• By Jeffrey Cates
• Posted Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Sungold Farm - Field Visit

In the 2023 session of Forsyth County Urban Farm School, Horticulture Agent Celine Richard included a tour of Sungold Farm as part of her class curriculum. Farmer Natalie Sevin greeted the students in the field, wearing a wide brimmed hat and with a lovely tinge of red clay on her hands. But her thumb was definitely green. The burgeoning farmers listened eagerly to her experience in agriculture and her practical counsel for farming today. Throughout the tour she shared challenges like tractor repair and practical resources like the classified section of the NC AgReview.

Farmer’s face pressure throughout their growing season. Weed pressure and pest pressure make growing a challenge, so developing strategies for integrated pest management (IPM) is necessary. The goals of IPM include safeguarding the cultivated crops from disease, weeds, insect pests and other harmful organisms all the while reducing one’s dependency on pesticides. Understanding the importance of IPM, Sungold Farm eagerly welcomed Extension Agent Celine Richard to gather data on her farm in 2022 and 2023 growing seasons as part of a statewide research effort tracking local populations of the diamondback moth (DBM) which is among the most common and difficult to manage caterpillar pests affecting brassica crops (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, turnips).

To read more visit the full story at https://forsyth.ces.ncsu.edu/2023/08/sungold-farm-field-visit/