Poultry

The Maryland Poultry Swap and Farmers Market will be Saturday, June 18, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Green Hill Farm, 5329 Mondell Road in Sharpsburg.   Follow the signs through the town of Sharpsburg to Green Hill Farm, where area farmers will be setting up tables and displays to offer their products and services to the community.   The large sales area will have laying hens, baby chicks, turkeys, peacocks, exotic birds, geese, ducks, rabbits, goats as well as flowers, horse tack, local honey, used equipment and tools and just about anything farm related.    Food and beverage vendors will be onsite, as well as plenty of fun activities for the family, such as a straw maze, inflatable bounce and pony rides.

The Maryland Poultry Swap and Farmers Market, scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 18, is seeking local and regional farmers market vendors and swap vendors to attend and participate in this event. This is a community event to help unite area farmers of all kinds. Fee is $8, which includes space and an entry into a drawing for door prizes. For more information and additional rules and regulations go to www.mdpoultryswap.blogspot.com or call Erin at 304-279-0016.

A training workshop for on-farm poultry and rabbit slaughter and processing scheduled for Tuesday at Clear Spring Town Hall has sold out. There are two more workshops in Maryland — in Annapolis on Saturday, March 12, and Wednesday, March 16, in Cambridge. To help farmers meet growing consumer demand for local meats, the Maryland Department of Agriculture in partnership with the University of Maryland and Washington County Agriculture Marketing Department will conduct the training workshops.

To help farmers meet growing consumer demand for local meats, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), in partnership with the University of Maryland and Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission (SMADC), will conduct a training workshop for on-farm poultry and rabbit slaughter and processing. This workshop is part of a voluntary certification program to assist small poultry and rabbit operations to meet the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's approved source requirements to sell poultry and/or rabbit (off-farm)

Feb. 26 - Poultry workshop at Extension Office, 7 p.m.; workshop costs $5. Call 301-791-1304 to register (this is a two-part series; second workshop to be held March 12 at Extension Office, 7 p.m.) March 5, 12, 19 and 26 - Beginning Beekeeping short course, five sessions, Franklin County Beekeepers, Franklin County Extension Office, 181 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg, Pa. Call 717-263-9226. March 6 and 7 - 2009 Maryland Cattle Industry Convention and Central Maryland Hay and Pasture Conference at Hagerstown Hotel and Convention Center.