University of Maryland Extension

PumpkinFest, a collaboration between The City of Frostburg, The Frostburg Green Team, Frostburg First, and the Master Gardeners, occurred on September 28 at the Armstrong Building and throughout the city. The Master Gardeners provided information on composting, growing microgreens, and growing pumpkins and distributed over 20 native plants. With native plants, people also received information about the Bay-Wise program and how to get their landscape certified.

The last compost class of the season occurred at the Frostburg Farmers Market in collaboration with Wholesome Harvest on October 4th. Fourteen people attended and received a free compost bin, along with education and resources on how to compost successfully in their backyards. Thank you to Dr. Hubbard, ENR State Program Leader, for funding three classes throughout the county to provide 50 compost bins to Allegany County Residents.

After connecting Maryland Physicians Care with Westmar, three hydroponic towers were purchased. So far, one tower has produced 44 heads of lettuce. Once the three towers are in operation, the lettuce will be used to provide fresh produce to the community. Last year, students learned the basics of hydroponics in the Ag/Green Club to help start this initiative this year.

George's Creek hosted a spaghetti dinner for their fall recruitment and club sign-up meeting. Youth members, under adult supervision, made bread in a bag and prepared and served the spaghetti dinner. The sauce was made from the tomatoes harvested from the school garden, a UME collaboration of SNAP Ed, AgFS, and 4-H.

We hope to see some new faces at our Allegany County UME 4-H Open House on Monday, November 18th, from 6 to 8 p.m. If you have questions or want more information about attending this event, please email tonir@umd.edu or call the office at 301-724-3320.

This event will be fun for those new to or interested in 4-H and those who have been involved with our Allegany County 4-H program for some time! Current 4-H families, be sure to reach out and invite someone new who might enjoy what 4-H has to offer!

Allegany 4-H club members were recently invited to participate in our annual 4-H Virtual Pumpkin Contest. The 20 pumpkins submitted this year had been decorated using various techniques. Below are the winners from each age division. We love seeing the creativity! Additionally, we included the Mayland Terrapin (Testudo) pumpkin, and we believe it deserves an Honorable Mention!

Did you know that almost 25% of Americans already have diabetes but do not know it? Our FCS Healthy Living Educator, Lisa McCoy, shares this informational flyer below from the National Institute of Health and would like to encourage using this 60-second risk test from the American Diabetes Association to see if you should get tested: https://diabetes.org/diabetes-risk-test.

Allegany 4-H Educator, Michelle Harman, recently returned from the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals conference in Boise, ID. This conference was attended by 750+ 4-H Extension professionals from across the United States. Michelle presented a poster highlighting the North East Speak Up Fest, an event she participates in. This event is a next-step opportunity for 4-H youth who competed at state-level speaking events. The committee hopes that this event will reach a national level in the near future. In addition to promoting the North East Speak Up Fest, Michelle participated in professional development workshops and networked with 4-H faculty from across the United States.

Homegrown School Lunch Week was celebrated on Friday, October 4th, at Georges' Creek Elementary School. The celebration featured a tasting of local apples from Spring Valley Farm in Romney, WV, procured by the Allegany County Public Schools Food Service Director. Georges' Creek hydroponic towers and raised bed garden supplied lettuces, kale, tomatoes, and carrots for a featured Garden Salad Tasting. Those involved in this collaborative effort are pictured left to right: SNAP-ED Project Leader Mandy Hawkins, Georges' Creek students, 4-H Educator Jessica Mellon, ACPS Food Service Director Todd Lutton, SNAP-ED Educator Shirley Guinn, and 4-H Educator Michelle Harman. Special thanks to additional collaborators not pictured: Georges' Creek Community School Coordinator Autumn Symons, AgFS/ENR Educator Sarah Llewellyn, and the cafeteria staff at Georges' Creek Elementary School.

Over the past year, Jesse Ketterman worked with Paul Goeringer, Maria Pippidis, and Nat Bruce on a grant project focusing on hiring and retaining farm employees. Jesse focused on retirement options and health insurance options for farmers and employees. A factsheet titled "Health Care Insurance Options for Farm Business Operations" was published recently. The publication is available at this link: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/health-care-insurance-options-farm-business-operations-fs-2024-0706/. Information about the larger grant project is available at https://agrisk.umd.edu/grant-proposals/hiring-and-retaining-farm-employees. Flash drives are available by emailing jketterm@umd.edu and contain all materials developed as part of the project, including a fillable employee handbook.

​This conference is open to anyone actively engaged in or concerned about the food system. We invite you to join us as we work to improve and integrate all aspects of the food system to sustain and enhance the social, nutritional, economic, and environmental health of Western Maryland. The conference will feature guest speakers, local expert panel discussions, and breakout room discussions for participants. Click below for the agenda and registration details.

Our Food Our Future: Buying Local Helps All WMFC Conference 2024 is offered at three convenient locations and via Zoom! Registration: https://www.wmdfoodcouncil.com/conference.html

We are here to serve you and help answer any questions you might have related to 4-H Youth Development, Agriculture, Home Gardening, Health & Nutrition, Financial Wellness, and much more.

Dr. Jennifer Bentlejewski, WMD Area Extension Director jthorn@umd.edu

4-H Youth Development

• Michelle Harman, Educator mharman2@umd.edu
• Jessica Mellon, Educator jmellon2@umd.edu
• Sara Barnard, Program Assistant sbarnard@umd.edu

Agriculture and Food Systems / Environment and Natural Resources

• Sarah Llewellyn, Master Gardener Coordinator/ Agriculture & Food Systems Educator sllewellyn@umd.edu
• Andrea Uphold, Nutrient Management Program Coordinator auphold@umd.edu

MD - SNAP Ed

• Amanda Hawkins, Project Leader/Educator ahawkin7@umd.edu
• Shirley Guinn, Educator sguinn1@umd.edu
• Shayla Hitchens, Program Assistant sfelker@umd.edu

Family and Consumer Sciences

• Dr. Lisa McCoy, RD, FCS Educator lmccoy@umd.edu
• Dr. Jesse Ketterman, FCS Educator jketterm@umd.edu
• Shelita Jackson, Tech Extension Educator sjack111@umd.edu

Administrative Support

• Jody Parrish, Program Management Specialist jparrish@umd.edu
• Toni Richards, Administrative Assistant I tonir@umd.edu

Location: 1 Commerce Drive, Cumberland, MD 21502

Office Hours: M-F 8:30 am-4:30 pm excluding holidays

Phone: 301-724-3320

Website: https://extension.umd.edu/locations/allegany-county/

Facebook Pages:

Agriculture in Allegany County- University of Maryland Extension NEW

Allegany County Master Gardeners

University of Maryland Extension - Allegany County 4-H

Healthy Living in Allegany County- University of Maryland Extension

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If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate any program or event, please contact our office, at least two weeks prior, at 301-724-3320.