Local Programs
The Horticulture program provides assistance with home lawn and gardens as well as technical assistance to landscape, turf, and ornamental production professionals. Click here to learn more about our upcoming programs.
Extension Master Gardener Help Desk
Get your lawn and garden questions answered by our Extension Master Gardener Help Desk. We are available to help via phone 757-385-8156 or email vbmghelp@vbgov.com.
Become an Extension Master Gardener
Extension Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators. VCE-MGs work within their local communities to encourage and promote environmentally sound horticulture practices through sustainable landscape management education and training. As an educational outreach component of Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Master Gardener program brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities – Virginia Tech and Virginia State University – to the people of the Commonwealth.
There is an application process for the Master Gardener Volunteer Program. More information about the application process is discussed at an Orientation Session set several months before the class. Once selected for the program, participants will attend a ten week training course and participate in a 50-hour internship. Contact our office for dates of these events.
Pesticide Recertification Classes
Commercial Applicator recertification classes are offered multiple times per year throughout the Tidewater area through Virginia Cooperative Extension. Categories 3a, 3b, 5a, 6, 8, 10, 60, and others may be approved for recertification by VDACS via these recertification classes.
The Agriculture program serves the crop production and animal science industries.
Forage Nutritional and Mold Analysis
Forage producers and livestock and horse owners may submit hay or silage samples for nutritional analysis or mold counts. We recommend using Cumberland Valley Analytical Services, Inc. in Hagerstown, MD. The Virginia Beach Extension Office has the forms and plastic bags necessary for submitting samples by mail. The lab charges a reasonable fee for this service.
Forage Samples for Endophyte and Fungus Determination
Livestock and horse owners may submit hay samples for determining levels of endophyte fungus in fescue samples. Brood mares in their last trimester of pregnancy are at most risk for this endophyte fungus. We recommend using the School of Veterinary Medicine at University of Missouri or Auburn Fescue Laboratory at Auburn University. These labs run analysis for the ergovaline toxin produced by the endophyte fungus. The endophyte does not always produce a toxic concentration of the toxin. Contact the Virginia Beach Extension Office for details.
Feeds and Grains Toxicology
Livestock owners may submit feed or forage samples to the VA-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. The Toxicology Laboratory has the capability to conduct analyses for heavy metals, minerals (deficiencies and poisonings), Vitamins A and E, pesticides, rodenticides, mycotoxins, nitrate, and cyanide. The majority of samples submitted to the laboratory deal with forage and feed analyses for mycotoxins, nitrate, and cyanide. Mycotoxins are typically not a problem in hay or haylage. Individuals unsure of the appropriateness of a sample should contact the toxicologist before sending the sample 540-231-4587. A representative sample of at least one pound is adequate for feed and forage tests. A history, including feed type, type of animals, and clinical signs should be submitted with each sample. Sample bags and forms are available at the Virginia Beach Extension Office.
The services available through the Agriculture and Natural Resources program include:
Insect Identification Laboratory
Homeowners and farmers can submit insect samples for identification by bringing a live or well-preserved, dead insect sample to the Virginia Beach Extension Office. Bring sample in a zip lock plastic bag or vile of alcohol. Master Gardener volunteers or Extension Agents will try to identify and make a recommendation if the insect is a pest. If we are not able to identify, we will mail your insect sample to the Insect ID lab at Virginia Tech.
Homeowners and farmers can submit plant samples for disease identification by bringing a plant sample with root intact in a ziplock bag with one pint of moist soil to the Virginia Beach Extension Office. If Extension Agents or Master Gardeners are not available or able to identify disease, we will mail to the Plant Disease Laboratory at Virginia Tech.
Weed Identification Laboratory
Homeowners and farmers can submit weed samples for identification by bringing freshly dug weed with root wrapped in a moist paper towel inside a ziplock bag to the Chesapeake Extension Office. If Extension Agents or Master Gardeners are not available or able to identify weed, we will mail to the Weed ID Laboratory at Virginia Tech.
Homeowners and farmers can submit soil samples to the Soil Testing Laboratory at Virginia Tech by picking up soil sample boxes at the Virginia Beach Extension Office or participating Virginia Beach City Libraries. We will provide you with the application form and instructions for taking the soil sample and mailing to the lab. A report will be mailed to you from the Soil Testing Lab with recommendations for the plant/crop you plan to grow.
Engaging with Communities
Virginia Cooperative Extension specialists in community viability work with Extension agents, campus-based faculty, organizational partners, communities, and individuals to further opportunity and build capacity in five program areas:
- Leadership & Planning
- Community Enterprise and Resiliency
- Community Food System and Enterprises
- Community Planning
- Emerging Community Issues
Examples of our work include training county elected officials, educating entrepreneurs, facilitating collaborative projects, supporting the growth of community food systems and local economies, enhancing agent skills and community capacity in facilitation and leadership, conducting problem-driven research, and creating publications and tools that address critical community needs.
Do you have a question about Community Viability?
Perhaps one of the Community Viability specialists below can help you. Contact a Community Viability specialist or direct a question to them using our Ask an Expert system.
Community Viability Specialists
4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. The four-H's stand for: Head, Heart, Hands and Health. They represent the four points of the 4-H pledge: clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service, and better living.
4-H is the youth development program of the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service conducted by Virginia Tech and Virginia State Universities. It is an informal, hands-on education approach focusing on building lifelong learning skills that develop youths' potential through community clubs, special-interest groups, camps and in-school programs. Projects cover subjects ranging from citizenship, foods and health, to animal sciences. These are "learn-by-doing" programs for youth ages 5-19.