Join the Town of Halifax on Friday night, July 30, from 6-9pm for Friday Night Jams at the Halifax Farmers Market.

Bring your lawn chairs for lots of fun!

Do you own, or aspire to own, a small farm?  If so, one of the biggest obstacles can be diversifying your operations enough to spread the risk around.  To learn from farmers who have successfully diversified their operation, make plans to attend this Agriculture Diversification Field Day, sponsored by VA Tech's Small Farm Outreach & Technical Assistance Program.

The Field Day is July 13 from 10 am-12 noon in South Hill, and is free and open to the public.

The Southside Master Gardeners’ Spring Plant Sale will be held at the Halifax Extension Office/Halifax Public Library parking area on Saturday, May 1 from 7:30 a.m. to noon, rain or shine.  Shiitake mushroom logs and rain barrels will be on display. 

Shiitake mushrooms, flavorful and nutritious, are also known for their medicinal qualities. The exciting news is that they can be grown right here in Southside Virginia.  The mushrooms are cultivated using a process that basically imitates Nature.  Recently felled hardwood trees, cut into 40 inch logs, are used as the growing medium. A fresh White Oak log, for example, cut to length and inoculated with viable spores called mushroom spawn is all that is needed to grow Shiitakes.

The Southside Master Gardeners' Spring Plant Sale will be held at the Halifax Extension Office and Public Library parking area on Saturday, May 1 from 7:30 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. Among the educational exhibits will be a demonstration on the use of herbs, and many herbs and some herbal vinegars will be on sale.

Herbs are well adapted to Southside Virginia and very easy to grow. Generally they require two things "lots of sunshine and good drainage. Herbs can be incorporated right into your landscape beds, as they get along well with shrubs including roses, perennials and annuals. Herbs to try are oregano, rosemary, basil, parsley, sage and thyme. Thyme will often just die back in the hot months and reappear when temperatures cool down.