It’s that time of again, reflection, resolutions, new starts and, sigh, word slides — sooo many word slides. I see your heavy eyelids, blank looks, frequent trips to the bathroom and intensive texting with others. Yes, ladies and gentleman, it’s officially conference season with countless presenters...

Dr. Tom Bjorkman, professor of vegetable crop physiology at Cornell University’s Geneva research facility, says that most of the broccoli consumed in the United States is grown in California, and that’s because the state’s climate is ideal. Broccoli grows well in the winter in a Mediterranean climat...

Jaap Molenaar co-owns Pioneer Gardens in Deerfield, MA. He emigrated from Holland in 1988, bringing the inherent Dutch passion for flowers with him. Perennials are his middle name. He grows perennials that can handle eight different climate zones for nationwide distribution to wholesale growers that...

The optimal time for picking fruit involves the convergences of ripeness, storage ability, market demand and the whims of Mother Nature. If any of these are ignored, rotten apples just might be the end result. Fruit ripening involves ethylene, which triggers genes in the cells of the fruit. These ge...

While working as an Extension Agent, people always asked me what crop(s) should they grow? When I would suggest some, they would ask, “Is there a market for it?” I would answer, “Yes, the market is what YOU make it”, meaning that you have to seek out your own markets for yourself. What are Some Prof...

Barcodes can help vegetable plant breeders stay better organized and be more efficient. Michael Mazourek, the Calvin Knoyes Keeney associate professor of Plant Breeding for Cornell University, presented “Getting Started with Barcode-based Digital Data Collection for Vegetable Breeding”, a recent web...

If Christmas is the biggest and best season of year for your business, it’s time to finalize preparations to countdown. While some who stop in over the next several weeks will likely be long-time loyal customers who return every year, some might be visiting your business for the first time. Take ste...

GENEVA, NY — “Variety is the spice of life” as the saying goes, and it’s the key to profitability in the apple growing business — if you develop and grow the right varieties. Susan Brown, professor horticulture section at Cornell University, presented “Adventures in Apple Breeding and Genetics” rece...

Warren Leach and his wife Debi Hogan got started in the nursery business in a rather unique way: they purchased an expansive property that had been a hobby business operated by a plant collector. But Warren wasn’t a novice when it came to plants. He studied horticulture at University of Maine and no...

In recent years, ticks have become increasingly common. As a human health issue, they first came on the scene when the causative agent of Lyme Disease was first identified in 1975. The tick that carries the organism that causes Lyme Disease was given the name Ixodes scapularis commonly known as the ...

Andrianna Natsoulas, executive director of the Northeast Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY), says that the recent 8 to 7 vote on whether to hydroponics should be certified organic is a complicated topic. But she’s glad that people are asking questions, and is happy to clarify misunderstanding...

Karen and Aaron Bouchard in northeastern New York weren’t always farming full-time. Just a couple of short years ago they both held down full-time jobs. Karen was a teacher and Aaron was in farm machinery sales. “Now we’re working 14-hour days!” Karen attests, and they are loving it. Aaron was raise...

Getting started The thought of wholesaling might appeal to any grower who has dealt with erratic auction prices, finicky farmers’ market customers or the ability to sell all of one crop. A group of farmers and wholesale purchasers gathered recently in Leesburg, VA, to share their experiences as whol...

Sometimes it seems that wine grapes get all the glory. But grapes are meant for eating fresh, too. Table grapes available in supermarkets are generally of the Thompson seedless or Flame seedless variety, both of which are Vitis vinifera , European grape cultivars. European grapes include the well-kn...

One of the most difficult things to know for a person that is interested in growing high value horticultural crops is how to get started. They have many questions to ask and sometimes do not know the right questions to ask. My purpose in this article is to outline some questions that a potential hor...