Vermont Vegetable and Berry News – November 5, 2024
Compiled by Vern Grubinger, University of Vermont Extension
(802) 656-7534, vernon.grubinger@uvm.edu
https://www.uvm.edu/extension/horticulture/commercial
REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
(Westminster) A nice fall has led to an excellent harvest season, although we still have five or six acres of carrots and beets to harvest and more radishes and turnips than we can possibly sell. The limiting factor is bins: we’ve almost filled the 220 bins we bought this fall to supplement what we had.
We’re still cutting lettuce and will be for two or three weeks, weather permitting. We’ll have kale until Thanksgiving, if not beyond. Winter squash is selling briskly, except for baby blue hubbard and orange kabocha, which Whole Foods decided to stop selling.
Anyone who needs those varieties of squash, let us (Harlow Farm) know.
With the robust harvest, we’re a little worried about enough people to work on our wash-pack line this winter once the Jamaican H2A workers are gone; local labor is still almost nonexistent.
(Hinesburg) Finished garlic planting Oct 31. We've been gradually pushing the planting back by a few days each year. Field greens still looking great. Hoophouse greens are ready too. Demand for greens is light. Probably everyone has a good supply? Winter cutworms are vigorous. Hoop house carrot tops seem like their favorite right now. Seduce and B.t. helped, where I applied it in spinach.
With the warm weather, we are leaving the farmstand open, until sales die off, or it gets too cold in the unheated building. Fall CSA starts this week. Signups were steady.
Working on a garden drainage project, a French drain with perforated pipe and stone. There's never been a time that seemed like a good time for tearing up the garden. Firm dry ground at the end of October is the time! Other than the July monsoon season, it was a smooth year.
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN NRCS COMMITTEES
Every state has a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) technical committee, and subcommittees. These serve in an advisory capacity to NRCS, providing input on policies and funding priorities. Committees include members from a wide variety of natural resource and agricultural interests. In Vermont there are currently subcommittees for the following priorities: Soils, Water Quality, Climate, Forest and Wildlife, Urban and Small Agriculture, Wetland Reserve Easements, and Working Lands (EQIP/CSP). Click here for a summary of the subcommittees, their meeting dates, and person to contact. Many of the meetings are hybrid so you can attend without traveling.
ORGANIC MENTORSHIPS AVAILABLE
Current mentors say they wish this program existed when they were going for certification! Signups are open now to be paired with an experienced organic mentor for a yearlong peer-to-peer organic mentorship. Through the Transition to Organic Partnership Program, certified producers serve as mentors for organic-curious and transitioning producers. Receive one-on-one support, set your own goals, visit each other’s operations, ask your burning questions, and be set up for success in your organic certification journey! It's open to any type of producer--veg, berry, other crops (hay, grain), flowers, maple, livestock, dairy, processors, handlers, etc. See more info here, read stories from 2024, and fill out the short form soon to start the mentorship in December or early 2025. From a mentee: “The mentorship program was absolutely vital to our success with our certification. My mentor was consistent, proactive, kind, supportive, and positive and he seriously helped to calm my anxiety about the inspection!”
NEW ENGLAND VEGETABLE AND FRUIT CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW Manchester NH, December 17-19
The biennial conference will be held at the Doubletree by Hilton Manchester Downtown. The event features 30 educational sessions over three days, on topics related to vegetable, berry, and tree fruit crops. Visit https://newenglandvfc.org/ for registration and accommodation details. Early bird registration discount ends Nov 30.
Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association Annual Meeting
Hold the date! January 28, 2025. DoubleTree Hotel, S. Burlington. Please encourage companies and organizations you do business with to join the VVBGA as commercial members at https://vvbga.org/commercial-membership so they get an ad in the meeting booklet, and can sign up for a table in our trade show. Registration for the meeting will open soon.