High Tunnel Field Day at Neversink Organic Farm August 3, 2015

NEVERSINK ORGANIC FARM

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County Greenhouse High Tunnel Tour

CLARYVILLE, NY— An educational tour of high tunnel and greenhouse agricultural production practices is offered on Monday, August 3, 2015. Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County (CCESC) will offer this program from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Neversink Farm on 635 Claryville Road in Claryville. Neversink Farm is Certified Organic by NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC.

Topics on this tour will include on-farm production methods using season extension structures through observation of existing systems at Neversink Farm, accompanied by informative commentary. Educators will discuss the ways in which season extension makes it possible for some vegetables to be grown beyond their intended season and at more affordable rates. Participants will learn varying management techniques for different plants in each structure and how they are used in production circumstances.

Cost to attend is $15.00 per person or $10.00 per CCESC enrollee. Anyone can enroll in the CCESC association for an annual donation of $25.00 per household. Enrollees must identify membership status at time of payment in order to receive discounts.

Space is limited and pre-registration with non-refundable payment is required in advance. Seats are only guaranteed with payment. Registration and more information can be obtained by calling CCESC at 845-292-6180, emailing sullivan@cornell.edu, or visiting http://www.sullivancce.org. Payment can be made in advance by check, cash, or credit.

###

Offered by: Michelle Lipari

845-292-6180, ext. 129

Agriculture & 4-H Community Educator

mml249@cornell.edu

Organic Cover Crop Demo Workshop and Tour Corning NY 10/17/13

Registration 9:30 am – 10:00 am

Indoor Speakers 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Lunch 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Field speakers/Demonstrations 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Cover Crop Demonstrations 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

Laurie Drinkwater

(10:00 – 10:45) – Cornell University Department of Horticulture, Associate Professor:

Nitrogen Cycling and Soil Ecology overview.

Jean-Paul Courtens

(10:45 – 11:30) – Roxbury Farm, a 1000 member CSA Organic Farm, How I use cover crops, case study. http://www.roxburyfarm.com/

Thomas Bjorkman

(11:30 – 12:00) – Cornell University Department of Horticulture, Associate Professor: Brassicas in rotation and for cover cropping, benefits and liabilities.

Lunch

– (12:00 – 1:00) Exhibitors

Anu Rangarajan

(1:00 – 1:45) – Cornell University Department of Horticulture, Senior Extension Associate: Field demonstration of small scale reduced tillage implements for vegetable growers.

Matt Ryan

(1:45-2:30) – Cornell University Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Assistant Professor: Field demonstration of cover crop interseeder, time of tillage and cover crop planting effects on weed populations.

Tour of Cover Crop Demonstration Plots:

(2:30 – 4:00) Paul Salon (NRCS, Plant Materials Specialist), Brian Caldwell (Cornell University Dept. of Horticulture, Research Support Specialist), Karen Hoffman (NRCS, Resource Conservationist- Animal Science) – Cover crop demonstration with over 180 plots (species, varieties or mixes) seeded at several dates. Cover crop mix seeding rate study. Cover crops for grazing pros and cons. Participation and Q&A with featured speakers.

************************************************************************************************************

CCA credits available

Sponsored by the USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Northeast Farming Association of New York (NOFA) Upper Susquehanna Coalition and NY State Department of Ag. and Markets

Lunch available for $12.00,

Register at the following website http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=7ex5qzeab&oeidk=a07e7j0eqy23d4363df

Directions:

Take Route 17 (I 86) to Exit 48 (East Corning/Route 352). Follow Route 352 east for 1.5 miles. PMC entrance is on the left.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD)

Visit the Plant Materials Program website at: http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/ Plant Solutions for Conservation Needs

The USDA is an Equal Opportunity Employer

 

Lee Reich Hosts NOFA-NY Field Day New Paltz, NY 9/20/12

Event Details

Beyond Apples:Alternative Fruits for Sustainable Harvest/Organic Growing for Small Farms and Home Landscapes

 Date: September 20, 2012

Location:Lee Reich’s “Farmden”: 387 Springtown Rd., New Paltz, NY, 12561 (Ulster County)

Time:9:00 AM-12:00 PM

Walk through the private edible landscape of renowned author and orchardist Lee Reich and learn about the wide spectrum of fruits that can be grown sustainably with little or no input needed for pest control or pruning in USDA Hardiness Zone 5 (low temps of -20° F). Participants will also learn about uncommon fruits that have commercial potential for small farms because they are easy to grow organically and have unique flavors to appeal in niche and general markets. Lee will also discuss dual-purpose plants- plants that are ornamental and bear tasty fruits- for home landscapes.

