Category Archives: Meetings, workshops, and other events

Central Virginia Orchard & Tree Fruit Day Tour – July 15, 2014

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We have a fantastic day tour of several Central Virginia orchards scheduled for Tuesday, July 15, 2014.  The tour will include high density (tall spindle) apple orchards, vineyards, retail markets, a packing operation, a cidery, a box lunch, and an evening meal on top of Carter Mountain overlooking Charlottesville, Virginia.  We will likely be traveling by coach from the Shenandoah Valley and there will be other transportation and carpooling options planned as the need dictates.  If you are interested in this day tour, please complete the registration on the attached brochure and send in the registration fee of $15.00/each by July 1, 2014.

Feel free to contact me for additional information or any clarifications.

We continue to thank our Tree Fruit Program Sponsors for making this educational tour possible.  Please see the attached flyer listing our many faithful industry partners.

Download the registration form: Central VA Tour Brochure <pdf>

Mark Sutphin

Associate Extension Agent | Agriculture and Natural Resources, Horticulture | Unit Coordinator (Frederick)

Virginia Cooperative Extension – Frederick County Office | 107 North Kent Street | Winchester, VA 22601

Phone – 540.665.5699 | Fax – 540.722.8380 | Cell – 540.398.8148 | Email – mark.sutphin@vt.edu | http://offices.ext.vt.edu/frederick/ | http://vacoopext.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/VCE-Northern-Shenandoah-Valley-Agriculture-and-Natural-Resources/183932085102951

 

9:30 am Stop 1: Silver Creek Orchards (The Flippin Family) 

John & Ruth Saunders

5529 Crabtree Falls Highway, Tyro, VA

11:30 am Stop 2: Saunders Brothers (box/sandwich lunch)

Bennett Saunders & Family

2717 Tye Brook Highway, Piney River, VA

1:30 pm Stop 3: Crown Orchard Packing House* 

Chiles Family

5861 Piedmont Apple Ln., Covesville, VA

3:00 pm Stop 4: Albemarle Ciderworks 

Charlotte Shelton & Chuck Shelton

2545 Rural Ridge Ln., North Garden, VA

5:00 pm Stop 5: Carter Mountain Orchard (catered supper)

Chiles Family

1435 Carters Mountain Trail, Charlottesville, VA

The itinerary above is the proposed schedule and subject to change. 

* This is a GAP certified packing house and will require all visitors to abide by the following policies: guest sign-in, long pants must be worn, and no jewelry

Central Virginia In-Orchard Meeting to be Held on June 3 at 7K Farms in Rustburg

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From Michael LaChance:

May 23rd, 2014

To People Interested in Virginia Fruit Production:

The fifth in-orchard production meeting of the 2014 Central Virginia Orchard Meeting series will be held on Tuesday, June 3rd at 11:00 a.m. at 7 K Farms, located at 837 Red House Rd, Rustburg, Virginia  24588.   The event is hosted by farm manager Bill Beni and the rest of the staff at this most interesting entrant into the Virginia fruit industry.  It is open to all but will be especially interesting to new and established fruit growers, people considering conversion of some of their acreage to higher value crops, and regional decision makers.   You will have an opportunity to tour the farm and have your questions addressed by our hosts and Drs. Chris Bergh, Greg Peck and Keith Yoder, Extension tree fruit specialists based at the Alson H. Smith Jr. Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Winchester.

If you are bringing specimens of insects pests or plant disease for diagnosis and control recommendations, please follow good sanitation practices by putting the material in sealed plastic bags and properly remove your material away from the host orchard after the meeting.

The program begins at 11:00 a.m. so plan on arriving sometime soon after 10:30 a.m.  This is an excellent opportunity to see:

  • This rapid development of over 200 acres of commercial fruit in central Virginia
  • Use of “sleepy eye” propagation technique
  • Meeting the need for adequate irrigation and deer control
  • Innovative high density fruit tree training

A nice lunch for everyone is being prepared plus water and other cold drinks will be provided that day.  Register by Thursday, May 29. To assist us with our planning Please contact either Lucinda MacRae at the Nelson  County Extension Office: 434 263 4035 / lmacrae@vt.edu or 7 K Farms main office. Your contact there is Melanie Mahone, (434) 332-4460 / mel7kfarms@centurylink.net.

