The Sussex County Rutgers Cooperative Extension office, which includes 4-H, will be closed this Monday, May 25 in honor of Memorial Day.

Sussex County 4-H Weekly Challenge

In honor of Memorial Day This week in a sentence, photo, or drawing share “who your favorite hero is“. Post your responses under Sussex County Facebook post of our weekly challenge or email them to patrie@njaes.rutgers.edu to be counted.  And don’t forget to hashtag them #SussexCounty4HWklyChallange and @SussexNJ4H.

At the end of the week, one winner will be chosen and win a 2021 Teen Council Dairy Barn gift certificate. All entries must be submitted by 4:30 pm on Friday to count. and only one entry person per week.

Congrats to last week’s winner Becky Goldsworthy leader with the Sussex County Capricians! She shared a picture of her goats Hal and Midnight.


4-H From Home Webinars

Join NJ 4-H Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 3:00 PM EST for their 4‑H From Home Interactive Webinars! During each webinar, youth will have the opportunity to participate in interactive hands-on activities, where they will learn about healthy living, science, technology, service, the arts, and more! Each interactive webinar focuses on a different topic. Most webinars are geared to youth in grades 4–8. Youth do not need to be 4‑H members to participate. Registration is required and space is limited.

Coming in June:

Have an idea for a webinar and/or interested in hosting one. The 4-H from Home Team is looking for 4-H volunteers/Club leaders, 4-H Teens, etc.  who may be interested in teaching youth a specific topic. Contact the 4‑H From Home team at 4hFromHome@njaes.rutgers.edu to share your thoughts or volunteer.


4-H Animal Science Resource Blog Contest – Final Week!

It’s the last week, so don’t forget to participate in this week’s (Week #7) activities to earn up to 5 points for your club for each activity you complete. Participants have from now until the end of Friday, May 29 to complete as many of these activities as they like. 


Vote for Your Favorite 4-H Club
Animal Video

NJ 4-H 2020 Animal Science
Video Contest and Film Festival

Last chance to vote for one of the 10 videos entered, including one from our very own Kicken’ Chickens 4-H poultry club. The clubs of the top four videos and the audience’s favorite will receive gift cards to support their 4-H activities. Enjoy the videos!

Voting ends May 31. So pop some popcorn and have a family viewing night and then go vote for your favorite! (Which will be Kicken’ Chickens of course.)


Save the Dates for
Virtual 4-H Horse Camp

July 13 -16, 2020

Virtual 4-H Horse Camp is being planned with educational programs that will help to prepare your 4-H Horse Club member for a better Show experience in the future. It will include clinicians and educational speakers on a variety of topics. Some that are planned are Showmanship skills, Preparing a Horse for Halter Class, Basic Equitation tips, and some others such as a vet talking about parasites, an equine dentist talking about your horse’s mouth, a farrier talking about hoof care, etc.

There most likely will be a nominal fee to cover any presenter costs. More info to follow. This program will probably be Zoom based.


Want to add more STEM to your life?

Like and Follow the 4-H’s Rutgers Science Program Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=939693673152352&id=663655544089501

#4HFreshChefs

Check out the NEW #4HFreshChefs digital cookbook with recipes from 4-H youth, alumni & celebrity chefs!

https://4-h.org/parents/healthy-living/cookbook/

What’s better than cooking at home? Making meals that are both inspired and easy to make. This free collection of recipes from the 4-H community hits those marks on every page.

Featuring nearly 50 recipes from 4-H’ers, supporters, and 4-H alumni — including celebrity chef, author, and Tennessee 4-H alumna Carla Hall — the Fresh Chefs digital cookbook includes healthy everyday recipes and celebratory dishes for youth and families to enjoy. #4HatHome #InspireKidstoDo


Still Calling all
Garden and Crafter Enthusiasts!

Deadline to Enter is June 15. Email your pictures to torretta@njaes.rutgers.edu


Purina Giving Greatness Scholarship

Graduating seniors are the future of the show industry, and Purina is investing in their future with their new Giving Greatness Scholarship! One winner from each species – cattle, swine, goat and sheep – will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship to use towards furthering their education.

Interested? Here’s how to apply:
· Follow this link: https://bit.ly/35sG4gz
· Fill out personal information
· Thoroughly answer essay questions
· Submit!

The application is open until Tuesday, June 30, so think through your answers and tell Purina what the stock show world means to you.


Information and Programs For Our 4-H Parents and Leaders

Rutgers Earth Day at Home Webinar Series

May 26, 2020 (Tuesday)
Reducing Plastic Waste
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans. Learn about the impact plastic is having on our environment and the steps you can take to reduce plastic waste in your home.Casey Lippincott, NJDEP Watershed Ambassador

June 1, 2020
Plant This Not That – Avoiding Invasives in Your Yard. Some popular ornamental plants are actually garden “bullies” invading local ecosystems and destroying natural wildlife habitats. Learn about the importance of using native plants in your yards for supporting local ecology including examples of species you can use to replace invasives. Michele Bakacs, Associate Professor, Rutgers Cooperative Extension- Middlesex/ Union Counties.

