Garden Journal

Has your farm got a future? A workshop sponsored by the Farm Prosperity Project and the N.C. Farm Transition Network will offer participants guidance on how to preserve farms and farmland during the process of inheritance. Topics will include creation of a transition plan, estate planning, managing risk through conservation programs and hands-on exercises. After the workshop, individual consultations on farm transition planning will be available with Andrew Branan, an attorney who heads the N.C. Farm Transition Network and has helped dozens of farm families across the state begin this process. The workshop will be held at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center on Tuesday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The program and lunch are free, but pre-registration is required; e-mail Terri_Schell@ncsu.edu or call 684-3562.

Bone dry: The eight westernmost counties in North Carolina are experiencing severe drought conditions, as is the northwest portion of Buncombe County, according to the National Weather Service. “Severe” indicates a shortfall of three-to-four inches of rain. The rest of the region is deemed to be undergoing a moderate drought (a two-to-three-inch deficit). By NWS reckoning, we need about five inches of rain to get back to “normal” for this time of year, although current soil conditions, as measured by the Crop Moisture Index, are deemed to be only “slightly dry.” Looking from another angle, Debi Whitmire of Headwaters Outfitters, a river-adventure company located in Rosman, reported May 18: “This morning the French Broad River is low, but not as low as it was last year at this time. I would love to have about five more inches of water out there.”