Adams Soil and Water Conservation District

News you need to know...

ELECTION RESULTS

The 13th Joint Annual Meeting of Adams Soil & Water and Adams Co Farm Bureau was held on August 4. Due to COVID19 restrictions our meeting was held outdoors in Shade Tree Park at the Adams Co Fairgrounds. Adams Soil & Water conducted a supervisor election. The two elected were Mark Ross II of Peebles and John Day of Seaman. They will begin their term on January 1, 2021. Congratulations to Mark and John.

NOW'S THE TIME FOR MILKWEED POD COLLECTION

The Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative and Adams SWCD are calling on Ohioans to help monarch migration by collecting Milkweed pods. Milkweed is the only host plant for Monarch butterfly for egg laying and caterpillar rearing. It also serves as a food source for Monarchs as well as many other pollinator species. The disappearance of milkweed across the U.S. has contributed to the 80% decline of the eastern monarch butterfly population over the last 20 years. We are working hard to change this, and you can help! Since the project began in 2015, volunteers have collected over 5,000 gallons of common milkweed seed pods, totaling over 22 million seeds. The seeds are sown by ODOT onto “conservation corridors”, designated areas along highways that are planted with native prairie perennials.
•Before you collect seed, become familiar with common milkweed to avoid harvesting pods from similar plants (such as hemp dogbane and swamp milkweed).
•It’s best to collect the pods when they are dry, grey, or brown. It is important to check this. If the center seam pops with gentle pressure, they can be harvested.
•Store the pods in paper bags; plastic bags collect unwanted moisture.
•Put the date and county collected on the bag when you turn them in.
•Keep the pods in a cool, dry area until you can deliver them to the nearest collection site (we have a collection bin outside our office)
•Leave some pods (10-25%) on the plants so that seeds have a chance to naturally disperse and do their job as an important food source for milkweeds bugs and other critters.
Click here for photos of the different types of milkweed.

A PADDLER'S GUIDE TO OHIO BRUSH CREEK
SCAN CODE