workshops – Center for Environmental Farming Systems https://cefs.ncsu.edu Fri, 06 Mar 2026 17:54:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://cefs.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/cropped-CEFS-Site-Icon-01-32x32.jpg workshops – Center for Environmental Farming Systems https://cefs.ncsu.edu 32 32 Season Extension Brings New Market Possibilities for North Carolina Farmers https://cefs.ncsu.edu/season-extension-brings-new-market-possibilities-for-north-carolina-farmers/ Thu, 10 Nov 2016 05:00:00 +0000 https://cefs.ncsu.edu/season-extension-brings-new-market-possibilities-for-north-carolina-farmers/

People standing in high tunnel

NCGT-sponsored High Tunnel intensive at the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association conference.

October/November 2016 — North Carolina has ample sunshine and rain, great soils, and – with season extension techniques – the possibility of year-round production to fill local market opportunities. NCGT is capitalizing on this opportunity by offering a series of five season extension workshops over winter 2016 and spring 2017.

Workshops will focus on high and low tunnels: low-tech, low-cost tools that allow growers to extend the growing season of vegetables and small fruit crops. Topics will include microclimate characteristics, ideal planting dates for cool and warm season vegetable crops, labor and material costs, and best management practices for pests and fertility. All workshops will include the opportunity to see high/low tunnels in use.

Workshops are geared toward producers selling into wholesale markets, as well as Extension Agents who are assisting growers with wholesale market expansion. Speakers including Dr. Sanjun Gu, horticulture extension specialist with the Cooperative Extension Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, county Cooperative Extension agents, and other experts who will offer a variety of tools to assist growers in maximizing the efficient use of high tunnels.

NCGT also sponsored a full-day intensive at last week’s Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Sustainable Agriculture Conference. The intensive was attended by nearly 40 people and featured CFSA’s keynote speaker, farmer Clara Coleman of Four Season Farm in Maine. Coleman gave practical, hands-on advice on building inexpensive DIY tunnels for year-round production.

Participants also heard from Foster-Caviness and FreshPoint wholesale buyers about market opportunities for farmers who use season extension, and toured two area farms – Dancing Pines Farm and Ten Mothers Farm – that use season extension for their late-fall production.

Winter 2016/Spring 2017 Season Extension Workshops:

  • November 21 in Jefferson, NC | Info | Register
  • December 12 in Jackson Springs, NC | Info | Register
  • February 8 in Jacksonville, NC | Info/registration coming soon!
  • March 27 in Concord, NC | Info/registration coming soon!
  • March 30 in Greensboro, NC | Info/registration coming soon!

For a full list of upcoming events, please visit the NCGT website.

This article originally appeared in the October/November 2016 NC Growing Together Newsletter.

]]> NCGT Support Advancing Fresh Produce Food Safety Work Statewide https://cefs.ncsu.edu/ncgt-support-advancing-fresh-produce-food-safety-work-statewide/ Tue, 01 Dec 2015 05:00:00 +0000 https://cefs.ncsu.edu/ncgt-support-advancing-fresh-produce-food-safety-work-statewide/
GAPs training

Fresh Produce GAPs Workshop. Photo by Diane Ducharme.

November/December 2015 — NC Growing Together is helping to advance fresh produce food safety work statewide.  Working in partnership with North Carolina State University, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, NC Cooperative County Centers, and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, NCGT has been sponsoring Fresh Produce Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) workshops throughout the state.

“This workshop series informs growers about practical tools to identify food safety hazards on their farm, explores the GAP certification process, and provides guided assistance in the creation and implementation of a customized food safety plan,” explains Diane Ducharme, NC Cooperative Extension Associate in Horticulture & Food Safety and the GAPs Program Coordinator.  More information and workshop dates through February 2016 can be found here.

To accommodate busy growers’ schedules, a new web-based course has been created as well. Through NCGT support, the Fresh Produce GAPs Workshop Series will be offered online, free of cost, to North Carolina growers.  This new web-based course will allow growers to cover the same material as the workshop series, in their own time and at their own pace. More information about the free online workshops can be found here.

With recent food safety regulations passed under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), “the writing was on the wall,” says Ducharme. “I am happy to say that the NCGT project served as the catalyst for discussions on building capacity around food safety in light of FSMA and increasing market requirements,” she says.

NC Cooperative Extension will soon be hiring eight new area specialized agents who will focus on food safety issues: three in Family and Consumer Sciences, two in Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, two in Horticultural Science, and one in Animal Science. “It represents the different responsibilities within the food supply chain affected by FSMA regulations,” explains Ducharme.

NCGT also partners with the NC Fresh Produce Safety Task Force. The goal of the Task Force is to ensure that North Carolina has a competitive, vibrant and safe fresh produce industry supported through the research, teaching and outreach programs of NC State University, N.C. A&T State University, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Farm Bureau and industry groups. The task force offers guidance and resources on Food Safety issues.

More Fresh Produce GAPs information and resources can be found on the NCGT website’s Resources for Producers page, or visit NC Cooperative Extension’s Fresh Produce Safety website.

For information about how growers can register for free for the Online Fresh Produce GAPs Workshop Series, please contact Diane Ducharme at diane_ducharme@ncsu.edu.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2015 NC Growing Together Newsletter.

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