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Events and Opportunities
Workshops and conferences are in full swing this month. Connect with other growers and find your farming inspiration at an upcoming event! |
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Growing Green Gold in Your Woods
Fri Mar 14 - Sun Mar 16, John C. Campbell Folk School |
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Join Jeanine and research associate Katie Learn for a weekend of fun and education about how to grow some of the most popular native woodland botanicals. Learn how to plan a forest farm or garden, how to grow and propagate, make a plant voucher specimen, and make some value-added products.
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| Growing Green Gold Workshop |
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Organic Growers School Spring Conference
Fri Mar 14 - Sun Mar 16, Mars Hill University |
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It's Spring Conference week! Resilience, Recovery, and Renewal is the theme for 2025 Organic Growers School Spring Conference, on March 14-16 2025 at Mars Hill University. The event features nine tracks, new classes, respected teachers, and community spaces.
Margaret Bloomquist and David Brown will be teaching a half day workshop on Propagation and Cultivation of Woodland Botanicals on Friday at Warren Wilson College.
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| OGS Spring Conference |
| Friday March 14 Workshop Only |
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So You Want to Grow Medicinal Herbs!
March 17, 2025 – 2 p.m.-4 p.m. |
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Western NC Medicinal Herb Growers presents a free workshop with Meghan Baker.
Hybrid Zoom and in-person event at the NC Extension Buncombe County Center. Register below: |
| So You Want to Grow Medicinal Herbs! |
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Western NC Farm Succession School
Thurs Mar 27 · 9:00am - 3:30pm EST, WNC Regional Livestock Center |
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Don’t let the complexities of farm succession put your family’s future at risk. Join Stephen and the NC Farmlink team to ensure your farm remains a thriving part of North Carolina’s agricultural heritage for generations to come.
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| Western NC Farm Succession School |
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Forest Farming Office Hours (virtual)
Fri April 4, 12:00-1:30pm EST |
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Join the Appalachian Forest Farmer Coalition and NC State University Extension for Q&A, resources, and conversation about forest farming. All regions and experience levels are welcome. Registration is free and required.
Upcoming Forest Farming Office Hours
Friday, April 4th, 2025
12:00 - 1:30 PM EST
Friday, May 9th, 2025
12:00 - 1:30 PM EST |
| Forest Farming Office Hours |
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Do You Learn by Doing? Volunteer with Us!
We have a wonderful group of volunteers and are seeking a few more for specific opportunities this year including monthly hops focused days starting in April and running through harvest season. Learn how to train, string, manage, scout, and harvest hops in our 14-year old hop yard, located in Mills River, NC.
For more information and to stay updated on opportunities, please email: Katie_Learn@ncsu.edu |
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Fresh hops picked in summer 2024 from the research hopyard in Mills River.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2024. |
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Contour Lines Agroforestry Tree Grant
Contour Lines provides trees and technical assistance to landowners interested in transitioning to agroforestry and are able to implement certain simple soil conservation practices. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. For more information or to apply please visit: www.contourlines.org/USA.
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ASSETS Grant Program
The Accelerating Silvopasture Adoption and Carbon Sequestration (ASSETS) grant program is available to farmers in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia to assist in the adoption of silvopasture. Qualified applicants will receive one on one design support, silvopasture technical assistance, up to $1,500/acre for practice adoption and earn up to $90/acre annually from carbon credit sales. Visit Working Trees for more information and to apply today.
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Helping Farmers Service Opportunity |
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Rugged and smiling service crew at a volunteer work day at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC.
Photo Credit: Pete Erb 2025 |
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In partnership with Organic Growers School, we've continued post-hurricane hands-on service days, recently cleaning up nursery beds at Warren Wilson College's Guaranteed From Seed Project.
Additional resources for affected farmers are listed on the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association website. |
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Program Highlight:
Quality Assessment of Chinese Herb Samples with Practitioners |
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Lilly weighs out dried juhua flowers in the Horticulture lab for sample packets.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025. |
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As we continue to support growers of domestically produced Chinese Medicinal Herbs, our research extends beyond the fields and into the marketplace. Recently we packed and shipped samples of NC-grown Chinese Medicinal Herbs to selected practitioners of Eastern medicine across the US for quality assessment.
Read more on our website: https://newcropsorganics.ces.ncsu.edu/2024/12/chinese-medicinal-herb-project-highlighted-in-local-news/
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North Carolina grown Chinese herbs like these dried Chrysanthemum morifolium flowers are shipped to practitioners across the US to see, smell, taste, use and provide feedback.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025. |
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Support Our Work
Our work is made possible by your support. Please consider donating to the NC Alternative Crops and Organics Program to help us continue our efforts for a sustainable future. Become a friend of the program, every contribution counts—thank you for being part of our community! |
| Donate Now |
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