Agriculture & Natural Resources
Welcome
Berkeley County is home to many small farms producing diverse commodities from fruit to honey, grain to meat, and dairy to poultry. Diverse farming operations offer diverse habitats of fields and hedgerows, orchards and woodlands for area wildlife to live, forage and rear young. Whether you are a back yard gardener, an orchardist, or a farmer, our focus is to be your local connection to up-to-date agricultural information. Scroll to bottom of page for links to external agriculture organizations and agencies in the local area.
Berkeley County by the numbers from the USDA 2017 Census of Agriculture:
Number of farms: 946Land in farms: 73,134 acres
Market Value of Products Sold: $25,909,000
State Ranking in Apple Production: 1
County Population: 122,076 (2020 Census)
Square Miles: 32
Lawn, Gardening & Pests
Get a yard that feels and looks like home. Get a bountiful harvest. Grow your own and sow something beautiful. WVU Extension has lawn, gardening and pests information you can use.
This Month in the Garden Calendar
Perfect Timing: When to Harvest
Have you ever entered your garden to find a zucchini that went from a petite vegetable to a 2-foot-long giant that could outweigh a small child? If so, you are not alone! Although you might be able to have bragging rights for the largest produce at a county fair, the eating experience is less than desirable. Produce like summer squash and zucchini are best when harvested at about 6 to 8 inches long.
Some people like fried green tomatoes early in the summer. But what if you want your tomatoes to be ripe when you harvest? Tomatoes are the most flavorful if allowed to ripen on the vine; however, if a tomato is picked prior to being fully ripe, it will finish ripening on your kitchen counter.
Eastern Panhandle News
Martinsburg Gardening Workshop March 22
Join the Berkeley-Jefferson WVU Extension Master Gardener Association for a morning of gardening workshops to kick off the 2024 growing season. This year, the program will include nine sessions to choose from, with topics geared towards beginner gardeners, intermediate gardeners, and advanced gardeners.
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Time: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., doors open at 8:30 a.m.