
HOT CROPS
Truffles, Truffles, Truffles
NC Truffle
Project
50 growers were chosen to receive free truffle-inoculated
trees in 2004 from Garland Gourmet
Mushrooms and Truffles as part of a project
they are managing with funds from the NC Tobacco
Trust Fund Commission.
Delectable
truffles are taking root across NC.
By Michael Hastings
JOURNAL FOOD EDITOR
Friday, January 19, 2007
Sunnyridge Berry Farms: Looking Forward to
New North Carolina Opportunities
SunnyRidge Farm in Florida is interested in
buying fresh-market blackberries and raspberries
from western North Carolina. They are talking
about a market for an estimated 400 acres of
blackberries.
Click
to review the presentation. Sunnyridge
Farms gave this presentation to prospective
NC berry growers. (Powerpoint, 17.7K, may
take a few minutes to load...please be patient)
Click
to review the meeting notes.
Sunny Ridge Farm
Informational Meeting on Berry Production Opportunity
March 15, 2006 (MS Word, 32K)
There is a "Berry
Team of Specialists" working with
growers and Sunny Ridge Farms to facilitate
the new production. People interested in
learning more about this opportunity or how
to grow blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries
for Sunny Ridge Farm should call one
of these contacts.
Click for more berry
production info...
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HEIRLOOM TOMATOES
There
is a strong market for heirloom tomatoes. Consumers
say they taste better and have thinner skins
than “regular tomatoes.” Consumers
also have a nostalgic attraction to the “ole
timey” varieties that Grandma used to
grow. Heirloom varieties come in many interesting
colors and shapes and have fun names that make
them stand out from the standard industry tomato.
The market for ORGANIC heirloom tomatoes is
particularly strong.... Dr. Randy Gardner,
has developed several new disease resistant
experimental hybrids with heirloom qualities.
Hopefully, these new hybrids will have the
flavor of heirlooms but with the desired characteristics
of standard commercial tomatoes, e.g., disease
resistance, uniform size, and good shipping
characteristics. Read
the report... |

HIGHLIGHTS

Available online! Research-based
crop production guidelines for the southeastern
region
Farm
Prosperity Project
Dr. Jeanine Davis has recently received a 3
year grant from the new USDA National Research
Initiative on small farms and rural communities
to study farmland preservation techniques and
new crop/new agricultural enterprises as a
way to enhance small-farm prosperity. This
is a cooperative project with Land of Sky Regional
Council, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture
Project, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy,
American Farmland Trust, Southern Appalachian
Highlands Conservancy, and Warren Wilson College.
The
Medicinal Herbs for Commerce project aims
to provide North Carolina farmers an opportunity
to explore the economic feasibility of medicinal
herb production.
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OPPORTUNITIES
SARE
Grants Posted
Southern region Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education grants provides Grants
and Information to Improve Profitability, Stewardship
and Quality of Life.
Free
Grant Writing Assistance
Working on a SARE, Golden Leaf or other grant opportunity?
If this opportunity is in value-added or alternative
agriculture and in some way assists North Carolina
tobacco farm families transition to or add new enterprises,
then assistance in writing and putting together the
grant package is available to you. To obtain assistance,
contact Blake Brown, blake_brown@ncsu.edu,
(919) 515-4536. To find additional information and
to check out current grant opportunities in the value-added
and alternative agriculture area go to www.cals.ncsu.edu/value-added |