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7th Annual Durham Farm Day August 17

8/13/2019

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Woodman Farm Tour – Saturday, Aug. 17
Tours at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Pre-registration for a tour is required by Friday, Aug. 16. 
To register, contact Theresa Walker at 603-534-3913 or theresawalker@comcast.net.
 
The Woodman Horticultural Research Farm is one of the two horticultural farms that are part of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. The primary activities of this approximately 155-acre farm are research, teaching, and outreach on the production of horticultural and ornamental crops. The farm specializes in conducting research on new cultivation methods and varieties of fruits and vegetables. Tour the research farm to learn about current research on new cultivation methods and varieties of fruits and vegetables.
  • Investigating Grape Cultivars and Growing Systems
  • Using Insectary Plants to Promote Biological Control of Pests
  • Creating Wildflower Meadows to Promote Pollinator Health
  • Breeding Strawberries Varieties for the Region’s Organic Growers
  • Re-domestication of Quinoa from a Weedy Chenopod Relative in Northern New England
  • Understanding the Impact of Noise on Cricket Behavior
  • Developing New Eggplant Cultivar in High Tunnels
  • Growing Figs in New Hampshire 
  • Using Tarps for Cover Crop-Based No-Till Veggies: Weed, Mulch, and Nutrient Dynamics
  • Scavenger hunt for children featuring facts about pollinators
https://www.colsa.unh.edu/nhaes/article/2019/07/durhamfarmday

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Site Selection for a High Tunnel: New video from TunnelBerries colleagues at Penn State University details key site considerations when deciding where to locate a high tunnel.

7/29/2019

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Considering building a high tunnel? Site selection is key to your tunnel's success! TunnelBerries colleagues at Penn State University have release a new video detailing high tunnel site selection at:
https://youtu.be/2dmS-8c6WyA
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Table-Top Strawberries

7/15/2019

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While being hosted by Gianluca Savini of Sant’Orsola in the Trentino region of Italy, we had the opportunity to view strawberry production in substrate. Plants are grown in bags or long trays of coconut coir media that are supported on raised structure. All production occurs under high tunnels. Sant'Orsola growers utilize cultivars from several breeding programs, including short-day and day-neutral types. The Cooperative also markets specialty types such as Fragaria vesca, a very flavorful but perishable native species. The Cooperative also tests new types for their grower-members. Yields and production costs can be very high, but harvest is very labor efficient.
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Protected berry culture in Northern Italy

7/5/2019

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TunnelBerries project director, Eric Hanson from Michigan State University toured berry production in the Trentino region of Italy with Gianluca Savini of Sant’Orsola Cooperative whose growers produce premium quality fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and currants.  Sant'Orsola has invested in a state-of-the-art berry receiving, storage and handling facility to maintain exceptional berry condition. They also market in innovative packaging to serve different customers.  Many thanks to Gianluca for a terrific look at cutting-edge berry production in Italy!
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UV-blocking High-tunnel Plastics Reduce Japanese Beetle in Red Raspberry

5/31/2019

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TunnelBerries colleagues Maria Cramer, Kathleen Demchak and Richard Marini from Penn State University as well as Tracy Leskey of the USDA-ARS Appalachian Fruit Research Station recently published their work in HortScience.  The team found that red raspberry plants growing in high tunnels have significantly fewer issues with Japanese beetle, particularly if the tunnel plastic is one that reduces UV light transmission.
[23279834_-_hortscience]_uv-blocking_high-tunnel_plastics_reduce_japanese_beetle__popillia_japonica__in_red_raspberry.pdf
File Size: 357 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Double cropping tunnel-grown raspberries can increase overall yields

5/18/2019

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Congratulations to TunnelBerries colleagues from Michigan State University Eric Hanson, Brent Crain and Josh Moses who recently published in HortScience “Cropping on primocanes and floricanes increases yields of organic raspberries in high tunnels”.  Results from this study indicate that fruiting both primocanes and floricanes (double cropping) can produce higher total yields in tunnels that can be sustained from year to year. Floricanes produce earlier in the summer and generally avoid spotted wing drosophila.
cropping_on_primocanes_and_floricanes_increases_yields_of_organic_raspberries_in_high_tunnels.pdf
File Size: 226 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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“Benefits of growing strawberries under low tunnels”

5/8/2019

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“Benefits of growing strawberries under low tunnels” has just been published on the TunnelBerries YouTube channel!  Check out this excellent video that discusses the key benefits of growing strawberries under plastic low tunnels in cold climates of North America.  Hats off to TunnelBerries colleagues Marvin Pritts and Samantha Willden (Cornell University),  Becky Sideman and Kaitlyn Orde (University of New Hampshire) and Kathy Demchak (Penn State University) for developing this excellent low tunnel strawberry production overview!

