Garlic Season Begins Garlic in southern and midcoast Maine is emerging and it is time to prepare for managing pests in your crop. Here are the basics: Anticipate potential problems by considering the pests or diseases you encountered in previous years. Most garlic diseases persist, and several insect pests overwinter, in soil and crop residues. […]
Read more
2025 STRAWBERRY PEST MANAGEMENT SEASON BEGINS Vegetable and Berry Growers Twilight Meeting at Belanger’s Farm, Lewiston, June 5, 5:30 p.m. Situation: March was slightly warmer than average this spring, but April has been very cool and damp, keeping strawberry plants dormant in matted row plantings under straw mulch. It is now time to uncover the […]
Read more
In this newsletter: Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees Bud Stages and Bud Survival Guest Articles from Cornell Cooperative Extension Pruning Tips for Cherry Trees Cherry trees are usually trained as a multiple leader tree like peach and plum with about 4 leaders per tree. Fully dwarfed sweet cherry trees can be trained as a central […]
Read more
In this newsletter: Bud development stages Fruit Notes Spring Issue Upcoming Classes on Marketing Apple Bud Development Last week, I noted some bud swell in Honeycrisp and Macoun apples. No sign of bud swell has been seen in peaches. Fruit Notes Spring 2025 Issue The spring issue is available at this website: UMass Amherst […]
Read more
Upcoming Meetings and Webinars Northeast Extension Fruit Consortium – Webinars start this Wednesday This winter, we will be hosting the webinar series in New England and eastern New York. Topics include marketing, weed management, apple scab, bitter rot, and new research on cold hardiness in apple rootstocks and peach varieties. Some of the sessions will […]
Read more
In this newsletter: Peach Flower Bud Survival Upcoming Meetings and Webinars Survey for Apple and Pear Producers Peach Flower Bud Survival So Far This winter, we have been tracking bud loss in our collection of 20 varieties. Survival in late January ranged from a low of 0% in Blushingstar to a high of 68% in […]
Read more
In this newsletter: Pruning Out Fireblight in Dormant Trees New Apple Variety Evaluations Soil Temperatures at Highmoor Farm Upcoming Meetings and Webinars Fireblight in Dormant Trees Adapted from Apple and Pear Disease – Fire Blight, Dormant Removal of Cankers, Kari Peter Last year, fire blight was found in several orchards around the southern half of […]
Read more
In this newsletter: Notes on peach hardiness Cold Weather Concerns Cider Apple Pruning Series Upcoming meetings and webinars Winter Meeting of the Maine State Pomological Society Northeast Extension Fruit Consortium Cornell Fruit Winter Webinar Series March Tree Fruit Preseason Meeting Peach Bud Hardiness This Winter We measured flower bud hardiness in mid-December in 20 varieties […]
Read more
Maine Produce Safety Improvement Grants (MPSIG) help specialty crop growers i.e, growers of fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture, and nursery crops (including floriculture but excluding commodity crops) to: Implement on-farm food safety practices; Transition to compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR); Meet market demands for on-farm […]
Read more
While strawberries have long been a staple of spring crops in Maine, the plants are not especially hardy. As an herbaceous, or non-woody plant, strawberries don’t achieve what is considered a true state of dormancy during the winter. Rather, they go into a quiescent state, or pseudo-dormancy which offers some protection against extreme temperatures, but […]
Read more