A Wilson man was uninjured when the rental truck he was driving flipped over with 10,000 tortillas on board.
The refrigerated, two-axle International box truck flipped over on Downing Street about 500 yards from the Wilson city limits and near the road&rsquo;s interchange with U.S. 264 around 9:20 a.m. Wednesday.
Driver Hector Villalobos of Wilson had to climb through the passenger window to get out of the overturned truck. &ldquo;I felt the back tire getting locked up, and it jumped over and fell over,&rdquo; Villalobos said. &ldquo;I tried to turn the truck back, but when I did that, it kept going.&rdquo;
The truck ended up on its side of the road after crossing the center line and the oncoming lane.
No other vehicles were involved.
&ldquo;I was wearing a seat belt, and I held on tight to the steering column. I was a little shaky,&rdquo; Villalobos said. &ldquo;I stayed there for a minute after everything stopped moving. I turned the truck off and unbuckled myself.&rdquo;
Manager Giovanny Guerrero from Ol&eacute; Mexican Foods said the vehicle was a Ryder rental truck carrying 600 boxes of tortillas.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s easily 10,000 tortillas in there,&rdquo; Guerrero said.
Ol&eacute; Mexican Foods Inc. is a distribution company located at 612 Tarboro St. The tortillas were made in Atlanta.&nbsp;
Ol&eacute; also delivers cheeses, other Mexican food products, sausage and sour cream, Guerrero said.
Guerrero said the truck would be righted, taken back to the company and offloaded.
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper J.M. Lamm investigated the wreck.
Lamm said Villalobos was cited for failure to maintain lane control.&nbsp;
&ldquo;He ran off to the right, overcorrected and then went off to the left and overturned. I don&rsquo;t think there was any mechanical failure,&rdquo; Lamm said. &ldquo;It just ran off the road and overturned.&rdquo;
Wilson County EMS and the Contentnea Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the crash.&nbsp;
Downing Street was briefly shut down while the truck was righted.&nbsp;

Driver ticketed in tortilla truck turnover 

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Wilson County surpassed the 11,000 mark for administering the first round of COVID-19 vaccines. Those vaccinations began with health care workers right before Christmas and then extended to people 65 and older.
&ldquo;Surpassing 11,000 shots is a major achievement, and it demonstrates the dedication and hard work of our Wilson County staff and our partners with Wilson Community Health and Wilson Medical Center,&rdquo; said Wilson County Health Director Teresa Ellen. &ldquo;We are not stopping until we get immunity in the Wilson community.&rdquo;
Wilson County Assistant Manager Ron Hunt said that as a county, hitting such a milestone is more than just achieving a number.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a reminder of the magnitude of this virus and the momentum we have with vaccines, and we want to keep the momentum up so all of us can be well,&rdquo; Hunt said.
Nearly 6,000 second doses of the vaccine have been administered in Wilson County so far, according to state figures.
Last week when the state reported Wilson hitting the 10,000 mark, the following data was released: Nearly 30% of people receiving the first dose of the vaccine are Black, 65% are white and 2.11% are Hispanic, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services&rsquo; online coronavirus data dashboard. More than 1.4 million first doses of the vaccine have been administered across North Carolina.
Statewide data shows 15.6% of first-dose recipients are Black, 76% are white and 2.61% are Hispanic.
<h5>JOHNSON &amp; JOHNSON VACCINE</h5>
North Carolina is expected to receive more than 80,000 doses of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine this week. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine Saturday.
The single-dose shot doesn&rsquo;t require extreme cold storage. As a result, the vaccine can be more easily shipped, stored and administered, factors that will help to increase the number of vaccination sites and make them more accessible, state health officials said in a news release Monday. J&amp;J&rsquo;s vaccine offers protection against virus-related hospitalization and death.
One dose was 85% protective against the most severe COVID-19 illness in a massive study that spanned three continents. Protection remained strong even in countries such as South Africa, where the variants of most concern are spreading, the Associated Press reported.
Hunt said counties have received guidance from the state that J&amp;J doses will be used for mass vaccination clinics. He said that could change and more information will be forthcoming.

