Buncombe County Outdoor Pools Open Daily Starting June 10

Cool off in one of Buncombe County's outdoor pools!

Summer Library Fest on June 18 with The Healing Force

Join us for the kick off of Buncombe County Public Libraries summer reading program, Summer Library Fest 2009.

Thriving Workers Workshop - June 11

Local employers, business owners, human resource managers and executives are invited to attend a half-day event on June 11.

Feline Frenzy: Adoption Fees Waived in June for Cats 9 months & Older

June is Adopt-a-Cat Month at the Asheville Humane Society and do we have a deal for feline lovers!

Garden Tour - Register by June 15

Like any garden tour, participants will see beautiful plantings and creative gardening ideas; however, what sets this tour apart is its educational emphasis.

Cleaning with the Basics

Did you know that ketchup can remove tarnish from your copper pots?

Spotlight: Creeping Thyme

Creeping thyme, Thymus vulgaris, can be quite useful as an ornamental groundcover in small garden spaces.

Spring Plant Diseases

This year we have been seeing fire blight and some fungus diseases.

Do You Have Room in Your Heart & Home for One of Us?

Can you give a dog a home? Maybe a cat? How about a kitten? These animals need your help.

Recipe of the Week - Purple Cow Milkshake

Congratulations to William Sullivan for his Purple Cow Milkshake recipe!

Nothing could be healthier for your heart than a plateful of raw veggies, right? Actually, a little steam treatment could be even better. New research suggests that steaming might improve the cholesterol-lowering capabilities of certain produce.

Lost in Digestion
When researchers tested the digestive effects of both raw and steamed veggies -- beets, okra, carrots, eggplant, green beans, asparagus, and cauliflower -- something interesting happened. It’s not clear why, but the steamed veggies did a better job of binding to bile acids. And that’s a good thing. It means more bile acids get excreted, which in turn means the liver needs more bad LDL cholesterol to make bile -- which means there’s less LDL circulating in your body. Are you sure your cholesterol is under control? Take this quiz to find out.

Veggie Contingency Plan
Raw or steamed, your goal is to eat at least five servings of vegetables every day. But if you don’t always hit that goal, here are some ways to make sure that every bite of vegetables is working hard for you:

• Find out when frozen veggies are more healthful than fresh -- and vice versa.
• Know when it’s worth it to go organic.
• Absorb more nutrients from salads and steamed veggies with the healthy fats in these toppings.
• Sprinkle on extra antioxidants with these herbs and spices.

Confused about what to do with eggplant? Watch this video for preparation tips.

Source: RealAge.com

Inspect plants periodically so you can tackle pest problems before they get out of hand. Pesticides should never be applied randomly “just in case” there might be some insects in the garden. You may end up killing off more beneficial insects than pests.

• Ornamentals: slugs, lacebugs on azaleas, rhododendrons, pieris, pyracanthas; bagworms on junipers, cedars, cypress, arborvitae; spruce mites on spruce, hemlocks, fir; spider mites on many flowers and shrubs; euonymous scale.
• Fruits and vegetables: slugs, asparagus beetles, cucumber beetles, cabbageworms, tomato fruitworms, aphids, spider mites.

For more information, call Buncombe County Cooperative Extension at 255-5522.

June 1st marked the beginning of hurricane season in the United States. Individuals, communities, and businesses can find out more about avoiding or minimizing disaster by planning ahead for shortages and storm cleanup.

http://www.epa.gov/naturaldisasters/hurricanes/

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy way to keep up with your favorite news and information. An RSS feed contains headlines, summaries and links to full news stories on websites.

RSS allows you to see when sites from all over the internet have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and articles in one place, as soon as they are published, without having to remember to visit each site every day.

Buncombe County now offers nine RSS feeds containing information on health alerts, job openings, front page news and individual department news. The feeds can be found on our RSS Feeds page. Still have questions? Visit our RSS Help page.