The Ag Mag Agriculture and gardening in north central Florida
Pumpkins are everywhere!
Yams: The perfect root crop
Volume I, Issue 10 October 2016
Real Estate taxes and ag classification
The scoop on conservation easements
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Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation
Ecological Preserve Retreat Center Natural Farm
Farm Store Open 9-3 7 Days a Week
Workshops & Events Call 352-595-3377 or email catcrone@aol.com Women’s First Sunday Brunch 1st First Sunday of Each Month 11 am $10.00 Reservations Required by Noon on Friday before
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Spend a Refreshing Day in the Open Tours & Luncheon $20.00 per person Gather Your Friends (min 10) & Schedule a Farm Tour and Delectable Luncheon of Fresh, Natural Vegetables
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Orange A-Fair
October 29, 2016 9 am - 3 pm Fund raiser for Citra Museum at the Citra Community Center Food - Fun - Entertainment Vendors - Reminiscers Antique Farm Equipment
Fall Natural Foods & Gift Gala
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Rent our Certified Kitchen & Honey House 6411 NE 217th Pl. Citra, FL 32113 6.4 miles east of 301 on CR 318
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352-595-3377 catrone@aol.com FB: Crones’ Cradle Conserve Foundation cronescradleconserve.org No Pets or Smoking Cash or Check Only
Farming Wonders of the World Spirals in Nature (Fibonacci)
Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa) was the great mathematician who introduced his numerical sequence in his 1201 book Liber Abaci. Fibonacci numbers appear frequently in math and science, as well as in nature. Also known as the Golden Ratio, the Fibonacci Sequence is visible in the fruit sprouts of a pineapple, the flowering of an artichoke, a pine cone, and other life forms such as those pictured here. The pattern is evident even in hurricanes and galaxies!
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Photo by Renee Bodine 4
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Contents 3 |
FARMING WONDERS OF THE WORLD Aerial views
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Masthead + Letter from Jeri Baldwin
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NEWS
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Perfect Pumpkins by Jan Cross Cubbage
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Conservation Easements Preserving Old Florida by Renee Bodine
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SECOND NATURE Random Harvest by Melody Murphy
16 | I Yam What I Yam The perfect root crop by David the Good 18 | The Almanac Farming’s ultimate reference book by Jeri Baldwin 20 | AG LAW Real Estate Taxes Agricultural Classification by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law 22 | Top 10 Muscadine Grape Cultivars Rated for health, taste, and smell by Brad Buck 24 | UF/IFAS Extension, Hastings Farmers Exploring sweet potatoes as alternative crop by Samantha Grenrock 26 | 34 |
CALENDAR OF EVENTS RECIPES Pumpkin soups by Chef David Bearl and Jan Cross Cubbage
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The Ag Mag
Volume 1, Issue 10 ISSN 2471-3007
Publisher + Editor Carolyn Blakeslee 352-286-1779 TheAgMag@gmail.com Director of Programs and Events Jeri Baldwin 352-209-3180 TheAgMag2@gmail.com Design + Production Carolyn Blakeslee Amy Garone Contributors Chef David Bearl William K. Crispin Jan Cross Cubbage David Goodman Laura McCormick Melody Murphy Contact Us 352-209-3180 P.O. Box 770194 Ocala, FL 34477 TheAgMag@gmail.com The-Ag-Mag.com Facebook.com/ TheAgricultureMagazine Copyright ©2016 The Ag Mag, LLC All rights reserved Covering agriculture and gardening in Florida. The magazine can be found in north central Florida feed stores, tack shops, tractor dealers, hardware stores, extension services, farm bureaus, farmfriendly banks, high school and university ag departments, trailer dealers, selected restaurants, farm-oriented real estate offices, landscape and garden centers, libraries, and theatres. MAILED SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send your name and address with a check for $24 to the address above, or order securely online at https://squareup. com/store/the-ag-mag/ BULK SUBSCRIPTIONS: Email Carolyn at TheAgMag@gmail.com for more information.
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From Jeri Baldwin There Is a Time
T
ime lapse photography is the fascinating method of filming an event over the time it takes to occur: minutes, hours, days, etc. The event choices are endless — a seed growing to maturity, an infant learning to walk, a room being decorated, etc. After the photography is done in regular time, the event is played back at high speed, and re-filmed. The final images are shown with the time compressed. The resulting sequence shows a very fast version of the event. Time lapse photography is used in many presentations in which a presenter wishes the audience to view the entire process quickly — for a stated, useful reason. This specialized camera work is quite enlightening for many situations. However, time lapse photography is not a procedure for life. Real plants need every second built into their make-up to germinate, break loose from their hull, send a tiny shoot toward the sun, ooze through the soil above them, break into the open, grow and grow and grow, and produce their fruit. Any vegetable, herb, fruit, grass, tree, which makes its start in the earth is issued a blueprint to follow. Plants require a pre-determined amount of time to reach their optimum use. People whose lives are frantic, chaotic, or disorganized have their camera on time lapse — a helpful maneuver, of course, during select events, but hardly the stuff of success, achievement, and satisfaction through the entire course of one’s life. Happiness arrives when every step is carefully walked, every stop is happily made, and full maturity is naturally reached because we have grown at a pace which produces quality, stature, and fulfillment. The Bible gives us cogent words about our choices: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot … ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
Jeri
News Buckwheat combats squash pests
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lorida grows more zucchini squash than anywhere else in America — to the tune of $70 million each year. To help improve production, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are developing a method to keep squash pests at bay. For a newly published study, Janine Spies, a postdoctoral researcher in the UF/ IFAS entomology department, simultaneously planted buckwheat with squash and found the method kept pests away while retaining yields at current levels. Furthermore, she and her colleagues manipulated how they planted buckwheat and squash. “Pests like whiteflies and aphids transmit viruses to squash and can significantly reduce yield, and the money we make on squash,” Spies said. “This is why it is important to reduce the number of whiteflies and aphids that land on squash and to prevent the transmission of viruses.” As detailed in the study, one of the most damaging disorders in squash is silverleaf, which is transmitted by immature whiteflies. The good news is buckwheat can attract beneficial insects that use buckwheat for
nectar and pollen, and those insects can act as natural enemies to squash pests such as whiteflies, aphids and thrips, Spies said. Thus, buckwheat can help reduce pests on squash and attract good insects that eat the bad ones, she said. In the past, when UF/ IFAS scientists tried to plant buckwheat with squash, they found squash yields went down because buckwheat and squash competed for space and resources, like water and nutrients. For this study, scientists went to the UF/IFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra, Florida, and manipulated how buckwheat and squash were planted in order to reduce competition for resources. They found yields did not go down when altering planting schemes, said Spies, who conducted the study with
UF/IFAS entomology professor Oscar Liburd and UF/IFAS entomology associate professor Susan Webb. They also found less disease incidence in squash planted with buckwheat, which Spies said was an important finding. Scientists for the most part also found fewer pests, except for whiteflies, which are present at very high numbers during the fall growing season. “We believe that buckwheat, when used in conjunction with other pest management tactics can suppress pests even more and be cost effective,” she said. The new study is published online in the journal Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, http://bit.ly/2cIud3Z. Photo: UF/IFAS entomology professor Oscar Liburd. Photo by Tyler Jones, UF/IFAS photography.
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Chef Randal at Marion County farmers markets this fall
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cala and Marion County residents will have a rare opportunity to watch well-known chef Randall White prepare recipes with locally produced fruit and vegetables at area farmers markets this fall. Chef Randal will use Measure Up Marionapproved healthy recipes and demonstrate how to choose, prepare and cook with food from the markets. Measure Up Marion will provide nutritional data, describe healthy menu items, hand out printed recipes and describe future events. Chef Randal appears on “The Chef’s Table” TV show, airing on PBS channel 5 Gainesville. The show is sponsored by UF/IFAS. Chef Randal is the executive chef at Marks Prime Steakhouse in Ocala and also owns Ocala-based Fresh Green Tomato Catering. Working to make healthy living easier, Measure Up Marion has partnered with local farmers markets to highlight the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and improve access to the markets through their acceptance of all types of payment, including EBT and SNAP.
