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The Lee County Ledger, Thursday, October 4,2001 - Page 7A
Thundering Springs
Baptist Church
18th Annual
Community Day
Saturday, October 6, 2001
Serving Catfish Plates
6 Pm-6:45 Pm, (No Cost)
Sing Begins 7pm,
Featuring "Sacred Heart"
All activities outside,
weather permitting
PLEASE JOIN US
J Sept. 27 and Oct. 4
duce. Now, that's important to
commercial growers. It's the main
reason they use plastic.
Second in importance to grow
ers are increased yields, which
mean more products to sell and
more profits.
Reducing weed problems
comes in third. However, weed
problems are reduced only if you
use a black mulch or some other
wavelength-selective mulch that
blocks photosynthesis.
Even those aren't perfect. Nut
sedges are some of the most trou
bling and most persistent weeds
in gardens. And plastic mulch
doesn't slow them down.
Those are the major advantages.
But that's only part of the story.
There is a downside. Plastic has
to be installed very carefully and
precisely to very stringent stan
dards, or it can quickly become
more a curse than a blessing.
To be effective, the plastic
needs to be on raised beds and
must be installed tightly to the
bed. There must be plenty of soil,
too, on the outside edges holding
the plastic down, or it probably
will blow into your neighbor's
yard with the first wind gust.
Commercial growers have to
install plastic to these same rigid
standards. But they have the ma
chinery to throughly and properly
till the soil, make the required bed
and properly place and secure the
plastic.
Since most gardeners don't have
this specialized, very expensive
equipment, these chores must be
done by hand. From experience,
I can verify that these are very
hard, physically demanding tasks.
For those willing to make a sub
stantial investment, at least one
company has begun marketing
"garden-sized" equipment for
making beds and laying plastic.
Check with your garden supplier
for availability and costs.
Getting water under the plastic
mulch can be a problem, too.
True, the mulch helps conserve
soil moisture. But eventually it
will become depleted. It's hard,
or impossible, for rain or over
head irrigation to adequately wet
the soil under the plastic.
That's why farmers install drip
irrigation tubes under the plastic.
Gardeners who grow on plastic
should use drip irrigation, too.
Another downside is that most
plastic mulches aren't biodegrad
able, At the end of the garden sea
son. you have to remove and
properly dispose of (not bum) the
plastic. Again, this can be quite a
chore.
Next spring, when it's decision
time, review this list of benefits.
Then carefully consider the
chores of tillage, bed preparation
and plastic installation. Weigh all
these factors in the balance.
Some gardeners will elect not
to use plastic film mulch. Others
will decide the positives outweigh
the negatives. The decision is
yours.
(Darbie Granberry is an Exten
sion Service horticulturist with
the University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmen
tal Sciences)
Kinchafoonee Primary School Model Students for the month of September are: Kindergarten (front row):
Kaylyn Thompson, Halee Nutt, Courtney Kirt, Morghan Calhoun, Callie Futch, Stephanie Leddon, Nicholas
Sturtz, Summer Flournoy, Devan Tindell, Carson Caldwell, and Jerry Jenkins. First Graders (second row)
are: Caitlyn Davis, Jenna Barnes, Ty Mcallister, Amber Young, Zachary Barr, Sarah Dowling, Emily Dearing,
Hailey Scott, Lance Martin, Nivia Collier, and Paige Adams. Second Graders (third row): Alexandria Lemacks,
Jessica Robison, Kaitlyn Adams, Caleb Anderson, Autumn Parsons, Shelby Burr, Ivy Singleton, Tiffany
Timmerman, Mason Moody, Ashleigh Bodiford, and Tenisha Ross. Not pictured are Mason Brown, Karon
West, and Morgan Dockery.
Growing Up in Georgia
Plastic Film Mulch in Your Garden?
By Darbie Granberry
University of Georgia
Traveling through the country
side, you may have seen fields of
beds covered with plastic film
mulch. Or maybe you've read
about it in farm and gardening
magazines.
Growing vegetable crops on
plastic film mulch is common
throughout the Southeast. But up
to this point, few have chosen to
use plastic in their gardens. You
may feel you need to know more
about its benefits and possible
disadvantages.
Why use plastic?
Farmers are growing thousands
of acres of vegetables on plastic.
So why do they use it? For farm
ers, plastic film mulch:
1. Promotes earlier production
in the spring.
2. Often increases yield over
bare-ground production.
3. Reduces weed problems.
4. Reduces fertilizer leaching.
5. Reduces evaporation of soil
moisture.
