|
|
 |
Welcome Harley Robinson (left) and Adam Ferrell, the inaugural Henderson County Gleaton Farm Fund Interns!
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
Welcome Interns!
A big welcome to Harley Robinson and Adam Ferrell, our first interns supported by the Henderson County Gleaton Farm Fund!
Since joining us in October, they’ve jumped right into the to work, tackling herb harvest, seed cleaning, woods work, and more. Their passion for the plants, helpfulness and humor have boosted our spirits this season!
Read more about Harley, Adam, and this exciting new internship program.
Want to expand this opportunity?
Your gift to the Henderson County Gleaton Farm Fund for Summer Interns directly supports hands-on learning, allowing us to bring in more talented interns like Adam and Harley.
Help Fund a Future Internship
Juhua 菊花: A Beautiful Harvest!
We've spent the last few weeks waist-deep in the gorgeous juhua (菊花) Chrysanthemum morifolium flower harvest and processing, for both our research trials and an on-farm collaboration.
Catch a glimpse of the action in the gallery below:
|
 |
Juhua trials in Candler: Our program is working with multiple production plots, and we're pitching in to help pick this lovely harvest at Jake's Farm.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
 |
Bud to bloom: Juhua is a member of the Aster family and is harvested when the flowers have fully opened. The harvest window lasts about 5 weeks. We began picking the yellow "Hang" variety of juhua in early October.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
 |
After harvest, lots are carefully weighed and loaded onto drying trays. Don't forget the label!
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
 |
Filling the commercial-scale dryer at the Mills River research station.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
|
|
 |
Harvesters take a break with cool herbal tea after filling the bins at Jake's Farm.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
 |
Drying setup at Jake's Farm using food-grade stainless steel trays.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
|
|
Positive (Truffle Identification) Vibes!
Truffle growers gathered in Raleigh in mid-October for our day-long truffle microscopy workshop. This focused group, led by Dr. Inga Meadows (pictured below), was able to positively identify Black Perigord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) mycorrhizae on root samples from their own orchards!
|
 |
Over a dozen workshop participants from across the US learned how to identify truffle species colonizing tree roots using microscopes.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
|
|
Woods Work
Woodland Stewards met for the final work day of the season in late October. Activities included harvesting research plots, planting roots, and a tailgate sharing of plants and seeds among the group. Thanks to these all-star volunteers for a wonderful year in the woods!
In time for the dormant planting season, we recently distributed planting stock for valuable woodland botanicals like goldenseal, black cohosh, and ramps. This initiative was carried out in partnership with Warren Wilson College through our Guaranteed From Seed program.
|
 |
Meter-square plots of selected woodland botanical species are harvested annually from our Demonstration Forest Farm to build our yield database.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
|
|
 |
Sorting planting stock produced at Warren Wilson College and the Guaranteed from Seed Program.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025
|
|
|
Upcoming Events and Opportunities |
|
 |
|
|
Join the Celebration! 10th Annual NC Medicinal Herb Grower Buyer Event
It's not too late to sign up! Come celebrate the season and connect with medicinal herb farmers and buyers at the 10th Annual NC Medicinal Herb Grower Buyer Event in Mills River, NC!
Invest in the future of local herbs: Support the premier medicinal herb trade event in North Carolina by becoming a sponsor. To learn more about sponsorship tiers and benefits, email mary_bulan@ncsu.edu for the packet.
|
| NC Medicinal Herb Grower and Buyer Event
|
|
The Art and Science of Pressed Plant Vouchers
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 9:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m EST
N.C. Cooperative Extension - Buncombe County Center
49 Mount Carmel Road #102 Asheville, NC 28806
|
| The Art and Science of Pressed Plant Vouchers
|
|
|
Our Team at Work
|
 |
Margaret Bloomquist presented research on promising Chinese Medicinal Herbs at the International Herb Symposium in mid-September, one of many events connecting our work to the wider community.
Photo Credit: NC Alternative Crops & Organics Program 2025.
|
 |
Mary Bulan shows 2-year old black cohosh (Actaea recemosa) seedlings to a group of aspiring forest farmers at Southwestern Community College, a presentation in partnership with EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems.
Photo Credit: EmPOWERing Mountain Food Systems 2025.
|
|
|
Give the Gift of Growth: Sustain Vital Research & Outreach
This holiday season, your gift to the NC Alternative Crops & Organics program directly supports the future of sustainable farming in our region.
You help our dedicated team deliver essential research—from forest farming and native botanicals to Chinese medicinal herbs and organic tomato production—straight to the hands of the farming community.
Our need is particularly urgent this year. The funding from several grant programs that pay our dedicated team's salaries has been temporarily paused. A donation from you right now is a crucial lifeline. You can ensure this critical work continues.
Support our program specifically through this secure donation link.
|
| Donate Now
|
Send this Newsletter to a Friend
Sign up to Receive this Newsletter
|
|
|
