UT Extension - Washington County

10/12/2026

October 28th is the next 4-H Homeschool Meeting!
📍Location: Farm Bureau Conference Room
🍀Ages 4th-12th are welcome to attend!
📆 RSVP is required by October 26th if you plan to attend.
📗We will be learning about 4-H Portfolios during this meeting.

Have questions? Ready to RSVP?
Please Contact Sarah Ballance at
📩 [email protected] or 📱423-753-1680

10/06/2026

🍀Happy National 4-H Week!🍀
Today is 4-H Give Day!

Washington County 4-H sees roughly 3,500 students through in-school programming, clubs, and camps each year.
We strive to help youth develop life skills, grow in their leadership, and build community engagement skills through hands-on lessons and clubs throughout our community.

If you would like to donate, every dollar counts and will help us be able to continue to provide these meaningful and engaging opportunities for our youth!

If you feel inclined, visit www.tn4hgive.org and make a contribution to Washington County 4-H!

Thank you for supporting the youth of Washington County 4-H!

If you have any questions please reach out to Laura Garland ([email protected] or call 423-753-1680)

10/06/2026

This past month the Washington County 4-H Shooting Sports-Archery and BB team got to compete at the Upper 8 Archery and BB Tournament. Over the past month our team members have put in a lot of practice to build these skills and expand their knowledge in the Archery and BB disciplines.
We are so proud of how everyone did and many of our competitors came home in the top 5 placings!

A big thank you to Aaron Spurling with Tennessee 4-H, UT TSU Extension - Johnson County, UT - TSU Extension - Hawkins County, and UT Extension - Unicoi County for partnering together with us to put on this competition for our teams in upper East TN.

10/05/2026

🍀🐴Interested in learning more about horses? 🐴🍀
Join us for our 4-H Horse Science Learning Series as we explore more about the equine industry, general horse knowledge, safe handling skills, and hands-on judging skills.

🗓Our first meeting is October 19th at 5:30pm at the Washington County Extension Office, located at
206 W. Main St. Jonesborough.

This group is open to all 4th-12th graders in Washington County who are interested in learning more about the horse industry. This will be a hands-on course designed to building the fundamentals of horsemanship and expanding our knowledge on the equine world.
This series will be split between classroom style learning, and some hands on days of learning with live horses.

--> Please note: this is not a horse riding lesson program but we will still have just as much fun!

10/01/2026

🌳🍃 Nature Know-How: Trees of Tennessee! 🍃🌳

Calling all Washington County youth in 4th–12th grade! Our first Nature Know-How class is coming up, and we're kicking off the series by learning all about the trees right here in Tennessee! 🌲🌳

Join us for Trees of Tennessee on:

📅 October 8
⏰ 5:30–6:30 PM
📍 Washington County Extension Office
206 W. Main St., Jonesborough, TN 37659

This FREE, hands-on class will introduce participants to the basics of Tennessee trees, including:

🌳 Common tree terms & vocabulary
🌲 Deciduous vs. coniferous trees
🍂 Leaf and fruit identification
🔎 How to identify some of the trees around us

Each Nature Know-How class will focus on a different outdoor recreation or nature topic, giving 4-Hers a chance to learn, have fun, and get hands-on!

Be sure to get on the reminder list using the QR code on the flyer!

Questions? Contact Makayla at [email protected].

🍃 Come learn about the trees around you! 🌳

09/29/2026

09/26/2026

TN AgVOLs First Annual Veterans in Agriculture Conference Register: https://tinyurl.com/TN-AgVols-conference November 5 - 6, 2026, at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Ellington Agricultural Center Nashville

Whether you're a beginning farmer, experienced producer, or exploring a career in agriculture, this two-day conference is built to connect you with the knowledge, people, and resources to grow your agricultural operation.
You'll have opportunities to:
🌱 Get hands-on agricultural training
🐄 Learn about crop & livestock production
📈 Build your farm business plan
🤝 Network with fellow veterans and agricultural professionals
🦾 See assistive technology demonstrations
🚜 Tour Cult2Vate Farm
💬 Get one-on-one support from agricultural experts

Come learn, connect, and grow with Tennessee's veteran farming community.