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Chef Randal will demonstrate his culinary skills at the following locations: Circle Square Commons Farmers Market, 8405 SW 80th St., Ocala from 9-1 on Thursdays, Oct. 20, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8; and at the new Ocala Downtown Market location, 300 SE 3rd Ave., Ocala, on Saturdays, 9-2, Oct. 29, Nov. 12, and Dec. 10, with specific chef demonstration times TBA. Small farmers, especially those who grow fruits and vegetables, are needed to fill this demand in Marion County. For more information, contact Mark Bailey, Marion County Extension Service at Mark.Bailey@marioncountyfl.org or 352-671-8400. For information about Measure Up Marion’s farmers market and healthy food initiatives, contact Brianna Liles, MS, RD, LD/N at 352-438-5996, Brianna@mcchildrensalliance.org or visit www. mcchildrensalliance.org/.
Specialty Crops: Hops
H
ops research by University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers is gaining national scientific and media attention. UF/IFAS scientists are working to see if hops will grow in Florida’s hot, humid climate, and they also want to know whether they can quench the thirst of the fast-growing microbrewing industry. Brian Pearson, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of environmental horticulture, is one of three members of the hops research team. Pearson’s research to date won him third place in
the Early Career Award for scientists at the American Society of Horticultural Sciences (ASHS) in early August. The Early Career Competition is for new faculty and professionals to share their discoveries to a peer audience. “This is just the beginning of our alternative and specialty crop research,” said Pearson, a faculty member at the UF/ IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka. “Working with hops, fennel, safflower and skullcap, we hope to bring an array of viable, high-value alternative crops to Florida growers.” Hops are perennial climbing plants that can reach a mature height of 18-24 feet in one year. The cones, used for flavoring in tea, food, and beer, are produced from mid-summer to late fall. Photos by Brian Pearson. 16’ hops plant 3 months after planting, and strobile (cone) that has developed from the flower and is almost ready for harvest.
Vanguard High receives $79,000 grant for hydroponics
Getting hip to hemp
program priorities. Further, the research organization must either: n Be an institution of higher n August 12, a Federal education or state department Register notice provided of agriculture as defined by Please return by information on how federal law 20 U.S.C. 1001 (see http://bit. applies to activities associated ly/2d1p9su) or linda@farmerandra with industrial hemp that n Grow the industrial hemp or fax to 941-36 is grown and cultivated in under the auspices of a state accordance with the 2014 Farm agricultural pilot program. APPROVED AS Bill. NIFA recently published NIFA has developed multiple guidance on the same topic assurances of grantee com- APPROVED WI at www.nifa.usda.gov/ pliance with state and federalCHANGES industrial-hemp. regulations. For detailed The guidance indicates that information and eligibility NIFA is authorized to support requirements, visit https://nifa. Signature industrial hemp research projects usda.gov/industrial-hemp. in some circumstances, where To read about the differencsuch activity complies with es between marijuana and hemp, state law and is consistent with visit http://bit.ly/1x1NzWo. JUNE 2016
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cala’s Vanguard High School F RANCHER receive a $79,302& serviceOwillARMER learning grant for its STEM hydroponics project from the State Farm® Youth Advisory Board. The hydroponics project is a component of Vanguard’s Farm to School program where students with special needs grow and process their own produce at school. The funds will pay for necessary equipment to support the hydroponic growing systems, digital scales, food storage bins, racks, stainless steel tables, and other program supplies. With 120 students currently studying hydroponics in the school’s newlyrevamped horticulture program, ultimately, the entire student body will reap the benefits with fresh vegetable options at lunch. Vanguard’s grant is one of 63 State Farm® Youth Advisory Board grants awarded this year and one of only four in Florida. The State Farm® Youth Advisory Board includes 30 students, ages 17-20, from across the United States who serve a two-year term. Their directives implement $5 million each year to service-learning projects important to youth and communities around the country. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $40 million since it started 10 years ago, impacting over 21.5 million students across the country. For more information, contact Jeremy Rhoden, Vanguard horticulture teacher, Jeremy.Rhoden@marion.k12.fl.us.
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Perfect Pumpkins by Jan Cross Cubbage
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M
y favorite colors are listed by season; if it is fall, then purple and orange are at the top of the list. The color purple reminds me not of the Oprah Winfrey movie, but of the days of farm-kid fall frolic when the scarlet and green branches of giant pokeberry bushes yielded plentiful handfuls of brilliant purple berries. The poisonous berries were gathered and flung at and by neighborhood kids and siblings. Bright purple splotches that took days of serious scrubbing to fade decorated our faces and any bare body parts. We marched home and called ourselves “purple people eaters,” which cracked up my good-hearted mother, so our butts didn’t get smacked. This was rural childhood sport at
its finest. Adults who never grew up play the same game, paintball, today with the help of slightly more advanced technology. The color orange conjures memories of gathering pumpkins from the field to market alongside Indian corn and homemade apple cider at our New Jersey farm’s roadside stand. The collecting of pumpkins meant harvest moons, cooler days and nights, the musky smell of fallen leaves, and our family pumpkin-carving contest. Halloween was coming and Thanksgiving was around the corner. My favorite pie is pumpkin and my mother had the best recipe ever. The Southern Comfort my mother added to her unique recipe made us all a little warmer as we forked mouthfuls of delec-
table pie into our pie holes. The quaint saying “American as apple pie” is really not up to par on the Truth-O-Meter. Apples are a fruit that were brought to America from Europe. The truism should be “as American as pumpkin pie,” for the pumpkin has been a staple of the American diet for an eternity. American natives grew the “three sisters” crops of corn, beans, and squash (including pumpkins) beginning 10,000 years ago in the highlands of central Mexico. The natives of the Americas were apt to pass along seeds — and before long, pumpkins were everywhere. It was the Narragansett Indians that gave the Pilgrims seeds of pumpkins and corn and showed them how to cultivate these two crops that would quell the fear of starvation among our nation’s earliest settlers. Here in our part of Florida, I have a favorite river to kayak, the Chassahowitzka, a Seminole term that translates to “climbing pumpkin vines.” The earliest of pumpkin recipes are to be found in the 1670s edition of a popular colonial cookbook called New England Rarities Discovered. The book reveals a stewed pumpkin recipe seasoned with butter, molasses and spices that are much like the ingredients of pumpkin custard. Pumpkin pies evolved as common fare in the early 1800s. Though orange is the standard color of the American pumpkin, there are other pump-
kins that have unique colors and other attributes. The Knucklehead (below, left) is a pumpkin with a wart-covered skin. This perfectly strange pumpkin is wonderful for carving and transforming into a scary character. Knucklehead pumpkins were developed by crossing pumpkins with warty gourds. Another even more grotesque pumpkin is the Peanut pumpkin, also known as Galeux d’Eysines (below). The entire skin of the pumpkin is covered heavily in peanut-shaped nodules.
Apparently, the color orange is not a prerequisite for being labeled a pumpkin. There are white and light gray pumpkins known as ghost pumpkins. There is a blue-gray pumpkin that originated in Australia called the Jarrahdale (below). This breed of pumpkin changes colors as it matures, starting out as a blue globe that transforms into shades of gray and finally pink.
Pumpkins have the distinction of having the greatest size of any food plant in America. The
nurturing of giant pumpkins is a serious competitive skill for many pumpkin growers nationwide. The first 1,000-pound pumpkin was grown in 2000. In September 2012, farmer Ray Wallace of Topsfield, Massachusetts harvested the first one-ton pumpkin that he named The Freak II. Last September, the officials at a farm fair in Illinois weighed a pumpkin grown by Gene McMullen that tipped the scale at 2,145 pounds. The Pickin’ Patch, located in Dunnellon, Florida, opens October first and is a fun way to pick out a pumpkin, fresh from the field. Check out their website for admission fees and directions to the farm. They supply carts — or, bring your own and wheel down the rows of pumpkins until you and the kids find that perfect pumpkin fit for a Jack-O-Lantern, or pies, or just to set them on the porch. Orange you glad pumpkins grow so well in Florida? Pumpkin Patches: n The Pickin’ Patch, Dunnellon, www.DunnellonPumpkinPatch. com. n Amazing Grace Crop Maze, Green Cove Springs, www. AgCropMaze.com. n For other pumpkin patches statewide, visit http://bit. ly/2cAtIXA and http://bit. ly/2cjVF4O. Jan Cross Cubbage, a blood stock agent and Thoroughbred farm manager, is a retired high school teacher of history and science, author of Screaming Ponies, and a former licensed Thoroughbred trainer in six states. Photo, top left: cousins Logan Thomas and Hayden Thomas, both 9 years old. Pumpkin photos courtesy JordanSeeds.com, BuyRareSeeds. com, and RareSeeds.com.