<h5>SCHOOL PERSONNEL</h5>
This week, local officials will begin administering a round of first doses to teachers, school personnel and child care workers. Officials hope to have the first round of doses for education personnel, including public, charter and private school employees, completed within a two-week time frame. Vaccines for Group 3 front-line workers opened last week for anyone working in child care or in pre-K-12 schools.
A drive-thru vaccination clinic will be held Wednesday for designated Wilson County Schools employees. Schools have been allotted specific time frames for the clinic, which will be held at Fike High School.
Wilson County Health Department, Wilson Community Health Center and county emergency management workers are making Wednesday&rsquo;s event possible.
Hunt said the county expects to vaccinate 700 public school system employees Wednesday. Strike teams of vaccinators will visit private schools and day care centers this week. The teams work well in smaller settings because day care centers and private and charter schools have fewer employees than traditional public schools.

<h5>DEATHS</h5>
Wilson County reported two coronavirus-related deaths last week, bringing the county&rsquo;s pandemic death toll to 140.
The decedents include a woman in her mid-60s and a man in his early 70s who was a Wilson Pines Nursing and Rehabilitation Center resident, according to county officials. Both patients had other health problems.

Wilson County tops 11,000 vaccine first doses 

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A year after Wilson County Schools began a state-ordered closure in response to the spread of COVID-19, high school students began returning for face-to-face learning Monday.
Hunt High Principal Eddie Doll greeted students with a &ldquo;Welcome Back Warriors&rdquo; sign in front of the school.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It has been almost a year since we have had students on campus for a normal school day. We have had some athletics going on. We have had some state-required testing that we did in December and last week, but as a school, we are super excited to have the kids back,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
A quarter of students enrolled in each high school came to class Monday. The arrangement is for each fourth of the high schoolers to attend one day a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.&nbsp; &nbsp;
It&rsquo;s part of a tiered return to school buildings that began last week when elementary and middle school students went back to their schools.
Masked teachers greeted masked students at entrances, took their temperatures and asked screening questions to make sure they were feeling well and had no COVID-19 symptoms.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we will have more than four or five students in each class,&rdquo; said history teacher Adam Stephenson.&nbsp;
Only three students sat in Stephenson&rsquo;s class as the first morning bell rang.&nbsp;
Junior Ziyear Barnes sat in the center of the desks. Ziyear said he was happy to be back in school.
&ldquo;It is bringing my other life back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s back to old times.&rdquo;
Ziyear said he had a hard time with things like logging on in the mornings during remote learning. Being back in class means more one-on-one help.
&ldquo;It feels good to be back,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;
College adviser Rayana Swanson had a sign that read &ldquo;The Mojo is back.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I missed them,&rdquo; Swanson said. &ldquo;It has been hard to contact them virtually. We have missed the face-to-face contact, so it is great to have them back.&rdquo; &nbsp;
Teachers were asked to stay in their classrooms as students arrived. Almost all of them had signs.
&ldquo;That&rsquo;s something that we talked about as a staff,&rdquo; Doll said. &ldquo;The students have been gone for so long, we wanted to show our excitement about them being back on campus.&rdquo;
English teacher Janet Pollock&rsquo;s sign read &ldquo;Welcome back! We have missed seeing you!&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;I have missed seeing their faces. I have missed the interaction,&rdquo; Pollock said. &ldquo;Looking at them on camera does not do it.&rdquo;
Pollock said having students in the classroom is an improvement over remote learning.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We are very excited, and we just can&rsquo;t wait to get kids back in the building and to get school going like normal,&rdquo; said school counselor Nancy Boykin. &ldquo;We want them all to come, and we are excited about today.&rdquo;
Doll said he hopes the pandemic will soon end.&nbsp;
&ldquo;My hope is we keep progressing to more normalcy as time passes,&rdquo; Doll said, adding that he&rsquo;s sure students will appreciate seeing friends and teachers again.
&ldquo;Even though we have had the instructional piece virtually, I think they have missed the social part,&rdquo; Doll said.&nbsp;

