This week highlights the West Asheville Garden Stroll, grant funding for greener foods at three local elementary schools, and the state’s focus on food safety.

Fresh, local tomatoes make for great street food, and a tasty feature for sit-down meals: It’s the Thursday, Aug. 20, Tomato Walk, starring local ‘maters and local eats at Bouchon, Early Girl Eatery, Ed Boudreaux’s, Laurey’s, The Lobster Trap, The Market Place, Posana Café and Rosetta’s Kitchen.

On Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25, the Western North Carolina Alliance needs volunteers to help clear a section of the Cheoah River near Robbinsville of invasive exotic species such as bittersweet. Invasives threaten a native species, Virginia spiraea.

An excerpt from the blog of Jennifer Lapidus, project coordinator of the N.C. Organic Bread Flour Project (photo by D. Kaleb Rathbone):

Help ArtSpace get a $10,000 Good Food Grant by going online and voting. But hurry: There’s a June 18 deadline.

It’s tailgate-market time in WNC.

May 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., N.C. Arboretum Bonsai Curator Arthur Joura will explain exactly what’s intended by the Southern Appalachian bonsai concept.

On May 2 and 3, the American Rhododendron Society’s Southeastern Chapter will hold its annual show at the North Carolina Arboretum. The event features hundreds of blooms on display at the Education Center, including many favorite mountain plants.

Nearly 50 farmers recently received grants from Western North Carolina Agricultural Options, a N.C. Cooperative Extension program that provides resources to farmers diversifying or expanding their operations – particularly those transitioning from tobacco production. Six winners are in Buncombe County, with AgOptions projects ranging from expanded bee yards to improved alfalfa production.