Gifted Gardener D E C E M B E R
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CEDIK
Health Bites
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SAWG 6 Conference
Fruit & 8 Vegetable Conference
That’s An Idea
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Calendar of 11 Events
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YEAR IN REVIEW AND A LOOK AHEAD What a year it has been. Winter was at the very least a bear with heavy snows and record cold temps. Our longing for spring was at an all time high around the middle of February. I had –26o F at my house which was by far the coldest since 1994. Many plants were tested this winter and I spent a great deal of time helping folks decide what to do with winter damaged plants. We discovered that Leyland Cypress does not need to be a staple landscape plant for our area. Boxwoods and several holly varieties saw damage or dieback. I believe we also learned that patience with damaged plants can pay dividends because many plants recovered while some did not. After the hard winter came some extended rainy times that left tomato growers scratching their heads. Most 1
vining crops suffered because of the high moisture and lack of sunlight. I believe I have decided to postpone garden planting until at least the first of June for most crops in order to avoid some of the wet weather issues and warmer soil temperatures. I feel that the plants will be much more successful and productive if you take some of the hurdles out of the way. On a personal note I had a great year as well. I was lucky enough to receive the Kentucky Association of County Agriculture Agents Distinguished Service award as well as the National Association of County Agriculture Agents Distinguished Service Award. I was delighted to be able to take my family to South Dakota to receive the National Award at our national meeting. I was honored to be recognized and delighted to share the experience with my (Continued on page 10)
LEARNING
The charts you see on these pages were borrowed from a much larger publication that was created by the CEDIK (community economic development in Kentucky) working group. The full publication is called
Kentucky County Agriculture and Food Profiles: Nelson County— Agriculture overview. CEDIK does a wonderful job of providing economic development insight for many different needs and operations.
CEDIK does a wonderful job of providing economic
development insight for many different needs and operations.
According to USDA 2012 data, 2,930 people directly received income from farm operations in Nelson County, which is approximately 14.7% of total county employment.
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In 2012, Nelson County had 1,326 farm operations on 187,755 acres, which represented 70.3% of total county land. In comparison, Kentucky’s farm operations made up 51.6% of the state’s total land area, and U.S. farm operations made up 40.5% of total land area in the county.
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HEALTH Daily good food choices can pay a lifetime in dividends
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The pictographs on these two pages come from a twitter account I follow called Daily Health Tips : Ask a Doctor. I find these pictures easy to understand and help me make better decisions in my food choices. Every food choice has a healthier alternative.
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LEARNING
SAWG CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN LEXINGTON
This is a wonderful sounding conference being held in Lexington this winter. For 25 years, the Southern SAWG annual conference has been providing the practical tools and solutions you need at our annual conference. It is the must-attend event for those serious about The popular sustainable and organic pre-conference farming and creating more vibrant community food systems! This events begin popular event draws on Wednesday over 1,000 farmers and local food advocates and include a from across the nation. We offer outstanding great line-up “field-tested” presenters, of one-and-a- a full slate of hot-topic conference sessions and pre-conference courses, half day several field trips, a intensive short poster display and a trade show.
courses
The popular preconference events begin on Wednesday and include a great line-up of one-and-a-half day intensive short courses The four short courses we are offering this year are:
Start-Up Organic 6
Vegetable Production and Marketing
Advanced Organic Vegetable Production and Marketing
Growing Farm Profits by Managing for Profits
Developing a Food Hub: For Beginning and Emerging Food Hubs
and on Thursday, several exciting half-day field trips and mini courses. This year we are offering mini courses on these two hot topics:
Pastured Poultry Profits Mini Course
Extending Your Sales from Thanksgiving to St. Patrick’s Day Mini Course
Each of these pre-conference activities requires separate registration. The celebrating will begin Thursday evening with our first “Voices From the Field” activities of the weekend. This special event will commemorate and reflect on the successes over the past 25 years in the sustainable agriculture and local food movements. Plan to arrive in time for this Thursday evening gathering. To learn more
about this event, click here or visit
unique marketing strategies, food hubs, scaling up, increasing profits, business and finance management, beginning farming, farm to school, community food systems work, federal farm programs, agriculture policy developments and more.
http://www.ssawg.org/special-events The general conference is held on Friday and Saturday. The general conference, with a wide variety of program offerings and over 100 expert presenters, gives you the opportunity to learn vast amounts in a short two days! We have sessions for those with years of experience and for those who are new to the field. The session topics include organic and sustainable vegetable in fields and in high tunnels, grazing and sustainable livestock management, specialty crop production,
The general conference line-up includes over 50 educational sessions, plus a state networking session for each of the 13 states in our region, and another 13 information exchange sessions where you get to exchange ideas and information with those who share your interests.
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LEARNING
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONFERENCE SET FOR JAN. 4-5 The 2016 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Conference will have something of interest for all fruit and vegetable producers. The event runs from 8 a.m. EST Jan. 4 until 5 p.m. Jan. 5 at Lexington’s Embassy Suites Hotel. Preconference activities on Jan. 3 will include tree fruit, small fruit, and vege-
advanced growers alike. We have something to share with everyone, no matter their experience level.” Participants may choose from several concurrent sessions with topics including farmers markets, commercial fruit and vegetable production, greenhouse and high tunnel production,
Participants will
also get to enjoy Kentucky Proud products at the Exhibitor/Grower and conference luncheons as well
as to visit with exhibitors at the trade show.
