Wild Blueberry Newsletter, June 2016
June 2016
Wild Blueberry Annual Field Day
The annual summer field day for wild blueberry growers will be held on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Blueberry Hill Farm on Route 1 in Jonesboro. The meeting will begin with an expanded vendor presence at 9:00 a.m. The discussion with blueberry growers, processors, and University and government employees affiliated with the blueberry industry on this year’s wild blueberry crop will begin at 10:00 a.m. Because of concerns about the large crops we have had in Maine and Canada in recent years, we will feature a talk by Glenn Rudburg of Ethos, the marketing agency selected by the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine on WBANA US – 2016 “Pick Wild” Marketing. We will also have a presentation by Erin Roche and Gary Anderson from Cooperative Extension on Considerations for Successful Retirement and Farm Transitions. We will have presentations on recent research in the afternoon session after the BBQ lunch provided by our sponsors. Two recertification credits will be offered for certified pesticide applicators attending the afternoon session.
Organic Blueberry Meeting
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is sponsoring an organic wild blueberry meeting on Wednesday, July 6 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. It will be hosted by Doug Van Horn at his organic wild blueberry farm in Montville, Maine.
This is an opportunity to get a review on insects, weed diseases and fertilizer updates from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and University researchers and to network with your fellow organic wild blueberry growers.
The farm is located at 242 Twitchell Hill Road in Montville. It is a little over two miles, once you turn onto Peavey Town Road off of Route 220.
- You go about .9 of a mile on the Peavey Town Road. Where the road veers to the left, you will stay straight on the Twitchell Hill Road for another .9 of a mile to its dead end, the farm is at the end of the road. Once you turn onto Peavey Town Road, stay to the right at all forks and you will end up on the Twitchell Hill Road. Peavey Town Road is the west turn at the four corners on Route 220 and the east turn is called Spring Hill Road. Peavey Town is a dirt road (on some computer mapping systems Peavey Town Road is called Elmin Mitchell Way or is not labeled at all).
- If coming from the north, the Peavey Town Road is 10.4 miles from the corner of Route 220 and Route 137 (Hilltop Store and Ridgetop Restaurant) on Route 220. There are not a lot of distinctive landmarks on this part of Route 220. I suggest using an odometer reading at Route 220 and 137.
- If coming from the east and south, it is easier. Most will probably get to Route 3 at some point. Go north on Route 220 at the junction of Route 3 and Route 220. Peavey Town Road is the first left (west) turn off of Route 220 north of Route 3. No matter where you come from don’t let your GPS take you down Cellar Kitchen Road, it is a disaster.
Integrated Crop Management Field Training Sessions
The third field training session will take place on Tuesday, June 28 in Warren, on Wednesday, June 29 in Jonesboro, and Wednesday, June 30 in Orland at 6:00 p.m. (see April newsletter for details). We will cover blueberry maggot fly trapping, SWD identification, trapping and control, a discussion of diseases we had this year, leaf and soil sampling, and weed identification and post-emergence weed management. One recertification credit per session will be offered for certified pesticide applicators.
Sincerely,
David E. Yarborough
Extension Blueberry Specialist
Wild blueberry fact sheets, past newsletters, contacts, resource links, calendar of events, and more can be found on the Cooperative Extension’s Maine Wild Blueberries website.
Information in this publication is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied.
© 2016
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