📅 November 5–6, 2026
📍 Ellington Agricultural Center | Nashville, TN
🌐https://tinyurl.com/TN-AgVols-conference

If you would like to learn more about the AgVOLs program, feel free to check out our website! https://farmmanagement.tennessee.edu/agvols-veterans-in-ag/

09/25/2026

On Wednesday of this week, our office brought home First Prize at the 2026 Eastern Region Mini Conference in Knoxville for our county basket! Our office was tasked with creating a door-prize basket that showcased what makes Washington County unique.

We would like to recognize the many generous businesses that donated to this basket. Their valuable contributions, a retail value of $1,100, made this recognition possible and represented some of the best Washington County has to offer. Unfortunately, Facebook won’t allow us to tag this many pages. Please see the donors listed below.

The Black Olive -Gift Card
Main Street Cafe and Catering -Gift Certificate
The Opossum's Tale-Gift Card
The Kitchen at Grace Meadows Farm- Gift Card
Hands On! Discovery Center-2 Passes
Brights Zoo -2 Passes
Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site: Stories From The Pumpkin Patch 4 Passes
International Storytelling Center National Storytelling Festival: 2 Passes, mug, t-shirt
The Jackson Theatre Movie-Night 2 Passes, W**e Glasses, Popcorn Tin, & Candies
Mill Spring Makers Market-Sage Herron Candle
Tennessee Hills Distillery-Metal Sign
Boone Street Market: Marla’s Bee Happy Apiary & Farm Honey, Three Sisters Conservers Blue Ribbon Cherry Preserves; Old Goat Coffee Roasters Bourbon Reserve Coffee
Elkes Backstube-Vegan Pineapple Streusel, Shortbread Cookies, & Apricot Cookies
Dr. Enuf: T-Shirt, hat, three 4 packs
Blue Lizard Sunscreen Mineral Sunscreen
Handmade by Sarah Ballance Hanging Quilt Piece Tapestry
Fall Bow By Barbara Nuckols
Books: I Love To Cook At Christmas, Feelings of Jonesborough

09/24/2026

🐔🏆 Tri-County Chick-Chain Show & Sale! 🏆🐔

We had 17 4-H members participate in the Tri-County Chicken Show & Sale on Saturday! 🍀

Our members have worked hard since April caring for and raising their Chick-Chain birds. Throughout the project, they have learned about animal care, responsibility, record keeping, entrepreneurship, and what it takes to raise livestock from start to finish.

This year, members could choose from three breeds:
🐔 Ameraucana
🐔 Barred Plymouth Rock
🐔 Golden Comet

We are so proud of all of our members for the time and effort they put into their projects and for the way they represented Washington County 4-H at the show and sale!

🏆 Breed Champions

Ameraucana
🥇 Grand Champion: Sadie Dulaney - Washington County
🥈 Reserve Grand Champion: Paysen Dulaney - Washington County
Barred Plymouth Rock
🥇 Grand Champion: Molly Whittlesey - Washington County
🥈 Reserve Grand Champion: C**t Pruett - Washington County

Golden Comet
🥇 Grand Champion: Braxton Bowers - Sullivan County
🥈 Reserve Grand Champion: Dacotah Pickell - Washington County

Congratulations to all of our Chick-Chain participants! 🎉 Your hard work from April through September has paid off, and we are excited to celebrate everything you have accomplished! 🐔🍀

A special thank-you to Sullivan and Unicoi County 4-H for helping make the Tri-County Chick-Chain Show & Sale possible!

09/23/2026

🐔🏆 Poultry Judging Team Spotlight! 🏆🐔

We are so proud of our Washington County 4-H Poultry Judging Team! Four of our 4-H members competed in the regional poultry judging contest and represented Washington County well. 🍀

Our Junior High Team placed 3rd in the region! 🎉👏

We also had two high individuals in the Junior High division:

🥈 Laural Owens – 2nd High Individual
🏅 Alyssa Holden – 9th High Individual

Congratulations to all four team members for their hard work and dedication! We are proud of the time and effort you have put into preparing for this contest. 🐔❤️

📸 Pictured left to right:
Garret Galloway, Alyssa Holden, Laurel Owens, and Avery Roden

Way to go, 4-Hers! We can't wait to see what you accomplish next! 🍀