High Tunnel Crop Production Project
News
Dr. Armitage will be the keynote
speaker at
Cut Flower Workshop
Tuesday-Wednesday, November 17-18, 2009, Hilton,
Memphis
Dr. Allan Armitage, author or co-author of Specialty Cut Flowers, Armitage’s
Garden Annuals, Armitage’s Manual of Annuals, Biennials and Half Hardy
Perennials, Armitage’s Garden Perennials among
many books, is well known as a writer, speaker and researcher throughout
the world. He has evaluated garden plants in Montreal, Canada; East Lansing,
Michigan and Athens, Georgia, gaining an appreciation of plant development
in the North and South.
Program and Attendee Registration >>
Sponsor Registration >>
Day 1
- Fired up about cut flowers---Ko Klaver, Zabo Plant, Pittsburgh, PA
- Organic Cut Flower Production-Mark Cain, Dripping Springs Garden, Huntsville, AR
- Welcome to MY Farm-Van Cheeseman, The Gardens at Bluebird Farms, Holly Springs, MS
- Basic production-Dave Dowling, Farmhouse Flowers & Plants, Brookeville, MD
- Advanced production-Frank Arnosky, Texas Specialty Cut Flowers, Wimberley, TX
Day 2
- Welcome to My Farm-Vicki Stamback, Bear Creek Farms, Stillwater, OK
- What
Market is Best for You? ‐ panel
- Farmers’ markets Amy Phelps, Pearl River Blues berry farm, Lumberton, MS
- Florists wholesale Terry Hannah Home & Garden, Memphis, TN
- Darrell Johnson/Fred C. Gloeckner & Co., Johnson Greenhouses, Duncanville, AL
- The Best Trees and Shrubs for Woody Cut Flowers-Lane Greer, Oklahoma State University, OK
- Effective Cost Accounting-Vicki Stamback, Bear Creek Farms, Stillwater, OK
- Postharvest Techniques for Consistent Quality-Gay Smith, Chrysal, USA, Portland, OR
- Snapdragons-Darrell Johnson, Johnson Greenhouses, Duncanville, AL
- Perennials as Cut Flowers-Janet Bachmann, Riverbend Gardens, Fayetteville, AR
- Grower Assessment & Program Evaluation-Dr. Ron Rainey, University of Arkansas, AR
Profile of some presenters
Ko Klaver grew up on a flower bulb production farm in The Netherlands, and attended the Horticultural Clusius College in Hoorn, The Netherlands. He was the head grower for Pettengill Farms in Salisbury, Massachusetts growing cut flowers from annuals, perennials and flowerbulbs mostly in field production. Ko, joined Zabo Plant USA in January 2001 where he has focused his efforts on the sales & marketing of liliums for cut flower growers and pot growers in the greenhouse and field production.
Mark Cain “came to organic market gardening through his interest in
all things biological, with a degree in biology from the University of
Illinois and subsequent study in organic horticulture at the Farm and
Garden Project of the University of California Santa Cruz in 1978. Mark
is an active member of the Fayetteville Farmers Market Board of Directors,
and often an invited speaker at local and regional sustainable agriculture
conferences”.
Dave Dowling, “We grow over 75 different varieties
of flowers for cutting, as well as annual, perennial and herb plants
for your garden. With over 9,800 square feet of growing area in seven
heated greenhouses, we are able to grow cut flowers year round. We grow
a large assortment of annual, perennial and herb plants that we sell
at farmers' markets in the spring and summer. We also grow Amaryllis,
Paperwhites, Cyclamen, and Christmas Cactus that are sold at the Kensington,
MD and Dupont Circle Farmers Markets during the winter season.”
Frank Arnosky, “Here at Texas Specialty Cut Flowers we grow over 60
different kinds of flowers. Our flowers are grown outdoors in open fields,
under shade houses, and in the greenhouse. As you know, Texas isn’t the
easiest place to farm, and we have taught ourselves how to grow flowers
here by trial and error and sheer determination. We’ve faced killer ice
storms, parching droughts, grasshopper plagues, epic floods and several
tornadoes--and that was just one season!”
Vicki Stamback - “Currently sell to 40 florists in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Stillwater. Our cut flowers include annuals, perennials, woody plants, bulbs and greenhouse crops. Our major field crops are sunflowers, celosia and zinnias and our major greenhouse crops are ranunculus, freesia, anemones and sweet peas but those are just a handful of the 100+ different varieties we grow”. www.ssawg.org/stamback.html
Amy Phelps is co-owner and operator of Pearl River Blues Organic Farm,
growing blueberries, cut flowers and vegetables in Pearl River County.
