Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
George Boyhan, Extension Horticulturist-Vegetables
East Georgia Extension Center
Rosenwald Building, Third Floor
PO Box 8112
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-681-5639 | 912-681-0376, Fax | 912-682-3481, mobile
Georgia Organics is planning on holding its Boggs Organic Garden Workshop II on Saturday April 28, 2001, at the Boggs Rural Life Center near Waynesboro, Georgia. I had the opportunity to attend the Georgia Organics Conference in February and attended the pre-conference tour at the Boggs Rural Life Center. Jerry Larson has done a great job developing an organic garden with both vegetables and fruits. There will be two sessions -- one in the morning at 10 a.m. and another at 2 p.m. The cost for Georgia Organics members is $8.00 and $12.00 for non-members. An organic lunch is planned for 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. and the estimated cost is $9 for adults and $6 for children. Advanced registration is required for the sessions and lunch. To register, visit the Georgia Organics website at www.georgiaorganics.org/ or contact Darlene Morris at emorris887@hotmail.com or 706/793-6900. The rain date is Saturday, May 5, 2001.
Among the items that will be covered include organic strawberries, using multi-purpose vegetable cages, trellising brambles and grapes, managing fruit trees, and dripline management. If you have organic growers or people interested in your county, this is a great opportunity to cover both organic vegetable and fruit production. The University of Georgia is hosting a three-day workshop on large scale composting.
The University of Georgia Compost Facility Operators Training Workshop is planned for May 1-3, 2001, at the Bioconversion Research and Demonstration Facility, 1155 E. Whitehall Road, Athens, GA. Registration for the workshop is $95. Lodging is available at the Georgia Center, Holiday Inn, or Holiday Inn Express. For more information about this workshop, call (706) 542-3086. Space is limited so call early if you plan to attend.
It was announced at the most recent meeting of the Vidalia Onion Committee on April 19, 2001, that they would not be offering any funds for research for the upcoming season. Researchers who have solicited a grant in the past will receive a letter from Tina Wheeler, the executive director of the Vidalia Onion Committee, indicating this.
Other items discussed at the meeting included expanding the Federal Market Order to allow the Committee to limit onion volume. Although there was no decision on this issue, the overall feeling was that it should be tabled for the time being. There was some concern expressed about the upcoming hearing by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The meeting planned for May 4, 2001, will determine if a limited number of varieties will be adopted for the upcoming season. Don Morocco of Sunseed indicated that four of the varieties on the list are no longer available. Although there was concern about this, it was noted that the Vidalia Onion Committee has no authority to act in this area.
From My Desk
The Georgia Department of Agriculture is planning on holding a hearing on May 4, 2001, to determine if rules should be passed restricting Vidalia onion varieties and determining under what conditions new varieties can be adopted. This issue has been rather contentious among the growers and hopefully this meeting will help settle the issue.
Currently we are in the middle of onion harvest for the experiments at the Vidalia Onion and Vegetable Research Center. Haines Equipment has supplied a grading table, which we used for the first time today. It worked pretty well and should help us collect more complete data.
Talk to you next month.