Chapter Ikes Jonathan Echols and Les Ward
The October Chapter Members’ meeting was held on October 15th at the Oakland Christian Church Community Center.
A scrumptious Fried Fish Fry dinner was provided by Chapter Ikes Jonathan Echols and Les Ward shown here in this photo from left to right. The meal consisted of three varieties of fried fish, french fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies, along with an assortment of homemade desserts, served up with help from the kitchen crew.
Linda Byrd-Masters
Our guest speaker for the evening was Linda Byrd-Masters of the Virginia Tech Tidewater AREC (Agriculture Research & Extension Center) which is one of eleven (11) such centers in the state. Linda works in the Plant Pathology Department as a Laboratory and Research Specialist II. The extension center was established in 1914 and is committed to applied research and educational programs that support profitable and sustainable agriculture in the Tidewater region of Virginia and North Carolina. Linda is also a member of the local Southside Chapter of the VMN (Virginia Master Naturalists) of which there are thirty (30) in the state.
Her presentation was entitled “It Takes A Village…Two Approaches to Conservation”, which highlighted the disparities between the various practices followed by both farmers (Growers) and conservationists (Naturalists), particularly with with regards to pesticide use. But she also tried to find some common ground between the two groups. Linda noted that VMN has a no-pesticide/no-fungicide/no-herbicide policy. Due to practical considerations for increasing crop yields, AREC on the other hand does recommend that such chemicals be applied to crops. However, AREC strives to mitigate such applications, with the primary goal of reducing pesticide usage which not incidentally saves money.
AREC encourages an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) approach which looks at thresholds of disease and pests that are considered acceptable before pesticides must be applied; also encourages crop rotation, no-till, and using new varieties of plants. Such policies help keep nutrients and water in the soil and cut down on diseases and insects. APEC also monitors weather stations, insect traps, and provide online models that help minimize the spraying of fungicides/herbicides. She pointed out that APEC has strict licensing/training pesticide re-certification requirements and that VMN follows a similar policy requiring hours of volunteer training/continuing education credits in this regard.
For their part in promoting conservation, VMN builds pollinator gardens, encourages planting of native plants, builds animal habitats (bat houses, bluebird boxes), and removes invasive weeds such as alligator weed. They build living shorelines that help prevent shore erosion and retain soil nutrients, which is a common-ground issue with respect to AREC’s policy of encouraging the use of natural buffers by Growers in riparian areas.
Linda closed with the statement that “the Village Needs YOU!” and said that the biggest impact on improving the environment is for individuals like us to become intimately involved in following conservation practices in every aspect of our lives — planting native plants in our own gardens at home, hanging our own bird boxes/bat houses, taking shorter showers, turning off the tap while brushing our teeth, composting, recycling, etc. Also, one of her biggest pet peeves is when she sees folks raking up leaves into plastic bags to be placed at the curb–she strongly recommends that instead we should mulch leaves back into the grass, and also push some of the leaves up into piles to provide habitat over the winter for friendly soft-body insects such as lightning bugs.