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Conservation Easement Preserves Florida Heritage by Renee Bodine
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racking cow whips echo loudly through the air as cowboys gallop hard through forest and open prairie, the dogs skillfully working the herd, driving 40 head of Cracker cows with their calves into pens just a few miles south of Gainesville, Florida.
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The specially bred Cracker Cur dogs and small, agile Cracker horses negotiate low tree branches, thick undergrowth, and sweltering heat with ease. “This is old Florida. This land is part of what was once the largest cattle ranch in the country run by the Spanish, almost 500 years ago,” said Jack Gillen (pictured, left), a modern-day Cracker cowboy, nicknamed from the sound of their whips. He has leased property belonging to Peter Frederick (pictured, right), for his cattle for 10 years. The 282 acres of prairie, freshwater marshes, hammocks, and stands of longleaf pine border Kanapaha Prairie, with more than 600 plant and animal species, including 29 that are threatened and endangered. The area is also vital for recharging the Floridan aquifer, the primary source of Florida’s drinking water supply. Frederick and his wife
bought the property 15 years ago. He teaches wetland science and restoration at the University of Florida’s Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. “It is a sanctuary, a personal space for work and developing land management techniques,” he said.
The Florida Cracker Cattle breed that graze his land descend from those first brought to the state in the 1500s by the Spanish. They are hardier, disease- and pest-resistant, and forage during the winter when other breeds require feed. Cracker cows live longer, producing more calves continually and throughout the years. They are sold locally for meat or breeding stock. Gillen and his crew round them up a couple times a year. “It’s a great agricultural practice and keeps a vibrant culture alive,” Frederick said. The dynamic between grazing and wetlands interests Frederick. “A long standing practice all over the world, grazing keeps the trees out and maintains the wetlands. Many places in South America have centuries-long histories of ranching in grasslands and wetlands. The Venezuelan Llanos and the Brazilian Panta-
nal are good examples. Some of those ranches are more than 300 years old,” he said. Frederick is comparing the effects of mowing, burning, and grazing on several 20-by80-meter (22-yard-by-88-yard) test plots to increase the diversity and productivity of his wetlands. Fenced areas preserve wildlife habitat. “We have one of the only little blue heron nesting colonies in the county, resident sand hill cranes, and lots of alligators,” he said. The property’s beauty and location makes it prime real estate, vulnerable to development as the nearby city of Gainesville expands. However, Frederick’s property is protected in perpetuity. He entered it into a conservation easement in 2008 with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Alachua County Forever, which requires
he keep the land in agriculture. “It’s a constant reminder that we can produce food and wildlife in the same space, and keep ecosystems intact,” said Frederick. Photo, top left: Ben Feely; lower right: Kevin Guinn. All photos by Renee Bodine, who works in the Gainesville office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (Renee.Bodine@fl.usda. gov). For more information about agricultural land easements, contact Nina Bhattacharyya, 352338-9554. Contact Crenel Francis, 352-338-9508 about wetland reserve easements. Learn more about technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs at your local NRCS office, www.nrcs. usda.gov/. Also read Bill Crispin’s article on easements, and the article on Cracker Cattle, in our May 2016 issue at http://bit.ly/2cB0oWa.
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Second Nature by Melody Murphy
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Random Harvest
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o it’s pumpkin season, and that means pumpkin everything is everywhere. Even here, in the land known for a whole different kind of orange produce. But like everything else in our wonderfully weird state, Florida is full of surprises. I have friends whose four-year-old son recently informed me he wants to be a pumpkin farmer when he grows up. He also wants to be Batman. I think these twin aspirations go together nicely. As a career combination, they have a sort of Halloweenish vibe. I was about to tell him he’d have to relocate to a different state to become Batman the Pumpkin Farmer, when I stopped and thought, Hmmm ... do pumpkins grow in Florida? Can they? I’d always pictured pumpkin patches in New England or the Midwest ... certainly not in the Sunshine State. And with variety names like Yankee, Connecticut Cornfield, and Michigan Mammoth for standard Halloween pumpkins, the regional association is clear. In fact, I didn’t know pumpkins grew in the South until two years ago. I was driving through north Alabama when I took a wrong turn and ended up on a winding road through the countryside. I rounded a curve ... and there was a pumpkin patch. It was unexpected enough that it took me a minute down the road to realize, Wait — was that a pumpkin patch I just saw??? I turned the car around and went back. Sure enough, it was.
ancient pecan trees in her yard in central Florida, and they still provide an abundant, delicious harvest. We used them last winter for all the Christmas baking. There’s a peanut festival every fall in Williston. And a friend informed me just a couple of years ago that we have cotton fields here in Marion County. I didn’t believe her until she texted me a picture. Expectations confounded. Just as with pumpkins. One of the things I love most about Florida is its seemingly endless capacity for surprise. Even we natives and lifelong residents, who understand far better than anyone else the quirkiness and almost belligerent determination of this land and its inhabitants to do exactly as they please, continue to hold false assumptions about our home state. I think the state motto should be “Everything is crazy here, so why not?” In Latin this translates to Omnia demens hic, quidni? Or, when you reverse the translation, Google Translate tells me this stands for “All mad here, why not?” I would be pleased to see either of those mottoes on a state seal. Under a jack-o’-lantern with a defiant expression. Melody Murphy may very well go pick her own pumpkin this fall, now that she knows she can.
Photographs by Melody Murphy
Pumpkins as far back to the horizon as I could see, against a backdrop of hills and fall foliage and bright blue sky. I stopped the car and got out to take pictures. Farther down the road, I rounded another curve and saw two young deer frolicking in a field, chasing each other and leaping over a little creek and bounding in circles in the golden lateafternoon sunlight. It was like something out of a storybook: A pumpkin patch and frolicking deer: I don’t mind a wrong turn when the view is that perfectly pastoral. So pumpkins do grow in the South, I learned. But what about Florida? I did some research and it turns out, citrus isn’t the only round orange produce item that grows here. Pumpkins are grown in Florida, particularly in the northern part of the state, though with considerable difficulty. The combination of fierce heat, voracious pests, and crop diseases such as mildew and stem blight creates inhospitable conditions for growing pumpkins in Florida. Water can be a problem, too. The mineral content of Florida well water can often prove detrimental to a pumpkin crop, and pumpkins require a lot of water to thrive. However, they also do best in a cool, dry climate — and as we all know, Florida is anything but cool and dry. Especially in the summer, which is when pumpkins need to grow to be ready for the fall harvest. Add hurricane season and the summer rains, and conditions are decidedly unfavorable for locally sourced jack-o’-lanterns. Or are they? There is, in fact, a pumpkin patch right here in Marion County: The Pickin’ Patch in Dunnellon. Several years ago, some watermelon farmers decided to give pumpkins a try, and have had a surprising level of success. We get used to thinking of things a certain way. Growing up, I’d always associated peaches, pecans, and peanuts with Georgia, and cotton with Alabama, because that’s what I always saw, everywhere, when we visited family there. These were not “Florida things,” in my mind. Then we planted peach trees in our yard in south Florida, and once on a summer trip through south Alabama, my grandmother and I bought a couple of crates of the best peaches I’ve ever had in my life. My other grandmother has three huge,
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I Yam What I Yam The perfect root crop by David The Good
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f I were to design the perfect root crop for Florida, it wouldn’t be the potato. It also wouldn’t be sweet potatoes, though those are good. It most definitely would not be something touchy like beets, or hard to eat for long without severe culinary boredom, like turnips. My perfect root would grow without work, contain lots of calories, and be delicious fried as well as being thick and hearty in a stew. Fortunately, I don’t have to design this perfect Florida root crop from scratch — God already did. We call it the “yam.” There are many reasons why I cover yams in my book, Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, with great enthusiasm. I find it incredible that they’re almost never covered in Florida gardening books. (Come on, folks! Do I have to do everything?) Most people confuse yams with sweet potatoes, but they are not the same at all. Sweet
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potatoes are in the Ipomoea family, whereas yams are in the completely different Dioscorea family. No relation! There are multiple species of true yam, one of which is the much-loathed “air potato,” known in Latin as Dioscorea bulbifera. There is also a very good edible “air potato” which is a different species that grows wild in the state. That one is the winged yam, properly named Dioscorea alata and is a very good root vegetable. Sadly, Florida has put it on the invasive species list. Don’t mix up D. bulbifera and D. alata, as D. bulbifera is almost invariably poisonous in the wild forms growing in Florida. (I teach you the difference on my website, so search for “edible air potato” and “David The Good” and you’ll learn which yams in the woods are tasty and nutritious, and which will make you vomit while rendering you impotent and bald.) Beyond these two naturalized wild yams, the “name” yams you get from the
ethnic markets (and often from Publix) are easy to grow in your garden and will bear excellent roots in a single season if fed and watered well. If you don’t take care of them, they’ll still bear great roots but it will take longer. To plant yams from the supermarket, cut the root into chunks about the size of a peach, dip them in ashes (see photo, below) to help protect them from soil pests and problems, then plant them. If you don’t have ashes, just let them dry out on the counter for a day after cutting to reduce the potential for rotting in the ground.