table roundtable discussions. “We are looking forward to this conference and offering many excellent sessions with over 70 speakers,” said John Strang, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment horticulture specialist. “Success with fruit and vegetables greatly depends on a producer's management skills, especially being able to do things on time. This conference is for beginners and 8
small fruit production, organic production, direct marketing, the Grape and Wine Short Course, direct and wholesale marketing, food safety and processing, and the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Participants will also get to enjoy Kentucky Proud products at the Exhibitor/Grower and conference luncheons as well as to visit with exhibitors at the trade show. The conference is a joint meeting of the Kentucky
State Horticulture Society, the Kentucky Vegetable Growers Association, the Organic Association of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Wine Association. An optional Celebration of Kentucky Wines at 6 p.m. Jan. 4, will feature Kentucky 2015 Commissioner’s Cup Award winning wines. The $20 cost for the event includes a souvenir glass and refreshments. Participants will have an opportunity to use a Trading Post bulletin board to sell used equipment. Conference registration is $40 per person and includes a one-year membership in the Kentucky Vegetable Growers Association, Kentucky State Horticulture Society or the Organic Association of Kentucky and entry to the Grape and Wine Short Course. Strang recommended preregistering by Dec. 18 to ensure nametags and conference materials for participants. Registration is also available at the door. The UK Cooperative Extension Service, Kentucky State University and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture jointly sponsor the conference. For more information about the conference, or to request registration materials, contact Mary Ann Kelley at 270-365-7541, ext. 216. The conference program and registration sheet are available online at http://www.uky.edu/ hort/2016KyFruitVegConf.
Fruit Fertilizer Guidelines (1/2 lb granular fertilizer is equal to approximately 1 cup)
Fruit
Rate (Distributed in dripline area)
Time
Tart Cherry 1/6 lb 33-0-0 or ½ lb Feb. 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age Pear
1/8 lb 33-0-0 or 3/8 lb Feb. 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age Apple ¼ lb 33-0-0 or ¾ lb 10- Feb. 10-10 per tree per yr of age Peach, 1/6 lb 33-0-0 or ½ lb Feb. Plum 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age Strawberry 5 lb 10-10-10 per 100 After ft of row 2 fruiting (June-July) Blackberry, 3.5-10 lb 33-0-0 or Raspberry 10.5-30 lb 10-10-10 per 100 ft of row
Feb.
Grape
April 1 Fruit set
0.2 lb 33-0-0 or 0.7 lb 10-10-10 per vine 0.2 lb 33-0-0 or 0.7 lb 10-10-10 per vine Blueberry 1 lb ammonium sulfate per 100 ft of row ¾ lb 10-10-10 per 100 (new) ft of row
6 weeks after planting 6 weeks later Blueberry- 5 lb 10-10-10 per 100 February ft of row Bloom (established) 2½ lb ammonium sul- 6 weeks fate / 100 ft of row 2 later lb ammonium sulfate per 100 ft of row 9
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family.
This community of growers could include you and
would simply be adding some extra rows to what you are already doing in your garden. .
I also want to thank all the folks who volunteer and help make our Horticulture program possible and productive. Whether you are an active Master Gardener, Bee Club steering committee member, or on the farmers market board of directors; you are the people. You make things that you care greatly about move forward and thrive. A new initiative that we will begin discussions about this winter has to do with increasing nutritional offerings to groups of people who are at risk of being trapped in a nutritional deficit. This fall we have begun piloting a program where we supply fresh produce to one of our local food pantries from the extra production of one of our local growers. Our goal is to increase the weekly offerings of nutritionally superior produce by tapping into a community of growers. This community of growers could include you and would simply be adding some extra rows to what you are already doing in your garden. On February 5th @ 12:00 noon I would like to invite you to join us
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to discuss how we can accomplish the goal of increasing the nutrition for our neighbors in need. I will fix lunch on this day and we can eat together and plan together. Call, text, email or stop by the office to let me know you may be interested in helping with this worthy endeavor. During this meeting we will discuss: What to grow How much to grow When to have it ready Harvesting logistics What demands for our product exists Where the produce be distributed Plus, I am sure, many other items will be discussed. This is something that is needed and can greatly benefit your neighbor in ways we can’t understand. Therefore, please consider getting involved in one way or another. If you are not a grower maybe you can help harvest, or offer land to grow on, or even help with distribution. I am certain we can find you a niche in this new endeavor. Also, if you know of a good gardener that this newsletter does not reach please ask them to join us for the meeting on February 5th to see if they may be interested in helping.
THAT’S AN IDEA
With this weather it is still not too late to plant some spring flowering bulbs
You can transplant trees now before the ground freez- es for winter Keep track of the different types of birds that visit your feeders with your camera If you didn't get your grass seed sown this fall the next best time will be from Mid February to Mid March If you are wanting to add an orchard to your landscape, trees need to be ordered now
Laying out what goes in the garden and where now will save you lots of time and money this spring Winter is a wonderful time of year to prune trees; no leaves makes it easier to see the structure
Calendar of Events
January 4-5—Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Educational Conference and Tradeshow.
January 27-30— SAWG– Sustainable Agriculture and Local Foods Annual conference.
February 5th— Neighborly Nutrition: Developing a Giving Garden to help increase nutritional options for our neighbors in need. This is a planning meeting; please joins us at the Extension office at 12:00 noon for a luncheon discussion.
Equipment maintenance should be done before putting away this winter Remove mummified fruit, and other diseased plant material from the garden
Robbie Smith Apply maCounty Extension Agent for Horticulture nures and compost to Phone: 502-348-9204 gardens and landscapes Fax: 502-348-9270 now in order for the nutriemail: robsmith@uky.edu ents to be Website: http://nelson.ca.uky.edu/ available for plant uptake @hortagentrob this spring NelsonCounty Extension
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RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
University of Kentucky Nelson County 317 South Third Street Bardstown, KY 40004
Cooperative Extension Service
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