Once a hallmark of extension programming through Tomato Clubs for girls, canning and other home food preservation techniques had largely fallen out of favor with consumers in recent years. But this year, Cooperative Extension centers are reporting enrollment in canning workshops is up, and many extension agents are adding classes to accommodate demand.

Cabarrus County has scheduled nine workshops, up from the usual four, and all filled quickly. Several television news groups taped the Cabarrus workshops to use as on-air instructional pieces. Five workshops will be offered in Lee County, including one focusing on canning green beans and two on canning tomatoes. In Buncombe County, workshops are scheduled throughout the summer produce season on canning strawberry jam, dill pickles and relish and tomatoes, along with several lectures on home canning.

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North Carolinians who want to improve their health by enjoying outdoor activity will benefit from a new resource developed by Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina. The group has just released Eat Smart, Move More NC: Your Road Map to Health, a foldable state map illustrated with North Carolina sites and opportunities for physical activity and outdoor recreation.

The Road Map, which doubles as a progress report on obesity in North Carolina, folds and fits in a car glove box like a regular street map. The map’s appeal to outdoor enthusiasts is that it highlights walking, hiking, biking and paddling trails throughout the state. The document also engages readers with the personal success stories of individuals who have been agents of change in their own communities -- making healthy improvements to work sites, schools and neighborhoods.

N.C. Cooperative Extension is one of 60 organizations that lead the Eat Smart, Move More NC (ESMM) movement. The shared vision among these partner organizations is a North Carolina where healthful eating and active living are the norm, rather than the exception.

Special Note: Agents and 4-H Congress delegates do not need to register for this event - they will automatically be registered to attend through the 4-H Congress Registration process.

This event is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones, and celebrate our past as we position 4-H for the future.

Come join the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the Chatham County Beekeepers’ Association for the third annual celebration of National Pollinator Week on Saturday, June 27, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on The Lawn at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro.

The purpose of National Pollinator Week is to teach pollinator-friendly practices and raise public awareness of the importance of the bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, birds and bats that are needed to produce 80 percent of our flowering plants and one third of our human food crops. The National Academy of Sciences has reported that there is direct evidence of the decline of some pollinator species in North America. And recently, Colony Collapse Disorder of honey bees has alarmed the agricultural industry.

The Business Development Files include:
1. Evaluating a New Business Idea
2. Estimating Income and Cost: Calculating a Price
3. Researching Your Market: Identifying Your Customers
4. Researching Your Market: Evaluating the Competition
5. Estimating Market Potential: Is There a Market?
6. Legal, Regulatory and Insurance: Checklist for North Carolina
7. Product, Price, Place and Promotion

The country's economic downturn has left many families scrambling to deal with personal and financial crises. To help, North Carolina Cooperative Extension has developed a Web site, "Take Control," that provides peer-reviewed fact sheets offering a number of suggestions on how to cope with economic hardship.

The fact sheets, available on the Web site www.nctakecontrol.com, were developed by N.C. Cooperative Extension family and consumer sciences specialists in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University. The fact sheets include tips on saving money, talking to children about the economy, shopping for healthy foods on a tight budget, avoiding home foreclosure and many other timely topics.

Master Gardeners who support N.C. Cooperative Extension in Wake County recently celebrated 30 years of service with a birthday party, cake and all. One highlight was a panel discussion with former horticulture agents and MG volunteers reflecting on the program's history. Wake's MG program began in 1979 when agent Victor Lynn learned of a program called "Garden Leaders" while attending a national agricultural agents meeting. Lynn returned to Raleigh to begin a similar program in Wake County. Today, Wake County Master Gardeners have 129 members and three emeritus members. In addition to answering home horticulture phone calls five days a week, the group is responsible for five demonstration gardens, three WaterWise gardens, horticultural therapy, Successful Gardener clinics, youth horticulture and a speaker’s bureau.

-A. Hertzberg

During the conference, the delegates will have the opportunity to hear from a number of key state leaders and experience workshops on a variety of topics from “Whatz Up On Capitol Hill?” to “Nuts and Bolts of the North Carolina General Assembly.” On Wednesday morning, delegates will visit their legislative representatives in their offices, following a legislative breakfast.

While North Carolina strawberry growers looked forward to a bumper crop of berries in May, second graders at Swift Creek Elementary School in Raleigh also were watching their small crop come in. Though the school’s berries arrived a few weeks later than those of commercial growers, the students and their teachers have gained a wealth of knowledge from their year-long study of strawberries and how they grow.

The project started last fall as a collaboration between Dr. Gina Fernandez, small fruits specialist and associate professor of horticultural science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Swift Creek second grade teacher Megan Sedaghat. Fernandez’s daughter, Anya Yencho, was a student in Sedaghat’s class this year. When Sedaghat learned of Fernandez’s expertise with strawberries, she asked if Fernandez would help students grow and study strawberries.

As farmers’ markets attract more and more consumers in search of nutritious, high-quality foods, many of those same consumers are looking for ways to prepare and preserve what they buy at markets. A new resource from the N.C. State University Program for Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture at the new N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis offers help.

The Produce Lady video series tells farmers and consumers the wonders of locally grown fruits and vegetables – the nutrition they provide, the delicious meals or snacks families can enjoy with each vegetable or fruit and how to prepare them as tasty meals and snacks or freeze them to use throughout the year. The Produce Lady is Brenda Bryan Sutton, the new N.C. Cooperative Extension director in Rockingham County, who served as family and consumer sciences Extension agent until recently. The Produce Lady’s recipes and videos are available in two sites: www.theproducelady.org and www.youtube.com/user/TheProduceLady.

Readers will learn how leadership impacted pivotal moments in world politics, business, the military, athletics, religion and the arts. Proceeds from the sale of this book will support programs for the General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center, including 4-H Shelton scholarships and enhanced initiatives for young people statewide. Available through your local bookstores and www.amazon.com. Visit cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/secrets-of-success.

The North Carolina Centennial 4-H Lifetime Achievement Awards Celebration took place April 23 in Concord, where the annual fundraising event honored the lifetime achievements of former 4-H members, families and supporters. N. C. State University basketball legend Tommy Burleson received the 4-H Lifetime Achievement Award, and Family Legacy Awards were presented to the Teeter and Vanderbilt/Cecil families for their support of North Carolina 4-H.

“This event provides an outstanding venue to highlight today’s 4-H youth development program and the excellent job it does helping young people become competent, caring and contributing members of society,” said Dr. Marshall Stewart, state 4-H program leader. “We’re especially glad to honor Tommy Burleson, the Teeter family and the Vanderbilt/Cecil family. Their generosity and dedication have helped propel 4-H through its first 100 years and, without a doubt, will continue to strengthen our organization in the next century.”

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How would you build local food economies for North Carolina communities? About 400 farmers, food service buyers, health professionals, county government officials, chefs and university representatives came together at the Farm to Fork Summit held in N.C. State’s McKimmon Center in May to ask that question as they develop a State Action Plan. The conference included remarks and pledges of support by Gov. Beverly Perdue, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, former U.S. Rep. Eva Clayton and other dignitaries.

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS), directed by Dr. Nancy Creamer, hosted the summit, which took place after more than a year of planning and conversations. Last fall, CEFS hosted six regional summits to learn what was happening regionally to build local food economies and to identify opportunities and obstacles. Other dignitaries offering support were Dr. Jon Ort, director of N.C. Cooperative Extension Service at N.C. State University, Dr. M. Ray McKinnie, administrator of N.C. Cooperative Extension Program at N.C. A&T State University, and Maurice Totty of the Compass Group, the world’s largest food distributor.