Low-impact living
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga County Cooperative Extension Service is kicking off a series to create a greener and more sustainable world.

The “Low-Impact Living” series offers ways to reduce impact, live healthier, and save money. This series of classes touches on water, food, energy efficiency and health.

Topics of the Low-Impact Living Series include: Water Resources in May, Organic Gardening in June, Backyard Chickens in July, and Food Preservation in August.

The Water Resources Series held in May is open to anyone interested in conserving and preserving water, an issue made more prominent by the recent drought. Dealing with the dry spell, cleansing storm water before it enters streams, and learning how to monitor water quality are the topics.

May
May 13, Volunteer Water Monitoring, 4:30 p.m., Valle Crucis Community Park pavilion: Learn how to collect and identify aquatic insects to determine stream health. Volunteers are needed all across the watershed to sample four times a year.

May 14, Build a Rain Barrel, 5 p.m., Watauga Agricultural Conference Center. All the supplies will be available to build a custom rain barrel. This workshop will cost $55.

May 15, Backyard Rain Gardens, 5 p.m., Watauga Agricultural Conference Center. Learn how to reduce negative impacts on streams in the High Country by creating a rain garden. Brian Chatham of the Watauga County Soil and Water Conservation Service will be there representing the CCAP (Community Conservation Assistance Program). The program is developed to help citizens design, build, and fund rain gardens and other storm water best management practices at appropriate sites.

June
Organic Gardening 101 — Designed for beginning gardeners or those who would like to switch to organic methods. Topics include garden planning, seed starting, companion planting, how to attract beneficial bugs, pest management, soil tests and amendments, composting and vermi-composting, growing herbs, landscape planning and edible landscaping. Held at the ASU Sustainable Development Farm in Valle Crucis, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Monday, June 9 through Thursday, June 12. Cost is $10 per day or $30 for four days. Reserve a spot by paying in advance.

July
Backyard Chickens — The Backyard Chicken series is targeted to beginning chicken owners and individuals interested in purchasing and raising a small (about 10) flock of chickens. Series participants will learn about different varieties of chickens, how to select the variety right for them, purchasing and raising chicks, housing, nutrition, how to maintain meat birds, how to maintain layers and how to process poultry for meat.
There will be a fee of $10 per participant to cover the cost of materials and purchasing birds for the processing workshop. Schedule of BYC series:
July 21, Watauga Ag Conference Center, 4:30-6 p.m., “Introduction to Backyard Chickens”
July 22, Watauga Ag Conference Center, 4:30-6 p.m., “Meat Varieties and Care”
July 23, Watauga Ag Conference Center, 4:30-6 p.m., “Laying Varieties and Care”
July 24, On-farm Demonstration, 4:30-6:30 p.m., “Handling Eggs and Processing Chickens”

September-October
The September series is “Better Homes for Green Living” which will include Detoxify your Home, Increasing your Comfort through Weatherization, Home Energy, and Natural Building Products. Western North Carolina Renewable Energy Initiative, Building Performance Engineering, and Green Mother Goods are partners in this series.

October will include green holiday season tips, ideas on green gift giving, and consumer choices. Green Mother Goods will be sponsoring this workshop.

The Watauga County Agricultural Conference Center is located at 252 Poplar Grove Road in Boone. For more information and to register for any of the workshops, call (828) 264-3061.