Yams need something to climb — they’re vigorous vines and will happily shoot to the top of a tree if given half a chance. They’re not a groundcover vegetable, like sweet potatoes. They want altitude! I plant mine just under the surface of the soil near something — anything! — they can climb when they emerge. I’ve grown yams on fences, on trellises, on an unused clothesline and even on a pollarded sweetgum tree I used as a living trellis. Fall is the time to get started planting yams. Yams have a growing season and a dormant season. In North Florida they grow vigorously through spring and summer and into the fall, die back and eventually freeze down in the winter. As the growing season progresses, they start making their bulbils (if they’re a yam that does that — bulbils are an aerial root you can use to plant more yams) which mature in the fall. If you plant now, you will usually start seeing yam vines emerge in April and May. Once they emerge, yams don’t need much care or watering to stay alive, though taking care of them will raise your yields and reduce the time needed until harvest. The yams I grew in great garden soil with lots of compost and water made big roots in their first year; the ones I grew without any care whatsoever generally took two years to make big roots. Folks spend all their time trying to learn how to grow tomatoes; instead, they should give up and learn how to grow yams! Way easier, though not as good in salsa. I usually dig yams when they’re two years old so I get giant roots, though I got some pretty big one-year yams in last year’s garden. Once harvested, I cook yams just like white potatoes, though I find they cook faster and brown up nicer than potatoes will. They’re great. Once you know how to grow yams, you’ll be eating them all the time. Yams also make wonderful roots for the crockpot and really good French fries. They’re also really good shredded (cheese grater) and fried as hashbrowns. Yams keep pretty well on the counter. Unlike potatoes, you don’t have to worry about them greening up and poisoning you. If you store them under moist conditions, they’ll start growing roots. I left some in a plastic bag once and they
did just that, so I ended up chopping them up and planting them instead of putting them on the table for dinner. The best place to keep yams is right in the ground, then you can dig and eat them as needed. If you can find yams to grow, grow them! This is my top survival root for Florida. Growing yams is easy and the roots taste great. You could probably grow a year’s worth of calories by planting your backyard with yams. In our uncertain times, I think popping in a big patch of high-calorie staple roots is a wise idea. Now that I’ve told you how to grow yams, hunt down some roots or bulbils and get planting. You’ll love ’em! David The Good is a Florida native, a gardening expert and the author of four books you can find on Amazon, including Totally Crazy Easy Florida Gardening, Create Your Own Florida Food Forest, Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting and his new bestseller Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening. Find fresh gardening inspiration every weekday at his website www.TheSurvivalGardener.com and be sure to look up his popular YouTube channel for lots of informative (and hilarious) homesteading videos.
October 2016
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The Almanac Farming’s Ultimate Reference Book by Jeri Baldwin
W
hispers of a movement have floated on the breeze for several years. That idea, which many have ignored or passed off, is the ever louder notion that people can, and should, accept responsibility for their own food on their own small farmstead. According to the statistics released in 2015 from the Florida Department of Agriculture, the
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number of farms has increased by eight per cent since 2002. With 47,600 farms in Florida, eight percent reaches toward significant. An inference could be made that many people have decided to raise their own food and find their own niche, since the data further states that the acreage of Florida’s farms has decreased from a little more than 200 acres to about 176, as folks sought acreage which they could reasonably farm. Statistics are not available stating how many people who turn to farming are already experienced growers. But casual conversation, reading articles, and talking with county extension agents indicate that many new farmers are in fact inexperienced in raising crops and animals. The Agricultural Extension Service, in response to this new breed of farmers, organized the Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises service to organize and publish helpful information. The Small Farms group has existed for nearly 10 years, with hundreds taking farming courses and absorbing information. Many new landowners make the effort to locate a seasoned farmer, who has watched many cycles of seasons pass while they have worked to raise food. These sensible new farmers plumb the experiences, listen to the stories, and gather information about successfully growing food for themselves and their customers, people who help defray the costs of farming with the desire to have food grown by someone they know and can even call by name. For rookie farmers who yearn for specific information, an amazing document exists. The Old Farmer’s Almanac (TOFA) isn’t a fly-by-night book about to fade away. It celebrates its 225th anniversary in 2017 and publishes nearly three million copies each year. Its age doesn’t scorn electronics, since it counts 1.3 million Facebook followers.
TOFA’s secret? The information it hands out year after year, season after season. It may be a toss-up depending on whom you ask, but most every farmer type refers to one section without fail: “Planting By the Moon’s Phase.” Though many have scorned planting by the moon information, the theory behind the data rises from science. The moon orbits the earth every 28 days, exerting such a pull on the earth’s surface that water rises and falls in low and high tides every 12 hours. The information on the phases of the moon — new, first quarter, full, and last quarter — provides almost irrefutable evidence about successful growing if one follows the advice. That advice is summarized thus: “Increasing moonlight (waxing) is best for annuals that bear their product above ground; decreasing moonlight (waning) is best for root crops.” As the moon controls the tides, so it controls the moisture in the soil and influences how quickly seeds germinate and plants grow. Much more information is available, so the purchase of TOFA would garner immense stores of knowledge for a minimal amount of money ($6.99). Helpful articles, weather predictions, advice, meteor shower schedules, and stories cram the pages of every issue, as well as “Amusements” on subjects such as what to do if a squirrel falls into your sap bucket. Everyone, farmers and city dwellers alike, needs words of wisdom to guide their lives. The 2017 TOFA is available on newsstands now, or, as the slug at the bottom of many of the pages says, “There’s more of everything at Almanac.com.” I couldn’t leave without sharing a few of the facts and folklore from the past 225 years of TOFA with you: n For toothache, kiss a donkey on the jaw. n For the hottest, hot peppers you want, plant when you are furious about something. n For maximum growing, ask a pregnant friend to help you plant. n For good luck, own the foot of a rabbit killed in a cemetery by a cross-eyed person at the dark of the moon. Jeri Baldwin is a writer, historian, photographer, farmer, and co-founder of Crones Cradle Conserve Foundation, the 756-acre ecological preserve and education in Citra. She is Director of Programs and Events for The Ag Mag.
