter does not mean you have to keep them warm. It simply means providing protection from damaging winds, snow, ice, alternate freezing and thawing of the soil and heat from the sun on cold days.

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  • How to start eating healthier

    One of the biggest challenges to eating healthier is finding substitutions for existing foods in your diet. Here are some tips to make the transition easier:
    Use mustard instead of mayo on your sandwiches. You’ll get lots of flavor with much fewer calories and fat.
    Select whole-wheat bread instead of white bread. Be sure to read the label to ensure you’re getting whole grains, not just colored white bread.
    Start using lean ground beef, pork tenderloin or fish instead of high-fat cuts of meat.

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  • Stuck inside with winter blahs?

    By Tammy Harrison
    Master Gardener
    Now that the holidays are over, many gardeners’ hearts begin yearning for spring.
    Looking through gardening catalogs is a fun way to spend cold winter days, but there’s something else you can do on warm, pretty days: Go to gardens.
    Winter is a wonderful time to visit gardens and arboretums. There are many gardens and arboretums in our state that are free, open year round, and in the winter, you have them pretty much all to yourself.

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  • Oh what a feeling: Seduced by a (rotisserie) chicken

    As you pass them in a grocery store, a big box store or even a discount store, the aroma and promise of quick, hot meal entices you to buy a cooked rotisserie chicken.
    Then, the smell in your car is so tempting that you may want to nibble on the way home. Who hasn’t been seduced by one of these chickens?
    No matter how enticing, I’ve always wondered: “What’s the catch?”

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  • A real treat: Getting to know more about pomegranates

    I recently took one of my Christmas gifts into our office to share. It was a pomegranate. Four of these beautiful fruits came in a package from a “foodie” friend.
    To me, this is what a gift should be; something you would like to have but hardly ever consider buying for yourself. A real treat.
    Several of my co-workers were familiar with the fruit. Others curiously watched and to their credit, sampled this new food.

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  • Although it’s cold, it’s a good time to start planning your garden

    Judy Koehly
    Master Gardener
    During the cold month of January, what we really want to do is curl up in front of the fireplace with some hot chocolate and the new seed catalogs. Go ahead and enjoy. Now is the best time to plan for our new bigger and better spring garden.
    If you have saved photos from last year’s garden, dig them out and use them to help lay out any changes you talked about making last year.

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  • Teen 4-H council meets monthly

    Brunswick County Teen Council is a 4-H teen club for students in sixth grade up to 19 years old. It meets one Saturday each month.
    Club goals are to plan and implement 4-H programs, leadership growth and to “join the Revolution of Responsibility.”
    This month, members elected their 2013 officers: Kenan Bridges, president; Amber Yurgel, vice president; Angelique Apple, secretary/treasurer; and Samantha Lawrence, club reporter.

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  • Master Gardener class to begin Feb. 13

    The Master Gardeners of Brunswick County offer a unique horticulture class for Brunswick County residents. The class provides the basic knowledge needed to maintain a yard/garden in the coastal plain of North Carolina.
    The next scheduled class will start on Feb.13 and run through March 20. All classes begin at 9 a.m.
    This class is shorter and less expensive than the Master Gardener class and contains less science and more “how to” content.

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