New Sign!
Hortense Hinton, Carver Alumnus, is pleased with the new county funded sign announcing “The Caver Center”. The alumni association participated in the county farm tour in September as the school was a tour stop featuring its activities there.
Cover Crop Demo
Cover crop demonstration (tillage radish and barley) established with significant help from Battle Park Farms (soil prep), Lawrence Bennett (planting), Culpeper Coop and County Farm Service (seed donation) at The Carver Center.
Cover crop closeup
VSU GAP Training
VSU Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) staff lead by Michael Carter Jr. (standing) teach Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) at The Carver Center October 10th. SFOP Extension Agent Leonel Castillo (seated) contributes to the GAP training. For more information on upcoming classes visit https://www.ext.vsu.edu/ or call 804-524-3292.
New Sign at the Carver Center
Culpeper County Installs New Sign for The Carver Center
VSU Small Farm Outreach Program Creates Incubator Farm and Demonstration Site in Culpeper County, Va
The Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) at Virginia State University (VSU) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the George Washington Carver Agriculture Research Center (GWCARC) in Culpeper County, Virginia, to create an incubator farm and demonstration site.
The incubator farm and demonstration site comprises two acres of land and one hoop house to grow an assortment of vegetable crops. Workshops, meetings and training sessions for farmers will be held onsite at the GWCARC. The SFOP will provide fertilizer, seeds, hand and power gardening tools, personnel to provide training and technical assistance, and financial assistance.
For more information on this program follow the link below:
http://www.vsu.edu/news/news/2018/07/vsu-small-farm-outreach.php
VSU Small Farm Outreach program at Carver
William Crutchfield (standing) addresses a group of farmers gathered at The Carver Center to discuss the VSU Small Farm Outreach program. Recently signed is a MOU between VSU and GWCARC, affirming intentions to conduct programs beneficial to a cross section of small farmers across the region. See the program brochure published also on this site or go to the following link:
Culpeper Star Exponent article on the VSU/GWCARC Memorandum of Agreement and Beginning Farmer Program: https://www.starexponent.com/news/carver-signs-agreement-with-vsu-to-aid-small-farmers/article_c8d4aa4b-b795-5b0e-a2fa-1a3c6c030d2e.html
Oliver tractor at the CMR Farm Show
Long time Culpeper farmer, Charlie Harlow of Maple Springs Farm, exhibits his restored Oliver tractor at the CMR Farm Show in July. Machines like this Oliver from the mid-century period provided some of the best advancements available to farmers at the time. Internal combustion engines long in existence, now could be relied upon to provide real horsepower and longevity, pushing productivity higher on farms where these advancements were put to work. Today, electronics have taken over from the stout horse power offered then, providing yet another level of advancement that is increasingly applied on local farms. Data is the bottom line now, the tractor itself keeping up with maintenance, hours of operation, efficiency and guidance, leading to fewer and fewer input needs by the operator.