6. Reduces soil compaction.
7. Eliminates root pruning from
hoeing and cultivation.
Plastic film mulch provides
these same benefits to gardeners.
But let's look a little closer.
All seven factors on this list are
helpful. Because plastic mulch
warms the soil and enhances early
growth, spring vegetables grown
on plastic can often be harvested
10 days to two weeks earlier than
those grown on bare ground.
Historically, buyers pay higher
prices for earlier-harvested pro-
Parrish Johnson
Johnson
Awarded
Parrish Johnson was awarded
first place recognition for an es
say contest entitled "Why I Am
Proud To Be An American". She
was one of three students chosen
from among the other third
through sixth graders at Brown
Elementary. She is the daughter
of Darren and Chimene J ohnson.
Boutique
& Things
Announcing Lori Tatum to
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1626 S. Philema Rd. - Leesburg, Ga - 17 Years Experience
Specializing in haircut and styling, Monday & Tuesday . 8-5
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bodywaves, formal occassion styling Friday 8-5
(Proms, weddings, photos), facial waxing, S aturday by appointment
paraffin wax treatments and many others. Walk-Ins Welcome
Call for your appointment today... (229) 432-5001
* Bring this ad in and receive 15% off your total services.
One ad per person, offer valid until November 30th, 2001.
Hugh O. Morris, P.C.
ATTORNEY AT LAW I
Criminal Defense
Personal Injury
Family Law
506 N. Jefferson St. Albany, GA 31702-0582
(229) 420-4104
email: hughmorrisattorney @ hotmail.com
WOODSTONE APARTMENTS
320 Main Street, Leesburg, GA 759-8258
Call Sharon - Office Now Open Monday thru Thursday 8-12
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State Awards $410,000 to
Historic Preservation Projects
Governor Roy Barnes an
nounced that the Georgia Heri
tage Grant Program has awarded
31 grants totaling $410,000 for
historic preservation projects
throughout state. The Georgia
Heritage Grant Program is ad
ministered by the Historic Pres
ervation Division of the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources
and provides matching grants for
development and pre-develop
ment projects. Development
projects include stabilization,
preservation, rehabilitation, and
restoration activities. Pre-devel
opment projects include plans and
specifications, feasibility studies,
historic structure reports, or other
building-specific or site specific
preservation plans. Sixty-one ap
plications were received request
ing a total of $1.2 million in grant
assistance to complete over $2.3
Local Student
Graduates
From Valdosta
State
University
The following Lee County stu
dent is a summer 2001 graduate
of Valdosta State University in
Valdosta, Ga.
Sara B. DiMino of Leesburg
received a Master of Science de
gree in Marriage/Family Therapy
million in project work.
According to Historic Preser
vation Division Director Ray
Luce, Georgia Heritage Program
grants are an important tool that
helps ensure the preservation of
the state's heritage, which is in
creasingly at risk. "This program
creates effective partnerships
with local governments and pri
vate nonprofit organizations to
preserve historic resources that
are increasingly threatened by
changing land use, fire, neglect,
and the lack of adequate fund
ing," he said. "These modest
'seed' grants energize preserva
tion projects and put into place
lasting relationships that con
tinue to grow long after grant
funds are expended. Our com
munities and our state are richer
because of the state's commit
ment to heritage stewardship,"
he added.
Lee County Courthouse. Lees
burg, Lee County was awarded
$13,000. The Lee County Court
house has served Lee County
since its construction in 1917.
Grant funds will be used to re
pair wooden windows and install
handicap accessible restrooms.
The Historic Preservation Di
vision (HPD) of the Georgia De
partment of Natural Resources
serves as Georgia's state historic
preservation office. In addition
to Georgia Heritage 2000 grants,
other HPD programs include ar
chaeology. environmental re
view, Historic Preservation Fund
grants, historic resource surveys,
tax incentives, community plan
ning and technical assistance,
and the Georgia African Ameri
can Historic Preservation Net
work. For more information,
please ca 11404/656-2840 or visit
our Web site at www.gashpo.org.
Davis Auto Parts
Used Auto Parts
Minor Auto Repair Work
We Buy Junk Cars
434-1793 Monday - Friday 8:00 - 5:30
209 E. Century Road - Leesburg
St
^heSpiscoP al Church
or Shine ~ No Ear# S * te *
DAY, OCTOBER 5
( _ Come for lunch and browse!
HOTDOGS
DRINKS
twf 4SURESGAL0REI
