February 2022 Newsletter Clay County Center NCSU Extension Office

Buying Local Foods

The Tri-County Community College Culinary program, The Empowering Mountain Food Systems program and the Clay County Extension Office are partnering to offer programs focused on helping restaurants and markets purchase more local foods. We are hosting two upcoming programs to educate businesses on how they can procure more foods from local farm and food businesses. This includes a webinar on February 7th at 7:00 PM and an in-person Farmer-Buyer networking event at Tri-County Community College on February 28 at 3:00 PM. Learn more about each of these events below.

Farmer Buyer Meeting

Are you a farmer looking for new markets to sell your product?

Are you a restaurant looking for new places to buy local produce/foods?

Are you a wholesale buyer or distributor seeking new clients for your local food lines?

NCSU Extension Clay County Center in collaboration with the EmPOWERING Mountain Food Systems project and Tri County Community College, is hosting a mixer to connect farmers with new markets. The event will take place on February 28 at 5:00 PM.

To register please sign up via our Eventbrite link or call Lisa Gonzalez at 828-389-6305. For questions contact Laura Lauffer at lwlauffe@ncsu.edu or 828-359-6926.

How to Buy Local Foods Webinar

This webinar will discuss some of the challenges and opportunities restaurants discover when procuring local products. We’ll talk about delivery, quality, quantity, and pricing considerations. As part of the program, Laura Lauffer from the EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems will interview Terra Ciotta, Director of the Tri-County Culinary Program and former chef and buyer for numerous restaurants.

Come ready to learn and to discuss your questions about buying local!

Sign up for the webinar on our Eventbrite page

Things to do in February

Inventory your existing seeds that you’ve saved or that were left over from last year. (This should start getting you excited!)

Think about last year’s gardening successes and challenges. Consider any changes you think would help, and remind yourself what worked.

Test your soil, if you haven’t done so recently.

Make a garden map and planting schedule.

Look through garden/plant/flower catalogs. Most come out with this year’s version at this time. Looking at these not only gets you excited for this year’s planting; it helps you match plant names with pictures, and you can order what you don’t already have.

Check any items you are storing from last year: bulbs, potatoes, sweet potatoes, garlic, etc., to make sure that they are neither rotting nor too dry.

Buy seed potatoes if you will be growing those this year.

Prune fruit trees, grapes, blueberries, raspberries and currants, to promote healthy growth and fruit production.

Prepare beds for early spring planting.

Weed perennials and overwintered plants.

Even though there are cold nights in the beginning of February, spring is on its way! Daffodils have already started popping up. Flowers and plants will be opening up before you know it.

Annual 4-H Fruit Plant Sale

How do you help children to become responsible adults? By planting seeds for them to be creative, independent, and compassionate. If you are not around children all the time, this can be a difficult task. However, 4-H creates experiences for children through clubs, summer programs, or school activities for these seeds of mastery, independence, and generosity to grow. This year 4-H members will be using the proceeds to help pay for 4-H Camp. You can help Clay County 4-H by purchasing a fruit plant through the N.C. Cooperative Extension of Clay County Annual 4-H Fruit Plant Sale from February 1 until March 11, 2022. This year there are a variety of plants being sold such as apple, pear, peach, blueberry, blackberry, elderberry, and strawberry.

To learn more about how to order plants and to access the order form please click here.

MEDS INSTEAD OF MEDS

February is heart month and a great time to start thinking about a healthier way of living. The Med instead of Meds program is based on the Mediterranean-style eating pattern and has been shown to promote health and decrease risk of many chronic diseases including heart disease.

Studies show that eating the Med way decreases the risk of some forms of cancer, is more effective than a low-fat diet for weight loss in overweight and obese individuals, protects against cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s, decreases the risk of macular degeneration, decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes, helps manage blood pressure, and can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease as much as 30-60%. These are significant results, so what are you waiting for? There are 7 simple steps to eating the Med Way and they include:

Change your protein – replace some of the meat in your diet with plant proteins such as beans, nuts and seeds; eat fish and seafood at least two to three times a week; choose white-meat poultry; limit red meat; and limit or eliminate processed meats.

