Free biodiesel workshop to be held in Jasper!

I am really excited to announce that the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition will be hosting an informational workshop on biodiesel at the Holiday Inn Express in Jasper on September 17th from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. There is no registration fee to attend the workshop however reservations are requested. For more information or to make a reservation for the workshop please click on the Alabama Clean Fuels link listed on the left side of this blog page then scroll down to the free biodiesel workshop and click on the prompt or call (205) 402-2755. Hope to see you there!

Community garden

Thanks to the generosity of The Walker County Farmers Federation, Walker County Commission, City of Jasper, and the numerous volunteers that helped construct the beds the dream of Walker County having a community garden has now became a reality. We would not have completed the process of filling in the beds had it not been for Mr. Dover bringing his farm tractor with a much needed front end loader bucket. This is only the 1st phase of the garden and we are asking the public for suggestions on how to come up with a name for the gardens.

The August 8th work day was a huge success thanks to the many volunteers that showed up to clean out a portion of the hedge row and to line the aisle between the beds. The aisle was lined with geotextile fabric and covered by wood chips which will greatly reduce the maintenance and upkeep between the beds. The geotextile fabric was donated by the Pineview Landfill that is owned by Republic Services and the wood chips were donated by Jasper Lumber Company. Thanks also to Jeris Crump for hauling the wood chips, as well as Milton Otwell and Gene Berry for bringing their tractors. The Master Gardeners assistance was greatly appreciated as well.
Also, thanks to Andrew Posey and Sons for their seed donation. We now have turnip green, mustard green and collards seeds available at the office for fall planting in the raised beds!

Please contact Katherine with the Walker County Soil and Water Conservation District at 387-1879 with any contest suggestions or for further information regarding raised bed rentals.

Walker County Land Owner tour is featured in the 2009 summer edition of the Alabama Treasured Forest magazine

Thanks to Joel Glover, Certified Wildlife Biologist with the Alabama Wildlife Federation for the excellent article that he wrote regarding the Banks family property that is located in Walker County. I have a blog entry from May regarding the land owner tour, however, Joel goes into much greater detail of the love and good stewardship that the Banks Family has for their property. Please double click on this blog entry title to read the article.