Category: York

Food Systems and Safety Agent Alex Ryan Thompson is helping to educate Upstate South Carolina residents on various food safety topics. As a part of the Food Systems and Safety program team with Clemson Cooperative Extension, Alex Ryan Thompson hosts home canning workshops covering all forms of canning. Types of canning are boiling water baths, pickling, jams and jellies, and pressure canning. These workshops are hands-on experiences where participants will learn about the process of canning, the scientific principles behind canning, and how to identify research-based canning recipes-Alex hosts canning workshops across the Upstate. No previous canning knowledge is required to attend these workshops. For the most current schedule of upcoming workshops and to register, visit the Food Systems and Safety team page here: https://www.clemson.edu/extension/food/events.html\

Upstate South Carolina residents who own pressure canners can also reach out to Clemson Cooperative Extension to have their pressure canners inspected and their dial gauges tested for accuracy. The Food Systems and Safety team recommends having pressure canners inspected and dial gauges tested annually to ensure safe pressure canning. Contact your local Extension office to schedule an appointment to check your pressure canner.

Furthermore, the Food Systems and Safety Team hosts ServSafe Food Handler and Manager trainings and can proctor ServSafe examinations for Upstate South Carolina residents. If you or someone you know needs ServSafe training, contact your local Extension office to schedule training or an examination.

Whether you want to know if your leftovers in the refrigerator are safe to eat or want to start a food business, the Food Systems and Safety team with Clemson Cooperative Extension is here to help!

Contact:
Alex Ryan Thompson
Food Systems and Safety Agent
Clemson Cooperative Extension
352 Halton Rd Suite 302Greenville, South Carolina 29607Phone: (864) 365-0628
Email: art6@clemson.edu

In the fall of last year, an inmate from Manning Correctional Institution wrote a letter addressed to the York County Extension Agent asking for literature about landscaping because he wanted to work in that field when he is released and wanted to learn everything he could to be prepared to get a job in the landscaping industry.

This sparked an idea to offer an online course that our statewide horticulture team put together a few years ago, the South Carolina Certified Landscape Professional program. Within the day of receiving the letter, contact was established with the Division of Programs, Reentry and Rehabilitative Services, with the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Over the spring of this year, we had several discussions with them to work out logistics and details, and on June 21, we launched the pilot course live and online.

The SCDOC recruited 40 inmates to participate in this pilot course. The course lasted ten weeks, and participants received instruction in basic horticultural skills such as soils and fertility, plant identification, urban tree management, irrigation, low impact development, weed management, lawn management, and integrated pest management concepts to reduce pesticide use. There were a total of four sites that participated via zoom. Most participants were engaged and asked multiple questions, including how this certification can help them find gainful employment. The project was funded by an internal grant from Clemson University Cooperative Extension Innovation Grant for improving existing programs.

Classes have just ended, and they have not yet taken the certification exam but will be doing so in a few weeks giving them time to study the materials. Look for an update in our next newsletter.

We bid farewell to our 4H Agent, Lauren Hood, who has left her position to seek her doctorate degree at Clemson. We will miss her and wish her success in her endeavors. The posting of the 4H position will end late August and interviews should be taking place soon to find a replacement.

The Master Gardener training course for York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties started on August 3 and will end on November 9. There are 29 interns in class this year. Click below for more information about what Master Gardeners do.

https://www.yorkmg.org/

 Enterprise Budgets and Profitability Workshop

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

York County Clemson Extension

120 N. Congress Street

York, SC 29745

Learn how to calculate your cost of production so you can price for a profit! Explore the concept of an enterprise budget including how they use costs, sales, and labor data to determine the profitability of your market channels. Learn how to use the Veggie and Livestock Compass Tools to predict the financial impact of different farm scenarios for the future and to assess your farm’s financial progress over time to locate efficiencies, set prices based on actual costs of production, and increase farm profits.

For more information:  www.scnewfarmer.org

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

York County Clemson Extension

120 N. Congress Street

York, SC 29745

Learn about specific funding opportunities relevant to new farmers and techniques for successfully applying to these programs! Learn how to determine your eligibility, plan and write your proposal, prepare supporting documentation including business plans, and what to do if you are awarded. The workshop will cover Federal Grant Programs: Value Added Producer Grant, LFPP/FMPP, Rural Energy for America Program, Southern SARE Producer Grants, Farm Storage Facility Loan, EQUIP) as well as State and Local Grant Programs: Specialty Crop Growers Association Programs, ACRE Programs, SBDC Microgrants.

