I am a Northern Michigan native that grew up on a specialty crops farm where I spent many days outdoors playing in the field and helping my family plant and harvest crops. I pursued a bachelor’s in Entomology at Michigan State University and received my degree in 2015. While I was at MSU, I spent[Read More…]
Other Specialty Crops
We are familiar with strawberries grown as a perennial crop in Indiana. Bare root strawberry plants are set in the spring. Fruit is first harvested in the second year and the planting is renovated annually. Using this system, strawberry seasons last for three to four weeks from middle May through June. The traditional system has been[Read More…]
Burrs and Cones. Both of the trellises in the Boiler Hopyard have begun flowering and coning. The primary shoots were pruned at the top of the net on the dwarf trellis in order to promote lateral growth. The pruning took place on May 19 and again on May 28. The bines on the dwarf trellis[Read More…]
The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is officially launching the Indiana Grown Initiative on July 7, 2015. This free marketing program will enable all Indiana agricultural and food products to be labeled and marketed with an Indiana brand. It is a very comprehensive program that will include many market channels and farm products. This program[Read More…]
Purdue University’s Boiler Hop Yard has started its second growing season with the hopes of providing Indiana growers with science-based recommendations for hop production in the Midwest. With summer rapidly approaching, hop bines are now climbing over 10 feet high in portions of Indiana, and the Boiler Hop Yard is no exception. Downy Mildew. One[Read More…]