By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Nestled in a nondescript brick building, next door to the Trenton Farmers Market on Spruce Street, is the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service — a throwback to the days when New Jersey truly was the Garden State.
During the past 100 years, the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service has evolved — and on Saturday, the public can see just what the extension service has to offer at open house and an anniversary celebration to commemorate its founding in 1914. The event is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its office at 930 Spruce St.
There will be cooking demonstrations and tastings with locally grown fruits and vegetables, "Jersey Fresh" recipes and nutrition information, gardening and composting information from the Mercer County Master Gardeners, and rain barrel demonstrations.
Children can make scarecrows with old clothing that they bring to the open house, and view a collection of "creepy-crawlies" — insects. There will be youth science activities, and children’s games. And of course, a birthday cake and brief ceremony at noon.
The Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service — and its counterparts nationwide — grew out of the federal Smith-Lever Act of 1914, said Chad Ripberger, the county extension department head. The goal was to create an agency that would let farmers know about new developments in agriculture, while women were taught skills such as home gardening, how to keep house and how to can or preserve surplus food.
Many of those new developments grew out of research conducted at land-grant colleges. Beginning in the mid-1800s, a land-grant college was established in each state. Its purpose was to teach practical skills — such as how to provide a safe and reliable food supply — to farmers. There was a need at that time for infrastructure such as roads, so engineering skills were also taught, Mr. Ripberger said.
In New Jersey, the land-grant college is Rutgers, the state university. New York’s land-grant college is Cornell University, and in Pennsylvania, it is Pennsylvania State University.
"There was a lot of research (taking place at the land-grant universities), and there was a need to get it out into the community. There was a need to ‘translate’ the research so that it could be used by the farmers," Mr. Ripberger said.
And that was the genesis of the cooperative extension service, which has about 3,000 offices spread among counties in every state. The objective was to put land-grant colleges’ staff members in those offices to make the research accessible to the general public, so they could use that information for their benefit.
As its name implies, the cooperative extension service works cooperatively with the land-grant universities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and county governments — in this case, the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Today, the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service is made up of several divisions.
The 4-H, which stands for "head, heart, hands and health," pre-dates the cooperative extension service. It was organized around 1902 to teach boys about new farming practices, who would take those new techniques and introduce them to their parents.
But 4-H has evolved, Mr. Ripberger said. The focus now is on SET — science, engineering and technology — as well as healthy living, although there are still the traditional clubs whose members learn how to raise sheep, goats and chickens, he said.
The Mercer County 4-H program offers art clubs — the culinary arts, sewing and fiber arts — as well as nature clubs and sports clubs. The Shooting Sports Club focuses on archery and air rifle, with the goal of teaching its members about safety, focus, responsibility and respect. There are 4-H programs for inner-city children, too.
Another division within the cooperative extension service is the Family and Community Health Sciences program. It grew out of the home demonstration and home economics component of the extension service. Originally, the agents taught women how to cook, how to can food and how to clean.
But that program has changed and now is oriented toward nutrition education for students and adults, including senior citizens. The program’s educators work with senior citizen centers to teach the seniors how to be healthy. There are also programs for first-time parents.
And there is also the Agriculture and Resource Management division, whose staff members work with farmers. There are still some successful farmers in Mercer County, Mr. Ripberger said. There is renewed interest in food and where it comes from, and there is also much interest in agri-tourism.
Related to that is the Mercer County Master Gardeners program, which consists of volunteers who are trained to provide educational programs and activities in support of home gardening. The volunteers can advise on horticulture matters, and diagnose and solve home gardening issues.
"A lot of people make their way to us, mostly with home horticulture questions. But for as many people who come to us, there are people who don’t know about us. They may have the ‘1914’ perception of what the cooperative extension service is and what it does, but the extension service has evolved to keep pace with change," Mr. Ripberger said.
For more information about the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service, visit www.mercer.njaes.rutgers.edu.

