Tarrant County Commercial Horticulture

The Organic Garden Club of Fort Worth is delighted to announce that
Brad Stufflebeam of Home Sweet Farm will be speaking to the club on Tuesday, August
24, 2010. Brad has excellent experience and credentials in organics.  He and his
wife Jenny operate a successful Community Supported Agriculture farm in Brenham Texas west of Houston.

As former TOFGA President, he understands the needs and benefits of organic
practices.  His knowledge of food production and marketing is vast and this
is an incredible opportunity to learn from him.

The club will meet at 7:00 pm at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in the Lecture Hall.  The FWBG is located at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd., Fort Worth, 76107.  The auditorium is at the north end of the Garden Center. Everyone is welcome!

A free Nursery and Greenhouse Professional Field Day will be held Thursday, June 24, 2010 at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton.

Here’s the schedule of events:

Pre-Field Day Seminars (2 TNLA CEUs)
1:00-1:30 2010 CA Spring Trials – Brent Pemberton
1:30-2:00 2010 CA Spring Trials – Jimmy Turner
2:00-2:20 Summary of Texas Field Trial Evaluations – Brent Pemberton
2:20-2:50 Use of Traps to Manage Feral Hogs – Billy Higginbotham

Nursery and Greenhouse Professional Field Day (2 TDA CEUs, 4 TNLA CEUs)
2:50-3:00 Registration (Auditorium)
3:00-4:00 Overview of Applied Horticulture, Entomology, and Pathology Research
4:00-4:15 Travel to North Farm (3 miles north of the Center)
4:15-4:45 East Texas Bedding Plant Trials
4:45-5:00 Travel back to Overton Center
5:00-6:00 Tour of Entomology, Pathology, and Horticulture Research Projects
6:00-7:00 Dinner (Kevin Ong will provide an entertaining and educational program)

The center is one mile north of Overton on FM 3053
Directions can be found at: http://overton.tamu.edu/maps.htm
If you plan on attending please RSVP to 903-834-6191 by June 22

Grape growers in all regions of the state have expressed an interest in enhancing their knowledge in soil moisture monitoring, especially after the droughty 2008 and 2009 growing seasons.  Dr. Guy Fipps, Extension Agricultural Engineer and Director of the Texas A&M Irrigation Technology Center is launching a series of vineyard irrigation workshops in collaboration with regional Extension viticulture advisors.  The focus of these workshops will be on drip irrigation injector technology and soil moisture monitoring.  Drip injection systems are becoming an industry standard for delivering fertilizers and pesticides in Texas vineyards.  Those wishing to better their understanding of drip injector technology and science-based irrigation water management through soil moisture monitoring and ET will benefit. The Vineyard Irrigation Workshops will include presentations by Dr. Fipps and his team of irrigation specialists, followed by hands-on demonstrations of calibration and installation in the field.

Workshop Topics:
•Demonstration on calibration of the three primary types of drip injection systems (positive displacement, diaphram, venturi) in the field
•Laws and regulations of drip injection systems
•Guidelines on how to inject fertilizers and chemicals into drip systems
•Drip Irrigation system maintenance (cleaning ,clog control)
•Installation and monitoring of soil moisture with Watermark sensors
•Interpreting data from Watermark soil moisture sensors & evapotranspiration (ET) data
•Demonstration of water holding capacity in various soil textures (sand, silt, clay)

North Texas Region Workshop
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Delaney Vineyards, Grapevine, TX
http://www.delaneyvineyards.com/index.htm
Contact: Fran Pontasch fmpontasch@ag.tamu.edu

Registration & Cost:
Registration is required for the Vineyard Irrigation Workshops.  The cost of the workshop is $35.  Payment and registration can be completed on-line using the Texas AgriLife Extension Conference Services Website:  https://agrilifevents.tamu.edu/index.cfm (Keyword:  “Vineyard Irrigation Workshop”).  Be sure to check that you are registering for the location and date that you wish to attend.  Light refreshments will be provided at the workshops.  Please dress according to local weather conditions.

