West Nile Virus Detected in Berthoud

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By Linda Meyer

Summer is here, and with summer comes garden produce. Two weeks ago, Loaves & Fishes Food Bank received a phone call from someone who wanted to donate extra garden produce. Loaves & Fishes does not normally accept fresh fruit and vegetables.

Since that phone call, I found out there is an organization that connects growers with area food banks who will accept garden produce. The organization is Ample Harvest, and their website is ampleharvest.org . I checked their website, and there are several food pantries in Brighton that will accept garden produce. Brighton Mobile Food Pantry is one of them, also St. Augustine Community Food Pantry, and His Hands Food Cupboard. If you want to donate to one of those food banks, please contact them in advance to make sure they will accept your extra produce. With any luck, they may even take all of that extra zucchini you anonymously leave on your neighbors’ porches! (P.S., your neighbors know it’s you.) This year I grew tomatoes and green peppers. Our yard is small, so I have them in large planters. The cherry tomatoes started producing around the 4 th of July. They have been delicious! I am looking forward to more regular size tomatoes, as I have had only two so far. There are lots of green ones, and I know they will ripen eventually.

My green peppers are small this year, and with the heat I have not been able to leave them out on the plants very long before they start to go bad. I have been giving my extras to Daughter and her family. Oldest granddaughter loves raw green pepper, especially if it has been liberally coated in ranch dressing! At least she likes vegetables. She is five years old, and I don’t remember her mother to like anything except corn when she was 5.

We used to live in Longmont, and our house had a Concord grape vine. I grew up watching my mother can all sorts of jams and jellies, as well as fruits and vegetables, so I tried making grape jelly. It worked! I was so proud of my first batch of jelly. Over the twenty years we were in that house, I made a lot of jelly – including three batches the last year we lived there. That jelly lasted almost three years, plus we gave some away.

We gave one jar to friends of Daughter. They told her when they opened the jelly and tasted it, they decided their 2-year old would not appreciate how good it was. They opened a store jar of grape jelly for him, and kept my home-made jelly for themselves. That really made my day, and we still laugh about it.

When we moved three years ago, I planted two grape vines at the new house. Two years ago, I had to replace one of the original vines, as it did not make it through the winter. Since then, I have watered both vines all winter to help the roots stay moist. This year, I finally have grapes! I do not think I have enough for jelly, but hopefully I can buy enough grapes to make a batch of jelly this year.

My parents had a big garden, plus strawberry plants, asparagus, and fruit trees. About one-third of the garden would be potatoes, and we always dug and picked up those potatoes on the hottest day in August. Didn’t matter what year it was, it was always the hottest day in August.

I admit I am a tomato snob. After growing up with home-grown tomatoes, I almost never buy them in the store, and often remove them from restaurant sandwiches. I love tomatoes, but not pink styrofoam pretending to be a tomato slice.

My parents planted sweet corn in a field next to the buildings. No matter how much electric fence Dad put around the sweet corn, the raccoons always got their share.

That’s it for this month. Now that I have you hungry for fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, and grape jelly, you are going to have to go buy some. Lucky for us, grocery stores and farm stands have fresh sweet corn right now, and hopefully tomatoes, too.

If you know of any other food banks that accept fresh produce, please send me an email and let me know, so I can tell everyone next month. pastorcumc18@gmail.com

As always, thanks for reading.

Linda ____ Linda Meyer is the Pastor of Community United Methodist Church in Keenesburg. Connect with Linda: Pastorcumc18@gmail.com , Twitter @RevLindaMeyer Mental Health Resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 Crisis Text Line: Text CONNECT to 741741 Farm Aid Farmer Hotline: 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243) Colorado Crisis Hotline: 1-844-493-TALK (1-844-493-8255) Mental Health of Colorado: https://www.mentalhealthcolorado.org/

Morgan County Republican Central Committee to Host Unity Rally, Aug. 24

The Morgan County Republican Central Committee will be hosting our Unity Rally on August 24, at 6 pm at the 4-H Building at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, Brush, Colorado.

We will have the candidates and the elected officials speaking to tell us their views on the issues and get the Republicans motivated for the 2020 Election!

We will be having a potluck dinner, so please bring a main dish and a side or desert, drinks and table service will be provided.

Come meet your Republican candidates and elected officials and support the Morgan County Republicans!

For more information contact Chairman, Vivianne Lorenzini, 970-645-2485, Vicechairman, Candie Loomis, 970-768-5070, Secretary, Jamie Hochanadel, 970-380-7060, or Treasurer, Dan Marler, 970-380-9621.

West Nile Virus Detected in Town of Berthoud Mosquito Trap

Weld County – One group of mosquitoes collected from traps set during the week of July 27, 2020 on the Weld County side of the Town of Berthoud has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). This group came from traps set as part of the Town of Berthoud’s WNV surveillance program. This is the first positive test of any mosquitoes trapped within Weld County this year. Weld County contracts with an outside vendor to conduct mosquito trapping and testing in three zones within Weld County, which includes the Greeley/Evans area, the Johnstown/Milliken/Platteville area, and the Fort Lupton/Dacono/Firestone area. These traps have not had any WNV positive mosquitoes this year. The results of fifteen mosquito groups trapped the week of August 3, 2020, however, are pending.

Although the risk of WNV is currently low, the hotter days in August create perfect conditions for the Culex mosquito and WNV. Currently there are no human cases of WNV in Weld County or in Colorado. Last year, there were a total of 9 human cases of WNV in Weld County.

West Nile virus symptoms can appear 3 to 14 days after an infection. Initial symptoms can include fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, muscle aches and weakness and rash, but most infected people don’t exhibit any symptoms. If a person develops symptoms, he or she should see a doctor immediately. There are no medications to treat or vaccines to prevent West Nile virus infection, and less than one percent of infected people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, neurological illness.

Health officials recommend following the four “D’s” to prevent mosquito bites:

DRAIN standing water around your house weekly. Remember to drain water from tires, cans, flowerpots, clogged rain gutters, rain barrels, toys and puddles.

DUSK and DAWN are when mosquitoes are most active. Limit outdoor activities and take precautions to prevent mosquito bites during these times.

DEET is an effective ingredient to look for in insect repellents. Always follow label instructions carefully.

DRESS in long sleeves and pants in areas where mosquitoes are active.

For more information about preventing mosquito bites, visit “Health Hot Topics at: www.

weldgov.com

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