Living Wreath

Nothing brightens up dreary winter days like beautiful fresh flowers…especially ones that remind you of spring!  Here’s a great idea for a wreath decorated with living flowers to hang on your wall.  Preparation of the flowers takes a little time, but it’s worth the wait.  

Forcing the Bulbs - Buy some paperwhite narcissus bulbs in the fall and keep them in a cold place until about six weeks before you want them to bloom.  Six weeks prior to the desired bloom date, buy a brick of floral foam and scoop out holes on the top to set bulbs.  (Each bulb needs a hole about 1 inch deep and 2 inches wide.)  Soak the foam in water for 20 minutes, then place one bulb in each of the holes.  Put the foam and bulbs in a shallow pan of water and keep them in a cool dark place for three weeks.  Then bring the pan out into the sunlight for three weeks.  Be sure you keep the bulbs moist, but don’t soak them…and make sure no one lifts the bulbs off the foam just to see if there’s roots yet!  The object is to get the bulbs to root into the floral foam.

For more information about forcing bulbs, check out University of Kentucky College of Agriculture publication 4BE-12PO, “Forcing Spring Flowering Bulbs” at:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/4be/4be12po/4be12po.pdf   

This is a great project to do with kids!

Close-Up View

Putting it All Together - When the bulbs begin to bloom, wrap the foam block and bulbs with Spanish moss and secure it with floral wire.  Wire the covered block to a grapevine wreath and cover any exposed wire with more Spanish moss.  Add a few pussy willow branches or bare twigs behind the narcissus for support.  Add other decorative accents, such as a mushroom tops, floral picks, or whatever matches your decor.  Finish it off with a decorative bow. 

Use a spray bottle to mist the roots of the plants every few days.

Farm to Plate

For many years, Cooperative Extension Service programs around the country have conducted workshops to educate children about where their food comes from since so many families now live in urban settings away from the farm. But with more people now interested in sustainability and buying locally grown food, there seems to be a slight shift, as was discovered when fourth graders in Rockcastle County (Ky) visited Sigmon Farms.

Watch the news video produced by the University of Kentucky about the Sigmon Family's Farm to Plate Tour on YouTube.

Maple Syrup Workshop

Maple Syrup...Made in Kentucky?

Believe it or not, high quality maple syrup can be produced in Kentucky.  All over Kentucky, but especially in the eastern part of the state, woodland owners may find that they have many maple trees in their woodlots. If these trees are larger than 10 inches in diameter, and if there are 25 to 40 maple trees per acre, woodland owners might want to think about making maple syrup as a possibility for increased income from their woodlots.

Join us at the Laurel County Cooperative Extension Service on Friday, November 12, from 1-4 PM as we welcome some of the foremost authorities on maple syrup production:

·    Deborah Hill—Extension Professor with the Forestry Department of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture.  One of her many Extension responsibilities is forestry‐related farm commodities.

·    Dr. Gary Graham—Extension maple syrup specialist from Ohio State University

·    Lee Blythe—Maple syrup producer from Auburn, Kentucky

At this workshop, you will have an opportunity to learn how maple syrup is produced from the raw maple sap into the finished maple syrup that makes it to the table.  In addition to the hands-on demonstration, the workshop will address many questions about maple syrup production, such as:

·    What is maple syrup?

·    What kinds of maple trees make the best syrup?

·    How does one identify a tree that will produce a lot of sap?

·    When do you tap maple trees for their sap, and what weather conditions are best for sap production?

·    How many taps could you have in your woodlot?

·    How does one make the sap into syrup?

Registration fee for the workshop is $5 for materials and refreshments.  Pre-registration is required.  For more information or to register, call the Laurel County Cooperative Extension Service at 606-864-4167 or visit us online at www.ca.uky.edu/laurel.