Join Us for a 2-Part Gardening Class at the Union County Extension Office!
Part 1: Raised Bed Gardening
Learn the basics of designing, building, and maintaining raised garden beds to create a successful and productive garden.
• Wednesday, February 5 at 4:30 p.m. OR
• Friday, February 7 at 10 a.m.
Part 2: Vegetable Planning, Planting, and Growing
Discover tips and techniques for selecting, planting, and nurturing your vegetable garden for a bountiful harvest.
• Wednesday, February 12th at 4:30 p.m. OR
• Friday, February 14th at 10 a.m.

My job as a forester was a blessing that allowed me to get out and enjoy the beauty of our woods and fields and get paid for it. But there were plants out there that would suck some of the joy of being outside. Plants that can make you bleed because of their thorns; things like blackberry, escaped rose bushes, and my worst nemesis: sawbriar. I’ve come off wildfires with literally every square inch of my legs scratched from these painful vines.

The old cliché says “Many truths are said in jest.” Sometimes the truth is just plain funny. There is no better form of entertainment than truth that just seems too funny to be real. And there is no greater tribute to a fine joke (or funny bit of truth) than repeating it for the further enjoyment of others.
While visiting my niece and her husband during the holiday break, in conversation he revealed that two of the vocational teachers in his high school were named Mr. Hogg and Mr. Butcher. As proof, he pulled out his sophomore yearbook and showed me their pictures.

Mayor Beeler's promise to clear the roads of ice and snow was fulfilled during the snow on January 10, that brought three to four inches to Plainview and varied amounts throughout Union County. Lynn VanDyke and Wendell Wise, Plainview's snow crew, spent several hours over the weekend to make sure citizens could get to Tazewell Pike which had been cleared by TDOT.

New research finds that alternate workstation options, such as standing and sit-stand desks, can be a win-win solution for both employees and employers.

Have you ever heard the old saying that everybody has a twin somewhere? Do you believe it? I do because I experienced it.
It was a very exciting time for me when I started attending Halls Middle School in the seventh grade. I so looked forward to meeting new people and making new friends. What I didn’t expect was others coming up to me and telling they had seen a girl who looked just like me. Some even said she could’ve been my twin. I hadn’t previously experienced anything like that. Since I was an only child, I imagined it was some long lost relative. Guess what? I was correct.

Dad was mechanically minded, that included electricity. It seemed he could do anything he put his mind to. I am like that as well. If I need a project done and I don't know how to do it - no problem. I research a book on the subject. If that doesn't help, I ask someone who might know the answer. Ace Hardware in Maynardville has been the source of many of my needed answers. Back to Dad and his electrical expertise.

Cook potatoes in salted boiling water until-tender. Drain and cool. In large bowl toss together lukewarm potatoes and Italian Dressing. Chill, in separate bowl combine cabbage, olives, carrots, pickles pimientos and red or green pepper.

One of my all-time favorite pastors is the Rev. Joe McCoy. He was my pastor at the First Baptist Church of Maynardville for eight years. I was an undergraduate college student when he first became my pastor, and an elementary teacher at Luttrell Elementary when he was called to other ministry.
I remember many of the illustrations Preacher Joe included in his sermons. He once talked of a situation in which the family of a deceased individual were not “church people”. In such circumstances, the funeral home would contact the local pastor to bring the eulogy at the funeral.

A lot of my trips into the wild come with the obligatory ritual of pulling off seeds stuck to my clothes. This is especially true in the fall and winter, when the seeds are mature and easily dislodged from their mother plant. Most of these hitchhiking seeds use the Velcro method of grabbing hair or clothing. They use small barbs or hooks that adhere to whatever brushes against them. The inventor of Velcro did in fact got the idea from these sticky plants. Grabbing onto animals (and humans) is how these innovative plants get their seeds dispersed far and wide. Here is a description of several seeds you are most likely to find stuck to your socks.