\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nThis is the first of three related articles. I encourage you \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nHe said, \u201cHow\u2019d you like to get involved at the Fruit & \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n\u201cSure, sounds good,\u201d I responded. <\/span><\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nAs I agreed to help, I was thinking: What a great \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nOver the coming days, topic-specific research discussions, concerning \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nOn Tuesday, more than 56 different session topics were \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nAs I loaded his speaking materials into the computer, Tony and \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n\u201cPlant your herbs in double rows on black (not red) plastic, \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nJennifer shared her tried-and-true organic snap bean \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n\u201cWe tried many things on the farm, but the one that worked \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nWhile scouting, Jennifer said the minute she sees certain insect \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n\u201cWheat and rye cover crops both contain beneficial natural \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nThe term alleopathic refers to cover crops with natural weed \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n\u201cLate blight on potatoes and tomatoes needs living tissue to \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nDuring Abby\u2019s presentation, we also learned about two internet-based \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nDr. Grossman shared her research findings and the beneficial \n \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \nFor future reference, feel free to explore the following informative \u00a0 Take heed, chocolate, there\u2019s a new sweet in town. For four days in early February, vegetable and fruit producers met at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center to learn more about the fruit and vegetable production business. \u00a0 This is the first of three related articles. I encourage you to journey through the fruit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12026],"tags":[20050,2074,475,6321,4821,3625],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-48435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-cultivating","tag-food","tag-fruit","tag-knowledge","tag-thought","tag-veggies"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nin early February, vegetable and fruit producers met at the <\/span>Hershey Lodge & Convention Center<\/span><\/a>
\nto learn more about the fruit and vegetable production business. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nto journey through the fruit and vegetable convention experience with me in the
\nweeks to come. It\u2019s more than just fruits and vegetables; it\u2019s about sharing
\nknowledge. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nwith a question. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nVegetable Convention in Hershey this year?\u201d \u00a0<\/span>He quickly added: \u201cThe hot chocolate up there
\nis the best.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n
\nopportunity to learn, while building and fostering networks. And who could pass
\nup the great hot chocolate?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nState Extension. This year, he and his team took care of the equipment set-ups for
\nall the speakers. Tom asked me to load each presenter\u2019s slides and make sure
\nall the other technologies worked seamlessly. As you\u2019ll see, I got a chance to
\ndo a lot more.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nat 7:25 a.m. on Tuesday was <\/span>Bill
\nTroxell,<\/span><\/a> of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association.\u00a0 <\/span>He happily greeted me and helped me with the
\nregistration process. Complete with a name tag, I was on my way. <\/span><\/div>\n
\neither vegetables or fruits, in both English and Spanish, were offered each
\nhalf-hour from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Presentations were held in various rooms in
\nthe Convention Center. Some were given by the farm owners and growers
\nthemselves, while others were given by scholars and educators from such
\nentities as Penn State and the Penn State Cooperative Extension, Cornell
\nCooperative Extension, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, the University of
\nMaryland Extension, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, the Virginia Cooperative
\nExtension, University of Delaware, University of Minnesota and North Carolina
\nExtension.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\noffered through the day. Much of my time was spent in the Organic Vegetable session
\nroom. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ntitled Organic Herb Production<\/i>. Tony
\nowns and operates the organic-certified <\/span>Green
\nHeron Farm<\/span><\/a> and CSA in Huntington County, Pa. His discussion centered on adding
\nherbs to your production mix, to add cash flow back into your business. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nI talked about the beautiful herb pictures included in his slides. We then talked
\nabout the pros of planting herbs in addition to vegetables. The best part of
\nTony\u2019s presentation – to the 60-plus growers in attendance during the first organic
\nsession – was that he gave away some of his best-kept secrets. He shared a few
\nof his proven methods with regards to producing great, not just good, sage, parsley
\nand Greek oregano. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\nand treat them as annuals,\u201d Tony recommended. \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThis is done to preserve quality, disease
\nresistance, and yield.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\nof the <\/span>Rodale
\nInstitute<\/span><\/a>. Her\u00a0 <\/span>report was titled Adding in Rotational No-Till and Insectary Strips
\nfor Organic Cucumber Production. <\/i>Dr. Zinata described the results of a
\ncucumber test-plot she and a team planted and documented at Rodale. The
\nexperiment focused on this question: Does increasing species diversity by planting
\ngrass and perennial insectary strips between cucumber rows allow for improved
\nnatural insect and pathogenic resistance? My take after hearing her findings: Definitely
\nyes. Dr. Zinata\u2019s research supports adding grass strips and incorporating other
\nvegetative diversity into your fields to offset the pressures of insect and
\ndisease.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nthe organic <\/span>New Morning Farm<\/span><\/a> in
\nHustontown, Pa. She has worked nine seasons at New Morning. She gave a very
\nwell-designed and well-delivered talk entitled Organic Snap Bean Production<\/i>, followed by a lively Q&A session.