For more information:  www.scnewfarmer.org

Dr. Bob Polomski, Horticulture Professor, and Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist, and Paul Thompson, York County Urban Horticulture Agent teamed up to create an asynchronous online training highlighting the identification and use of over 100 trees shrubs vines, and groundcovers. The Course was launched in early June this year and has already had 219 participants enrolled in the course.

After two years online through zoom 43 new and aspiring farmers were accepted into the South Carolina New and Beginning Farmer Program Class of 2022 cohort.  York County is well represented, with three new farmers as members of this year’s core program.

The program, in its 12^th year, is a Clemson Extension agribusiness public education program focused on enabling new and beginning farmers to be successful, productive, and innovative members of their local agricultural community by providing them with the tools, knowledge, and skills necessary to be successful entrepreneurs, sound business managers, exemplary stewards of the natural environment and successful marketers of the unique products they create.

The program, led by York County Agribusiness Agent Ben Boyles, was recently awarded a $600,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) to support the program’s delivery over the next 4 years. “One in four South Carolina producers are considered new and beginning farmers with less than 10 years of experience,” said Boyles. “These emerging farmers need targeted training and technical assistance to make sure they have the skills necessary to sustain and grow their new farm businesses. Our program helps participants accelerate the development of their farm business so they can accomplish their goals faster while helping to improve access to healthy, locally-produced food for South Carolina consumers.”

Cohort members participate in a series of 8 core agribusiness workshops with the ability to then participate in any of 10 advanced workshops held throughout the state.  Graduates leave with a solid business concept and plan, new contacts and resources, and the skills needed to manage all aspects of their operations.

Craft beer is coming to Clemson!

Upstate Food Systems and Safety Agent Alex Thompson, Clemson Extension Associate Chad Carter, Horticulture Agent Zack Snipes, and Dr. Julie Northcutt are working to develop and implement a brewing program to serve the South Carolina brewing industry and the public through Clemson Cooperative Extension.

According to the South Carolina Brewers Guild, 95 craft breweries in South Carolina produce 105,620 brewery barrels (3,274,220 gallons) of beer annually, with a yearly economic impact of $905 million on the South Carolina economy. The South Carolina brewing industry is a major driving force of economic development across the state. Clemson Cooperative Extension is looking to improve the lives and livelihood of South Carolinians by offering research-based solutions, workforce development programs, and product testing related to brewing science.

Clemson Cooperative Extension funds the development of the Clemson Cooperative Extension Brewing Program through the 2022 Innovation Awards. This award funds the purchase of brewing equipment, lab devices, and the creation of course materials to develop brewing science training for South Carolinians. This program will provide services for stakeholders who own and operate breweries, who currently work at breweries, hope to work in the brewing industry or are just curious about brewing and want to learn more.

Over the coming months, progress will be made towards the first offering in the Clemson Cooperative Extension Service Brewing Program for South Carolina, a “Learn to Brew” workshop that will be open to the public. This workshop will be offered both in-person and online and will teach participants the entirety of the brewing process from grain to glass. Furthermore, an optional program day will be hosted on the Clemson University campus, where participants will get a brewing experience. This workshop portion will allow students to interact with brewing equipment and learn about the brewing process in real-time as they produce beer from raw materials.

Craft beer is a major part of the South Carolina economy, and Clemson Cooperative Extension is poised to assist South Carolina brewers and consumers as the industry continues to grow.

An On-Farm planting located at a cooperating farm has established new experimental grape varieties and new muscadine cultivars. Fruit harvest began two weeks ago with ‘Rhazzmatazz,’ a novel seedless hybrid muscadine-vinifera hybrid grape developed by Gardens Alive plant breeder Jeff Bloodworth.

The next grape I just started harvesting is ‘Oh My,’ another seedless cultivar from the same company. Muscadine plants we are evaluating but have not started picking are ‘Paulk’ and ‘Ruby Crisp.’ These are University of Georgia cultivars donated by Dr. Patrick Conner. Other experimental varieties will not begin fruiting till next year as plants were planted one year after initial planting. Yield and quality data on these varieties are being collected for direct farm application. Information from this planting and the demonstration grape farm at Clemson’s Musser Farm assists several new muscadine farmers in the upstate.

Five farmers from several counties toured the Musser Farm to observe small fruit production. More recently, three farmers accompanied me to Gardens Alive Farm in Kings Mountain to consider newer varieties.

Grapes fit well into fall production programs, especially for anyone growing pumpkins and doing Fall field days. We know what works now, but many new varieties are being cultivated. With the information we gather from these trials. We will be ready for what is coming next.