Newberry Soil & Water Newsletter

April 2015-June 2015 | NSWCD-NRCS | (803) 276-1978 ext. 101
Newberry Soil
& Water
Newsletter
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service-Newberry Soil and Water
Conservation District
Cleanup, Cleanup! Everybody, Everywhere!
Contents
Cleanup, Cleanup!
1
schools, individuals, and local government office to do a city-wide cleanup.
Be a Part of Your Local Voice
1
Gardening Series
2
Education
2
Grinding of the Greens Update
2
Getting ‘Down and Dirty’
3
home, but in your community as well. Join us on Saturday, May 9th from 9 a.m. to 12
Envirothon
3
p.m. for our GAC Event. (Saturday the 16th is a scheduled “rain day” in case of
Camp Conservation
3
inclement weather.) We will supply pick-up tools, gloves, vests, trash bags, and more!
Shoe Drive
4
Come give Newberry a “Spring Cleaning” this year and let’s aim for a more beautiful
“Little Farmers”
4
Each year, Keep Newberry County Beautiful (a program run by the Newberry Soil and
Water Conservation District) hosts a Great American Cleanup, also called the GAC. This
event takes place downtown Newberry, where we partner with local businesses,
This year, as part of the merge with Adopt-A-Highway, we have decided to partner up
with the state too! The Adopt-A-Highway groups will also be doing their quarterly
cleanups in collaboration with our GAC Event.
Now, we need YOUR help … as we all know, “spring cleaning” is needed not just in your
Newberry County!
Call Danielle Rowe to sign up for this event at (803) 276-1978 x-101
Be a Part of Your Local Voice in Natural
Resources Conservation
Our Affiliate Membership Program is still open and growing! Come join our family as
we aim to help in local conservation through education programs, monthly events and
workshops, soil sampling, and more! Memberships are 100% tax deductible, we offer a
local discount card, two tickets to our annual banquet, and the assurance that every
penny goes back into our programs and education and outreach efforts that help to
conserve our natural resources.
Special Interest Articles
Individual Highlights
Great American Cleanup in May 1
Part 2 of our 3-Part Gardening Series
Continues in June
2
Scholarship Winners
2
Envirothon Team from MCHS
3
Introducing Camp Conservation 3
2
Gardening Series – Part 2
Do you naturally have a green thumb,
Part 2 will branch off of Part 1
but still want tips or information on your
(greenhouses, raised beds, traditional
garden? Maybe you’re like the other
gardening, and soils) to incorporate more
90% of us backyard gardeners and you
information on irrigation, fertilizers,
DON’T have a green thumb … well no
pesticides, and organic processes.
worries, because we have both thumbs
covered!
If you came to Part 1 of the Gardening
Series, you know you do not want to miss
The Newberry Soil and Water
Part 2! To reserve your spot, call Danielle
Conservation District is hosting Part 2 of
Rowe at (803) 276-1978 x101 or e-mail
our 3-Part Gardening Series on June 25th
her at newberrysoilandwater@gmail.com
at 7:00 p.m.
“If you came to Part 1 of the Gardening Series, you know you do not want to miss Part 2!”
“Grinding of the Greens”
Update & Thanks!
This past January, Keep Newberry County
Beautiful hosted our first ever “Grinding of
the Greens,” a tree recycling program,
where we collected trees from local
businesses and individuals in the
community.
Newberry Electric ground up the Christmas
trees for us and we were able to donate all
“Education is not preparation for life;
education is life itself …”
John Dewey said it best when he said, “education is not preparation for life; education
is life itself.” Here at the Newberry Soil and Water Conservation District, we take
education very seriously and know that conservation initiatives start with educating our
young people. Lack of knowledge is a big reason why people do NOT conserve, nor care
about conserving their natural resources.
This is why we created two scholarships for high school seniors and current college
students going into the field of agriculture or natural resources related programs and
that are actively involved in their community: the Newberry Soil and Water
Conservation District Ag Scholarship (Value: $1,000.00) and the “Let’s Keep Newberry
County Beautiful” Scholarship (Value: $1,000.00).
of the mulch back to those that donated
We are pleased to announce that Mark Sikora of Mid-Carolina High School and Andrew
trees to us!