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
\nproduction strategies, along with her sowing and growing schedules. Especially
\nvaluable were her succession planting tips for longer harvests, and remedies
\nshe suggested for dealing with deer.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nfor deer was the 3D electric fence,\u201d Jennifer said, as a slide showing a three-tiered,
\noffset, poly-wire fence came up. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nlevels, she immediately deploys beneficial insects (a species of parasitic wasp)
\nas a strategy to manage the yield-robbing pests. <\/span><\/p>\n
\ndiscussion. This one, from <\/span>Elsa
\nSanchez, Ph.D. and associate professor at Penn State<\/span><\/a>, was entitled Using Cover Crops<\/i>. Elsa talked about the
\nbenefits of diversifying cover crops. She encouraged the organic growers to
\ncombine different cover crops into their field rotations. Additionally, Elsa went
\ninto detail about choosing cover crops with alleopathic characteristics, such
\nas wheat and grain rye. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nweed suppressants,\u201d Elsa said.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nsuppression characteristics. During her discussion, Elsa also gave the group
\nper-acre cover crop seeding rates and biomass tonnage per-acre estimates for
\ncover crops. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nNew York State IPM Program, on Managing
\nLate Blight on Organic Farms,<\/i> followed Elsa\u2019s cover crop discussion. Abby
\nmentioned the need for producers to scout the field for fall-offs and\/or
\nleftovers. Her recommendation: \u00a0<\/span>try to eliminate
\nany volunteer tomato and potato plants before they germinate to reduce the
\nlikelihood of late blight outbreaks in the next season. <\/span><\/div>\n
\noverwinter, so I recommend removing any leftover product from the field,\u201d Abby said.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nresources designed to help producers report and monitor late blight in
\nPennsylvania and New York. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nJulie Grossman<\/span><\/a>, professor and originator of <\/span>The Grossman Lab<\/span><\/a> at the University
\nof Minnesota while helping her set up in the Organic session room. She
\ndelivered two afternoon presentations. Her first was entitled Overcoming Tunnel Vision \u2013 Using Cover Crops
\nin High Tunnels<\/i>. Her second presentation, Zone Tillage for Organic Vegetables, <\/i>wrapped up the organic
\nsessions on Tuesday. <\/span><\/div>\n
\noutcomes of her research team for planting cover crops directly inside high
\ntunnels. She provided cover crop planning strategies growers can employ right
\naway in their tunnels to not only improve soil health and limit soil
\ncompaction, but also to better manage weeds and help prevent insect damage.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOf the 56 fruit and vegetable presentations delivered on Tuesday, I had the joy
\nof attending seven of them. The experience was amazing. So many enthusiastic presenters,
\nall in one place at the same time. The knowledge attendees gained from
\nscholars, educators and growers will no doubt be put to work on farms across
\nthe commonwealth. <\/span><\/p>\n
\nand educational resource links:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"