Special Delivery

Want some gourmet food made with fresh local produce? Check out the Stonewall!



Last Thursday, the TVGA made their first delivery to Chef Paco at the Stonewall Jackson resort. The delivery was a vast array of delicious produce; carrots, tomatoes, greens, and fragrant fresh herbs. Chef Paco will be incorporating the produce into Stonewall’s menu, to give lucky patrons a taste of what West Virginia has to offer. Relationships like this with restaurants and local businesses are important to support our local farming economies and to help create a healthy food system for everyone. To check out the menus at the Stonewall, visit their website:

http://www.stonewallresort.com/dining/dining.asp

Final Food Safety Meeting with TVGA

Last Wednesday, Laura Hartz of Downstream Strategies in Morgantown presented a two page flyer that allows growers to stay current with emerging food safety legislation, and its impact on their business. The flyer describes three different pieces of legislation that have the ability to impact small-farmers and food manufacturers in the state. It also lists the contact information of representative people in the government that can be notified about the legislation's impact. The three pieces are the Leafy Green Marketing Amendment, the Food Safety Modernization Act and the West Virginia Food Manufacturing Facility Rule. It is important that farmers stay on top of emerging food safety legislation that can impact the local food economy and this flyer will help them to do it. The flyer is available for pick up at the Community Garden Market on mainstreet. We encourage every home gardener and small farmer to grab a copy of the flyer and read about these important issues.

The flyer is available for download under the resources page.

WVU Organic Farm Field Day

Thanks to David Ahrend for sending out this letter from Dr. Jim Kotcon!

West Virginia University’s Division of Plant and Soil Sciences is hosting its 12th annual
Organic Field Day on Thursday, August 4, at the WVU Organic Research Farm located on Rt. 705 in Morgantown, WV. The Field Day is open to the public and anyone interested in organic farming is encouraged to attend. The Field Day will include a wagon tour of research and demonstration plots emphasizing transitional practices for growers considering converting from conventional to organic practices.

New this year will be a symposium on organic management for Brown Marmorated Stink
Bug, and a project on sheep health and nutrition. We also have work on organic egg production, additional trials for sustainable biofuel crop production, and crop variety trials on blackberry, tomato, pepper, bean, lettuce, squash and watermelon. Intensive workshops will be conducted on insect, disease and weed identification and management, livestock, poultry, and pasture management, marketing, and much more!

Please register in advance for the workshops so the presenters can prepare adequate
handouts, etc. A dinner featuring organic produce grown on the Farm is planned for 6:00 PM that evening. If you’re interested in learning more about organic farming, some of the practices used, or are just curious as to what it’s all about, feel free to stop out and enjoy the evening with us! Gates will open Thursday, August 4th at 1:00 PM and will close at 7:00 PM. You are encouraged to pre-register via e-mail (plantandsoil@mail.wvu.edu ) by returning the attached registration form, or by calling Tessy Warnick at 304-293-2961.
For more information, call Dr. Jim Kotcon at 304-293-8822. We hope to see you there!

Directions to the WVU Organic Research Farm:
From I-68, take Exit 7 and go west on Rt. 857, 1 mile to Rt. 119 (second stop light).
Turn Left onto Rt.119 (south) for 1.5 mile.
At the second stop light, turn right onto Rt. 705.
Look for the driveway on the left (¼ mile) for the WVU Plant and Soil Sciences Farm.

You can also visit their website at: www.caf.wvu.edu/plsc/organic

High tunnel meeting success!

The Tygart Valley Growers Association hosted Rich Connor from Rimol Greenhouse Systems, Inc. for an informational meeting about high tunnels. The attending growers have recently accepted NRCS EQIP contracts that will allow them to fully transition to organic, year-round production using high tunnel technology. In Barbour County alone, over $150,000 in EQIP contracts have been awarded.



Mr. Connor is an industry expert, and his extensive knowledge on greenhouses was appreciated by the attendees. He answered questions from growers and showcased different materials, then reviewed orders with growers and stayed to socialize and speak about farm operations. He fielded questions about ventilation, the advantages of roll-up sides and how long different materials are expected to last.

The presence of Mr. Connor demonstrated the importance of small-scale agriculture in West Virginia, and the active supporting role USDA NRCS is playing. One couple drove over two hours just to attend the meeting to have their questions answered. There is a high demand for the support of small-scale growers in West Virginia, and the Tygart Valley Growers Association in partnership with WesMonTy RC&D and NRCS will continue to provide this support for our growers.

Selling Eggs at the Farmers Market

We recently had a gentleman come to the office looking for information on how to sell eggs at the local farmers market. After being told he had to register with DHHR and DHHR telling him he had to register with Extension, he was tired and confused when he arrived here.

Fortunately, we had the solution for him!

In order to sell eggs at the farmers market, one simply has to register with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture. Assuming that the producer is selling fewer than 150 dozen eggs per week, the registration is free and must be updated yearly:

"§61-7A-3.1 (WV Marketing of Eggs Rule) A small producer is any person marketing one hundred fifty (150) dozen of eggs or less per week of his or her own production. A small producer shall register with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture on forms provided by the Commissioner but is exempt from paying permit or inspection fees.
A small producer will label their cartons according to legislative rule (regulations)."

You can download it direct from this blog by clicking this link:
Application for Small Egg Producer Registration

Or

By following this link, you can download the Small Egg producers Registration Form on the right bar under Egg.
http://www.wvagriculture.org/Division_Webpages/READ-regulatory.htm

Webpage

The WesMonTy RC&D webpage is up and running!

Please check it out at wesmontyrcd.org

Also, if you are willing, please search for WesMonTy RC&D on google and click the link for the webpage (wesmontyrcd.org) to bring it up to the top of the list.

Thank you!