The Greenhouses Look Great!

Greenhouse Renovations

The greenhouse renovations are going strong. Dale and Brandt Davis are working hard to get these new additions up and running. The new greenhouses will add much needed space, enabling us to provide a wider variety of plants and produce to our customers!

 Weed cloth is laid down.

 Then we put crushed stone on top of the weed cloth.

 The frame for the louvers(fans).

 View of the greenhouses before work began.

Greenhouse Expansion

We are currently expanding our greenhouse space to make room for more production. Each greenhouse is covered by two sheets of plastic so they are more weather resistant and longer lasting.

2014 New Jersey Agricultural Convention

This week we headed to the New Jersey Agricultural Convention in Atlantic City, NJ.

Like last week, we got to browse the trade show...

Brandt checking out bees for greenhouse pollination

We also attended lectures on:

• Hydroponics
• CSA management 
• Food Safety
• Sweet Corn Trials
• Risk Management
• Agritourism
• Nutritional Information of Greens
• and many more

But the most interesting and eye-opening was the talk on Biotechnology.

photo courtesy of  investigatorawards.org

Bill Hallman, a professor of Human Ecology at Rutgers University gave a revealing lecture on the public's perception on GMO's.

Like the speaker last week, Bill again stated that the only GMO crops are: corn, soybeans, cotton, squash, papaya, alfalfa, and sugar beets. This does not mean that every variety of these crops are GMO it just means that there are varieties of these crops that are approved for commercial growing and sale.

Rutgers conducted a survey and polled 1148 individuals in November 2013.

Some interesting findings:

• 50% said they knew nothing about biotechnology (remember that this is another name for GMO) or were confused about biotechnology
• 2/3 said that they have never engaged anyone in conversation about biotechnology
• many people blamed the increase in gluten allergies in biotech. wheat (no GMO wheat varieites are approved)
• When told why GMOs exist and are being grown, individuals were overwhelmingly more supportive of GMOs

He explained that people often search for information that supports their attitudes and viewpoints. 

Hallman challenged us as farmers, to have conversations about GMO with our customers and make them aware of how biotechnology has helped us and how it helps them. 

• Corn and squash are inserted with a gene that makes them resistant to harmful pests which reduce the amount of pesticide that needs to be used 
• Crops are grown to be more drought and disease resistant

 The key here is communication. We need to do our part to help educate our customers and the general public on the science of biotechnology and consumers also need to also do their own research but to make sure that they have credible sources.

 Click HERE for Bill Hallman's  full report!
                             
We even had some family time at the convention!

Dale III & Brandt enjoying social hour after a long day of lectures

Carol and I checking out the latest John Deere tractors

We really enjoy these conventions and the fact that they allow us to learn and connect with other members of the agriculture industry.

Cover Crops

There are many things we must get done before we head into winter.  The fields that once grew the produce that you found in your shares this season must be readied for the freezing and the upcoming season.

The plastic that was placed on the fields to keep the soil moist and warm is removed. We use an implement called a bed ripper.

After the plastic is removed from the soil we need to disk up the soil to smooth it out and cut any leftover plant matter so that it can biodegrade faster.

This creates a fresh bed for the cover crops.  

We plant in late fall after the harvest is over. We usually have all of our cover crops planted by mid-November.

The purpose of a cover crop is to:

•  to ensure soil fertility
• to prevent soil erosion by precipitation and wind. 
• to break disease cycles and reduce populations of bacterial and fungal diseases

We primarily plant rye but other examples of cover crops include wheat, barley, and oats.

We use rye because, in general, it is cheaper and we can cut and bale it as straw for animal bedding and to cover our strawberries and keep them warm for the winter. 

2014 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention

As with many other professions, the field of agriculture requires us to keep learning and evolving with the times.

Each year we attend the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hersey, Pennsylvania at the Hersey Lodge.

Yum!

This convention brings growers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The convention gives farmers a chance to browse the latest trends, technologies, and produce varieties and even offers farms to network and share ideas from their farms.  

Dale III, Carol, Dale IV, Brandt, and I (Kaitlyn) arrived a the convention on Tuesday and stayed until Wednesday evening.

Lectures & Workshops

We got a chance to attend workshops and seminars from everything from Tree Fruit to Marketing. We all split up to gather information and bring it back to sift through and digest the ideas.

There were many different workshops to choose from!

Steven Wiley from The Lincoln Leadership Institute gave a brilliant presentation on leadership.

Caleb Torrice from Tabora Farm & Orchard in Chalfont, PA gave a presentation on store display and signage.

Carla Snyder & Brian Moyer from Penn State Extension gave a great lecture and workshop on signage and display as well.

Busting the Myths: The Truth about Genetically Engineered Food was presented by Gregory Jaffe from CSPI (The Center for Science in the Public Interest) in Washington DC

CSPI is a food and nutrition consumer organization. They are often referred to as the "Food Police".

They receive no funding from industry or the government.  Their aim to provide awareness for consumer about issues with food safety and nutrition. 

He often referred to GMO's as Biotechnology or "Biotech". 

There are over 420 million acres of GM crops in the world. GM crops have been growing commercially since 1996. 

These are the only commercially grown GM crops available at this time:

• corn
• soybeans
• cotton
• canola
• sugar beets
• alfalfa
• squash
• papaya

I could go on and on but please check out CSPI's Report on GMO's for some great information! 

*Do you your own research and make sure that your sources are credible. FYI: All Seralini research and documents have been discredited!

Some other lectures that we attended and enjoyed included:

• New Asparagus Varieities by Carl Cantaluppi from North Carolina Extension
• Basil Downy Mildew by Dr. Margaret McGrath from Cornell University
• Growing Greenhouse Tomatoes by Dr. Richard Snyder from Mississippi State University
• Farm to Workplace by Lindsay Gilmour and Molly Johnston Heck from Common Market
• Food Safety Aspects in Irrigation Water by Dr. Luke Laborde from Penn State University
• and many others!

Trade Show

The trade show allowed us the opportunity so speak with box and bag companies to see their new product for the upcoming season.

We also looked at some new bins for our apples.

There are many new varieties of apples coming out every year. The trade show gives exhibitors a chance to present their product to potential growers.

Brandt and Dale III check out some new apple varieties

All-in-all we had an educational and fun experience at the convention. We are coming home with some valuable tools that will help improve many aspects of our farm.

We look forward to attending again next year!

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