'Back to old times': High schoolers return to class

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The city of Wilson will receive $900,000 of the $26.8 million state officials have allocated for rural COVID-19 assistance.
&ldquo;Our communities need help in recovering from the pandemic, and these funds will help with some of their immediate needs,&rdquo; Gov. Roy Cooper said in a news release.
City officials applied for the Community Development Block Grant coronavirus program in the fall. Wilson&rsquo;s full request was awarded, with $250,000 earmarked for broadband expansion. Wilson plans to use that money to grow Greenlight&rsquo;s broadband network in the eastern and western parts of the county, but an expansion map has not been released.
&ldquo;We are pleased to be able to continue expansion of our community&rsquo;s fiber network,&rdquo; said Will Aycock, Greenlight general manager. &ldquo;This expansion furthers our goal of being a regional technology leader in eastern North Carolina and expands opportunity for our residents, students, remote workers and business to fully participate in the digital transition that is changing our world.&rdquo;
The remainder of the state funding will be used to assist utility customers with paying outstanding bills. City employees are working with state officials on the Wilson Energy program, with more information forthcoming.&nbsp;
Wilson County will also receive $900,000 in coronavirus funding, which will be used to build a new wellness pavilion at the senior center.
&ldquo;Our seniors have suffered so much during the pandemic, and we had to postpone and/or cancel many activities that keep them healthy and connected to others,&rdquo; said Assistant County Manager Ron Hunt. &ldquo;We feel this project positions us to handle future health situations and events while keeping seniors safe, active and healthy.&rdquo;
Other nearby communities &mdash; including Johnston, Nash and Pitt counties &mdash; also received grant funding.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Supporting North Carolina&rsquo;s smaller communities and businesses is critical for our state&rsquo;s economic recovery,&rdquo; N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Sanders said in a news release. &ldquo;These grantees will be able to provide emergency payment assistance for families who desperately need relief due to the pandemic, as well as receive financial support to expand the economic revitalization in their communities.&rdquo; &nbsp;