13th Annual Orange-a-fair
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Citra Community Center (SR 318 one block east of US Hwy 301)
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Music By: Dave & Vicky Trezak Fish or Hamburger Dinners $7.50 Antique: Tractors Engines Farm Equipment
A good old-fashioned day in the country! Please Support the Citra Historical Restoration Fund October 2016
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Real Estate Taxes Agricultural Classification by William K. Crispin, Attorney At Law
R
eal estate taxes are a topic frequently discussed in north central Florida. Of particular interest, given the extent of production agriculture in our region, is obtaining an agricultural classification for a parcel which in turn allows for taxation of that parcel below a “fair” market value assessment. Florida Statute §193.461 creates the agricultural classification, which provides for a “value in use” appraisal rather than a “market value” appraisal. Basically, this means the property will be valued based upon what the current use will generate as income, rather than what it could be sold for. Land with an agricultural classification is taxed based on its agricultural related value. Once an agricultural assessment has been made by your county’s property appraiser, the assessment of land is based solely on its agricultural use considering the following factors1: 1. The quantity and size of the property; 2. The condition of the property; 3. The present market value of the property as agricultural land; 4. The income produced by the property; 5. The productivity of land in its present use; 6. The economic merchantability of the agricultural product; and 7. Such other agricultural factors as may from time to time become applicable, which are reflective of the standard present practices of agricultural use and production. Typically an agricultural assessment results in a significantly lower tax than a parcel without. The criteria for determining a certain land parcel’s tax classification as agricultural along with related procedures for property owners is set
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forth in Fla.Stat. §193.461. This statute requires the county’s property appraiser to classify annually for assessment purposes, all lands within a county as either agricultural or nonagricultural. Only lands used primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes can earn the ag classification. Under the statute “bona fide agricultural purposes” means “good faith commercial agricultural use of the land.” The following factors may be taken into account in reaching the ag determination: a. The length of time the land has been so used. b. Whether the use has been continuous. c. The purchase price paid. d. Size, as it relates to specific agricultural use, but a minimum acreage may not be required for agricultural assessment. e. Whether an indicated effort has been made to care sufficiently and adequately for the land in accordance with accepted commercial agricultural practices, including, without limitation, fertilizing, liming, tilling, mowing, reforesting, and other accepted agricultural practices. f. Whether the land is under lease and, if so, the effective length, terms, and conditions of the lease. g. Such other factors as may become applicable. If a property that has an ag classification also contains a residence, the portion of the property consisting of the residence and curtilage will be assessed separately. In keeping with the property appraiser’s annual duty to classify properties as either agricultural or nonagricultural, a subject property can lose its agricultural classification. If land is diverted from an agricultural to a nonagricultural use or no longer is being utilized for agricultural purposes, the classification is removed. If land is denied agricultural classification
by the property appraiser, the property appraiser shall notify the landowner in writing of the denial of agricultural classification on or before July 1 of the year for which the application was filed. This notification advises the landowner of his or her right to appeal to the value adjustment board and of the filing deadline. The property appraiser maintains a list by ownership of all applications received showing the acreage and related ag and non-ag valuations, and whether or not the classification requested was granted. The term “agricultural purposes” includes, but is not limited to: horticulture; floriculture; viticulture; forestry; dairy; livestock; poultry; bee; pisciculture (fish farming), if the land is used principally for the production of tropical fish; aquaculture, including algaculture; sod farming; and all forms of farm products as defined in Florida Statute §823.14(3) and farm production. Application requirements vary by county, but often it needs to be accompanied by a written farm plan or lease which will be followed by an inspection of the property by the county. An agricultural operation does not necessarily have to be operated at a profit every year to be bona fide, but evidence of income which the property is producing and of the care given and practices used in caring for the land is relevant. Some factors considered or questions addressed are2: 1. Has the operation been continuous? 2. Is there evidence that establishes a bona fide effort by the
property owner to sufficiently and adequately care for the land in a commercial agricultural manner? 3. Has there been a true effort to have the property contribute to the agricultural economy of the county on either a short or long term basis, proportionate to the size of the property? 4. What portion of the property is being used for agriculture? 5. Has a “Tangible Personal Property” return been filed on all equipment that is involved in the farming operation by April 1 of each year? 6. Is the application(s) accompa-
nied by a farm or forestry plan or written lease? 7. How do your practices and plans compare to reasonable, typical management practices for similar operations? Florida Statute §193.461 (6)(a)
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Each county has its own approach when reviewing applications for agricultural classification in meeting the requirements under the statute. Contact your county’s property appraiser to learn what they may be.
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Top 10 muscadine grape cultivars for health, taste, and smell by Brad Buck
A
new study, published in the journal Food Chemistry (Volume 215, 125 January 2017, Pages 149-156), means you may eventually tempt your palate with more Muscadine (also sometimes called Scuppernong) grape cultivars, and they’ll be good for you. They can be successfully grown without pesticides. Muscadine grapes are known for their health benefits and other nutritive values — even for potential preventive measures against cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The fruits are rich in antioxidants such as ellagic acid and resveratrol. Although scientists have done much research extracting and identifying these health benefits, the studies have looked at few commercial varieties. The new study examined those benefits in 58 of the approximately 100 Muscadine grape varieties. Fully ripened Muscadine grapes (53 cultivars and 5 breeding lines) were harvested from the Research Vineyard at the Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research at Florida A&M University in 2012 and 2013 season. The authors of the multiinstitute study were Changmou Xu, University of Florida Dept.
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of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Dept. of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Yavuz Yagiz, Lu Zhao, and Maurice Marshall, also of UF’s Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition; Amarat Simonne, UF’s Dept. of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences; and Jiang Lu, Florida A&M University’s Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research and China Agricultural University’s College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering. The Muscadine cultivars were put through various tests over two growing seasons to see which ones passed muster for health, taste, and smell. “We ranked the top 10 Muscadine grape varieties according to high potential for consumer preference,” said Maurice Marshall, UF/IFAS professor emeritus of food science and human nutrition. “With more and more consumers favoring healthy fruits, and research continually revealing the benefits of Muscadine grapes, these grapes should have excellent market potential, not only in the U.S., but throughout the world.” In addition to consumers, grape breeders could use this information to select which cul-
tivars offer the best fruit quality and most nutrients, while integrating these factors into other growing performance characteristics such as yield and disease resistance, he said. Marshall also said this study is novel because researchers used what they call “nutraceutical” values for each grape variety. Nutraceuticals are any substance that may be considered a food or part of a food that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. Consumers purchase Muscadine grapes to eat as a fruit and to drink as a wine. The grapes are native to the South and are found along the Gulf Coast west to Texas and north along the Mississippi River to Missouri. Muscadine grapes are planted on about 5,000 acres in the U.S. The top 10 Muscadine grape cultivars with high potential consumer preferences based on final rank of fruit weight, Brix/acid ratio, total phenols, and antioxidant activity were Supreme, Later Fry, Dixie Land, Sweet Jenny, Fry, Jumbo, 026-12, Africa Queen, 028-22-5, and Sugargate; the first four were on the top ten list both years. Common Muscadine cultivars (Welder, Alachua, Noble, and
Carlos) grown for wine-making were ranked in the middle as a fresh market variety. Brad Buck is a science writer in the UF/IFAS Communications office. He can be reached at bradbuck@ufl. edu. Photos: Top left, Muscadine vine, UF/IFAS. All other photos courtesy University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Below: Alachua. Above right: Fry. Below right: Dixie vine.
