THE DIRT ON CONSERVATION

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1 Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District THE DIRT ON CONSERVATION Summer Newsletter June 2015 Celebrate 70 Years of Service with Us! Annual Meeting August 11, :30 pm 8:00 pm Harrison County Fairgrounds 5:30-6:45 Election 5:30-7:00 Chicken BBQ 6:30 Children s activity 7:00 Annual Awards 7:30 Election Results Ralph Dunlap (Harrison SWCD), Harry Smith (Vo-Ag), and Robert Lahmers (4-H Agent) barbecuing some of the 325 halves of chicken at a Pasture Field Day in Cadiz on October 30th, Menu: BBQ chicken halves, baked beans, pasta salad, rolls, watermelon, ice cream, cake, and beverage Throwback pictures displayed $10.00 per person (children under 5 FREE) Annual Election of Supervisors Harrison SWCD will be electing one Supervisor this year at our 70th Annual Meeting on August 11. Those in attendance may vote if they are at least 18 years of age, a United States Citizen, reside in Harrison County, or own land within the county. If you are unable to attend, see the absentee voting instructions on the last page. RSVP by July 27th

2 Backyard Food Production New to Harrison County this year, the Backyard Food Production Series has already covered a huge range of topics about raising your own food. This series of workshops is a partnership between the Carroll and Harrison SWCD s and the Carroll and Harrison Ohio State University Extension Offices. Sessions have covered raising backyard chickens, planning garden layouts, planting tree seedlings, and building rain barrels. Meetings will continue every month thru October and start at 6pm. Locations move between Harrison and Carroll counties and there are lots of great topics in the coming months, including composting, greenhouse basics, cold storage options, and canning and preserving. Please contact our office for more details or to get added to the mailing list for future meetings. Eastern Ohio Grazing Council Continues Pasture Walk Series The Eastern Ohio Grazing Council (EOGC) kicked off their 2015 Pasture Walks with a special Saturday event on April 18 th at Sonny Hayashi s farm in Carroll County. The April Pasture Walk tied in to the Getting Started Grazing Series hosted by Harrison Soil and Water Conservation District and provided an opportunity for new grazers to learn alongside some of the veteran members of the EOGC. In addition to networking opportunities and a trade show featuring some of the great sponsors of the EOGC, participants toured the farm which is a new operation. Groups walked the farm, studied soils maps, and made suggestions on how to lay out the grazing system. In May, the Pasture Walk Series took participants to southern Tuscarawas County to visit NCRS District Conservationist Harry Kenney s 150 acre farm. Topics included: Spring Developments, Using Geotextile on Access Roads, Examining Effects of Winter Grazing on Spring Growth, and Measuring Pasture Production. These great events will be continuing throughout the summer and fall, so be sure the join the EOGC, NRCS, and your local Soil and Water Conservation Districts in the coming months. Upcoming topics include stockpiling for winter, seeding annual forages, and seeing how area producers are turning their knowledge into action on the farm. In addition to great learning opportunities, Pasture Walks always include a great meal and networking, and are always free. To sign up to receive flyers for upcoming events contact the Harrison SWCD.

3 4th Annual Photo Contest Biggest Tree Contest Photo Categories: Sycamore 70 Years of Conservation Landscapes capturing importance of conservation in Harrison County 4th largest Sycamore in Ohio is in Harrison County- hoping to find one bigger! Our Waters Pictures showing how vital Entries due July 27th water is in our lives Growing Green Photos of the things that grow in the soil we conserve Requirements: 2014 Winning Photo by Kaye Clay Photo Guidelines: Must be located in Harrison County Photos can be color or black and white Nomination Must Include: Pictures must have been taken during the year of 2014 or 2015 Prints can be submitted as a 4x6 to the SWCD office or a digital copy by (keila.telfer@hswcd.org) Each participant is limited to 3 entries per category Photos must be taken in Harrison County Winning photos will be displayed at the Harrison SWCD annual meeting and Harrison SWCD has the right to use photographs on any printed or digital material. Name of landowner, name of nominator, ad- dress, location of tree, phone number, Big trees can be found in yards, arboretums, and cemeteries and can be found in parks and backyards. The winning tree s landowner(s) and/or nominator(s) will be recognized at the Harrison SWCD s Annual Meeting & Banquet August11. Each Submission Must Include: Take a Look We have been working hard the past month to install three raised bed gardens at the fairgrounds. We have planted a wide variety of tomatoes & peppers, along with cantaloupe, green beans, lettuce, cauliflower, & marigolds. Visit the Harrison County Fair July 6-11 to check out our garden and visit us in the Commercial Building with a wealth of information available. Educational talks and a variety of children s activities will also be happening throughout the week of the fair. Thank you to our wonderful donors for the supplies towards this project. Harrison Central FFA, Pappy's Restaurant & Greenhouse, & Ameriscapes.

4 Board Candidates for 2016 Craig Brokaw Craig owns and operates C-N-J Farm in North Township. He started farming in the 1980s and has expanded over the years to the current acres, part of which he owns and the rest is rented. His farming venture is mainly a cow/calf operation, but he does raise some small grains and hay. C-N-J Farms was awarded the Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District Conservation Farm of the Year in In addition to farming, Craig has operated a contracting company, Central Contracting, since Craig is married to John Quimby After earning degrees in Entomology and Forestry from the University of Michigan, he was the State Forest Entomologist and Chief of the Forest Health Program of Pennsylvania for 30 years, and a Forester for the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, and South Dakota for five years before that. Since retiring from forest entomology in 1999 'Quimby' (as he is called), has been devoting his time to cabinet making, planting trees, social action, and environmental education for youngsters. He has worked part time/full time for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and was named "Environmental Educator of the Year" by that organization in Several past summers have been spent guiding canoe trips for youngsters in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. In that capacity he has run workshops on wildflower identifi-

5 Board Members: (left to right) Tillie Heavilin, Treasurer; Kathy Depew, Fiscal Agent; John Herbold, Secretary; Lynn Mendenhall, Vice-Chairman; Craig Brokaw, Chairman Absentee Voting People who are unable to attend the Annual Meeting may request an absentee ballot and registration form from the district office. You may request a ballot in writing between July 21st and August 5th or in person by 4:00 p.m., August 5th. We will accept one request per envelope unless they are from the same household; each person must sign the request form. Ballots enclosed must be received at the district office by 4:00 p.m. on August 5, No absentee ballots will be accepted at the meeting. If you would like to vote by absentee ballot, please call or stop by the district office to request one. Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District Annual Meeting Reservation Form August 11, 2015 Name Reservation Deadline is: Phone # Monday, July 27th, 2015 Reservations: # of $10.00 # of children under 5yrs (FREE)

6 A Special Thank You to the Commissioners The Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors & Staff would like to thank the Harrison County Commissioners for their financial support and dedication to Soil & Water Conservation. The financial assistance from the county will be matched by state funds which enables the district to better aid and provide assistance to the landowners and residents of Harrison County. Supervisors Craig Brokaw Tillie Heavilin Lynn Mendenhall John Herbold Kathy Depew Staff Keila Telfer Jonathan Roales Josh Britton NRCS Beth Kruprzak Clint Finney Harrison Soil & Water Conservation District 538 North Main Street Cadiz, Ohio Phone: Fax: Website: NON-PROFIT PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PD PERMIT #23 CADIZ, OH 43907