C. Waters of Mid-Carolina High School are our two winners of the $1,000.00
scholarships! Both of these young men showed dedication and proved their efforts in
We collected 76 trees this year! So we
conservation through their work, study, and volunteer hours.
would like to extend our gratitude to
Mark Sikora will be attending Mississippi State University to study Agronomy; Andrew
Newberry Electric for the labor and
C. Waters will be attending the University of South Carolina to study Physical Therapy.
equipment, Tractor Supply Co. and Aaron’s
for allowing us to host the event and dropoff in their parking lot, and to the City of
Newberry for their labor and willingness to
donate all of the trees they picked up!
We anticipate doing this event again next
January, so mark your calendars!
We are excited for Mark and Andrew and wish them all the best in their college
education.
We eagerly anticipate the continued education efforts by offering the Scholarship
Program for two students next year as well! We will release the new scholarships for
the 2016-2017 school year at the beginning of the 2016 year.
3
Camp Conservation
“Nature is not a place to visit … it is home”
-Gary Snyder
Do your kids love the outdoors? July 20th-
Get ‘Down and Dirty’ … with Your Soil!
Soil, possibly the most overlooked, underrated, taken for granted, yet major partner
in farming and gardening, constantly needs a little TLC.
At the Newberry Soil & Water Conservation District, we encourage you to get down
and dirty with your soil! Soils should be tested yearly … yes, that’s right, yearly in
order to ensure proper nutrients and a good balance for healthy farming, gardening,
and grazing.
24th the Newberry Soil and Water
Conservation District will be partnering
with many local business, agencies, and
individuals to host our annual Camp
Conservation!
This year, we will be doing a week long
camp PACKED with educational activities,
experiments, games, and outdoor events!
The USDA says that “Soil is a natural body comprised of solids (minerals and organic
matter), liquid, and gases that occurs on the land surface, occupies space, and is
We think learning should be fun … and it IS
characterized by one or both of the following: horizons, or layers, that are
… and we can prove it!
distinguishable from the initial material as a result of additions, losses, transfers, and
transformations of energy and matter or the ability to support rooted plants in a
Camp Conservation is will be for youth ages
natural environment.” So, why not take care of it?
6-14. We will have lessons and activities to
Ideally, a healthy soil should contain about 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air, and 5%
accommodate various age/grade levels.
organic matter.
For more information on soil testing, getting your soil tested, or any other questions,
call Danielle Rowe at (803) 276-1978 x-101
Mid-Carolina High School Teaming Up for
Envirothon
Every year DNR hosts Envirothon, a competition for high school students to test their
knowledge on soils, water resources, forestry, wildlife, and other current
environmental issues. This year, we are sponsoring Mrs. Ann Darr’s Biology students
from Mid-Carolina High School as they will be representing Newberry County!
We want to send Mid-Carolina High School students the best of luck!!
We encourage you to get your kids
involved with the Newberry Soil and Water
Conservation District, conservation
initiatives, and teaching them about the
rural side of life.
Through engaging activities, we will show
kids there is more to nature than just
meets the eye.
4
NSWCD-NRCS
719 Kendall Road, Newberry SC 29108
(803) 276-1978 ext. 101
newberrysoilandwater@gmail.com
Our Mission is to develop and
implement conservation initiatives
which ensure the wise use of natural
resources.
Find us on the Web:
www.nswcd.com
www.facebook.com/NSWCDandKNCB
www.twitter.com/NSWCDKNCB
Shoes Go Out To Help Those in Need
In collaboration with Funds2Org, Keep Newberry County Beautiful hosted our 2nd
Annual Shoe Drive to collect shoes to help impoverished nations. Funds2org supports
MicroEnterprise in impoverished nations in 13 third-world countries; they work with
people who are sent through a free training program on how to run their own little
business selling shoes. These individuals are then given a free supply of shoes to get
their business going. After the business has been established, they can then return and
purchase the second set of shoes at a very low cost. This enables them to make a huge
increase in income, pay for educational expenses, housing, food, clothes, and more.
This year, we hosted the event for the month of February only, and collected 118 bags
of shoes, with each bag containing 25 pairs of shoes. This totaled just 50 pairs shy of
3,000 pairs of shoes! This well exceeded our amount from last year’s 111 bags in about
3-4 months. We anticipate close to the dollar amount donated to us, as was last year’s
amount ($850.00), that we will be able to put into next year’s shoe drive and even
hosting more Keep Newberry County Beautiful events!
KNCB will be making this an annual event (every February) that we hope can continue
to grow in our community! To sign up to help with next year’s shoe drive, contact us at
(803) 276-1978 x-101 for more information.
NSWCD “Little Farmers” of the Quarter:
Preston Lominick and Harper Lominick
*Photo Compliments in this article are from Setzler Farms & Buddy Lominick