Earth Day Event

Volunteers! (Click to make larger)

Hello Readers,

On April 13, about 100 people came out to the farm to help plant transplants commencing NC State's annual week-long Earth Day festivities. Students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to plant seedlings that will eventually be harvested and served in campus dining halls. The event was co-hosted by the NCSU Agroecology Education Farm and Campus Dining. It serves as a great beginning for more local and sustainable foods on campus.

In addition to planting transplants, students and community members watered crops, spread soybean mill, pulled weeds, discussed sustainable agriculture, and provided assistance to Green Planet Catering in their plots. Campus Dining provided delicious food and beverages as well!

Volunteers Planting Seedlings. (Click to make larger)

It was fantastic to see so many people come together and work to support a great cause and new initiative. We thank everyone who came out and hope to see many of your faces out at the farm this summer!

Cheers,
-Agroecology Education Farm Staff

WRAL and Earth Day

                                                                         

Hello Readers!

Camera Man with Stephen Ratasky and Angel Cruz

It has certainly been a long time since we've written anything on here and, for that, we apologize. We are still in the process of getting all our social media outlets up to date and of course winter happened. There was not very much going on at the farm at the time but now the growing season is upon us once again.

Just a couple days ago, we organized a visit from WRAL news. Reporter Brian Shrader came out to the farm to talk to our director, Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, our Farm Manager, Stephen Ratasky, and our newest partner NCSU Campus Dining. The interviews went great and the story was even better. If you are interested in seeing the story, go here: http://goo.gl/UImkl . The best part of all is our farm was exposed to over 120,000 people across area. Let's hope that this means more interest, more volunteers, and possible donations of any kind!

Brian Shrader Speaking to Campus Dining and our Director

Another piece of fantastic news is the new partnership with NCSU Campus Dining I mentioned above. We've established a portion of the farm to grow food for campus dining. In other words, we have joined the campus dining My Roots Are At NC State program. When harvesting food later in the summer, a large portion of it will be served in the dining halls at NC State University. Students will be able to eat foods grown by the pack for the pack!

The last thing we'll announce in this blog post is our Earth Day event which will take place tomorrow. We know it's early but shouldn't every day be Earth Day? The farm will open from 1-4pm and anyone is invited to come out to help plant transplants! We will also serve some light snacks and there will be plenty of photo opportunities. You don't have to RSVP but if you'd like to let us know you are coming, go to http://go.ncsu.edu/plantingmyroots and sign-up.

We have lot's planned for this year so be sure and check back in every so often for great pics, recipes, growing advice, updates on the farm, and more.

-Agroecology Education Farm Staff