Charleston Soil & Water Conservation District Hosts Edisto-Savannah Area Meeting
Charleston Soil & Water Conservation District hosted the 2014 Edisto Savannah Area Meeting on April 24, 2014 at the USDA Vegetable Lab and Research Center on Savannah Highway. This meeting consisted of Districts in Berkeley, Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Hampton, Dorchester, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Orangeburg, aiken and Calhoun Counties. Districts take turns hosting this annual meeting. Partner Agencies (SC Department of Natural Resouces, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and other conservation leaders are invited to these meetings.
The District had about 40 attendees at this meeting. Districts in this area are given opportunites to talk about their District's programs and activities and share ideas with other Districts. It gives conservationists the opportunity to learn more about conservation programs going on in their neighboring Counties.
After guests and area leaders spoke, a nice catered lunch from Stono Market on Johns Island was served to all. Following lunch, the group went over to the Clemson farm fields acorss the street on Hwy 17 for an informational tour of the organic farm fields. Speakers for the tour were Dr. Brian Ward, Research Scientist, Dr. Richard Hassell, Professor of Horticulture and State Vegetable Specialist, and Hal Hanvey, Farm manager and Certified Crop Advisor and also Associate Commissioner on the Charleston Conservation District Board, gave an area tractor-trailor tour of their organic fields to discuss crop rotations, preservation of heritage varieties of small grain, intercropping and rice growing method comparisons along with a quick demonstration of grafting by hand prior to the trailer tour.
The District would like to thank the USDA Vegetable Lab ro allowing us to host our meeting at their facility! It was a great meeting and we look forward to the next time we see you in Charleston!