Virginia Cooperative Extension Albemarle-Charlottesville

🚨 Albemarle County Fair Exhibits - Online entry registration ENDS TODAY! 🚨

There’s still time to showcase your talents at the 2026 Albemarle County Fair! 🏆

🧵🌿 Whether you’ve made a quilt, canned something delicious, baked a favorite treat, created a windchime, diorama, or grown something special in your garden—we want to see your Home Arts & Horticulture exhibits! Did you see the Chiles giant peach last year?? This year, we have a fun new category for the largest fruits and vegetables!

💻 Register online TODAY, July 28:
albemarlecounty.fairentry.com

📦 Then bring your entries TOMORROW, July 29, to the Entry Barn at James Monroe’s Highland:
🕛 12–8 p.m.

In partnership with the Albemarle-Charlottesville Piedmont Master Gardeners, and with the help of amazing 4-H and Extension Master Gardener volunteers, we’re excited to welcome entries from all community members! 💚

🎪 And there’s even more to enjoy at this year’s Fair, including 30+ local organizations and the VA 250 Mobile Museum!

Don’t miss your chance to be part of the Fair! 🎉

Learn more about the Albemarle County Fair and find the full schedule here:
https://highland.org/event/albemarle-county-fair-4/

FAMACHA Workshop - Ruminant Parasite Management

Garden Basics: More Trees, PLEASE!

From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 18, the Piedmont Master Gardeners will present “More Trees, PLEASE!”, a free Garden Basics class. This session will look at suitable trees for home landscapes, emphasizing native species of trees and their appropriate placement. The class will also highlight the benefits of trees to our environment and well-being. Register at https://piedmontmastergardeners.org/events/ to reserve a place in the class. Registration closes at 5 p.m. July 17 or when the class is full. The Garden Basics sessions are open to all and presented in partnership with James Monroe’s Highland and the Bread & Roses program at Trinity Episcopal Church.

📌 Join us on June 22 for our recertification class!

Across Virginia, changing conditions this season have a lot of producers planning ahead.

Join us on May 6th at 7PM for an Emergency Drought Management Webinar covering:
- Managing your herd
- Making marketing decisions
- Pasture and Hay management

Join here: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/88282557548

Share with fellow producers who may benefit. For questions, contact Emily Bowman at [email protected] or (540)231-2792

🚨2 days left in our Crowdfund campaign!🚨
Update: We are excited to share that we’ve found the perfect vehicle!
https://crowdfund.vt.edu/project/49737
We are hoping to purchase a 2025 Subaru Ascent (Premium, 7-passenger), a demo vehicle with only 2,500 miles. It’s exactly what we need to safely and reliably transport youth across the county and throughout Virginia.
We are incredibly grateful for the support we have received and we’re getting close!!

The Piedmont Master Gardeners will hold their annual Spring Plant Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Albemarle Square Shopping Center in Charlottesville. The sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit-bearing plants, herbs and houseplants, including a wide selection of native plants. Bags of locally produced compost also will be available. In addition, shoppers can purchase gently used tools, yard ornaments and outdoor furniture at The Green Elephant, a garden-themed thrift store. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Master Gardeners will be on hand to help customers with their plant selections and will staff a Help Desk for answering gardening questions. An array of displays and information tables will cover such topics as conservation landscaping, soil health, composting, pest management, and controlling invasive plants. All proceeds support the many free and low-cost programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community.