Tag Archive for: #wykiamacon

TownTalk: For Dr. Wykia Macon, Cooperative Extension And Agents, Every Day Is Ag Day

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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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TownTalk: Introducing Cooperative Extension Agriculture Agent Michael Ellington

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When Michael Ellington was getting his plant nursery up and running a few years ago in neighboring Granville County, he turned to a trusted source – his local cooperative extension agent – for guidance as he built his business literally from the ground up.

That agent was Johnny Coley, and Ellington said he provided so much more than technical support. “It opened my eyes to what extension could do for me” beyond those technical aspects.

And now, as the agricultural agent for Vance County, Ellington said he’s using a three-pronged approach to his new role: Support, Strengthen and Sustain.

Ellington and Vance County Cooperative Extension Director Dr. Wykia Macon shared their vision about how the various extension agents can help residents in a variety of ways.

“There’s a lot more to agriculture and I think people are finally starting to wake up to that,” Ellington, a Henderson native, said on Monday’s TownTalk. After he left Vance County, he got a master’s degree at Virginia Tech and then spent some time in Charlottesville before coming back to the area and starting Notta Farm and Nursery, LLC.

He got reacquainted with Vance County when he became a vendor at the regional farmers market; “I really enjoyed reaching out to customers” and engaging with them.

From there, it wasn’t a big stretch to decide that he could engage with others in the community as an extension agent.

He and Macon met at a vendor meeting, and that’s when the seed was, um, planted – pun intended.

Ellington said it’s important the folks know that extension is supportive of their efforts and “is still a great resource for them,” but he wants to strengthen agriculture’s roots and create new producers as they create greater sustainability in the county.

“We want people to know that extension is going to be there for them and will be for the long haul,” he said.

Macon said she and staff have plans to make the regional farmers market a place where people want to be, not just for a few minutes to pick up some fresh produce, but a place that provides other opportunities for young and senior residents alike.

As a vendor for several years at the farmers market, Ellington said he noticed that customers were either seniors or very young. And he wants to change that, “get people cooking again,” he said.

Whether with food trucks or by offering samples of local produce used for meal-making or just for snacks, extension has some plans to get more people to visit the market.

“There are exciting things coming,” Macon said.

In his first four weeks on the job, Ellington said he’s been out in the community he grew up in, shaking hands and getting to know people. He hopes to cultivate associations with other agencies and groups to promote awareness.

“It’s important for us to get out in front of people,” Macon added. Whether it’s a church group, a community center or an apartment, Macon said she and her staff want the community to know that the farmers market accepts senior vouchers and EBT, for example, and that 4-H isn’t just for kids who want to learn about farming – they can learn about STEM, robotics and more.

Visit https://vance.ces.ncsu.edu/ to learn more.

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TownTalk: Macon Named Vance Co. Extension Director

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When you work with the public, effective communication is an important asset. And knowing about interpersonal communication skills is a bonus.

Dr. Wykia Macon has come back home, and she’s brought a wealth of experience with her – experience she has gained from time spent studying and working in several places across the globe.

Macon has been selected to lead the Vance County Cooperative Extension Center, a job that she officially began on Aug. 1.

The director oversees a staff of 9 – but it’s 8 right now, because, you see, Macon used to be lead the 4-H program.

“My time in 4-H gave me time to get into the community,” she said Monday on TownTalk, “to partner with a variety of people.”

As she transitions from being a member of the staff to the leader of the staff, Macon no doubt will put those interpersonal communications skills to good use. It’s all about knowing how to interact and connect with people, she explained.

With a year of coursework in the area under her belt, Macon said she spent two years in Kenya as a member of the Peace Corps. There she lived and worked in a boarding school for the deaf.

“I realized there were a lot of things I didn’t know,” she said.

Her doctoral studies took her to work for policy change in Ethiopia and then to Cambodia.

One thing that she confirmed during her time in those other countries is that Americans are a bit more direct.

As she embarks on this new stage, Macon said she plans to use those communications skills to help build connections in the community.

“I’m excited to watch us grow in different ways – across program areas,” she said.

The cooperative extension is known for its agricultural component, but there are so many more programs that extension provides.

From 4-H to parenting programs, small farms to family and consumer sciences, cooperative extension offices across the state share research-based information and best practices.

“We’re all about research-based information,” she said. “We take that information from the universities (N.C. State and N.C. A&T State) and share it with our citizens.”

Macon said she hopes to spark an interest in idea of community gardens, a place where young people can learn more about planting, harvesting and then cooking the food that comes from the garden. The local Boys & Girls Club has a new garden, thanks to a collaboration with the cooperative extension, and Macon said she would like to see more pop up across the county.

This is one example of how cooperative extension can expand into the community, and Macon said she’s listening out for other opportunities, too.

“When I interact with people, I just try to keep an open mind,” she said, whether she’s speaking with someone younger or someone with more experience.

“We don’t know how to fully serve the community if we don’t listen,” she added.

There she goes, making good use of those interpersonal communications skills again.

 

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