Buncombe County Government, NC / Soil and Water Conservation

Buncombe County Master Gardeners want to help your lawns and gardens to not only look their best but to yield a healthy crop. Seeing as how it is October, do you know what you need to do to prepare your garden for the winter and next spring? It's time to take some action. If you need further assistance you can call the Master Gardener Hotline at 828-255-5522, or visit buncombemastergardener.org.

Farm Fresh Table's holiday episode; the one where we visit Gaining Ground Farm and stop by the River Arts District tailgate market.

Whether you have a bounty of fresh produce from your own garden, your local tailgate market or one of Buncombe County’s numerous farms; Farm Fresh Table is here with recipes and tips. Follow local chef and farm owner, Sebastiaan Zijp, as he talks to Buncombe County farmers about what’s fresh in the garden, then puts together a meal with all that goodness straight from the farm.

In this episode Sebastiaan prepares a cauliflower gratin and pan-seared brussels sprouts that would make great sides for any holiday meal and shows us how to make his showstopper Dutch apple pie.

Episode 4; the one where we visit Patchwork Urban Farms.
Whether you have a bounty of fresh produce from your own garden, your local tailgate market or one of Buncombe County’s numerous farms; Farm Fresh Table is here with recipes and tips. Follow local chef and farm owner, Sebastiaan Zijp, as he talks to Buncombe County farmers about what’s fresh in the garden, then puts together a meal with all that goodness straight from the farm. In this episode Sebastiaan prepares a traditional ratatouille and a creamy butternut squash soup.

Episode 3; the one where we visit Full Sun Farm, Sycamore Valley Farm Store and the Farm Heritage Trail.
Whether you have a bounty of fresh produce from your own garden, your local tailgate market or one of Buncombe County’s numerous farms; Farm Fresh Table is here with recipes and tips. Follow local chef and farm owner, Sebastiaan Zijp, as he talks to Buncombe County farmers about what’s fresh in the garden, then puts together a meal with all that goodness straight from the farm. In this episode Sebastiaan prepares corn chowder, a fresh sliced tomato salad topped with pickled red onions and sautees swiss chard with bacon and garlic.

The next Buncombe County Friends of Agriculture Breakfast on Tuesday, August 15th, features a complimentary local foods breakfast and a discussion on the growing potential for medicinal herbs in the WNC region.
The popularity of medicinal herbs continues to grow, but meeting the production and processing requirements for this market is not always straightforward. Join us in learning more about the market potential for fresh and dried herbs, from field and forest, as well as the opportunities and challenges of entering this niche market.

Our speaker will be Margaret Bloomquist of NCSU's Department of Horticultural Science who has spearheaded many efforts for building medicinal herb markets under the Alternative Crops research programs with Dr. Jeanine Davis.

When: Tuesday, August 15 beginning at 7am sharp! The educational program will end by 8am.

Where: Virginia Boone Building, WNC AgCenter, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher, NC 28732

Register: This event is free and open to the public

Episode 2; the one where we visit the Weaverville Tailgate Market.
Whether you have a bounty of fresh produce from your own garden, your local tailgate market or one of Buncombe County’s numerous farms; Farm Fresh Table is here with recipes and tips. Follow local chef and farm owner, Sebastiaan Zijp, as he talks to Buncombe County farmers about what’s fresh in the garden, then puts together a meal with all that goodness straight from the farm. In this episode Sebastiaan prepares a roasted beet salad, braised short ribs and green beans from Dillingham Family Farm and Ivy Creek Family Farm.

Whether you have a bounty of fresh produce from your own garden, your local tailgate market or one of Buncombe County’s numerous farms; Farm Fresh Table is here with recipes and tips. Follow local chef and farm owner, Sebastiaan Zijp, as he talks to Buncombe County farmers about what’s fresh in the garden, then puts together a meal with all that goodness straight from the farm.

North Carolina has a proud history of conservation and the local Soil and Water Conservation Districts play an important role. The Buncombe SWCD works in partnership with local, state, and federal governments to provide soil and water conservation services to the citizens of Buncombe County. These services include environmental education, cost-sharing of conservation projects, conservation technical assistance and farmland preservation and are delivered to county citizens through various programs. Description

In this episode of Buncombe Life, take a tour of the French Broad River and Swannanoa River with RiverLink. RiverLink is a non-profit river and environmental conservation here in Buncombe County whose efforts over the past 30 years have both cleaned up, revitalized, and changed the way we look at our waterways here. Join Kathy as she interviews founder, Karen Cragnolin about how RiverLink came to be what it is today and how it began. We'll also take a tour of the Wilma Dykeman waterway with Dave Russell.

For more information about Cycle to Farm, please visit cycletofarm.org

For more information about Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District or Farmland Preservation, please visit buncombecounty.org/soil

Students, Faculty, Garden Clubs, Volunteers, and Community Organizations were all involved in making the wetland at Pisgah Elementary School a reality. This project was coordinated by the Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District held an Environmental Field Day on Warren Wilson College property for area fifth graders. Students visited stations that presented macroinvertebrates from Cooperative Extension, water cycle from Montreat College students, soils from NC Department of Agriculture, wildlife/nature from WNC Nature Center, solar from Sundance Power Systems, weather from The Colburn Earth Science Museum and agriculture from Warren Wilson College students. At each station, students learned by playing games and hands-on activities.

Laurie Brokaw with Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District explains the Emergency Watershed Protection Project which restored over nine miles of streambank that was damaged by Hurricanes Ivan and Frances.