Lee Reich began growing and studying fruit 40 years ago. Since that beginning, he has earned a doctorate in horticulture with a specialty in fruit growing, worked in fruit research for Cornell University and the USDA, and grown many kinds of fruits, from the common, such as apples and pears, to the uncommon, such as gumi and medlar. His “farmden” is a testing ground for sustainable fruit growing techniques, for studying cultivation and marketing of some uncommon fruits, and for providing an abundance of fruit to Lee’s household. Lee is the author of three books on fruit growing: Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden, Landscaping with Fruit, and Grow Fruit Naturally.

Supported by USDA Risk Management Agency, Education and Community Outreach Program.

Registration: Please register by calling Stephanie Backer-Bertsch at NOFA-NYat 585-271-1979 x 509, or by registering online at http://www.tinyurl.com/nofanyevents. Registration is FREE for NOFA-NY members and $15/ non-members.

NOFA-NY Field Day Hudson Valley Seed Library Saving Seed 8/28/12

All Organic farmers should consider saving seeds for future seed sowing, as our gene pool of commerically available seeds and plants continues to shrink.

Growing for Future Farming: Saving Quality Seed From Your Farm’s Field

Event Details

Date:

August 28, 2012

Location:

Hudson Valley Seed Library: 484 Mettacohonts Rd., Accord, NY 12404

(Ulster County)

Time:

3:30 PM-6:00 PM

 

A tour of the Hudson Valley Seed Library’s seed production farm will provide examples of the isolation and pollination techniques used to maintain pure seed varieties. The discussion will cover distancing, timing of successions, caging and hand-pollinating. Farmers Ken and Doug will talk about hand-cleaning seeds via winnowing and threshing, as well as best practices for seed storage. Under the farmers’ careful supervision and instruction, you will try your hand at processing seeds from tomato, pepper, brassica and other crops. Participants will also get a special insider peek at the seed library cooler. This field day is part of our Beginning Farmer Program; all participants are invited to stay for an informal farmer-to-farmer networking reception and potluck following the presentation.

 

Registration: Please register by calling Stephanie Backer-Bertsch at NOFA-NYat 585-271-1979 x 509, or by registering online at http://www.tinyurl.com/nofanyevents. Registration is FREE for NOFA-NY members and $15/ non-members

 

This field day is supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant #2011-49400-30510.

.

Silver Heights Farm Organic Nursery Featured In Country Grower August 2012

FARMSTOCK 2012 ~ Silver Heights Farm __

by Judy Van Put photo credit Judy Van Put Sullivan County, New York FARMSTOCK series of working farm tours continues this summer, from May through September, 2012 with a great lineup and variety of farms. This is the third year of the FARMSTOCK events, created by the Sullivan County Farm Network in 2010, to increase awareness in farming activities in Sullivan County and to strengthen communication between those who grow food and those who consume it. On Sunday, June 27, FARMSTOCK was held at the Silver Heights Farm and Nursery, along Route 52, Cochecton Center, NY. Trina Pilonero, who runs Silver Heights, moved with her husband, Ted, to the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York in 1990. Having been raised on a farm in Kansas, Trina gravitated toward gardening; she took a Master Gardening class through the local Cornell Cooperative Extension and in 1994, she began raising a few heirloom varieties of tomatoes. After friends and neighbors sampled her delicious and vigorous tomatoes, word spread and before long, Trina was in business supplying local farmers markets, the New York City Greenmarket and more recently, the GrowNYC and Green Guerillas community gardens, as well as the Edible Schoolyard project in New York City public schools. Having been a seed saver and heirloom seed specialist for about 20 years, she began her nursery in her backyard high on a hillside outside of Jeffersonville, NY. She moved the nursery to its present location on part of the Gorzynski Farm along Route 52, Cochecton Center in 2005, in order to be more accessible to her customers. All plants are grown organically, and are certified by NOFA-NY Certified Organic, LLC. This year, Trina has produced Silver Heights Farm’s 11th catalog of her certified organic, heirloom and unusual open-pollinated vegetable transplants. She specializes in plants that perform well in the shorter, cooler summers of New York’s Catskill Mountain region; and takes pride in the open-pollinated plants: Open pollinated plants are the unheralded champions of our agricultural heritage. Their amazing genetic diversity has been developed and shepherded through centuries by families and farmers alike. Gardeners and farmers once routinely saved a seed crop every year for next year’s bounty. Folks selected seeds from plants that exhibited valued characteristics so that they could enjoy this year’s bounty in the following years. Saving seeds once had a recognized, valuable place in the circle of life. The Silver Heights nursery makes use of modular tables, so they can be broken down and stored over the winter in the cold frame, along with the plants that are over-wintered. The tables are painted in bright colors for interest, Trina explains, because once the seedlings grow, what on them is just green. In late May and June, once air temperatures reach about 80 degrees, a shade cloth is used to cover the large 20-foot-by-84-foot cold frame. This drops the inside temperature by 15-20 degrees, and is important to keep the interior temperatures down as much as possible. The structure is built in four-foot sections to accommodate the snowload in winter, and a roll-up system is employed that even a small woman can handle. In early spring, three to four more helpers are on hand for the busy time of planting the trays of seeds. Trina uses 10 – 20 row seeders to plant the individual seeds; each year she prints out 80,000 plant labels which are well-organized with a library of labels filed away by variety and variety she has at last count about 300 varieties just of tomatoes. Starts are planted in rounds  mainly for the New York City customers, as the demand is from two to three weeks, even one month ahead of the Sullivan County farmers markets. Silver Heights produces three rounds of greens, for example, and as they sell out, they switch to raising spring vegetables and herbs; then summer vegetables and so on. There is a good variety Asian and specialty greens and plants. For more information visit www.silverheightsnursery.com or call 845-482-3608.