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UF/IFAS Extension, Hastings farmers explore sweet potatoes as alternative crop by Samantha Grenrock
B
ack in the 1920s, Danny Johns’ great grandfather was the first farmer in the Hastings area to use a tractor instead of a mule. Now, in a region known for producing potatoes for the potato chip industry, Johns, like his ancestor, isn’t afraid of trying something new. As of this year, Johns is one of a few commercial farmers in Florida who are growing sweet potatoes, a crop not produced in the state since the sweet potato weevil devastated much of the Florida industry for the commercial, orange sweet type in the 1980s. Now, with the help of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, growers like Johns have the opportunity to diversify their business with this reemerging crop. In Florida, potatoes grown for the potato chip industry, or “chipping” potatoes, are planted in January or February and harvested in May or June, said Scott Chambers, farm supervisor at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center. Table stock
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potatoes, potatoes sold fresh, are also planted and harvested at these times. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, are planted in spring, after the growing season for chipping and table stock potatoes is over. “The local growers wanted to increase their land productivity and income by growing sweet potatoes when they are not growing chipping or table stock potatoes,” said Guodong “David” Liu, assistant professor of horticulture and Extension specialist. There are no current UF/IFAS nutrient recommendations for sweet potatoes grown on the Hastings area soil, Liu said, so he and his team are testing how various nutrient regimens affect the quality of sweet potatoes grown in the region. The data they collect will help sweet potato growers find the most suitable varieties for the area and grow the crop efficiently, Liu said. UF/IFAS faculty also want to make sure that the economically important sweet potato weevil doesn’t impact these new ventures. Once
a week, Bonnie Wells, agricultural crops agent at UF/IFAS Extension St. Johns County, visits each farm to walk the sweet potato fields, examining leaves and roots for signs of damage, and checking traps for captured pests. “So far, there’s been no evidence of sweet potato weevils at any of the farms we’ve worked with,” she said. “We want to keep it that way.” Because of Florida’s climate, growers can plant sweet potatoes earlier than those in other states, Chambers explained. This means Florida sweet potatoes could arrive earlier to market and fetch higher prices, he said. However, Florida growers can’t take advantage of this marketing window—yet. Sweet potato plants start off as “slips,” young plants raised commercially that are eventually transplanted into fields. Right now, Florida growers rely on slips produced in other southeastern states, which aren’t available during Florida’s early planting season. Growing slips in Florida is the solution, said Chambers. UF/IFAS researchers have successfully raised slips in greenhouses at the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural Extension Center, and their methods may one day help growers produce their own slips, he said. David Dinkins, a UF/IFAS Extension multi-county agent who specializes in sustainable agriculture, along with Janice Bohac, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture sweet potato geneticist and breeder consulting on the project, are working to identify possible markets for Florida sweet potatoes. Bohac is helping UF/IFAS researchers explore more unusual sweet potato varieties, for example, a purple-fleshed variety that is high in antioxidants, the starchy boniato, a popular staple in Caribbean cuisine similar to the ‘Japanese Yam’ variety favored by Asian Americans, and a starchy yellow-fleshed type similar to the ‘Hannah Gold’ and the ‘Jersey Yellow’ varieties. “These specialized varieties can be much more profitable than the more familiar and sweeter orange-fleshed type,” Bohac said. Bohac has provided UF/IFAS researchers with plants from her private breeding program to use in trials. So far, markets for Florida sweet potatoes
look promising, said Dinkins. “Sweet potatoes have the potential to be a sustainable, alternative crop for tri-county producers for a variety of reasons,” Dinkins said. “Farming sweet potatoes is similar to farming other crops in the area, but requires relatively less water and nutrients. Initial market analysis indicates an increased demand both domestically and internationally. Sweet potatoes also have a great nutrition profile, and they can be processed into popular products such as sweet potato fries.” Caption: Sweet potato plants growing on Danny Johns’ farm, Blue Sky Farms. With the help of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, growers like Johns have the opportunity to diversify their business with this reemerging crop. Photo by Danielle Johns. Samantha Grenrock is Editor for UF/IFAS Electronic Data Information Source Team 3. She can be reached at 352-294-3307, grenrosa@ufl.edu.
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Calendar of Events EVENTS: WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS, CLASSES, CONFERENCES, ETC. September 30-October 1 Florida Ranch Rodeo and Cowboy Heritage Festival, Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park. Get a Groupon deal at http:// gr.pn/2b7aDfQ. September 30-October 2 1. 2016 Florida Springs Restoration Summit. Presentations, panel discussions, banquet dinner and keynote address Saturday, field trip to Silver Springs. Harvey R. Klein Conference Center, College of Central Florida, 3001 SW College Road, Ocala. www.springsrestorationsummit.org/ 2. Butterfly Fest. Plant sale all three days, Butterfly Fest October 1st. $11/adults, $6/younger than 18. Florida Museum of Natural History, 3215 Hull Road, Gainesville, 352-846-2000, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflyfest. Saturday, October 1 1. Art and Garden Fall Family Festival. Plant sale, trolley tour of deciduous fruit and nut crops, walking tour of NFREC gardens, entertainment, kids’ zone. 850-875-7101. 9-2, free admission, seeking vendors ($20-35). UF/IFAS North Florida Research and Education Center, Quincy. 2. Fall Plant Sale. Native plants, herbs, perennials, pollinator plants, butterfly, hummingbird plants, trees, shrubs, rain barrels, mulch, micro-irrigation supplies, much more. 8-noon, Marion County Extension, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, 352-671-8400.
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Tuesday, October 4 1. Levy Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, 625 N. Hathaway Ave., Bronson, http://myswcd.org/. Upcoming meetings (first Tuesday): 11/1, 12/6. 2. Pecan Field Day. 8:30-2, North Florida Research and Education Center, 155 Research Rd., Quincy. Topics: Enterprise budget for pecan production; potential of other crops in conjunction with pecans; phosphorus banding; grove establishment and rejuvenation; plot tour; annual meeting, Florida Pecan Growers Assn. Free, RSVP to 850482-9620 or mlollar@ufl.edu. 3. Southeast Hispanic Ag Workshop, presented in Spanish. Learn about programs and services from USDA’s Farm Svc. Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rural Development, IFAS Extension, FIU Veteran and Small Farmer Outreach program. 4:30pm., Cooperative Extension Svcs., 18710 SW 288th St., Homestead, 919-8899426. October 4-5 Farm Labor Supervisor Training, 8:30-5. $50/class: Farm labor contractor basics, wage and hour, rules for bus/van drivers, safe driving, HR compliance, management communications, heat illness. Classes in both English and Spanish (separate rooms). Miami Dade County
Ext. Office, Homestead, http://bit. ly/2crVr0G. Wednesday, October 5 1. UF/IFAS North Central Florida Turfgrass Field Day. 8-2, UF/ IFAS, 2550 Hull Rd., Gainesville. 2. Vegetable Field Day, 9-3, North Florida Research and Education Center, 155 Research Rd., Quincy. Disease and nematode management in tomato, watermelon, cucumber, cantaloupe. Varieties for different seasons. Field visits. Free, lunch included, RSVP to joshuafr@ ufl.edu. Thursday, October 6 1. General Standards Pesticide Class. This class prepares participants to take the Limited Commercial Landscape Management Exam or the Ornamental and Turf Exam. The session offers 6 CEUs in several licensed categories: 2 CEUs toward General Standards (CORE), and 4 CEUs toward Private Applicator Ag, Ornamental and Turf, Limited Lawn and Ornamental, Limited Landscape Maintenance, or Commercial Lawn and Ornamental. $20, 8-3, lunch is included. Terry Holt, UF/IFAS Extension Marion County, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala, FL, 352-6718400. 2. Getting to Florida’s Engaging Water from the Inside Out, identifying Florida’s water-driven
landscapes. Bill Bellville, speaker. Free, 2pm, North Lake Presbyterian Church, 975 Rolling Acres Rd., Lady Lake, 352-259-4359, www.LadyLakeMuseum.org. 3. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Hydroponics and Protected Agriculture. Managing greenhouse and protected ag vegetable pests; good and bad bug I.D.; microscope observation. 8:30-4, $120, includes lunch. Suwannee Valley Ag Extension, 7580 County Road 136, Live Oak, http://bit.ly/2cVBwEJ. October 8-9 Fall Native Plant Sale, 10am. USF Botanical Gardens, 12210 USF Pine Dr., Tampa.
3. Marion County Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting, 9am, USDA Ocala Service Center, 2441 NE Third St., Suite 204-2, Ocala, Information: Ann Bishop, 352-622-3971, x.112. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): 10/11, 11/8, 12/13. 4. Panhandle Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Seminars, workshops, farm tours, trade show. Keynote speaker: Richard Wiswall, farmer/author. Early bird registration is $40 before September 6. Registration includes lunch, refreshments, educational materials, and transportation to farm tour locations. 8-4:30, Jackson County
Sunday, October 9 5th Anniversary Party, Farm Tour, and Tasting. Free admission, 4-8pm. Food and beverages for sale. Frog Song Organics, 4317 NE U.S. Hwy. 301, Hawthorne. Tuesday, October 11 1. Citrus Nutrition Day, 9-3, $30/person, UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred. 863519-1052, http://bit.ly/2deO9P3. 2. Dixie Soil and Water Conservation District Board meeting. 6:30-7:30, Cypress Inn Restaurant, Cross City. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesday): 10/11, 11/18, 12/13.