Committed to the locally-grown, locally-sold philosophy, Amy keeps things
local, selling her production to a loyal clientele at farmers markets,
local groceries, on her farm and by direct marketing. She practices sustainable
agriculture using green manures, vermicompost, cover crops, crop rotation,
and is experimenting with a season extension high tunnel.
Gay Smith - Heeding advice from a Dutch mentor
early in her career, Gay has let flowers take her around the world. Currently,
she works as the technical consulting manager for Chrysal USA where her
responsibilities include trouble-shooting on quality and postharvest
issues, developing training workshops, product testing, articles for
trade journals, creating the company newsletter, and providing information
on best practices for flower handling.
Lane Greer lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma and teaches at Oklahoma State
University. She honed her sustainable agriculture skills at ATTRA, while simultaneously
owning a cut flower farm. Her Ph.D. is from North Carolina State University,
where she studied woody cuts. She taught at Mississippi State University before
she wrote Woody Cut Stems for Growers and Florists at Porland.
Cool Season Fruit and Vegetable Production Workshop
- Thursday, August 27, 6:00 PM - Verona, MS
Auditorium of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center - Thursday, September 3, 6:00 PM - Jackson, MS
Ethnic Building at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum - Thursday, September 10, 6:00 PM - Hattiesburg, MS
Forrest County Extension Office
Would you like to produce fruits and vegetables throughout the winter to sell at farmers markets? Are you interested in high tunnel production? During this workshop, participants will learn planting and scheduling dates for cool season fruit and vegetable crops along with the basics of high tunnel production. Presentations will be made by Dr. Wayne Porter, Horticulture Specialist; Dr. John Braswell, Horticulture Specialist; and Dr. Mengmeng Gu, Ornamental Horticulture Specialist, with the MSU Extension Service.
The workshop will be held at three locations. There is no charge to attend the workshops. Pre-registration is required. The registration deadlines for the workshops are: August 24 for the Verona location, August 31 for the Jackson location, and September 7 for the Hattiesburg location.
If you are interested in attending, please fill out and return the attached registration form by the appropriate deadline. For more information about this workshop, contact Andy Prosser, 601-359-1158 andy@mdac.state.ms.us, or Dr. John Braswell, 601-403-8939, braswell@ext.msstate.edu. For additional registration forms visit www.mdac.state.ms.us or www.msfruitandveg.com.
Meeting Locations:
August 27, Verona, MS
The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM in the Auditorium
of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center located at 5421
Hwy 145 S. Directions - When entering
the Verona or Tupelo area on Highway 45, either from the north or south,
take the Brewer exit and follow the signs to the Lee County Agri-Center.
The signs will direct you from Hwy 45 going west for less than one mile.
Turn right on Hwy 145. You will be traveling north on Hwy 145. The office
and meeting facilities are located on the left just before the Agri-Center
which is also on the left. When entering the Verona and Tupelo area from
the west (for example, from Pontotoc or Oxford) use Hwy 6. Come to the
center of Tupelo, at Crosstown, and turn right on to Gloster. You will
be traveling south on Gloster. After about five miles, and after going
through most of Verona, you will pass the Agri-Center on the right. Our
office and meeting facilities are immediately after the Agri-Center,
also on the right.
September 3, Jackson, MS
The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM at the
Ethnic Building at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum located
at 1150 Lakeland Drive. Directions - Take Interstate 55 to the Lakeland Drive Exit. Turn east
onto Lakeland Drive. Pass the main entrance into the Ag Museum and go
to the next traffic signal. Turn north into the parking lot of Smith-Wills
and drive towards the Sports Hall of Fame Building. Look for the blue
sign that indicates the Museum Entrance. Walk across the wooden bridge,
and the Ethnic Building is directly on your left.
September 10, Hattiesburg, MS
The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM,
at the Forrest County Extension Office located at 952 Sullivan Drive.
Directions - The Forrest County Extension Office is located on Sullivan
Drive off of Highway 49 South of Hattiesburg, 3/4 mile North of the intersection
of Hwy 49 and Hwy 98.
On June 16, 2009, Dr. Bill Evans organized 2009 Vegetable Twilight Tour at Mississippi State University Truck Crop Experiment Station at Crystal Springs, MS. About 60 growers and extension agents attended the event, which features presentation of the high tunnel research on tomato and zinnia, and high tunnels construction and management by Dr. Evans, Gu, and Bi.
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This project is partially funded by USDA NRI, USDA ISE, USDA SCBGP, and MAFES SRI
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