Hepworth Farm Field Day Lends Information Late Blight Control on Tomatoes

Amy Hepworth is a pioneer at Certified Organic farming in New York State. On July 21, 2012, Hepworth Farm hosted a NOFA-NY Field Day, where Amy Hepworth described the cultural methods and organic preventive sprays employed at this 300 acre organic farm, 25 acres are planted with tomatoes, to head off potential crop devastation from late blight.

Proper staking of indeterminate heirloom cherry tomatoes insures even growth as well as good air circulation. It also makes spraying the necessary preventive, OMRI approved, copper spray easier for  complete coverage. 

 Amy Hepworth demonstrates a pruning technique which removes all of the bottom branches and leaves of a staked tomato plant. Also the soil in the aisles and around the base of the plants is lightly mulched with straw. This prevents fungal spores moving upward from the soil.

For a complete list of NOFA-NY Field Days and other events go to:

http://www.nofany.org/events/field-days

NOFA-NY Hepworth Farms Tomatoes Production Field Day

Hepworth Farm tomatoes at Whole Foods

LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE. FUNDAMENTALS OF GROWING ORGANIC TOMATOES IN THE HUDSON VALLEY

http://hepworthfarms.com/index.html

TOMATOES: EQUIPMENT, MANPOWER, PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES, VARIETIES (including 100 different varieties of tomatoes, tomatillos and husk cherries)  AND MORE

Hepworth Farm Growing delicious and organic hierlooms

Amy Hepworth will share her 30 years of experience in running a versatile and resilient operation based on a whole-living system approach to farming.

SATURDAY JULY 21, 2012

9:00 a.m.-12:oo p.m.

HEPWORTH FARMS

1635 Route 9W

Milton, New York 12547

REGISTRATION IS FREE FOR NOFA-NY MEMBERS AND $15.00 FOR NON MEMBERS

PLEASE REGISTER BY CALLING STEPHANIE BACKER-BERTSCH AT NOFA-NY 585-271-1979 x 509  OR ONLINE

www.tinyurl.com/nofanyevents

  Supported by USDA Risk Management Agency, Education and Community Outreach Program

 

NOFA-NY STONY CREEK FARM GRAZING MIXED SPECIES June 27

Stony Creek Farm, 1738 Freer Hollow Rd., Walton, NY 13856

Wednesday, June 27

2-5 .m.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT METHODS FOR MULTI-SPECIES GRAZING?

Kate and Dan Marsiglio will explain their pasturing systems and demonstrate the techniques they use to manage and protect their animals organically. Lean about predator control at Stony Creek Farm  and becoming proactive on parasite control. Fencing options for pasturing animals will be discussed, and field day participants will have “hands-on” experiences in moving portable electric fence.

REGISTRATION: Free for NOFA-NY members, $15.00 for non-members

Contact: Stephanie Backer-Bertsch at NOFA-NY, 583-271-1979 ex. 509

or visit the Nofa-NY website for online registration www.nofany.org

Supported by USDA Risk Mangement Agency Education and Community outreach Prgram, and Beginnin Farmer and Racher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA Grant #2009-49400-05878

Biological IPM Strategies NOFA-NY Field Day Gonzalez Farm Orange County NY

Event Details

Date:
June 18, 2012

Location:
Gonzalez Farm: 473 Pine Island Turnpike, Pine Island, NY 10924

Time:
9 AM – 12 Noon

Come tour Gonzalez Farm with Cornell University’s Vegetable IPM Coordinator Abby Seaman. The rich muck soil on Gonzalez Farm presents unique soil, weed and pest management challenges, including issues with cutworms, brassica flea beetles and phytophthora blight. This workshop will focus on understanding the life cycles of these pests, and Abby will present research-based IPM strategies, including biological and cultural control methods, as well as organic pesticides.

Registration Information
Please contact the Registration Coordinator, Stephanie Backer-Bertsch by phone at (585) 271-1979 x 509, by email at register@nofany.org, or online at http://tinyurl.com/nofanyevents. Registration is FREE for members and $15 (per person) for non-members. Pre-registration closes three days before the event. Pre-registration is encouraged

Tour de Farm 2012

Tour de Farm 2012.

Get ready to sign up for this unique way of touring the Upper Hudson Valley’s  most beautiful farmland!