$900K grant will expand Greenlight, help Wilson Energy customers 

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Celebrating its 125th year, The Wilson Times remains one of North Carolina&rsquo;s top newspapers of its size as judged by its peers in an annual statewide competition.&nbsp;
The Times won 20 awards in the North Carolina Press Association&rsquo;s 2020 News, Editorial and Photojournalism Contest, including a third-place honor for general excellence, and reporter Olivia Neeley earned the North Carolina Bar Association&rsquo;s Media and the Law Award of Excellence for best daily newspaper article.&nbsp;
Awards were announced Friday in a virtual presentation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and state restrictions on mass gatherings. The association customarily holds an awards banquet.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re honored that judges considered our work worthy of recognition, and we&rsquo;re proud to continue The Wilson Times&rsquo; 125-year tradition of publishing stories that make a meaningful difference in our community,&rdquo; said President and Publisher Keven Zepezauer. &ldquo;Our journalists tell stories about the people whose contributions make Wilson County a better place, and we strive to give our readers the information they need to be active participants in civic life.&rdquo; &nbsp;
The Times competes in NCPA Division D, consisting of daily newspapers with circulation under 12,500.&nbsp;
Journalists from West Virginia Press Association member publications judged the 2020 contest. To ensure impartiality, their identities are not revealed to participants.
RACIAL RECKONING
Reporter Drew C. Wilson earned seven individual awards, including first place in news enterprise reporting for The Black Experience, a six-story series in which African American residents discussed race relations in Wilson amid the national conversation about racial equality that followed George Floyd&rsquo;s May 25 death in Minneapolis police custody.&nbsp;
Wilson won first place in city and county government reporting for his coverage of allegations against Lucama Commissioner David Johnson.&nbsp;
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a right-to-sue letter after investigating complaints that allege Johnson used racial slurs including the N-word when referring to town employees and a fellow commissioner who has since resigned. Johnson has denied the claims. A federal employment discrimination lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.&nbsp;
An image of a woman collapsing against a car following a 5-year-old boy&rsquo;s accidental shooting on Jan. 24, 2020, earned Wilson a first-place award for spot news photography.
&ldquo;Stunning,&rdquo; the contest judge wrote. &ldquo;Everything in this photo captures the first emotion that comes when reading about an accidental shooting &mdash; grief.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Wilson won first place in the multimedia project category for &ldquo;A dream come true,&rdquo; which consisted of photos, a video and a story about Seeds of Hope Wilson&rsquo;s community garden. He also took second place in multimedia projects for coverage of a July 22 fire that destroyed the Custom Quality Packers meatpacking plant near Bailey.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I can only imagine how difficult it was to stay with this story,&rdquo; the judge wrote. &ldquo;Good job.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;One last jam at the Boys &amp; Girls Club,&rdquo; a stand-alone photo taken on the Wilson club&rsquo;s final day of operation, earned Wilson a second-place award for sports feature photography. He received third place in the same category for another stand-alone photo, headlined &ldquo;The last angler.&rdquo;&nbsp;
RAY FINCH CASE&nbsp;
Neeley&rsquo;s coverage of a federal lawsuit alleging the Wilson County Sheriff&rsquo;s Office framed Ray Finch in the 1976 killing of Richard &ldquo;Shadow&rdquo; Holloman received the Media and the Law Award, a special honor sponsored and judged by the North Carolina Bar Association.&nbsp;
The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Finch innocent in Holloman&rsquo;s murder, and a federal district judge vacated his conviction. He was released in May 2019 after spending more than 43 years in prison.&nbsp;
Gov. Roy Cooper hasn&rsquo;t rendered a decision on Finch&rsquo;s request for a pardon of innocence after 19 months, the Times reported in a follow-up story last month. U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, state Rep. Linda Cooper-Suggs and the Times&rsquo; editorial page have urged Cooper to pardon Finch, which would allow him to seek state compensation for his wrongful conviction.&nbsp;
A story on Finch&rsquo;s lawsuit also earned Neeley a third-place award for beat news reporting.&nbsp;
Neeley won first place in news feature writing for &ldquo;New start for a new year,&rdquo; which described Shalon McMullen&rsquo;s experience with homelessness and the help she received from the Hope Station&rsquo;s Westview House family shelter.&nbsp;
LOCAL NEWS&nbsp;
Reporter Brie Handgraaf won the second-place arts and entertainment reporting award for a story on street artist Shane Tierce&rsquo;s memorial mural showing 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant&rsquo;s face and a bicycle contained within the word &ldquo;Innocent.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Cannon was riding his bike outside his father&rsquo;s Wilson home when he was shot and killed on Aug. 9. Tierce told the Times he opposes art censorship and didn&rsquo;t seek city officials&rsquo; permission before painting the mural.
&ldquo;Wasn&rsquo;t expecting to go down the permitting rabbit hole,&rdquo; the contest judge wrote. &ldquo;Nice reporting.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Handgraaf received second-place honors in the profile feature category for a story on Tar River Flea Market vendor Alma Smolen&rsquo;s remarkable life, which included work in London bomb shelters during World War II.&nbsp;
&ldquo;This story makes the reader feel like they know Alma Smolen and makes you want to meet this amazing lady with such an amazing story to tell,&rdquo; the judge wrote.&nbsp;
Coverage of Wilson&rsquo;s downtown redevelopment efforts earned Handgraaf a second-place award for city and county government reporting.&nbsp;
Valerie Register, a former graphic designer at the Times, received third place for a portfolio of three news graphics.&nbsp;
SPORTS COVERAGE
Sports Editor Paul Durham won first-place awards for sports enterprise reporting and sports feature writing and garnered a second-place honor for sports columns.&nbsp;
The winning sports enterprise story, &ldquo;The cost of not playing,&rdquo; explored the COVID-19 pandemic&rsquo;s economic impact on Wilson County high schools due to athletic season postponements and mass gathering limits that eliminated ticket revenue.
Durham earned praise for a selection of three columns that included first-person reflections and input on a discussion about Wilson County high school track needs.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Solid variety of column subjects including a vivid childhood football team, an outdoors topic on fishing, and discussing the benefits of building an athletic facility,&rdquo; the judge wrote.&nbsp;
The sports feature writing award honored Durham for &ldquo;Take me out to the ball game,&rdquo; which described Wilson&rsquo;s minor-league baseball atmosphere in the 1950s through diehard fans&rsquo; eyes.
OPINION
Editor Corey Friedman won first place for editorial writing, and the Times staff received Division D&rsquo;s first-place editorial page award.
Two of the winning editorials focused on Wilson residents struggling to pay their utility bills during the pandemic. The Times&rsquo; opinion page called on city council members to institute a moratorium on disconnections for nonpayment. While the council ultimately took that step, Mayor Pro-tem James Johnson and City Manager Grant Goings criticized the newspaper&rsquo;s advocacy during the meeting when the moratorium was approved.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy for public officials to ignore one person&rsquo;s plight, and this is community journalism at its finest,&rdquo; the judge wrote. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s giving a voice to the voiceless and amplifying that voice to make a bigger echo for a broader systemic issue. &lsquo;What is the problem with the system that caused this person harm?&rsquo; That is answered here.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The judge for editorial pages praised Dave DiFilippo&rsquo;s cartoons and columnist Hal Tarleton&rsquo;s work in addition to editorials on city government.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Local cartoons a nice touch, and not easy to pull off on a continuing basis,&rdquo; the judge&rsquo;s statement reads. &ldquo;Liked lots of space for letters to ed. Enjoyed Hal Tarleton&rsquo;s column, which no doubt had many readers nodding heads in agreement.&rdquo;&nbsp;
A WINNING TRADITION&nbsp;
Over the past decade, The Wilson Times has earned a combined total of 265 awards in the NCPA&rsquo;s annual competition. News contest performance saw a dramatic increase after Jon Jimison started work as the Times&rsquo; editor in February 2010.&nbsp;
Jimison had worked at the Times as education reporter in 1990 and returned to lead the newsroom two decades later after serving as editor of The Star in Shelby.&nbsp;
After receiving six honors in the press association&rsquo;s 2010 contest, the Times doubled its total and collected a dozen awards for work produced in 2011.&nbsp;
Following 31 awards for its 2012 work, the Times hauled in a record 40 awards in the 2013 contest. The NCPA honored Times journalists with 26 awards for 2014; 30 for 2015; and 25 for 2016.&nbsp;
Friedman, who cites Jimison as a mentor and credits his leadership with building the Times&rsquo; winning tradition, succeeded him as editor in May 2016. The Times went on to win 29 awards in the 2017 contest and 23 each for work produced in 2018 and 2019. Last year&rsquo;s efforts resulted in the 20 awards announced Friday.&nbsp;
SISTER PUBLICATIONS
The Times serves as the flagship of Restoration NewsMedia, a Wilson-based community newspaper company that owns five papers and provides design, consulting and management services to nearly a dozen others. Collectively, Restoration&rsquo;s properties combined for 46 press association awards in the 2020 contest.
The Wake Weekly of Wake Forest earned seven awards and the Butner-Creedmoor News in Creedmoor brought home eight. Both papers compete in Division B, nondaily newspapers with circulation between 3,500 and 10,000.&nbsp;
The Enterprise of Spring Hope won five awards, including second place in general excellence for Division A, nondaily newspapers with circulation under 3,500. The Johnstonian News of Smithfield, also in Division A, received six awards.&nbsp;

