County Centers
Topics
Give Now

Menu

Decorative Banner Image

Growing Small Farms

Meet Our Staff
Events
Chatham County Resources chevron_right
News
Photos
Farmer Resources
Crop Production
Forestry
Pastured Poultry
Pest Management
Pollinators chevron_right
Direct Marketing
Web Resources
Workshops
Publications & Factsheets

Tweets from @GrowSmallFarms

Tweets from @GrowSmallFarms

Home
Web Resources: Earthworms and Vermicomposting

Web Resources: Earthworms and Vermicomposting

Learn More Using the Resources Below

Earthworm Biology and Reproduction - University of Florida
Earthworm Ecology and Sustaining Agriculture - University of California
Earthworms: Renewers of Agroecosystems - University of California
North Carolina Composting Council
Worms for Composting - ATTRA

Page Last Updated: 6 years ago

Was the information on this page helpful? Yes No

Care to tell us why? Send Explanation

Share this Article

Tweet this Page

Share on Facebook

Email this Article

Print this Article

Extension Jobs

» Why Work in Extension?

Posted Aug 20 Extension Program Assistant-EFNEP Forsyth County
Posted Aug 10 Commercial Horticulture Area Agent Jones County
Posted Aug 09 Extension Agent, FCS Lincoln County
Posted Aug 08 Posting: Extension Agent, FCS Rockingham County
View More Jobs All of Extension

Receive Job Notifications By Email

Recent Contributors

Photo of Debbie Roos, N.C. Cooperative Extension

Debbie RoosExtension Agent, Agriculture - Sustainable / Organic Production

About Extension

NC State Extension is the largest outreach program at NC State University. Based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, we reach millions of North Carolina citizens each year through local centers in the state's 100 counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Learn More

Social Media Accounts

Facebook
Twitter

Let's Stay In Touch

We have several topic based e-mail newsletters that are sent out periodically when we have new information to share. Want to see which lists are available?
Subscribe By Email

About
Growing Small Farms

Growing Small Farms is the program of Debbie Roos, Agriculture Agent for the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension.

From Bear Creek to Bynum, Silk Hope to Moncure, the Chatham County landscape is dotted with small farms. Farmers throughout the county are known for growing a great diversity of agricultural products, including vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, herbs, poultry, beef, pork, dairy products, and other goods. As one of the few counties in the state to actually experience an increase in the number of farms in the past decade, Chatham is also “growing small farms.”

Many of Chatham’s newer farms are owned by first-generation farmers attracted to the challenges and rewards of making a living from the land. Chatham has a large concentration of farms practicing organic and sustainable agriculture that strive to be environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially just. In a time when the trend in conventional agriculture is towards fewer and larger farms and many of North Carolina’s “conventional” farmers are struggling, the sustainable and diverse agriculture practiced by Chatham’s small farms provides the best hope for keeping agriculture a viable part of the community.

Chatham’s proximity to upscale Triangle-area markets ensures a steady demand for the organic and sustainably-grown crops produced by area farmers. Four farmers’ markets in the county provide residents with ample opportunities to shop and interact with local growers throughout the long growing season. Many area farms offer opportunities for on-farm visits where visitors get the chance to make the connection between food and agriculture.

Small farms also provide many indirect benefits. They help maintain open space valued by people and wildlife. Visitors flock to Chatham for the beauty of its rural landscape. The challenge is to preserve this rural landscape in the face of development pressures from Raleigh and Chapel Hill. One way to preserve the rural landscape is to help keep farms in the county.

The Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension has long recognized the value and importance of the sustainable agriculture practiced by small farms in the area. In 1994, the Chatham County Center created a new county agent position to support the unique needs of these small farmers. Today, this position is fully funded by the Chatham County government, which recognizes the value of sustainable agriculture to the county. Chatham County Agricultural Extension Agent Debbie Roos works with farmers to promote increased awareness, understanding, and practice of sustainable agriculture through monthly educational workshops, a website, on-farm visits, and other consultation.

