May Calendar

• 3rd - Cooking Air Fried Catfish Tacos Food Demonstration - Wisner Catfish Festival, Wisner - 9am to 1 pm
• 9th - NCH Learning Lab - Louise Williams Library, Monroe - 5:30 pm
• 12th - TeenChef Workshop - First Methodist, Winnsboro - 10 am to 1 pm
• 16th - Playground Stenciling Project - J.S. Clark Magnet School, Monroe - 9 am (Volunteers Needed)
• 19th - TeenChef Workshop - First Methodist, Winnsboro - 10 am to 1 pm
• 28th - MERIT Adult Nutrition Education Cardio Drumming, Winnsboro - 10 am to Noon

Kids Corner

by Cathy Agan

Park Scavenger Hunt

Family visits to a local park can be a great way to be physically active. The next time you visit a park, try this scavenger hunt with your kids to make a family walk interactive and educational! Look for each item and check it off when you see it.

• Butterfly
• Worm/Caterpillar
• Bird
• Tree
• Spider
• Spiderweb
• Leaves
• Flower
• Bee/Wasp

Plan Your Spring Vegetable Garden for Summer Harvesting

by Marcie Wilson

Spring is here! Mid-April is the time to transplant vegetable plants like tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers into your garden. It is best to sow seeds directly into the garden for snap beans, lima beans, cantaloupe, sweet corn, cucumber, okra, southern peas, squash, and melons because the plants do not respond well to transplanting. Watch for weeds that begin sprouting in your garden areas. Pull the weeds out by hand before they go to seed. Mix compost into the existing soil in your beds to replenish it. Apply plant nutrients on or in the soil near the roots of planted crops such as potatoes, carrots, lettuce, sweet corn, cabbage, and greens. Refer to the Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide for full recommendations for planting and fertilizing. If you are growing in containers or raised beds, here are some do’s and don’ts:

Container Gardening Do's:

• Use quality potting mix and containers with drain holes.
• Use the right size container (e.g., 5-gallon for tomatoes).
• Incorporate companion plants for pest control (marigolds, nasturtiums, calendula, etc.).

Container Gardening Don'ts:

• Use fillers like rocks, newspaper, Styrofoam, or mulch at the bottom (creates a perched water table and inhibits drainage).
• Overfill containers (crowds out and becomes rootbound quickly).
• Forget to water, fertilize, and mulch.

Vegetables that do well in containers include tomatoes (determinate or patio), carrots, potatoes, onions/shallots/garlic, peppers, radish, lettuce, eggplant, and sweet potatoes. Container grown crops can be moved to a sheltered location like a porch or greenhouse under the threat of a late frost and moved back out when weather conditions improve. Most all herbs do well in containers, but especially mint that tends to spread. Fresh herbs like dill and cilantro are often needed for canning of pickles and salsa, but tend to bolt (flower and go to seed) with the heat of summer, long before our tomato and cucumber crops come in. A solution to this is to plant slow-bolting varieties of dill and cilantro in containers. Place these containers in morning-midday sun/afternoon shade locations to further slow bolting and be harvest-ready along with your other summer crops. For more gardening tips, follow Northeast Region Horticulture, Delta Master Gardeners and Macon Ridge Master Gardeners Facebook pages.

Recipe of the Month

by Quincy Vidrine

Sauteed Spring Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1-pound assorted spring vegetables (such as carrots, asparagus, radishes, spring onions, squash, zucchini, broccoli, or sugar-snap peas), trimmed or peeled if needed

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/8 - 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Steps:

1. Place the vegetables in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the marinade ingredients.
3. Pour over vegetables. Toss to coat.
4. In a large skillet, sauté vegetable mixture in batches for 3-6 minutes or until crisp-tender.
5. Serve warm or refrigerate immediately.

Prep: 20 minutes plus marinating time.

Cook time: 3-6 minutes (depending on vegetables selected).

Makes 9 servings

Around the Region

J.S. Clark Magnet Elementary School conducted an educational program on the use of water and what it takes to grow fruits and vegetables, and the water content in certain fruit and vegetables.

Ouachita NCH Extension Agent, Cathy Agan, completed a series of lessons with kindergarten students at Kiroli Elementary School. The students learned about MyPlate food groups and how healthy foods provide our bodies with nutrients for good health.

Food demonstration at Growing Minds Day

Students interact with cattle at Growing Minds Day

Nourish to Prevent: An Educational Cancer Prevention Series (pilot program), participants combined a variety of herbs and spices to create a Salt-free Cajun Seasoning at the West Carroll Parish Extension Office located in Oak Grove, Louisiana.