The National Small Business Tree Planting Program was authorized from 1991 to 1997 and was administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA provided grants to state forestry agencies to contract with local nurseries, arborists and landscapers to plant trees along neighborhood streets, courthouse squares, city parks, and school playgrounds. 

More than 18,000 small landscaping businesses with fewer than 100 employees were employed to plant over 23 million trees across the country as a result of the program. These trees have encouraged consumers to spend more time and money in retail and business locations, decreased heating and cooling costs, and improved the overall livability of communities.

Here in Texas, the Texas Forest Service granted over $5 million dollars and nearly 50,000 trees were planted on public land by contractors in 475 projects.

The economic conditions we are facing today with unemployment hovering around 10% in most parts of the country reminded a few lawmakers of those faced back in the early 90’s and they decided to resurrect the old bill, literally changing the dates from 1191-1997 to 2011-2015 and adding some money for state forestry agencies to administer the program. 

HR 4509 reauthorizes the SBA program at $50MM for each of FY2011 to FY2015 and will provide green-collar jobs and support increases in urban tree canopy that:
• Reduce energy demand,
• Clean the air of harmful pollutants including carbon and other greenhouse gasses,
• Increase aesthetic value,
• Reduce ultraviolet radiation,
• Enhance storm water treatment practices, and
• Reduce the urban heat island effect.

This is a great bill for the green industry, as it provides an opportunity to publicize the many benefits of trees and landscapes and funds jobs in both tree production and landscape installation. Let your congressional representative know how you feel about this proposal.  He or she is probably ready to talk about something other that healthcare.

On March 5th, 2010, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Collin County will conduct a Vegetable Production Program at Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney Texas.  The educational program will include the following topics and speakers:

Basics of Commercial Vegetable Production – Steve Upson, Horticulturalist, Noble Foundation

Pest Management for Vegetables – Allen Knutson, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Entomologist

Vegetable Disease Management – Greg Church, Ph.D., County Extension Agent -Horticulture

The program starts at 8:30 AM and ends with a lunch at 12:00 PM. Registration is $10. RSVP is requested. Please see the program flyer for more information at:
http://collin-co.tamu.edu/publications/Vegetable%20Production%20Program%20v2.pdf

Fran Pontasch sent this e-mail with all of the hands-on pruning workshops she’ll be conducting this season.  I went to one of these last year and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn to prune grapevines and network with other growers.  Scroll down for Fran’s contact information.

Below are the scheduled pruning workshops for 2010. There is no fee, however, RSVPs are appreciated. Participants should bring pruning shears and dress for the weather.

Jan. 28, Thursday, 12-3pm
Advanced Pruning
Topic – Pruning & training hybrid vines to a changed trellis system. Pruning to promote balance.
Tara Vineyard & Winery
When:  January 28, Thursday 12:00noon to 3pm
8603 CR 3914
Athens, Henderson County
Instructors: Fran Pontasch, Fritz Westover

Feb. 1, Monday 12- 3pm
Basic Pruning
Oak Creek Vineyard / Arche Winery
228 Wagner Road
Saint Jo, Texas
Instructors: Fran Pontasch, Howard Davies

Basic Pruning for Workers
Feb. 3, Wednesday 12-3pm
Post Oak Vineyard / Lone Oak Winery
2116 FM 731
Burleson , Texas
Instructor: Fran Pontasch

Basic Pruning
Feb 9, Tuesday 12-3pm
Los Pinos Ranch Vineyard & Winery
658 CR 1334
Pittsburg, TX 75686
Instructor: Fran Pontasch

Basic Pruning, Fannin County Master Gardeners
March 9, Tuesday, time TBA
Homestead Vineyard
Ivanhoe, TX
Instructor: Fran Pontasch

TBA – Preseason Disease & Pest Management Workshop

Cheers!

Fran

Fran Pontasch
North Texas Viticulture Advisor
 
Texas AgriLife Extension Service
TX AgriLife Research & Extension Cntr
1229 US Hwy 281 North
Stephenville, TX 76401
 
fmpontasch@ag.tamu.edu
(254) 968-4144, ext. 225
(254) 977-3641