To register or for more information visit
https://envirostewards.rutgers.edu/EarthDayatHome2020.html


Wellness Wednesdays

https://sebsnjaesnews.rutgers.edu/2020/05/wellness-on-wednesdays-with-fchs/

Wellness on Wednesday webinars with Family & Community Health Sciences will focus on a variety of topics related to food, nutrition, and healthy lifestyles.  This series will walk you through the easy steps that you can take to add positive health behaviors into your day.  From reducing the amount of food waste you produce in your home to understanding how to read the new nutrition facts label, now is the time to make some of those small changes that will improve your health in a large way.

Details: Join us on Wednesdays at 2:00 pm to learn from experts in the Department of Family & Community Health Sciences, Rutgers Cooperative Extension.  All sessions are free, will last approximately 45 minutes, and be provided via Webex.  To join, you will need either a computer, tablet, or smartphone with speakers. You must register to participate. 

May 27 – Strong Bones for a Lifetime
Whether you have osteoporosis, have broken a bone, or are just interested in keeping your bones healthy, this osteoporosis program will discuss risks, calcium intake, vitamin D, supplements, medication, physical activity and falls prevention.  Kathleen Morgan, Dr. M.H., NDTR, interim department chair

https://go.rutgers.edu/un20xvah

June 3 – Sitting, the Silent Killer  
“Sitting Is The New Smoking” – COVID Couch Potato? Learn how sitting is affecting your health and little things you can do to decrease your sitting time  Alex DelCollo, MS, FCHS senior program coordinator, Salem County

https://go.rutgers.edu/bunjakwj


“Ask the Ag Agent”

Weekly 1-hour sessions for farmers, will be hosted on Wednesdays starting April 15th and continue each Wednesday. The online conferencing/call-in events will begin at 7:00PM with an open forum to discuss ag-related questions about production, marketing, regulations, and any other topics farmers wish to discuss. All are welcome!  To access via WebEx on a computer go to https://go.rutgers.edu/rc9n3kxt
To join by phone +1-650-429-3300 USA Toll
Access code: 799 743 872


Online Beekeeping Workshops

Sustainable Beekeeping
June 9, 2020
This one-hour webinar will discuss ways to maintain your beehives in a more sustainable way, minimizing losses through management, using local bee stocks, and creating resource hives.

Small Scale Queen Rearing
June 16, 2020
This workshop covers queen and drone biology, stock selection, introduction to several queen rearing techniques, tools, and equipment, starter and finisher hives, setting up mating yards, and record keeping.

Visit our webpage at: www.cpe.rutgers.edu/BEES to learn more! 


Sussex County
4-H Class of 2020
Senior Spotlight

Natalie Stefankiewicz

Natalie Stefankiewicz will be graduating from North Warren regional High School. She joined 4-H when she was in 6th grade and has been a member of the Summer Blossoms for 6 years. Her favorite memories from 4-H have been having a garden with my cousin, working at the food booth with her fellow 4-H members, and the week of the fair every year. From 4-H she have learned many things but feels the most important thing she’s learned is how to have and maintain a garden to grow food that is healthy for you. 4-H participation has helped her through the years because it has given her something to be involved in that she have made new friends through and learned to give back to her community. She will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the Fall and majoring in Communications.

Reagan Cope

Reagan Cope will be graduating from High Point Regional High School. She has been member of the Summer Blossoms 4-H Club for the past 9 years, this year was their Treasurer. She feels being in the Summer Blossoms 4_H Club has taught her how to look after and care for plants – even some she had never heard of before. Her job at Farmside Gardens in Sussex, exposed to her many horticultural activities and fueled her growing infatuation with plants from her time with the Summer Blossoms Club. She has enjoyed being surrounded by such a loving group of friendly faces.

Her favorite memory is when Summer Blossom helped Lindsey G. Cook 4-H Camp’s Canoeity Garden last summer. They helped to weed, pack, and plant many new plants into old unused canoes. Impressed with all their work that she wanted to go home and plant even more. 

Summer Blossoms 4-H Club has influenced Reagan in lifestyles and careers that she never thought about before. She has seen the bigger picture when it comes to the farmers and how much work goes into producing such amazing foods. She plans on majoring in Architecture at Thomas Jefferson University in their 5-year Bachelor of Architecture program whose main focus is sustainability and the built environment. Incorporating everyday environments into our new buildings could become a solution for a lot of global issues and she does not think she would have become so interested in helping create a better planet environmentally if it was not for her 4-H Summer Blossoms Club.

Congrats to Our
2020 Graduating
4-H Members!

tutgers covid message
About the author