Saturday, March 10, 2012
9:30 am - 4:30 pm
MOFGA's Common Ground Education Center
294 Crosby Brook Rd, Unity
Tomatoes are beautiful, delicious, plump, juicy symbols of summer. They are an enormously important cash crop for mixed vegetable growers in Maine. They are also potentially resource-intensive, vulnerable to pests and diseases, and subject to "feast-or-famine" marketing cycles. Join MOFGA, your fellow farmers, and several experts for an all-day, multi-faceted exploration of all things Tomato; and prepare for another great growing season.
Tentative Conference Schedule (subject to slight changes)
~check back for details~
9:00am Registration
9:30 Tomato Culture with Mark Hutton, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
10:30 Variety Selection for High Tunnel Performance with Nick Warren, University of New Hampshire Plant Biology Department
Nick will share the first year's results of a high tunnel tomato variety trial conducted at UNH's Woodman Farm. Yield, taste, disorders and more were evaluated for 11 indeterminate beefsteaks tomatoes and 3 cherry varieties. This is a great opportunity to learn about last year's trial and make suggestions for next summer.
11:30 Pest Management in Tomato Production with Eric Sideman, MOFGA's Organic Crop Specialist
Got tomatoes? Then you probably have a few tomato-related problems, too. Eric Sideman, MOFGA’s Crop Specialist, will help you identify the problem, offer some solutions, and lead a discussion of successful and failing solutions tried by all of you tomato growers in the audience.
12:30pm Lunch by Crosstrax Deli, Unity
1:30 Enterprise Budgets with Dave Colson, MOFGA Agricultural Services Director
Dave will offer examples of enterprise budgets for both field grown and high tunnel production systems based on his 30 years experience growing and marketing tomatoes.
2:30 Farmer Panel with Nate Drummond, Six River Farm; Sarah Trask, Small Wonder Organics; Dave Colson, New Leaf Farm/MOFGA; and Andrew Mefferd, One Drop Farm/Johhnys Selected Seeds
Registration fees: $50 for individuals, $75 for a couple, $25 for students and apprentices