While strawberries are the first fruit of spring, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries quickly follow as spring gives way to summer. They also have a pretty big fan base, which has helped contribute to the success of Dr. Young’s Pond Berry Farm in Harnett County...
Around this time each year, people across the globe engage in one of the most heated debates of our time: Whether or not it’s okay to put Christmas decorations out before Thanksgiving. The spectrum seems to split right down the middle relative to when the exact...
Christmas tree research in North Carolina is entering a new chapter after a groundbreaking at the Upper Mountain Research Station. The event in late November marked the official beginning of a new building on the research station that will house a seedbank for the...
Devastating. A word meaning highly destructive, damaging, causing severe shock, distress or grief. It’s also a word that has commonly been associated with the Grindstone Fire that ignited Nov. 27, 2021, at Pilot Mountain State Park. It’s not difficult to see where...
https://youtu.be/8EQJWBIHWAw A research project that has received funding from the NCDA&CS Bioenergy Research Initiative is exploring the possibility of growing American sycamore trees as a farm crop. The head researcher (called a principal investigator) John...
https://youtu.be/_MR6MmRJaSw A research project that’s received funding from the NCDA&CS New and Emerging Crops Program is developing new varieties of hops for use in the state’s craft beer industry. Currently, the state’s breweries depend largely on hops grown in...
July is primetime for homegrown watermelons in North Carolina. In the heat of summer, few things are better than the refreshment you can find in a sweet ripe watermelon. Independence Day is certainly a popular time to have watermelon during holiday meals. So if you...
Like any other farmers, Christmas trees growers in western North Carolina are always looking for ways to grow more and better product.
A Christmas tree from North Carolina is now on display as the official White House Christmas tree and the centerpiece of the home’s Christmas decorations. The Fraser fir from Peak Farms in Ashe County is in the Blue Room. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden officially revealed the decorated tree along with the other White House […]
Throughout North Carolina, there are dozens and dozens of disaster recovery projects still in the works in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in 2018. Many of those are projects that have been made possible with support from the Soil and Water Conservation Division in NCDA&CS. The division has helped fund many projects aimed at stabilizing […]
To say the NCDA&CS Food Distribution Division has had two monumental years may seem like a bit of exaggeration. The numbers make it clear though. Division director Gary Gay says the division has nearly doubled the amount of food its moved through its warehouses in the past two years. Some of the increase obviously came […]
[This article is the first in a series about North Carolina distilleries in honor of N.C. Spirits Month, which was first proclaimed in 2017. Each article is part of a “spooky spirits” theme ahead of Halloween.] Not far from the banks of the Cape Fear River you’ll find the End of Days Distillery. While a […]