MESSAGE FROM THE

DISTRICT DIRECTOR Over the past year, Michigan State University (MSU) Extension partnered with Washtenaw County to continue strengthening youth, families, businesses and communities. Your MSU Extension staff members, grounded in local relationships, serve by bringing the university’s research and resources to provide outreach and education in the areas Washtenaw County residents need it most.

Be sure to read the feature story on the great things happening in local food programming.

We’re passionate about serving Washtenaw County and are looking forward to a new year. Thank you for your continued support of MSU Extension and for partnering with us to make a difference.

Matt Shane

CONTACT

Washtenaw County MSUE

705 N. Zeeb Rd.

P.O. Box 8645

Ann Arbor, MI 48107

734‐997‐1678 

msue.anr.msu.edu

msue.washtenaw@county.msu.edu

Washtenaw County 4-H

Washtenaw County 2017–2018 ANNUAL REPORT

Consumers with horticulture questions can call the Home and Garden Hotline Monday through Friday 8-5 during the growing season or 8-12 in the off-season at 1-888-678-3464.

District Advisory Council Washtenaw Council member Doug Lewis was asked why he is on Council. Here is his response: “I suppose the simple answer is, "because I was asked to". I find it hard to say no when someone asks for some of my time in an endeavor that has the potential to impact others in a positive fashion. Even more so when the people who may be impacted are the youth of my county and state.

I also like being here for the information that is provided. In my mind the more you know the better off you are. Where else would I get the chance to learn so many different things? I might never have seen the inside of the garden where we held a recent meeting. The council is a great place to meet new people with different views of the world. I find it helpful in my many different roles that support extension.”

4-H Tech Changemakers Teens working on a Microsoft grant with National 4-H were challenged with addressing a local community issue and using technology to solve it. They decided teen mental health was the issue to be addressed and set to work creating a community survey, meeting with local stakeholders, building connections, and talking to their peers. The 4-H teens will use donated Microsoft Surface Pro's to offer coding and computer playtime to area families from 2-5pm each weekday from June 18 - mid August. Teens will staff the space and setup/takedown daily. The Chelsea Library provided front end tech support along with teen tech training for the teen leaders. There are 5,000 residents in Chelsea, and 11,000 more in the school district.

Consumer Horticulture Washtenaw County MSU Extension horticulturists provides leadership to 144 active Master Gardener volunteers that provided over 7900 volunteer hours, in the last year, helping to educate the public on problems with gardens, lawns, landscapes, indoor plants, plant pests and diseases, structural pests, pests that bite pets and humans, and many more related issues. Forty-five new volunteers were trained through the 15 week Master Gardener program this past spring.

A survey of hotline participants showed that callers were directed away from pesticide use 21% of the time. Also, 38% of the callers received recommendations for a reduction in pesticide use to manage plant and pest problems.

Ribbon cutting ceremony for the 4-H Tech Changemakers Tech Corner.

Doug Lewis has been a District 12 Advisory Council member for many years. Doug was a 2018 recipient of the MSU Extension Key Partner Award.

Program Highlights 

Child and Family Development MSU Extension has partnered with several Washtenaw County agencies to provide education to parents. Family Life Services of Ypsilanti, has had MSUE present several one time parenting classes and also a 5 week parenting education program, Guiding Principles for Highly Successful Parenting. Expecting parents and parents of 0-3 year olds learned about their children’s development, discovering strategies for how best to support their children’s success in school and life, and connecting with other parents. Additionally, MSUE has an ongoing partnership with Dawn Farm of Ypsilanti, offering the Guiding Principles parenting series at both their “rural” and downtown locations.

Vegetable Production Ben Phillips, Vegetable Extension Educator, engaged in 4 consultations alongside his work team colleague, Marissa Schuh, with 4 growers regarding the production of tomatoes, pumpkins/squash, cucumbers, and flowers totaling 40 acres and an approximate value of $44,000. The first week of December, he helped organize and run the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, Farm Marketers, and Greenhouse Growers EXPO in Grand Rapids. This year, of the 3,750 international attendees, there were 43 attendees from Washtenaw County.

MSU Product Center The MSU Product Center Food-Ag-Bio assists county residents in developing products and businesses in the areas of food, agriculture, natural resources and the bio economy. Extension educators are specially trained as innovation counselors. Two hundred sixty two business counseling sessions took place to assist 72 clients. These clients represented a variety of large and small food processing enterprises, value-added agriculture operations and a retail market. There were seven new ventures launched in Washtenaw County. Over $24 million of new sales were reported and $11 million of new investment was made.

Vegetable growers attended a variety of educational programs to stay current with industry changes.

Parents learn about the “Power of Puppets at an Early Childhood Development workshop.

The MSU Product Center assists clients with venture development for a wide variety of food products.

Program Highlights 

MISSION: Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that

applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities.

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jeffrey W. Dwyer, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned. The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707.

The following is a testimonial from Vickie Zilke of Zilke Farms regarding the work that Jae Gerhart, Local Foods Coordinator, has done to support local food sales and consumption in Washtenaw County.

My name is Vickie Zilke of Zilke Farms (www.ZilkeVegetableFarm.com). My husband and I farm in Milan, just on the fringes of Washtenaw County, and are now in our 9th year of farming. We started as a CSA, added farmers markets, a roadside stand, wholesale accounts, and GAP certification as we grew. We employ 15 to 20 seasonal local youth and adults, and are in process of adding to our business by opening a commercial kitchen to process fruits and vegetables for sale to our community in early 2018.

We are successful due to utilization of resources available to us throughout the agricultural community, from researchers at MSU studying weed pressure on our farm, from extension agents focused on organic production, and from multiple other players up and down the food system. I was lucky enough to attend the Food Hub Management program in Vermont in its first year, thanks to funding from the Michigan Food Hub Network. Tom and I believe in learning AND teaching, in as many venues as possible, and are presenters at this year’s GLEXPO/Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Convention on our farm’s diversity. I am deeply involved in food safety both on our farm and as an Internal Auditor for Michigan’s GroupGAP Network.

We celebrated when the County supported the newly-created position of Local Foods Coordinator, and soon met and quickly grew to appreciate Jae. She understands the complexities of food from farm to fork, and is skilled in creating the connections necessary to nudge the economic engine into drive. There is tremendous potential in our County for significant impact (Argus Farm Stop, for one, is proof positive of that) and Jae not only understands that, but is making it happen. She most certainly can list the many transactions she has helped to create, so I will not try to repeat them all. However, I do want to call out her impact on the ongoing projects that will help us to grow our business in 2018:

1. Jae has been instrumental in helping us to move excess produce when production surpassed our normal sales channels. For example, she connected me to 3 different buyers for cherry tomatoes who continued to be interested in our produce. All of these buyers were known to us (and us to them) from the Meet-the-Buyers event, but had not yet become our customers until Jae connected us in real time with perishable product.

2. Her work at the Consolidated CSA at the Farm at St Joe has added over $5000 in sales for us, and she is already planning production schedules for a CSA double to triple or more in size. Those are real dollars, and are real jobs we will fill. Her work with Amanda Sweetman to assess availability, pricing, and distribution for these sales outlets is not only affecting our farm, but many others in the area.

3. Processing is the often overlooked link in local food systems, and Jae has understood that critical point. She wrote a strong letter of support for the Michigan Value-Added Producer Grant that I submitted two weeks ago, and we will rely on her to help us put that new processing kitchen to work.

Local Food Coordination Success Story