UT TSU Extension - Polk County

05/25/2026

05/19/2026

The Next UT TSU Garden Club meeting will be next Tuesday May 26th at 5 PM. It will be held at Oak Grove Baptist Church located at 642 Oak Grove Rd, Benton, TN 37307. Our guest speaker this month will be Brooke Edman with the Bradley County Master Gardeners. The topic will be companion planting. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend!

05/15/2026

Teachers Homeownership for Heroes!

Teachers are the Rock Stars in our community.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) announces that effective immediately, in collaboration with the Governor’s office, the agency is adding Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers to the Homeownership for Heroes program. Eligible teachers must be employed in a full-time teaching position in a Tennessee public or private school. To verify license status, the following TN Department of Education website may be utilized.

The Homeownership for Heroes program is:

A Great Choice Home Loan that offers
financial assistance along with these
added benefits:
• Reduced interest rate
• 5% up to $15,000 of purchase price to use
as down payment assistance
• Borrow up to 100% of home’s purchase
price with a VA or USDA-RD loan or 96.5%
with FHA loan and acquisition limits up to $500,000

More information about the Homeownership for Heroes: https://thda.org/homebuyers/first-time-homebuyers/

05/14/2026

Canning College 2026

It's that time of the year when fresh produce is in season and abundant! Take advantage of the bounty. Learn safe food preservation to enjoy all year long.

05/13/2026

Be on the look out!

05/11/2026

This is the week for Camp Sign up! Price goes up for Camp after May 15th! Any questions? Call us at 423-338-4503

05/07/2026

Yesterday Polk County 4H hosted our county Cloverbowl contest.
We wanted to congratulate our winners. The Winners go on to compete at the Regional Contest on UT Campus!
Congratulations goes to:
4th grade Benton Elementary School
5th grade South Polk Elementary School
6th grade Chilhowee Middle School

Big thank you for Copper Basin High School for hosting us and to Camryn Dockery, student helper!

05/05/2026

Items left behind at 4H fun day! You can come by the office to get them! If you have any questions let us know at 423-338-4503

04/30/2026

A year ago, I wrote in this column about the importance of correcting acidic soils to make sure our forages grow green and fast in Tennessee pastures. Howev ...

04/22/2026

The April UT TSU Garden Club will meet Tuesday April 28th at 5 PM. The meeting will be held at Meadow Muffin Farm located at 372 Town Creek Road Benton TN 37307. This month's topic will be Greenhouse production. New or seasoned Gardeners are welcome to attend!