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Agricultural Complex, Marianna, https://pfvc.eventbrite.com. 5. St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board meeting, 11am, District headquarters, 4049 Reid St., Palatka. Information: Missy McDermont, 386-3294214. Upcoming meetings (second Tuesdays): 11/8, 12/13. October 18-November 29 Ridge Citrus Production School will be held every Tuesday morning. Topics include: citrus pathology, handling and processing, economics, entomology, horticulture, varieties, rootstocks alternative crops and soil and water science. UF/ IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred. 863-519-1052, http://bit.ly/2deO9P3. October 11-12 Farm Labor Supervisor Training, 8:30-5. $50/class: Farm labor contractor basics, wage and hour, rules for bus/van drivers, safe driving, HR compliance, management communications, heat illness. Classes in both English and Spanish (separate rooms). Family Service Center, 310 W. Whidden St., Arcadia, http://bit.ly/2d8cDZA. October 14-16 1. Hernando Southern Heritage Festival and Cracker Cattle Drive. http://CitrusCountyHistoricalSociety.org/. 2. Mushroom Cultivation Course. Join author/co-founder of Radical Mycology, Peter McCoy, for this weekend (starts Friday at 6pm) workshop. Designed for beginners to experienced growers. How to fruit mushrooms, grow mycelium, integrate into lifestyle for food, medicine, and soil health. Held at Hawthorne Community Market, 7040 SE Hwy. 301, Hawthorne. Information: bit.ly/rmfl2016. Saturday, October 15 1. Backyard Biodiversity Day. About plant, animal, reptile, and insect diversity in yards and farms. Educational presentations, native plants
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for sale, more. Free, 9am, Mead Botanical Garden, 1300 S. Denning Dr., Winter Park. Tarflower.fnpschapters. org. 2. Organic Vegetable Garden Class. Free, 10am. Fall/Winter organic gardening, taught by Rachelle Roper from Feed The Need Garen. Superior Landscape and Garden Center, 5300 N. U.S. Hwy. 27, Ocala, 352-368-6619, www.SuperiorLandscape.net. 3. Trees and Shrubs: how to plant and care for them. 10am, Ft. McCoy Library, 14660 NE Hwy. 315. Marion County Master Gardeners, 352-671-8400.
October 19-20 HACCP (food safety) for Florida Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Packinghouses. $100-400. Orange County Extension, 6021 S. Conway Rd., Orlando, http://bit.ly/2cwH23h.
October 15-16 Annual Plant Swap and Sale. Saturday, gates open at noon; $5 donation at the gate. Bring plants to give away, trade, sell. Speakers on gardening/permaculture. Garden tours. Sunday, 4-hour workshop on 75 clumping bamboos (edible shoots, construction, windbreaks, more), $20, 12-4. 2460 SW Mixon St., Arcadia, https://www.facebook.com/ events/930583343674152/.
October 20-22 Florida State Beekeepers Annual Conference. Hilton UF Conference Center, 1714 SW 34th St., Gainesville. http://bit.ly/2bL3HGd.
October 17-20 BioCycle Refor16, renewable energy from recycling conference. Hands-on info and tools in anaerobic digestion, power production, fuel and soil amendments, food waste management, composting. Caribe Royale Hotel, Orlando, http://www. biocyclerefor.com/. Tuesday, October 18 1. Gilchrist Soil and Water Conservation District meeting. 6:30pm, Akins BBQ, Bell. Upcoming meetings (third Tuesdays every other month): 12/20. 2. Pests in Your Garden. 2pm, Dunnellon Library, 20351 Robinson Road. Marion County Master Gardeners, 352-671-8400. October 18-20 Sunbelt Ag Expo, Moultrie, GA. 1,200 exhibitors. www.SunbeltExpo.com.
Thursday, October 20 Crestview Wildlife Workshop. Farmers and woodland owners are invited to learn how to increase wildlife on your land, including gopher tortoise, SE American Kestrels, quail, turkey, and deer. 9-1:30; register by 10/15 for free lunch. IFAS Extension, 3098 Airport Road, Crestview. 850-767-3634.
October 21-23 Semi-Annual Artificial Insemination (AI) School. 8:30-4 each day, Bell High School FFA, Classroom Pod 930 (S. Main St. Rt. 27, Bell) for classroom sessions, and the American Dairyco (2780 NW CR 138, Branford) for practice sessions. $350/ person, $250/students. 865-250-7761. Saturday, October 22 1. 2016 Citrus Classic Poultry Show. 9-5, Citrus County Auditorium, 3610 S. Florida Ave., Inverness, 321-236-1080, www.cflpoultrybreeders.org. 2. Fall Native Plant Festival, 9-4. Presentations include getting started on home landscaping with native plants (9), butterfly gardening (10), using your local botanical garden as a resource (11), beyond turf grass (noon), milkweed (1). Wilcox Nursery and Landscape, 12501 Indian Rocks Rd., Largo, 727-595-2073. 3. Fall Planter Class: Make It and Take It. $35, 10am. Choice of wicker basket or pumpkin planter. Superior Landscape and Garden Center, 5300 N. U.S. Hwy. 27, Ocala, 352-368-6619, www.SuperiorLandscape.net.
Tuesday, October 25 61st Annual Ocala Graded Bull and Bred Heifer Sale, noon. 150+ bulls. Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala. October 26-27 Florida Water Star Accredited Professional Training and Exam. Training 8:30-5 the 26th, exam 1-5 the 27th. $50. Forestry Div. Training Room, 5353 NE 39th Ave., Gainesville. Registration: Merry Mott, mmott@fngla.org, 800-375-3642. Thursday, October 27 Florida’s Certified Pile Burner training. 8:30-4:30, Bradford County Fairgrounds, Starke. $50. Bradford Extension, 904-966-6299.
Sale November 5th Quality Ewes exposed to phenomenal Katahdin Rams for sale as well as 1/2 blood Katahdin Ewes ready to breed. Gates open at 9:00am Sale starts at 11:30am Presented by AGB Stables 1551 SE 160th Avenue, Morriston, FL, 32668 For more information please call 352-529-7395 or visit www.facebook.com/AGBStables Cash or Credit Card only Vet on premises
November 1-2 1. Florida Water Star Accredited Professional Training and Exam. Training 8:30-5 the 1st, exam 1-5 the 2nd. $50. Citrus County Ext., 3650 W. Sovereign Path, #1, Lecanto. Registration: Merry Mott, mmott@fngla.org, 800-375-3642. 2. Regional Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference, Indian River Research and Education Center, 2199 South Rock Rd., Ft. Pierce, http://bit. ly/2a8NwCM. Wednesday, November 2 Florida Ag Expo. Free. UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Balm. www.FloridaAgExpo.com. November 3-13 75th Annual North Florida Fair, Tallahassee. Friday, November 4 1. Canning under the Cottage Law. 9-1, Bartow, http://bit.ly/2a43daO. 2. Fall and Winter Gardening. 12pm, Freedom Library, 8870 SW 95th St., Ocala. Marion County Master Gardeners, 352-671-8400. Saturday, November 5 Sale: Katahdin and part-bred Katahdin sheep. Gates open at 9, sale starts at 11:30. AGB Stables, 1551 SE 160th Ave., Morriston, 352-529-7395, www.Facebook. com/AGBStables. Friday, November 11 Tomatoes. 10am, Cypress Hall, On Top of the World, 8415 SW 80th St., Ocala. Marion County Master Gardeners, 352-671-8400. Thursday, November 17 2016 Florida Fall Cattlemen’s Conference and Allied Trade Show. $25 includes lunch. 8-4, Southeastern Livestock Pavilion, 2232 NE Jacksonville Rd., Ocala. http://bit.ly/2cwqckR.
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Saturday, November 19 Fruit Trees: When, what, how? 11am, Reddick Library, 15150 NW Gainesville Road. Marion County Master Gardeners, 352-671-8400. Dates Vary Citrus County Extension Svc. Remote Plant Clinic Dates and Locations. Every Tuesday, 1 pm: Lakes Region Library. First Wednesday, 2 pm: Floral City Library. Second Wednesday, 1:30 pm: Central Ridge Library. Third Wednesday, 1 pm: Citrus Springs Library. Second Friday: 1:30 pm, Coastal Region Library. Information: Citrus County Extension Svc., 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Suite 1, Lecanto, FL 34461, 352-527-5700, www. citrus.ifas.ufl.edu. Every Wednesday Farm baskets of vegetables, jams, jellies, etc., are delivered to the Ocala Public Library every Wednesday at 2:30 pm. $25-50. Reserve in advance. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217th Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www. CronesCradleConserve.org. Every Saturday Farmstead Saturdays. 9 am to 3 pm. Free admission. Lunch and pastries available. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl., Citra, 352-595-3377, www.CronesCradleConserve.org.