Roos developed the Growing Small Farms website in 2002 after a survey revealed that approximately 95% of local farmers regularly used the Internet. The site has since grown to over 500 pages and receives over 25,000 visitors each month. Growing Small Farms is also on Twitter and Facebook.

Farms don’t exist without consumers, so please take the time to get to know the farmers in your community and support their efforts to keep Chatham County green! Visit our farmers’ markets to purchase the freshest vegetables, fruits, meats, baked goods, and other products, all grown or made locally by the person selling it to you. The Buy Local Guide lists community supported agriculture farms, on-farm stands, pick-your-own farms, wineries, and more. Check out the local farm profiles and farm photos on this website for a glimpse of the diversity that allows Chatham’s farms to prosper.

Learn more about Extension Agent Debbie Roos.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension, which staffs local offices in all 100 counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Read our Commitment to Diversity | Read our Privacy Statement

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University are collectively committed to positive action to secure equal opportunity and prohibit discrimination and harassment regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, political beliefs, family and marital status, sex, age, veteran status, sexual identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability.

Where Next?

About Extension
Jobs
Departments & Partners
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Extension at N.C. A&T
Give Now

LOGIN

N.C. Cooperative Extension has offices in every county

Growing Small Farms

Campus Box 7602
NC State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7602

(919) 515-2813 growingsmallfarms.ces.ncsu.edu

Skip List of Locations

Alamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke

Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven

Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham EBCI Center Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates

Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson

Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore

Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph

Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell

Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey

More Centers, Systems and Services

Advisory Leadership System
Center for Environmental Farming Systems
Extension in Other States
Mountain Horticultural Crops Research & Extension Center
NC 4-H Centers
Vernon G. James Research & Extension Center
District Map

NC State Extension Sites

4-H Youth Development

4-H, FFA, Shelton Leadership Travel Program
North Carolina 4-H
Poultry 4-H & Youth
Youth Livestock Program

Agriculture & Food

Ag BioTech
Agriculture, Natural Resources & Community and Rural Development
Entomology – Insect Biology and Management
Executive Farm Management
Extension Plant Pathology
Fork to Farmer
NC Farm School
North Carolina Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program
Official Variety Testing

Animal Agriculture

Animal Waste Management
Beef
Dairy
Equine Husbandry
Feed Milling
Forages
Goats and Sheep
Poultry Extension
Youth Livestock Program

Forest Resources

Christmas Trees
Extension Forestry

Commercial Horticulture, Nursery & Turf

Blackberry & Raspberry Information
Blueberries
Cucurbits
Cut Flowers
Horticulture
Mountain Crop Improvement (MCI) Lab
Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center
Muscadine and Vinifera Grapes
Peach Growers Information
Poinsettias
Southern Appalachian Apples
Strawberry Growers Information
Therapeutic Horticulture
TurfFiles
Vegetable Production

Community

Advisory Leadership System
Community Development
Military Outreach
NC AgVentures
NC Disaster Information Center
Tourism Extension

Health & Nutrition

Families
Family & Consumer Sciences Program
Steps to Health

Farm Health & Safety

NC Pesticide Safety Education

Field Crops

Corn
Cotton
Industrial Hemp
Official Variety Testing
Organic Grains
Peanut
Small Grains
Soybeans
Stevia
Tobacco Growers Information

Food Safety & Processing

Food Safety
Food Business
Food Safety Modernization Act
NC Fresh Produce Safety

Lawn & Garden

Community Gardens
Composting
Extension Gardener
Gardening
Horticulture
TurfFiles

Local Foods

Food Safety
Fork to Farmer
Local Food
NC Fresh Produce Safety

Home & Family

Families
Family & Consumer Sciences Program
Healthy Homes
Home Energy Conservation
Money Matters

Pest Management

Entomology – Insect Biology and Management
Extension Plant Pathology
Integrated Pest Management
NC Pesticide Safety Education
Spotted Wing Drosophila
Weed Management in Nurseries, Landscapes & Christmas Trees

Specialty Crops

Blackberry & Raspberry Information
Blueberries
Cut Flowers
Growing Small Farms
Muscadine and Vinifera Grapes
New Crops & Organics
Strawberry Growers Information