The Local Food and Gardening Directory is a collective effort by Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Franklin County Master Gardener Association, all of our wonderful sponsors and agriculture businesses, Candace Monaghan, our graphic designer, and Tony Quist, our web designer.
The Directory is designed to link local food producers and gardening suppliers to consumers in our area. The Directory contains 12 pages featuring 60+ local agriculture businesses in the Franklin County area. We have also added information about canning in Franklin County.
The Directory is provided as a community service by the Franklin County Master Gardeners. The committee consists of Master Gardener volunteers: Lynda Young, Chairperson; Pat Fader; Sarah Fitton; Martha Flora; Connie Phillip; Marge Rojewski; Dale Strickler; Mary Thurmond; Bonnie Turner; Cindy Wood and Virginia Cooperative Extension – Franklin County: Chris Brown – Franklin County Agriculture & Natural Resorces Extension Agent; Marilyn Clements – Unit Administrative Assistant. A large group of Master Gardeners helped with the distribution of over 5500 printed copies.
For additional information about the Franklin County Master Gardener Association, please visit us on Facebook: Franklin County Virginia Master Gardeners or our website https://franklincountyfreshfoods.org/ .
Further information:
In 1862 Congress passed the Morrill Act, which provided for a university in every state that would educate citizens in agricultural practices. These colleges are known as “land grant universities.”
In Virginia, these universities are Virginia Tech and Virginia State. The Smith Lever Act of 1914 established Cooperative Extension to serve as a link between land grant universities and the community. The Master Gardener program, established in 1972, was created by Cooperative Extension to meet an enormous increase in requests from home gardeners for unbiased, researched-based horticultural information. The Franklin County Master Gardener Association was formed in 1992. Requirements to become a Master Gardener include a minimum of fifty hours of instruction and an equal number of hours in approved volunteer projects.
