National Ag Day may be officially celebrated one day each year, but for the dedicated staff at the Vance County N.C. Cooperative Extension, EVERY day is Ag Day.

As the county’s extension director, Dr. Wykia Macon said she encourages the local agents to get out into the community as much as possible. It’s a way to strengthen relationships with organizations and individuals alike that create collaboration.

Macon said she’d much rather be out in the field, as it were, instead of behind a desk. Although she’s the CED, she’s also the Consumer and Family Sciences agent for Vance County, and she enjoys interacting with the public in a variety of ways. Whether it’s teaching students at Sledge Institute about cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset or helping newbie gardeners cultivate their green thumbs at community garden plots at the Farmers Market, Macon and her team are available to help and provide research-based practices from N.C. State and N.C. A&T State universities for programs that range from beekeeping to pesticide training.

Come out to the Vance County Regional Farmers Market on Apr. 2 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the annual Report to the People, an interactive open house event to share with the community about what’s kept agents busy this past year and to learn about what’s in store for this coming year.

If you’d like to attend, please either call the extension office at 252.438.8188 or register online at https://vance.ces.ncsu.edu/ to make sure there will be enough snacks on hand – yes, there will be snacks.

The Farmers Market is a fitting spot for this year’s open house. The market welcomes Christy Stanley as its new market manager, and Macon said she’s excited to see the market under Stanley’s leadership.

“She came in with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of ideas,” Macon said, adding that Stanley, a local farmer herself, sees lots of potential for the farmers market, which opens for the season on Saturday, May 2.

The Spring Fling is already on the schedule, and the community garden plots are available for rental again this year, Macon said. But there’s buzz about having live music and children’s reading time at the market, too.

There’s a workshop coming up at the farmers market on Tuesday, Apr. 7 to get folks thinking about planting spring gardens. Wayne Rowland and Michael Ellington will provide hands-on demonstrations at the farmers market, so if you’re new to gardening or need a confidence boost, this is the workshop for you! Registration is available online at https://vance.ces.ncsu.edu/

Agents are constantly seeking ways to extend – pun intended – into the wider community, and Macon said she’s proud of the collaboration the Vance County extension has with local partners like Triangle North, Duke Energy, area schools and others.

Strengthening collaboration increases volunteer participation. More volunteers means more people are spreading the word about programs and services that extension can provide.

She said she sees the farmers market campus as a hub, a place where people can come together to learn and to grow, but also, increasingly for entertainment and physical activity.

A walking trail is in the planning stages, and Macon said she envisions the farmers market as a place where folks can feel comfortable, whether they’re working, playing or purchasing local produce.

With an increased focus on growing, buying and eating “local,” it makes sense that the farmers market – with its seasonal vendors and rental community garden plots – become a gathering spot for sellers and buyers of local produce.

But Macon isn’t stopping there. She said she’s been discussing options with city and county leaders about other opportunities, including what she calls an “innovative farm” within the city where residents can not only learn how to grow their own food, but this space also would include a kitchen where you’d learn how to prepare the food you’ve just grown.

It’s a way to get people more connected with their food, she said.

Macon and her team’s mission is to think outside traditional agriculture to dispel the farmer stereotype. Not everyone has acres and acres of usable land, or tractors or any of the other stuff that goes along with the traditional idea of farming.

“We’re trying to help people expand their minds,” Macon said. No acreage, no problem. Try a raised bed or containers. And there’s the almost magical hydroponic gardening, too – no dirt needed.

An upcoming container garden workshop will help participants with “bootstrap” gardening – which Macon describes as a way “of taking what you have and starting there.” You can plant veggies in grow bags or pots on windowsills, she explained.

“We are just here to teach people how to start.”

Sometimes, that’s the hard part – just getting people to figure out how to start something.

Whether it’s EFNEP Educator Nitasha Kearney teaching senior adults – or schoolchildren – about healthy food choices, or leading folks step-by-step to create their own container garden, the Cooperative Extension agents are ready to help.

They’ll bring the program into the community to help reach more people, so look for Kearney to partner with area churches, for example.

And if you hear the phrase “mobile Man Cave,” don’t be surprised. Parenting Coordinator Jamon Glover got a grant to bring such a thing out into the community – meeting dads and other males in father roles where they are.

“I have no idea what it looks like,” Macon confessed.

Yep, a man cave is males-only.

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