County Extension

It’s hard to believe it’s just one week away from Thanksgiving. The television chefs, magazines and Internet have been sharing lots of recipes, ideas and “hacks” to make your holiday bird easier, healthier and tasting better. I’m joining the pack and offering a food safety pointer. This tip is one the food safety people have been encouraging for the past few years:
Don’t wash the turkey!

 This holiday season, the only thing that should be “stuffed” is the turkey. Many Americans gain between one and five pounds each holiday season. While it may not sound like much, most people never manage to lose these extra pounds after the holidays. And this goes on year after year.

Hopefully, the current election cycle hasn’t pushed you to the brink like George Bailey contemplating a plunge into the icy water in the classic 1946 movie. Political silliness aside, we do have a wonderful life here in southeastern North Carolina, just as George comes to understand.
While I’m certainly not trying for my wings as your guardian angel, I do have some suggestions for simple, low-cost things you can do in the garden that won’t require signing your life away at the Building and Loan.

 Horticulture gurus often suggest the cooler days and nights of autumn are a great time to plant trees and shrubs in our mild climate. Plants aren’t stressed as much and have a chance to develop a better root system before the heat and humidity of another southern summer arrives.

Well, all that is true for most plants, but there are some selections of my favorite group of summer-flowering plants (crape myrtle) that are better planted in late winter and early spring.