Keeping plant disease out of a nursery is always a management goal. In the case of boxwood blight, a fatal disease of a popular, high-dollar woody plant, maintaining clean stock through a variety of practices is a challenge. Boxwood blight was first confirmed in North America in 2011, and it’s now p...

Bigger, stronger, faster growing, more resistant to damage… Dr. Justin Whitehill is creating the Captain America of Carolinas Christmas trees. Whitehill is an assistant professor at North Carolina State’s College of Natural Resources. He is working to advance the Tar Heel State’s Christmas tree indu...

One of the greatest miracles in nature is that plants turn flowers into fruits. Petals morph into pears; blooms become blackberries. That only happens if conditions are right, though. This is especially true for blueberries. Blueberry pollination is sensitive to extreme heat – which growers are seei...

Despite a popular talking point, teenagers are motivated – it just might look a little different from what motivates you. A recent session from the Business, Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Team at Penn State Extension unpacked this idea: teenage workers are a crucial part of seasonal farm w...

A neighbor posted on our community page looking for a bouquet without having to drive to suburbia. She had lots of options to choose from, including a retired teacher giving away small bouquets as part of the Free Little Flower movement, a prolific gardener who invited her to come cut a bouquet and ...

For a while I’ve been thinking about national security and the importance of maintaining vibrant local food systems – especially in today’s increasingly chaotic national and international environment. I am also intrigued with the term “locavore.” Checking in with my friend Webster, I learned that th...

Stop the rot. It seems like a simple objective for those growing produce after they harvest it. It’s not always an easy problem to solve though. For example, onion bulb crops are grown on approximately 140,000 acres annually in the U.S., with a farm-gate value of $925 million. But bacterial diseases...

The Village Green Greenhouse is celebrating its 37th year of business. Mark and Annette Larareo reopened their doors for the season on Good Friday in late March, selling plants, everything related to growing plants that a customer could wish for and ice cream in their second business located at the ...

LAUREL SPRINGS, NC – Joe Freeman fell in love with the Christmas tree business when he was a teenager and worked on Guilford County retail lots for the Wagoner brothers, pioneers of North Carolina’s Christmas tree industry. “I like seeing people come out and pick out a tree, whether on a retail lot ...