On June 26th, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Vegetable Specialists Crystal Stewart, Teresa Rusinek, and Ethan Grundberg co-hosted an in-field garlic twilight meeting at the Farm Hub. The group presented on fusarium control methods and on effective weed suppression and mulching methods, including black plastic and while plastic mulches compared to straw and bare ground. Thank you to all the garlic growers that attended!
On June 12, the Hudson Valley Farm Hub and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County welcomed distillers, brewers, bakers, farmers, and stakeholders for the Fifth Annual Hudson Valley Small Grains Day.
Which tomato lines are resistant to disease and produce high-quality, delicious tomatoes? This was the focus of our second Tomato Twilight meeting on August 31, 2016. Led by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, the trial is part of an ongoing breeding program to develop tomato lines with resistance to three destructive plant diseases: late blight, early blight, and septoria leaf spot. The trial also focuses on breeding in other desirable traits, including increased tomato size and greater yield.
Guest speakers Teresa Rusinek and Meg McGrath of Cornell University led several dozen participants on a tour of the tomato plants and a discussion of disease resistance. The conversation also focused on overall disease management and an update on the diseases prevalent in the Hudson Valley this season.
Some photos of work getting underway at the Farm Hub in spring 2016.
The ability to sell product year-round can be critical to the health of a farm enterprise. But with a growing season that ends in October and November, the northeast offers few opportunities for vegetable farmers to generate income from agriculture over the winter months. During summer 2015, Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program (CCE ENYCHP) organized a root crops variety trial at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub this season. As part of the variety trial, thirty-one types of carrots, eighteen beets, and seven parsnips were evaluated for yield, appearance, color, taste, and storage ability.
Farmers gathered at the Farm Hub for a tour and discussion of tomato varieties being developed for late blight resistance by Cornell University.
How can nature benefit from farms? How can farms benefit from nature? For the past ten years, these are questions that have inspired the work of the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program, an LEP grantee partner that will be bringing its unique perspective on farms and natural environments to the Hudson Valley Farm Hub over the coming months. This gallery includes a selection of photos and captions from the Farmscape Ecology Program team’s visits to the Farm Hub.
