
Month: September 2021


Free Canoe Trips for Veteran to Launch this Fall in Newbury! Limited Space, Registration Required
To Register: www.donaldjarvis.com/events
Any questions, please contact Donald Jarvis jarvis.don@gmail.com / 978 – 308 – 9186
Affordable Housing Opportunity – 44 Empire Drive

Read the Label: Choose Zero phosphorus fertilizers
Too many nutrients in our rivers, lakes and ponds cause excessive growth of aquatic plants, algae and harmful cyanobacteria in the summer. Phosphorus is a nutrient that occurs naturally in soil. But when it runs off lawns into water it acts like Miracle Grow. To protect our water, in 2012 the State banned the use of fertilizers that contain phosphorus except when planting a new lawn or when a soil test shows a phosphorus deficiency. A healthy lawn, with deep topsoil, will need little fertilizer or watering. So if you need to buy fertilizer, get the one with a middle number of 0 (= zero phosphorus), slow release, low-nitrogen types (< 5%), and do not spread when raining or within 25 feet of a wetland or waterbody.

PRESS RELEASE from @MassDeptAgr: State Agricultural Officials Discover Invasive Spotted Lanternfly Population in Worcester County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 28, 2021
CONTACT
Craig Gilvarg
State Agricultural Officials Discover Invasive Spotted Lanternfly Population in Worcester County
Satellite Population in Fitchburg Represents Easternmost Spread of Pest
Adult SLF (photo credit: Lawrence Barringer, PDA)
FITCHBURG – The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) announced today that a small population of the invasive spotted lanternfly has been found in the City of Fitchburg, close to where a lanternfly nymph was reported earlier this summer. Agricultural inspectors are in the middle of performing extensive surveys in the area, but currently the infestation is limited to a single cluster of three trees. While MDAR has not been able to determine the origin of the infestation, spotted lanternflies have been known to travel out of infested states on cars, trucks, and trains, during shipments of produce, sheds, and gazebos, trees and shrubs for landscaping, and many other items that are regularly sent from states with known infestations.
As a result of this new find, MDAR is urging the public to be on the lookout for the pest, especially residents that live or work in the Fitchburg area. Spotted lanternflies may be found on sides of buildings, in or on vehicles, and on their preferred host plants: tree of heaven, grape vines, and maple and walnut trees. Anyone who has recently received goods or materials from states where SLF is known to have been introduced (including Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) should also be on the lookout.
“The spotted lanternfly can have devastating impacts on Massachusetts’ agricultural industry, including on a number of farms and orchards in this part of the state that we want to protect from this pest,” said MDAR Commissioner John Lebeaux. “Early detection and reporting is the best way to slow the spread of spotted lanternfly. Members of the public, particularly those in the Fitchburg area, have seen this pest, they are asked to report it as soon as possible.”
If residents find anything suspicious, they are asked to take a photo or collect the specimen, and report the sighting using MDAR’s online reporting form. Residents should look for both adult insects (large, gray bugs, about one inch long, with black spots and red underwings) and egg masses (inch-long, rectangular masses, yellowish-brown, and covered with a gray waxy coating). The egg masses may be found on any flat surface.
Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula, “SLF”) is an invasive sap-feeding insect from Asia that was first found in the United States in 2014 in Pennsylvania. While the main host plant of this pest is tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), spotted lanternfly attacks many different trees, shrubs, and vines, and has the potential to impact a broad range of agricultural commodities, including apples, peaches, grapes/wine, hops/beer, maple syrup, and ornamental plants. While individual spotted lanternflies have been found in several different parts of the state over the past several years, this is the first evidence that Massachusetts has a breeding population. A current map showing towns and cities where SLF has been found can be downloaded from https://massnrc.org/pests/slf.
’
SLF adult found on a tree in Fitchburg, MA September (Photo credit: MDAR)
Nymphs of SLF, from left to right, youngest to oldest (photo credit: Teá Kesting-Handly)
###

North Andover Board of Registrars October 5, 2021

Dispose of your Household Hazardous Waste on Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 210 Holt Rd from 9AM TO 1PM!

RSVP for tomorrow’s Meet Our Heroes Family Fun Day!

North Andover Weekly COVID19 Cases and Data Report: September 24, 2021

Stevens Memorial Library, Board of Library Trustees, Sept Monthly Mtg, 9/28 @5pm