Many dates ServSafe® Food Safety and Quality Program. Class and Exam, $110; $55 more for textbook. COCOA: Nov. 14. GAINESVILLE: Oct. 10; Tues., Dec. 6. LARGO: Oct. 10. LECANTO: Oct. 13. LIVE OAK: Mon., Nov. 7. OCALA: Tues., PANAMA CITY: Nov. 17. STARKE: Nov. 9. YULEE: Nov. 27. http://tinyurl.com/nmdc3sc.
EXHIBITS Now through January 15, 2017 Wicked Plants exhibit featuring more than 100 of the world’s most diabolical botanicals, from plants that merely smell like death to those that can actually cause it. Based on Amy Stewart’s book Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother, the exhibit opens into the garden of an abandoned Victorian house. Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesvile, www.flmnh.ufl.edu. Now through March 18 Water Ways, presented by the Smithsonian’s Traveling Exhibition Service. Images, videos, information, interactive elements. Curtiss Mansion Museum, Miami Springs, Sept. 3-Oct. 22; Ding Darling Wildlife Society, Oct. 29-Dec. 10, Sanibel; Historic Courthouse, Okeechobee, Dec. 17-Jan. 28; Sulphur Springs Museum, Tampa, Feb. 4-Mar. 18.
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FREE ONLINE CLASSES Webinar recordings 1. Cover Crop Options for Hot and High Humidity Areas, http://bit.ly/2ahkP61. 2. Organic Seed Production webinar series. http:// bit.ly/21b1y7Y. 3. Promoting Specialty Crops as Local. Communicating with consumers. http://www.piecenter.com/ training/local/ 4. Specialty Crops Program webinar series. http:// bit.ly/2dkrSiO. 5. Soil Health Impacts on Pest Management. 2pm. http://bit.ly/2bMiPCe. 6. Sustainable Agricultural Research & Education (SARE) offers classes on sustainable agriculture, strategic farm planning and marketing, and more. http://bit. ly/28KVYUH 7. USDA topics including funding and initiatives. Upcoming and past webinars are listed; they are eventually archived and available for tuning in later. http://bit. ly/2a7hyXe.
GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, OTHER FUNDING Deadline October 1 The Donald Samull Classroom Herb Garden Grant. Open to teachers of grades 3-6 with at least 15 students. 10 grants, $200 each, available for indoor or outdoor herb gardens for supplies such as soil, plant trays, containers, etc. http://herbsociety.org/resources/samull-grant. html. Deadline October 21 NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program for 2017 funding. Farmers may receive financial and technical assistance to improve soil, water, air, plants, animals, and related resources. Eligible land includes cropland, range and pastureland, private non-industrial forests, other farm or ranch lands. http://bit.ly/2bfKsaQ. Deadline November 15 Wetland Reserve Easements. Financial and technical assistance for landowners to purchase and restore wetlands, protect wildlife habitat, and recharge groundwater on their property. Open to ag landowners and Indian tribes. Permanent or 30-year easement. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Svc., Roney Gutierrez, 352-338-9502, http://bit.ly/2cQKtP3. Deadline December 8 Farm to School program. $5 million in grants each year on a competitive basis to schools, nonprofits, state and local agencies, agricultural producers, and Indian tribal organizations to increase local food procurement for school meal programs and to expand educational activities on agriculture and food. Planning grants are for schools or school districts just getting started on farm to school activities. Implementation grants enable schools or school districts to expand or further develop existing farm to school programs. Support service grants allow community partners such as non-profit entities, Indian tribal nations, state and local agencies, and agriculture producers to provide support to schools in their efforts to bring local products into the cafeteria and for other farm to school activities. Training grants are intended for eligible entities to support trainings that strengthen farm to school supply chains, or trainings that provide technical assistance in the area of local procurement, food safety, culinary education, and/or integration of ag-based curriculum. All four grant types require matching funds in the form of 25 percent of the total project cost. www.fns. usda.gov/farmtoschool/farm-school-grant-program. Deadline December 31 Walmart Community Grants, $250-2,500. Open to nonprofits, government entities, public or private schools, church or other faith-based organization. Four
core areas: Hunger relief/healthy eating, sustainability, women’s economic empowerment, opportunity; programs don’t have to align with those areas but must be geared toward strengthening local communities. http:// giving.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/local-givingguidelines. No Specific Deadline 1. American Heart Association Teaching Garden Grant. Open to schools. The AHA provides the materials for planting day, garden beds, organic soil, seedlings and plants, cooking demonstrations, and other activities; Teaching Garden Took Kit including school garden manual, lesson plans, and more. http://bit.ly/28Vv3Gm. 2. Fresh Access Bucks is seeking applications to add more farmers and markets to their network. This is to encourage SNAP recipients to redeem their benefits at farmers’ markets and at farms that sell direct to consumers. Matching funds. 352-377-6355, x.125, www.FreshAccessBucks.com. Deadlines vary 1. Florida Agricultural Scholarships Online. Check this web site often for announcements of new awards. www.FloridaAgricultureScholarships.com. 2. USDA grants, loans, and other support. Many programs are open to individual and family farmers, even people starting out. Micro-loans are fast tracked.
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Have a Stubborn Skin Disorder and Tried Everything Else? Finally there is a solution, try Natural Awakenings DermaClear,™ a natural, affordable skin repair salve.
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There are other programs open to farmers’ markets, nonprofits, and educational providers. www.usda.gov/wps/ portal/usda/usdahome?navid=KYF_GRANTS.
POSITIONS, INTERNSHIPS Deadline October 7 Partnership Coordinator, Florida Shorebirds Alliance; office location negotiable although the web site lists it as Tallahassee. http://bit.ly/2cX1BBs. Deadlines vary 1. Florida Sea Grant. If you are interested in marine and coastal work, check in with the Florida Sea Grant program, as new positions are posted frequently. www. flseagrant.org/about/jobs/ 2. Internships in the beef industry. Many opportunities; some include housing. www.floridacattlemen.org/ internship-opportunities/ 3. UF/IFAS. Extension agents, dairy cattle assistants, water resources agents, horticulture agents, veterinary support, professors, teaching assistants, much more. Check out the list at http://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/cw/en-us/listing/. Send your agriculture- and gardening-related Calendar listings to TheAgMag@gmail.com.
Subscribe today! Mailed Subscriptions to The Ag Mag. $24/year. Delivered to your mailbox every month! To order securely online, visit https://squareup.com/store/the-ag-mag/ OR Send your name and address with a check to: The Ag Mag PO Box 770194 Ocala, FL 34477-0194
Wholesale Pricing Available to Stores and Practitioners
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Bulk classroom subscriptions also available. Info: TheAgMag@gmail.com
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Pumpkin Soup by Jan Cross Cubbage
Topped with roasted pumpkin seeds that have been dribbled in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt, this soup is a fall supper start-up that will warm you up!
Ingredients: 8 cups chopped fresh pumpkin 2 cups shredded carrots 2 large apples, chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 4 cups chicken broth 2 tsp. grated ginger root 1 tsp. tumeric
Directions: This recipe can be prepared in a slow cooker by combining all ingredients and cooking on low for 8 hours. Or, steam the first four ingredients until tender, mash, then add broth and spices, stir well, heat and serve with roasted pumpkin seeds afloat on the soup. It’s delicious served in a bowl, of course, but for an extra touch of elegance, you can serve it in pumpkins.
To bake pumpkins: Place small (4- to 5-inch) pumpkins on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until desired tenderness is reached. Carve the lid at an angle. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Pour soup into the pumpkins and replace the lid. NOTE: To be on the safe side, place each pumpkin into a bowl in case it is so tender that it springs a leak.
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Calabaza Soup by Chef David Bearl
Ingredients: 1 small Calabaza pumpkin ½ lb. diced chicken 1 cup croutons 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded 3 cups milk salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Cut the pumpkin into quarters and roast in a 350-degree oven for 30-45 minutes. Mash the roasted pumpkin and combine with diced chicken and milk in a sauce pan. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for at least 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese, serve topped with croutons.
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LET US HELP YOU PRODUCE YOUR NEXT BUMPER CROP
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