Directions from Lynchburg:   Rustburg is located southeast of Lynchburg.  Take Route 501 off of Highway 29 and continue 10 miles to the stoplight in Rustburg, turn left onto Hwy 24 toward Concord and travel 0.5 miles to the next stoplight and turn right onto Red House Road.  Travel 0.8 miles to the farm entrance, extra signage will be put up to help you.

Please email us, fax or phone us today so we can get a head count for this very informative meeting. For more information on Extension programs to assist with your fruit growing interests go to: www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/

Sincerely,

Michael W. Lachance

Extension Agent

 

If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact the Nelson County Extension Office at (434)263-4035 to discuss accommodations five days prior to the date of the meeting. 

 

 ‘Sleeping eye’ describes a summer-budded

rootstock cut above the dormant scion bud and stored for planting in a nursery or orchard.

  

 ADVANTAGES

 DISADVANTAGES
A good quality tree can be produced in

one season as opposed to two for a

summer- budded tree

 Costs more than twice that of unbudded

rootstock

 
Simpler for grower than benchgrafting,

yet can produce a tree of similar

quality in same period of time

 Quality of root and bud important for success of this method

 

Source:  http://www.al.gov.bc.ca/treefrt/product/Tree_Fruit_Home_Nurseries.pdf

Notice of Date Change for Central Virginia Orchard Meeting

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April 29, 2014

Dear Central Virginia Fruit Producer:

Due to the quick progress of our trees this spring, our third orchard production meeting of this year HAS BEEN MOVED FORWARD TO THIS THURSDAY, May 1st. We will be meeting at 11:00 a.m. at the office of Saunders Bros. Nursery, located at 2717 Tye Brook Hwy, Piney River, VA 22964; Tel.: (434) 277-5455; http://www.saundersbrothers.com/. Bennett Saunders will be our host.

A special focus of this meeting with be crop thinning considerations provided by Extension specialist Gregory Peck. In addition, Drs. Yoder and Bergh will be on hand to discuss disease and insect pest issues, respectively. Please come to discuss fruit production issues and concerns with other fruit growers and Extension fruit specialists. You are encouraged to bring plant and insect samples for identification, but please have these contained in a plastic bag.

Please bring your own bagged lunch to this meeting. Cold drinks will be provided by the host orchard.

Orchard Events Website:

www.anr.ext.vt.edu/tree-fruit/

Remaining 2014 Central Virginia Orchard Meeting Schedule

· May 20th Fitzgerald Orchard Lowesville, VA

· June 3rd 7K Farm Rustburg, VA

Sincerely,

Michael W. Lachance

Extension Agent

If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact the Nelson County Extension Office at (434) 263-4035 to discuss accommodations five days prior to the date of the meeting.

Rappahannock-Madison Winter Fruit School Rescheduled for March 6

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The Rappahannock-Madison  Winter Fruit School has been rescheduled for March 6 at Grave’s Mountain Lodge. The start time is 8:15AM and agenda will remain the same. Contact Kenner Love (klove@vt.edu) with questions or for more details.

A rescheduled date for the Central Virginia Fruit School is still being determined.

Winchester Regional Fruit School

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Due to the continued winter weather, we have decided to delay the start of the Winchester Fruit School.
9:30am – Registration
10:00am – Presentations begin
Location remains the Lee Jackson (Best Western) Conference Center, 711 Millwood Avenue, Winchester, VA. 22601
Please pass on this information to others that were registered with you.Mark Sutphin

Associate Extension Agent | Agriculture and Natural Resources, Horticulture | Unit Coordinator (Frederick)

Virginia Cooperative Extension – Frederick County Office | 107 North Kent Street | Winchester, VA 22601

Phone – 540.665.5699 | Fax – 540.722.8380 | Cell – 540.398.8148 | Email – mark.sutphin@vt.edu |http://offices.ext.vt.edu/frederick/

Serving the counties of Frederick, Clarke, Page, Shenandoah, & Warren

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Extension is a joint program of Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and state and local governments.