Wilson Times wins 20 awards in journalism contest

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We are about to enter one of my favorite times of the year. You will soon begin to see a variety of foods that are in season at farmers markets, roadside stands and perhaps even in your own garden.&nbsp;
Foods grown locally tend to taste better and spend less time in transit, and their bright colors indicate delicious flavor and nutrients.
Last year, we saw an incredible rise in consumers seeking to learn how to preserve their own foods through freezing, home canning and fermentation. This was largely sparked by fears of food shortages due to COVID-19. Manufacturers of canning supplies were caught off guard, leading to a shortage in jars, lids, pectin and canners.&nbsp;
The word on the street is that manufacturers of these products are better prepared this year, and we hope shortages are a thing of the past. If you are anticipating your own abundance or simply interested in learning how to preserve foods grown locally, now is the time to get prepared.&nbsp;
In an extremely small nutshell, you are going to need freezer bags for freezing produce, a water bath canner for high-acid foods such as berries and fruit products, a pressure canner for vegetables and appropriately sized jars.&nbsp;
You will want to be sure to get your pressure canner inspected and have the gauge tested for accuracy. This step is crucial for ensuring a safe product. If your gauge is inaccurate, you&rsquo;ll risk failure to achieve the correct pressure and jars that don&rsquo;t seal due to incorrect pressure, as well as spoilage of foods and potentially foodborne illness. It is important to note that pressure canners and pressure cookers are similar, but not the same. You may cook in a canner, but you may not can in a pressure cooker.&nbsp;
To have your pressure canner inspected and tested, call the Wilson County Cooperative Extension office at 252-237-0111 to make an appointment; we only have the ability to test gauges made by Presto and Mirro. All other brands can have the gauge sent back to the manufacturer for testing.&nbsp;
Presto and Mirro testing services will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 15 and March 29 at the Wilson County Agriculture Center. There is no charge for this service; masks are required. &nbsp;
In addition to having the correct equipment and supplies, you&rsquo;ll want to freshen up on the latest information and recipes tested for quality and safety. There is far more to canning than simply placing food in a jar and listening for a pop. In fact, just hearing a pop does not indicate your food is properly sealed and safe.&nbsp;
You could leave jars with lids in a hot car and as soon as they cool back down, you&rsquo;ll hear a pop. The &ldquo;popping&rdquo; noise means the wax on the lid melted and sealed, but it is the correct canning process that ensures the oxygen is driven out of the jars before they seal, which is paramount to avoiding spoilage.&nbsp;
Choosing the correct canner is crucial to ensure the temperature inside the jar is hot enough to kill bacteria leading to foodborne illness. This temperature is heavily influenced by factors such as size of the food, texture of the food, initial temperature of the food, acidity of the food, sugar content and whether or not there is the addition of acids, such as lemon juice, for example.&nbsp;
There are certain foods that are not approved for canning. Items that do not hold up well, such as yellow squash and zucchini, as well as foods that are not safe for home canning due to the inability of heat to properly penetrate to the inside of the jar such as sweet potato puree.&nbsp;
In terms of freezing foods, it is important to be aware that some foods do not freeze well, and blanching is necessary for all vegetables. Blanching foods ensures that foods are cleansed of dirt and debris, and it stops an enzyme responsible for loss of texture, color and flavor.&nbsp;
Be sure to check out https://nchfp.uga.edu/ to get up-to-date information and recipes for all things related to home food preservation. Later in the year, workshops will be available through the N.C. Cooperative Extension&rsquo;s Wilson County Center to learn how to properly preserve foods.&nbsp;
Be sure you spend this month getting prepared for home food preservation by securing supplies, having your pressure canner inspected and tested and reviewing the latest information and recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. &nbsp;
Cassidy Hall is area agent, family and consumer sciences for the N.C. Cooperative Extension.&nbsp;

