August 2023 Extension Newsletter

You are invited to an informational meeting about the 2024 WNC AgOptions grant program for growers and producers. The AgOptions staff will provide a presentation of the 2024 application, timeline of the grant application, and answer questions. Grants of $4000.00 and $8000.00 are available to farmers located within a 22 county area of Western North Carolina. The meeting will take place at 699 Connaheeta Street (Konehete Park) in Murphy, NC. from 6-7:30 p.m. on August 29. Register online for this important informational session.

Read more and to register online.

In March of this year, I was contacted by local Murphy High School Alumni, Erika Sena, who is a recipient of the Golden LEAF Scholarship and a current senior at Western Carolina University. Golden LEAF gives scholarship students an opportunity to do paid summer internships. Golden LEAF pays the students and their Golden LEAF coaches help them get placements in the community they will be spending their summer. Erika would be home for the summer and just happened to have the 4-H Agent in Davidson County, NC as a coach. He suggested that she contact me to see if she could be helpful this summer to our 4-H program.
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Learn to Grow Shiitake Mushrooms

Extension Master Gardeners in Cherokee County will teach a hands on Shiitake Mushroom class. The class will be taught September 19, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. at our classroom located at 699 Connaheeta Street in Murphy, NC. This location is at Koneheta Park. Follow our signs to the meeting room. Cost is $25.00. Instructor will be Jeff Doughman, Extension Master Gardener, Cherokee County. Pre-registration is required along with the payment. Class size is limited to 15. We expect this class to sell out quickly so sign up online beginning May 31.

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Did you know we have a Facebook page? This is a great way to follow N.C. Cooperative Extension — Cherokee County Center and view our upcoming Extension events. Over the last 9 months, our Facebook page reach has increased from under 5,000 to over 30,000 users and continuing to grow! On our Facebook page you will find agriculture education, upcoming Extension classes and events, program success stories, 4-H happenings, healthy recipes, food safety tips, relevant research articles, Homegrown videos and more! It is our hope that you would partner with us by following our page and sharing our posts to reach as many people in the community as possible! Visit us on Facebook and we hope to see you at an upcoming event! If you have any questions about information posted, please call the N.C. Cooperative Extension, Cherokee County Center office at (828)837-2210.

We are in the process of planning the 2024 Master Gardener Initial Training For Certification. This is a 40 hour training that will be completed thru in person and virtual meetings along with homework. We expect the class will cost about $169.00. A computer, chromebook, or tablet will be required along with internet access. We can provide internet access at our office or meeting room during the training. We are working on the schedule for 2024 and plan to release it along with the ability to register for the class by September 1 and will be limited to 30. The registration information will be available at cherokee.ces.ncsu.edu and signup will be at go.ncsu.edu/cherokeecounty. Classes will start January 30 through March 28, 2024. If you think you would be interested in the training, please fill out the form below and we will send you an email to have an early look at the training when registration is available. Visit “Become a Master Gardener Volunteer” to learn more.

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Anyone who grows tomatoes in North Carolina, from homeowners to commercial growers, eventually finds their crop is affected by disease. There are several fungal and bacterial plant pathogens that attack tomato in our state and sorting out which disease or diseases you find can be a challenge. Yet, correct diagnosis is critical to implementing effective management strategies. Bacterial spot on tomato fruit A new video series has been developed to help growers, county and area agents, agronomists, crop consultants and homeowners to identify the most common tomato diseases encountered in North Carolina. Each video is approximately 2-3 minutes long and includes information on features that help distinguish the disease from other common diseases. To find the videos, please visit the Tomato Diseases page in our Vegetable Portal.

2023 Farm School

A SERIES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR FARMERS, HOMEOWNERS, GARDENERS AND YOUTH.

Cherokee and Graham County Centers have teamed together to offer a series of Farm School educational programs that will help farmers, homeowners, gardeners and youth learn more about farming, agriculture and rural living in our area. Most workshops are free to anyone who would like to register. However, there is a charge for the grafting workshop to help cover the cost of the materials. If you have any questions about our programs, feel free to contact us.

More Info and a List of Programs

To register for any of these programs go to:
go.ncsu.edu/cherokeecounty

We currently have four active 4-H Clubs here in Cherokee County. All of our clubs are open to youth ages 5-18 except for our Cherokee on the Fly 4-H Club. It is open to grades 6-12. Check out the meeting dates and enroll in one of our great 4-H clubs here in Cherokee County. Youth do not have to have animals or know how to tie fly’s in order to join our clubs. All of our 4-H clubs are free to enroll in. To enroll NC 4-HOnline Enrollment System or for help 4-H Online Enrollment Help.

Two resistance-breaking variants of TSWV have been confirmed on tomato in North Carolina

In summer 2022, symptoms of TSWV (Tomato spotted wilt virus) were observed at two tomato farms in Rowan County, NC on several fresh market tomato cultivars with the gene for TSWV resistance (Sw-5). Approximately 10% of plants of ‘Red Mountain’ had symptomatic foliage on one farm with approximately 30% of fruit showing symptoms. At the second farm, up to 50% of plants had symptomatic foliage with approximately 80% of fruit showing symptoms on ‘Mountain Gem’. Visual symptoms included stunting, severe leaf curling and bronzing, necrotic lesions on leaves, petioles and stems, and concentric ring spots on fruit. TSWV ImmunoStrips from Agdia confirmed the virus was present in the field. Samples were collected from both farms and subjected to sequencing to identify and confirm the presence of resistance-breaking strains.