Winchester Winter Fruit School Meeting is Still Scheduled to Occur on Friday

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From Mark Sutphin:
Despite the expected weather, we are planning to continue with the Winchester Regional Tree Fruit Production School as scheduled for Friday, February 14th at the Best Western Lee/Jackson banquet hall.  All that said, please use your own best judgement and do not put yourself at risk if you feel you are not able to attend.
Should our plans for the event in Winchester on Friday change, I will email those who have registered for which I have electronic contacts and attempt to call all others who are pre-registered.
If you have any questions, you may reach me on my cell:  540.398.8148
Thanks and be safe.

Mark Sutphin

Associate Extension Agent | Agriculture and Natural Resources, Horticulture | Unit Coordinator (Frederick)

Virginia Cooperative Extension – Frederick County Office | 107 North Kent Street | Winchester, VA 22601

Phone – 540.665.5699 | Fax – 540.722.8380 | Cell – 540.398.8148 | Email – mark.sutphin@vt.edu |http://offices.ext.vt.edu/frederick/

Serving the counties of Frederick, Clarke, Page, Shenandoah, & Warren

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY

Extension is a joint program of Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and state and local governments.

Nelson and Rappahannock County Fruit School Meetings are Cancelled

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Due to the approaching snow storm, we have decided to cancel the Nelson and Rappahannock County Winter Fruit School meetings that were scheduled for Wednesday evening and Thursday, respectively. At this time, we still plan to hold the Roanoke and Winchester Fruit Schools as scheduled.

More details will be forthcoming regarding the rescheduling of these meetings.

Here is the link to the original Fruit School Meeting schedule.

Stay safe, and stay warm.

Dr. Greg Peck

Cornell to Offer an In-depth School for Fruit Growers in the Eastern US

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An In-depth School for Fruit Growers 

March 25, 2014

“The Application of Physiological Principles to Fruit Crops”

The Cornell Fruit Team is pleased to announce an in-depth school for tree fruit growers, extension educators and crop consultants on March 25, 2014, at the Ramada Inn in Geneva, NY.

This meeting will be a one-day intensive school focusing on fruit crop physiology and the applications of physiological principles in the orchard. The meeting will feature 6 scientists who have been the leaders of fruit physiology for the last 35-40 years and who are all retiring (alphabetically, Ted DeJong, University of California-Davis; James Flore, Michigan State University; Duane Greene, University of Massachusetts; Alan Lakso, Cornell University; John Palmer, Plant and Food Research, NZ; and James Syvertsen, University of Florida). We invite you to attend and learn how to better manage orchards from their collective knowledge.

The meeting attendance will be limited to 200 people so we urge to register early before the space is filled up. The meeting is being advertised to members of the fruit production industries in the eastern US.

The in-depth school will serve as a vehicle for fruit industry leaders to hear presentations on practical physiology as it relates to orchard management but also will allow time for networking and discussion.

Details and registration information are available at the Web site: http://events.cals.cornell.edu/indepthschool2014 For more information call Gemma Osborne at 315-787-2248, fax number 315-787-2443 or email at gro2@cornell.edu

Click here to download the brochure.

2014 Virginia State Horticultural Society Meeting to Meet at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey

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The Virginia State Horticultural Society will hold its annual membership meeting at The Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, PA. on Thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. in the Cocoa Suites (lower level). All Virginia fruit producers are encouraged to attend.

Mark Sutphin (VCE-Frederick County) has obtained approval for Virginia private pesticide applicator re-certification credits (full 90 and partial 91) for meeting attendees. The approval is for Categories: 1-A, 3-A, 4, 10, and 60. Once at the conference, please seek out Mark for paperwork and instructions (due to the size of the conference the process is more complex than usual). To receive recertification credits, paperwork must be completed at both the beginning and the end of the conference.

Mark will spend much of the conference at the Virginia State Horticultural Society table. If you cannot find him there, you may track him down on his cell phone 540.398.8148.

Feel free to contact Mark with any questions regarding Virginia pesticide applicator re-certification at the MAFVC.

The full program for the MAFVC can be viewed at their website.