Gearing up for local foods in season

Cassidy Hall.jpg

Blueberries can be grown in home gardens and are typically used in the landscape as hedges, mass plantings or as single specimen plants. Blueberries are an ideal year-round addition to the landscape. They have delicate white or pink flowers in the spring. The summer fruit has an attractive sky-blue color, and the fall foliage adds red and yellow colors to the landscape.&nbsp;
Blueberries require a lower pH than many other small fruit crops. Before planting, take a soil test to determine lime, sulfur and fertilizer needs. You may also need to incorporate 3-4 inches of compost.&nbsp;
Blueberry plants require excellent soil drainage. Full sun is desirable, but up to 50% shade is usually acceptable. Yield is reduced with increasing shade.
Rabbiteye (V. ashei) types of blueberries can be grown best in our area. The rabbiteye is resistant to drought and heat and will tolerate a wider range of soil types. Rabbiteye varieties begin to bear in mid-June. More than one rabbiteye variety must be planted to provide the cross-pollination required for maximum yields. The following varieties are in order of ripening from early to late that are successful for home gardeners: Climax, Premier, Tifblue, Powderblue and Centurion highbush.&nbsp;
To plant, purchase 2- or 3-year-old nursery plants, 12-36 inches tall, in late winter (February and March). Plant rabbiteye varieties every 6 feet in the row and 10 to 12 feet between rows. Plant to the same depth as the plants were growing in the nursery.&nbsp;
Prune about&nbsp;two-thirds of the top growth on bare-root plants and&nbsp;half&nbsp;on potted plants, leaving only one to three of the most vigorous upright shoots. Remove any remaining flower buds (plump rounded buds), so that the plants will not flower the first year. Do not fertilize immediately after planting. Wait until the first leaves have reached full size, then apply 1 tablespoon of a special azalea fertilizer, 12-12-12 or 10-10-10, within a circle 1 foot from the plants. Repeat application of fertilizer at six-week intervals depending upon rainfall or irrigation until mid-August. Mulch plants with bark, wood chips, sawdust or pine straw, 3-4 inches.
If the plants are cut back severely as recommended following planting, little pruning will be required the second year except removing all flower buds and any weak, damaged or diseased growth. Use a similar pruning strategy the third year with the exception that several flower buds can be left on vigorous shoots.&nbsp;
In the fourth year, the bush should be 4-5 feet tall and capable of handling a crop, but carefully thin flower buds to prevent over-fruiting and severe permanent bending of young canes under the fruit weight.&nbsp;
When bushes are mature, remove old canes that are weak, diseased or damaged. Cut back tall, vigorous shoots to force branching at a lower level and to control bush height and thin fruiting shoots to reduce the number of flower buds by about 50%.&nbsp;
Excessively tall and limber shoots will need cutting back to stimulate branching and strengthen the shoot. With mature bushes that are excessively vigorous, cutting back the excessively vigorous shoots in late July will help control bush height and increase yield. Remove suckers (shoots developing a distance from the crown). Prune during the dormant season.&nbsp;
For more information on blueberries see the N.C. State University website (search &ldquo;blueberries&rdquo;) or contact the Wilson County Master Gardener volunteers at 252-237-0113 or email wilsonemgv@hotmail.com.
Cyndi Lauderdale is a horticulture extension agent for the N.C. Cooperative Extension.&nbsp;

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