HomeGrown Directory

The Leola Street Community Garden in Boone is looking quite good this year, and the dynamics of the wonderful urban gardeners cooperating there make for an inspiring and diverse place. The garden group has monthly workdays scheduled through the rest of the season, and two of those will include brief workshops and question and answer sessions presented by NC Cooperative Extension.

The Upper Mountain Research Station, located in the eastern Ashe County region of Laurel Springs, hosts a truly astounding quantity (and quality) of research and demonstration efforts, all geared toward improving the productivity and profitability of agriculture here in the High Country. Across its more than 450 acres, a visitor can witness the cutting edge of many types of farming, from livestock and tobacco, to small fruits and organic vegetables. On Wednesday, June 25, the station will be open to visitors and showcasing its several research projects on Specialty Crops Production.

NC Cooperative Extension presents: A class for farmers wanting to begin or transition to

Commercial-Scale, Certified Organic Production Of Vegetable and Fruit Crops

This class is geared toward growers who are already set-up for commercial scale production (1-acre of ready-to-be-certified-organic field land or more), and wish to enter the expanding Certified Organic Market. Topics covered will include soils & fertility, disease identification & control, insect identification & control, weed management, post-harvest handling, certification & record-keeping, and marketing to wholesale buyers.

The class will meet on Wednesdays, from 6-8 PM, at the Ashe County Extension Center during the winter and early Spring of 2006.

Vegetable farmers and cut-flower growers in our mountain region face a shorter growing season than nearly all our neighboring counties in North Carolina. Does this put the High Country at an inevitable disadvantage? Should aspiring vegetable growers all move to a lower elevation? Not at all: with the right mix of low-cost, season-extension techniques, area growers can stretch their production of a number of crops, and still reap the cool-summer benefits of our region. Area farmers are invited to join Cooperative Extension for a High Tunnels & Season Extension Course to be held Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2, at Family Central in Jefferson, NC.

Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 • Clyde, NC
The Business of Farm Tourism: Will it Work for Me?
The tools and information you need to figure out whether you can up the profitability of your farm by selling goods, services, and experiences to the traveling public.
Details at: http://www.asapconnections.org/special/farmtourism/conference.htm

This workshop is targeted towards higher volume farmers who are interested in expanding into and improving their sales to mid-large scale markets. It will include sessions on basic business practices, professionalism, food safety, packaging, communication, and marketing techniques to create and maintain a great farmer/buyer relationship.

Date: Wednesday November 29th, 2006 9:00-1:00
Place: Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station,
Fletcher, NC
Cost: $10, includes lunch
Topics:

• Understanding Current Market Opportunities
• How to Build a Great Relationship with your Buyers
• Food Safety and Profitability
• Growing, Packing, and Marketing Panel Discussion

Speakers:

• Isaac Allan, Former Produce Manager- Poppies Market

11/17 -

NC State Viticulture Workshop

Sponsored by the Haw River Wine Trail and the Golden LEAF Foundation &
The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium
November 17, 2006
JC Raulston Arboretum, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC 27606-1446

8:30 – 9:00 am Check-in

9:00- 9:10 am Welcome – Julia Kornegay, Head, Department of Horticultural Science, NCSU

9:10- 9:15 am Overview and Goals of Workshop, Sara Spayd, Extension Viticulturist, NCSU

9:15- 10:00 am The Foundation Plant Services Grape Program at UC Davis, Sue Sim, Foundation Plant Services, Davis, CA

10:00-10:45 am Response of Traminette to Rootstock and Three Different Training Systems, Tony Wolf, Director, AHS Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center and Professor of Viticulture, Virginia Tech University, Winchester

Medicinal Herb Workshop Tuesday, October 3, 2006, 11:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pre-register for a free lunch by September 26th or bring your own brown bag instead. To reserve your lunch, or for any other questions call Libby Hinsley at 828-684-3562 X 157 or email libby_hinsley@ncsu.edu.

Fifth generation farmer, Bruce Miller, will host this hands-on medicinal herb workshop at his farm, Miller Century Farm. Attend a Woodland Herb Planting Demonstration Led by Dr. Jeanine Davis of North Carolina State University and Joe Hollis of Mountain Gardens in Burnsville, North Carolina. Mountain Gardens is a botanical garden featuring the largest collection of native Appalachian and Chinese medicinal herbs in the Eastern US. Learn to cultivate medicinal herbs like, bloodroot, black cohosh and goldenseal, and explore marketing opportunities for native woodland plants. View an Herb Dryer Demonstration, built as part of the Medicinal Herbs for Commerce Project, led by Dr. Davis, coauthor of, “Growing & Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal & Other Woodland Medicinals”.

Two-Day Butchery Workshop with
Rudi Weid, NY-based meat butcher and culinary instructor
Who: for area livestock farmers, butchers, chefs + agriculture and culinary students
When: Monday, September 25 and Tuesday, September 26; 8am – 2pm each day
Monday’s session covers beef; Tuesday’s session covers pork and lamb.

Where: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College • Magnolia Bldg.

Directions available at www.abtech.edu/maps/asheville.asp

How much: Workshop is $20, which covers both days, and includes lunch on both days.

(A real bargain even if you can make just one of the days.)

Monday lunch sponsored by NC Choices/NCSU. Tuesday lunch sponsored/prepared by EarthFare.