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New TunnelBerries Video! Primocane Fruiting Raspberries: Growth Cycle and Management

4/9/2019

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Primocanes? Floricanes? Are you confused by the raspberry growth cycle and how to prune? Raspberry plants have a complex growth cycle and can be managed in different ways depending on the grower's goals.  This new video released by TunnelBerries explains all this and how to manage primocane-fruiting raspberry plants.


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Farmer Perceptions of Tunnels for Berry Production: Management and Marketing Implications

3/13/2019

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TunnelBerries researchers David Conner and Kathleen Demchak recently published an article in HortTechnology based on in-depth interviews of ten growers from across the U.S. who use tunnels for strawberry and cane berry production. Results highlight the benefits and challenges of growing berries in tunnels and identified future research and outreach needs. Congratulations on publishing a very informative article David and Kathy!

https://journals.ashs.org/…/…/horttech/28/6/article-p706.xml


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Sign up now for the "High Tunnel Bramble Production" workshop at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention!

1/9/2019

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The Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention in Hershey, Pennsylvania is coming up fast with some tunnel-related events that you won't want to miss! A pre-conference workshop, "High Tunnel Bramble Production" is scheduled for 1/28/19 that includes insights from growers, industry, and researchers in a panel discussion format.  This is an excellent opportunity for growers and extension educators alike. Additional educational sessions on high and low tunnels are scheduled during the main convention program.  Sign up for the workshop and other events at http://www.mafvc.org/
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High Tunnel Workshop at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention

12/3/2018

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Plan now to attend the Mid Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, January 29-31, 2019 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. An all-day pre-convention high tunnel bramble production workshop is scheduled for January 28th. Join other growers for this information-packed event! For more information, check the convention website: http://www.mafvc.org/
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WHY IS TUNNEL PRODUCTION MORE SUSTAINABLE FOR THE NORTHEAST AND MIDWEST?

10/18/2018

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Author: Dr. Marvin Pritts, Horticulture, Cornell University
Most of the strawberries and raspberries consumed in the U.S. are produced thousands of miles away from markets and shipped in refrigerated trucks from California, Florida or Mexico. These regions have the ability to produce berries out-of-season and for long periods of time, so sourcing them from these locations is desirable for supermarkets and produce buyers. However, soils from these distant regions are often low in fertility, requiring as much as 400 lbs/A nitrogen on an annual basis. Large volumes of water are required just to establish plants (up to 500,000 gallons per acre for Florida strawberries). Annual fumigation is used to control soil diseases, and because the weather is warm, winter does not kill many insect pests. A recent study found that strawberries grown and shipped from the west to east coast uses 15X more energy than is contained in the fruit itself.

Our goal is to produce local berries over a longer season to make them more attractive to buyers and local consumers using the fertile soils and abundant water in the Northeast and Midwest, and where land is less expensive so crop rotation can substitute for fumigation. This approach requires fewer inputs than producing and marketing fruit from specific regions on the west coast. Tunnels also offer a mechanism to buffer the increasing fluctuations in rainfall and temperature experienced by growers over the last 20 years as the climate changes.

​However, we recognize that the use of plastic for mulch and coverings is unsustainable in the long term. Part of our project is directed at learning about barriers to recycling. We hope that the use of plastic in these systems can be reduced over time and that recycling opportunities can be improved.

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New video released details the types of high tunnels available on the market

10/1/2018

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TunnelBerries personnel at Penn State University have created a new video released by Penn State Extension that provides information on the types of high tunnels (single and multi-bay) that are commercially available and important features of each to consider.  This is especially useful for growers new to tunnel production. Great job Matt Cooper and Kathy Demchak!
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Get Two Raspberry Crops Per Year by Double Cropping

9/5/2018

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Primocane fruiting raspberries produce fruit in the fall, but can be managed to produce both a summer and a fall crop using the techniques described in a newly released TunnelBerries video.  "Double Cropping Primocane Fruiting Raspberries" details how to manage raspberries under a high tunnel for production on both floricanes and primocanes.
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Optimizing High Tunnel Venting

8/23/2018

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TunnelBerries personnel from Rutgers University and Penn State University are collecting environmental data from high tunnels to create computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. These models will help predict the temperature inside high tunnels throughout the year, relative to solar radiation, outside temperature, and wind speed. With this information, farmers will be able to effortlessly manage the temperature within their high tunnels. The photos show the sensor equipment inside a tunnel, a high tunnel outfitted with solar powered roof and sidewall vents, and the solar panel used to power the venting systems.
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