WVSU Extension Service Hosting Free Agriculture Workshops in McDowell County

5/11/2015

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Contact: Kimberly Osborne
(304) 766-3363
kosborne@wvstateu.edu
   
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) Extension Service will present a free series of workshops to help beginning and experienced gardeners learn a variety of alternative growing and small fruit production techniques on May 19-20 at the Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank in Kimball, W.Va.

“We’ve been working with garden initiatives at the food bank for a couple years now and are excited to be able to offer this comprehensive series of topics to McDowell County residents,” said Melissa Stewart, assistant program director of WVSU Extension Service. “We’re covering a variety of topics that will open up both new and existing gardeners to some interesting alternative growing options.”

The workshops will include rain barrel installation and irrigation, raised bed gardening, as well as proper production of various small fruits. The full schedule is as follows.

Tuesday, May 19
· 1 p.m. - Rain Barrels/Irrigation
· 2 p.m. - Container and Raised Bed Gardening
· 3 p.m. - Hydroponics (water-based, soilless growing)

Wednesday, May 20
· 10 a.m. - Brambles
· 11 a.m. - Blueberries
· 1 p.m. - Fruit Trees
· 2 p.m. - Strawberries
· 3 p.m. Grapes

WVSU Extension Service is partnering with the West Virginia Minority and Veteran Farmers Program to host the series, made possible by a West Virginia Dept. of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant and by the United States Dept. of Agriculture’s Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher Program.

To register, contact WVSU Extension Agent Randy Ross at (808) 208-5099 or rross8@wvstateu.edu.

Five Loaves and Two Fishes Food Bank is located along Rte. 52 in Kimball, W.Va.

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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi‐generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.