Making the Most of Your Vegetable Crops for Market. Annette Wszelaki Commercial Vegetable Specialist

Transcription

1 Making the Most of Your Vegetable Crops for Market Annette Wszelaki Commercial Vegetable Specialist

2 Topics to Cover Picking the crops and varieties to set you apart at market Making the most of your tunnel Top vegetable trends for 2017

3 Picking the Right Vegetables and Varieties

4 Vegetable and Variety Selection One of the most important decisions you will make! Experience is best Consider all the factors Start with new crops or varieties on a small scale Ask people you trust!

5 Variety Selection Use adapted varieties or those that have been proven to grow well in this region or under a range of environmental conditions unadapted can lead to loss of 20% yield All American Selections Lots of resources on variety performance University trials and field days Private company trials and field days

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8 Market Acceptability Crops and varieties must have characteristics desired by the buyer including: Size Shape Color Flavor Nutritional quality

9 Horticultural Quality Characteristics Characteristics of the plant habit Quality traits of crop may be more important than yield characteristic Super Sweet sweet corn varieties Spineless in squash Thornless in blackberry

10 Yield The variety should have the potential to produce crops at least equivalent to those varieties already being grown Harvested yield may be much less than potential yield because of market constraints

11 Disease Resistance or Tolerance Most effective means of pest management (less costly than chemicals) Genetic resistance or tolerance to disease or insect When all other factors are equal, select for resistance or tolerance

12 Top Trends

13 Purple Produce

14 Turmeric and Ginger Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

15 Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

16 Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

17 Transplanted on June 17 th about 3 weeks late! Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

18 First top dressing and hilling July 5th Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

19 July 5 th after first hilling Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

20 Clump July 31st Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

21 September 29th First harvest Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

22 Harvest from 6 row feet on September 29th Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

23 Harvest from December 10th Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

24 Ginger Production Key Points Pre-sprout before planting Hungry crop needs both food and water Soil temps between 55 and 90 degrees F Needs to be hilled 2 or better yet, 3 times Top dress when hilling Water deep before it gets dry at least 2X per week In warmer climates it may need shading Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

25 Ginger available from Hawaiianorganicginger.com Slide courtesy of Paul and Alison Wiediger, Au Naturel Farm

26 Chickpeas (legumes), corn and fungi Plant butchery Also, add variety to CSA baskets and market offerings

27 Chickpeas Drought tolerant, cool-season legume Often grown in semiarid subtropics as a winter annual Plant grows with 1-2 seeds/pod Two types: desi (smaller) and kabuli (larger)

28 Chickpeas Commercial production in U.S. concentrated in CA, Eastern WA and ID Planted in late fall and harvested late spring in CA Planted spring and harvested in summer in WA Average yields 1,540 (CA) and 2,280 (WA) lbs/acre Do not require high levels of soil moisture Excessive irrigation not good (disease, delay harvest, promote excessive vegetative growth)

29 Chickpeas Can be planted in solid stands (6-12 row spacing) or wide rows (22-30 ) Low nutrient requirements (20-30 lbs N/acre) Direct harvest requires plants to be uniformly mature and dry prior to combining Immature plants will produce dark, discolored, immature seed Need trialing in TN

30 Repurposed Food Waste Value-added and consumer education Examples: Watermelon seeds Pickled watermelon rinds Ricing cauliflower stems

31 Ethnic Vegetables Potential to serve a growing population Potential to expand crop offerings Identify your market first! Important to be specific in your language labeling Important to provide recipes and how to cook A little goes a long way!

32 Asian Vegetables Bok choy Asian eggplant Edamame Kabocha squash Daikon radish Yardlong bean Bitter melon Mung bean Tatsoi Turmeric

33 Hispanic Vegetables Amaranth Calabaza Chayote Cilantro Squash blossoms Peppers Turmeric Tomatillo Verdolaga

34 Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training When? February 15, 8:30 AM-5:30 PM CST Where? Lane Agri-Park, Murfreesboro, TN Why? The course will provide a foundation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and co-management information, FSMA Produce Safety Rule requirements, and details on how to develop a farm food safety plan. How much? $150 Who to contact? annettew@utk.edu

35 WINNING THE FOOD SAFETY RACE WITH PROPER POSTHARVEST HANDLING Successful Strategies for the Produce Farm: Winning the Food Safety Race with Proper Postharvest Handling Do you have questions about... maximizing the quality of your fruits and vegetables through your postharvest practices?...adhering to food safety recommendations and National Organic Program requirements? minimizing food safety risks in the packinghouse? If so, you are not alone! Join us for a day long workshop where we will focus on postharvest management practices that can help you get the longest shelf-life for your products while making sure all the food safety boxes are ticked. In addition to learning the best postharvest management practices, participants will leave with a grower kit valued at more than $300 to help you implement what you learn on the farm! When: Tuesday, March 7, 9 am-3 pm EST Where: ETREC- Organic Crops Unit, Knoxville Registration: WHEN Tuesday, March FREE! 7 th, 9 am-3 pm But EST must register by March 1 at: WHERE East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center- Organic Crops Unit 7315 Government Farm Road, Knoxville,TN tiny.utk.edu/postharvest 9:00-9:30 Know your enemies: pathogens associated with produce 9:30-10:30 Keeping a clean (packing)house: eliminating the risk of packinghouse cross-contamination 10:30-10:45 Break 10:45-11:45 When, where, why and how: sanitizer application for postharvest water (Hands-on) 11:45-12:45 Networking lunch- included for all participants 12:45-1:30 Blue ribbon produce: postharvest practices to get the longest shelf-life from your crops 1:30-2:00 National Organic Program standards for postharvest sanitizers 2:00-3:00 Putting the right tools in the toolbox: packinghouse management tools to eliminate food safety risks (Hands-on) Faith Critzer Annette Wszelaki Wszelaki/Critzer Penelope Perkins- Veazie Annette Wszelaki Wszelaki/Critzer FREE Grower Kit worth $300! REGISTRATION Registration is free, but must be completed by March 1 st! Register at tiny.utk.edu/postharvest or call Nathan Miller at (865) Space is limited, so register now.

36 Thank you! Questions?