Sprague’s Nursery and Garden Center has seen plenty of changes since it was established in the 1940s. Melissa Higgins, who operated the retail portion of the Bangor, Maine, business for 10 years before making a switch to the wholesale division, said the original owners of the garden center began by ...

Growers who devote growing space to poinsettias have a considerable investment in personnel and labor until the crop is finished. “A poinsettia can look great and have wonderful color,” said James Doukas, Selecta Ball Flora, “but unless it rings at the register, it isn’t useful to us as growers beca...

Malabar spinach, red okra, bottle gourd, bitter melon and stevia may not be standard farmers market fare, but Allison Akbay has developed a strong customer following for specialty vegetables. At the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, held virtually this year, Akbay shared what she has lear...

Corn mazes and pumpkin patches are hallmarks of autumn agritourism front, but there are those who want to go a step further and offer a spooky experience – a haunted attraction. The question is how do you host a haunt without falling into tired tropes and corny clichés? You can incorporate your loca...

Scouting for greenhouse pests is one of the most critical tasks for greenhouse operators. It can mean the difference between catching a problem in time or total crop loss. Dr. Luis Canas, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University, said it’s useful for growers to review the greenhous...

Dr. Alex Chan, a mental and behavioral health specialist with University of Maryland Extension, recently gave a presentation titled “Tips for Successful Family Meetings” for the Mid-Atlantic Women in Agriculture Program. According to Chan, there are three common sources of conflict for business-owni...

The world is finally emerging from the exasperating asterisk that was 2020. Reflecting on what they had to do to get by, agricultural producers are taking a look back at what worked, what didn’t, what they’re glad to see go and what they’d like to keep for the future. “Cultivating Farm and Food Safe...

If you’ve seen the movie “The Mummy,” you know scarab beetles can cause a lot of damage. Japanese beetles fall into this category, and July is when they start to become active. The invasive pests were first found in the U.S. in New Jersey in 1916, and since then have spread to most states east of th...

At a grower meeting, Dr. George Wilson at NC State University addressed the subject of harvesting and post-harvest handling of vegetables. He said once you harvest a vegetable it’s at its highest point in quality; what you do after that can only slow its continued deterioration. Think about the myri...