Swap your fats – choose olive oil; replace solid fats with olive or plant based oils

Eat more vegetables – get at least three servings (three cups) of vegetables per day; choose a variety of colors; eat more dark green leafy vegetables.

Eat more fruit – get at least two servings (two cups) of fruit per day; choose a variety of colors; include berries often.

Snack on nuts and seeds – Choose at least three ounces of nuts and seed while keeping within your calorie budget; avoid candied, honey-roasted, and heavily salted nuts and seeds.

Make your grains whole – eat grains as grains, choose whole grains such as oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice, and popcorn; loo for “whole” in the first ingredient when choosing bread, pasta, and other grain-based foods.

Rethink your sweets – limit your sugar intake; choose no more than three servings per week of high-sugar foods and drinks such as sugar-sweetened snacks, candies, desserts, or beverages.

Choose one of each of the 7 goals a week. Studies show that when you make small, simple changes you are more likely to stick with them. And remember, this is a lifestyle change not a diet. This is a way of eating for a lifetime of good health.

For more information contact Kim Terrell, Registered Dietitian and Family Consumer Science Agent, at 828-389-6305 or visit the Med instead of Meds website at www.medinsteadofmeds.com

2022 Farm School

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 listed below 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. Visit https://cherokee.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/10/2022-farm-school/ for more information.

Pruning For Healthy Fruit Trees
February 8, 2022
1:30-4:30 p.m. (Graham County)

Raising Chickens
February 22, 2022
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (Graham County)
February 24, 2022
6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (Cherokee County)

The Art of Grafting Apple Trees

March 8, 2022

6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. (Graham County)

March 15, 2022

9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (Cherokee County)

Beekeeping Basics
March 22, 2022
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (Cherokee County)
3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. (Graham County)

FAMACHA

April 28, 2022

9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (Cherokee County)

Food Plots
July 21, 2022
9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. (Cherokee County)

February is Heart Month!

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. But you can do a lot to protect your heart and stay healthy.
The first step toward heart health is understanding your risk of heart disease. Your risk depends on many factors, some of which are changeable and others that are not. Risk factors are conditions or habits that make a person more likely to develop a disease. These risk factors may be different for each person.
Preventing heart disease starts with knowing what your risks factors are and what you can do to lower them.

Your risk of heart disease is higher if you:

Have high blood pressure

Have high blood cholesterol

Are overweight or obese

Have prediabetes or diabetes

Smoke

Do not get regular physical activity

Have a family history of early heart disease (your father or brother was diagnosed before age 55, or your mother or sister was diagnosed before age 65)

Have a history of preeclampsia (a sudden rise in blood pressure and too much protein in the urine during pregnancy)

Have unhealthy eating behaviors

Are older (age 55 or older for women or age 45 or older for men)

Each risk factor increases a person’s chance of developing heart disease. The more risks you have, the higher your overall risk.
Some risk factors cannot be changed. These include your age, sex, and a family history of early heart disease. But many others can be modified. For example, being more physically active and eating healthy are important steps for your heart health. You can make the changes gradually, one at a time. But making them is very important.
What can you do?

Get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked

Choose heart healthy foods

Aim for a healthy weight

Manage stress

Get regular physical activity

If you smoke, quit smoking

Get enough good, quality sleep

For more information on heart health visit the American Heart Association’s website at www.heart.org

Scholarships Available to Farmers to Attend Organic Grower School Spring Conference and ASAP Business of Farming Conference

Two exciting conferences are coming up in the Asheville area. This includes the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) Business of Farming Conference at A-B Tech on February 26, 2022 and the Organic Grower School (OGS) Spring Conference March 18-20, 2022 at Mars Hill University. The Empowering Mountain Food Systems project has scholarships available to farm and food business owners. Please visit fill out the short scholarship form to apply for a scholarship.