By Abby Leeds | Purdue University
WEST LAFAYETTE — The Purdue Student Farm and Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture invite farmers and produce growers to attend the Small Farm Education Field Day and Webinar series this summer.
“Designed with the small farmer in mind, we are excited to be hosting multiple educational events this summer, including an in-person field day. We look forward to interacting with growers and discussing how we can help you manage your farm,” said Petrus Langenhoven, co-director of the Purdue Student Farm and Purdue’s horticulture and hydroponics crop specialist.
The in-person field day will occur at the student farm in West Lafayette on July 29. Purdue experts will share demonstrations about weed identification, soil health, vegetable diseases and pests, and good agricultural practices for post-harvest operations. Specific crop demonstrations will include hemp, onion, sweet pepper, eggplant, pepper and tomato in various production systems.
The virtual webinar series will convene on the following dates from noon to 1:30 p.m. EDT:
- Aug. 2 — Food safety overviews, value-adding business food safety, fresh produce food safety and good agricultural practices for small farms.
- Aug. 4 — Landscape planning for the farm, social media marketing, linking markets to production.
- Aug. 6 — Soil samples, infield soil diagnostics and soil health, making cover crop biomass work for you.
- Aug. 9 — Control of bacterial spot of tomato using alternative products, perennial weeds management, small-scale onion production and post-harvest.
- Aug. 11 — Field production of specialty melons, high tunnel specialty melon production, vegetable production in raised beds.
- Aug. 13 — Pathogens in hemp, biological control of hemp aphids, aphid and mite management in high tunnel strawberries.
A full schedule and registration is available by clicking here. Contact Lori Jolly-Brown at [email protected] or 765-494-1296 for additional questions.