Cara and Marcus Meadows-Smith and Grandma Joy gather the grapes during harvest at Great Bear Vineyard in Yolo County. Photo courtesy of Deborah Ford
by Courtney Llewellyn
Marcus and Jenny Meadows-Smith have been on a journey that may be worthy of a novel. (more…)
The farm has evolved a lot of the years. Jim Kessinger said production of the pumpkin patch has grown and increased at a steep rate, as has the expansion of the number of seasonal employees and equipment. Photo courtesy of Plumper Pumpkin Patch
by Aliya Hall
When Jim Kessinger was a child growing up in Kansas, (more…)
Monitor plants for signs of insect damage, uneven watering and physical damage throughout the growing stages. Photo by Sally Colby
by Sally Colby
Growers who devote growing space to poinsettias have a considerable investment in personnel and labor until the crop is finished. (more…)
by Sally Colby
Malabar spinach, red okra, bottle gourd, bitter melon and stevia may not be standard farmers market fare, but Allison Akbay has developed a strong customer following for specialty vegetables. At the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, held virtually this year, Akbay shared what she has learned about marketing specialty produce. (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
Corn mazes and pumpkin patches are hallmarks of autumn agritourism front, but there are those who want to go a step further and offer a spooky experience – a haunted attraction. The question is how do you host a haunt without falling into tired tropes and corny clichés? (more…)
by Sally Colby
Scouting for greenhouse pests is one of the most critical tasks for greenhouse operators. It can mean the difference between catching a problem in time or total crop loss.
Dr. Luis Canas, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University, said it’s useful for growers to review the greenhouse layout and create a series of stops where scouters make routine checks. (more…)
Dr. Alexander Chan
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
Dr. Alex Chan, a mental and behavioral health specialist with University of Maryland Extension, recently gave a presentation titled “Tips for Successful Family Meetings” for the Mid-Atlantic Women in Agriculture Program. (more…)
At a grower meeting, Dr. George Wilson at NC State University addressed the subject of harvesting and post-harvest handling of vegetables. He said once you harvest a vegetable it’s at its highest point in quality; what you do after that can only slow its continued deterioration. (more…)
When I first started out, a CSA customer would ask for a different color combination each week. Sometimes it was a challenge, but it also forced me to look at the interactions between flowers and helped hone my design skills. (more…)
It’s the time of the year when growers focus on thinning fruit trees. While apple growers have prediction models and Decision Support Systems (DSS), such as the carbohydrate or apple pollen tube growth models to guide their best decision-making skills (more…)
Marketing strategies constructed to reach key consumer segments have been utilized for decades. Today’s technology drives the concept deeper with advertising hyper personalization. These are the ads we see attached to our online shopping, internet searches and action-oriented print and other marketing tools. (more…)
Summertime is watermelon time, and in some very cool fruit news, an ancient melon which is believed to be the closest relative and potential ancestor of the modern watermelon has been discovered by scientists. (more…)
