Now that school is back in session, our 4-H programs are off to a running start. Lincoln County 4-H has opportunities for youth from 5th to 12th grade both in and out of school. In-school club meetings are held monthly for all ages and typically include a short agriculture lesson and updates on our 4-H programming. Out of school opportunities include specialty clubs like cooking, livestock showing, summer reading, and more! Youth can join 4-H at any time for free. We’d like to highlight an upcoming opportunity for our 4-H’ers to learn about gardening and win prizes!
Pioneer Days is an annual event held at the Lincoln County Historical Park that attracts hundreds of people from Lincoln County and beyond. Pioneer Day highlights include tours of historical buildings and artifacts including: an animal-run cotton gin, watch demonstrations in the blacksmith shop, meat smoked in the smokehouse, corn ground in a 1920’s grist mill, sugarcane grinding, butter churning, cotton gin processing, viewing a turpentine still and lumber cut at the sawmill. Participants can see antique tractors and cars, shop at the country store, enjoy the fireplace in the 1790 Andrew Jackson Reid Log Cabin, and much more. Pioneer Days also hosts music in the Lewis Family Pavilion and a plethora of vendors around the park. Don’t forget to check out Pioneer Day’s southern cooking at its best, including: slow cooked turnip greens, chicken and dumplings, red beans and rice, fried cornbread, fried okra, sausage biscuits and hoe cakes. They also serve hot dogs, hamburgers and desserts.
At Pioneer Days on November 18th, Lincoln County 4-H will be hosting a vegetable gardening contest for 4-H’ers. In order to participate, youth in 5-12th grades will need to attend a Container Gardening class, which will be held on September 14 from 3:30-5:00 PM at the Lincoln County Extension Office. Container gardens are an excellent way to introduce gardening to people of all ages. Container gardens are versatile in that they require very little space and allow you to be creative in your gardening. The most important aspects of container gardening are appropriate seeds, planting schedule, sufficient containers, soil composition, and sunlight. If planted and cared for correctly, some container gardens can be enjoyed year-round. The class is free of charge and all materials will be provided by the 4-H Office. 4-H’ers will learn about selecting appropriate containers and soil, fertilization, sunlight and watering requirements, and choosing crops that grow well during the fall. Students will participate in hands-on learning by selecting and planting their vegetable garden contest plants.
After attending the Container Gardening class, students will be asked to take their plantings home and care for them for the following 2 months before bringing them to Pioneer Days on November 18th for judging. 4-H’ers will be asked to provide information on the plant they are presenting and how they cared for it, and plants will be judged. There is no charge for participating in the growing contest and prizes will be awarded to selected winners.
In addition to the growing contest, Ms. Goble will present a container gardening demonstration at Pioneer Days. Participants will be presented with materials to plant their own vegetables. Persons interested in participating in the class or helping with the container gardening demonstration should call Rebekah Goble, 4-H Educator at 706-359-3233 to register for the class and presentation, as they will need to procure adequate supplies.
