October is the prime time to get a few specialty crops in the ground so that they produce and thrive on the right timeline. Some of this may seem counterintuitive, but there are great reasons for planting your strawberries in late October and early November in southeastern Louisiana. Typically, in other parts of the country, planting strawberries is something gardeners do in springtime. A lot of the garden centers in the New Orleans area also seem to believe this, selling strawberry plugs and starting plants in 4-inch pots in March, April, and June. This is much too late for them to make a decent crop, and usually they do not survive the summer heat and increased disease pressure. Commercial strawberry producers in the south treat strawberries as an annual crop-replanting each fall, picking in late winter/early spring, and then planting something else in mid spring. Strawberries treated as perennials here usually fizzle out or limp along, suffering from crown rot, fungal leaf blight, bacterial leaf spots, or simply shriveling up in the heat. I have yet to see a healthy, productive patch of strawberries grown as perennials in southern Louisiana.

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With the October 14 election having ended, St. Bernard Parish residents will now have the opportunity to vote on a few run-off races in the November 18 election. Included in this election are races for Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, State Representative for the 103rd Representative District, Parish President, and council member for District D.

On Wednesday, October 18, the St. Bernard Parish council held their second meeting in the month of October. While this was originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 17, it was postponed to allow the parish council members to participate in a Sheriff’s Office event called “Night Out Against Crime.” At this meeting, council members unanimously approved a resolution that urges the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to seal off “any and all crevasses up river from the Venice Jump.”

According to the latest information from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the St. Bernard Parish water system will avoid any major impacts from the saltwater wedge currently affecting Plaquemines Parish.

The St. Bernard Parish Public School System recently announced its school-level Students of the Year. This honor recognizes academic excellence, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and citizenship. These eleven students will compete at the district level when a panel of community leaders and educators conduct interviews to select an elementary, middle, and high school district winner. Those winners then compete for statewide consideration. One of last year’s district winners, Jack McMullin, was also named as Louisiana’s Elementary Student of the Year.

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Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step meetings are held in St. Bernard Parish on the following days: • Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 7 p.m.

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