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I N S I D E

T H I S

I S S U E :

CEDIK 2

Health

Bites

4

SAWG

Conference

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Fruit &

Vegetable

Conference

8

That’s An

Idea

11

Calendar of

Events

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Gifted Gardener D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5

YEAR IN REVIEW AND A

LOOK AHEAD

vining crops suffered because of

the high moisture and lack of

sunlight. I believe I have decided

to postpone garden planting until

at least the first of June for most

crops in order to avoid some of

the wet weather issues and

warmer soil

temperatures. I feel

that the plants will

be much more

successful and

productive if you

take some of the

hurdles out of the

way.

On a

personal note I had

a great year as well. I

was lucky enough to

receive the

Kentucky

Association of

County Agriculture Agents

Distinguished Service award as

well as the National Association

of County Agriculture Agents

Distinguished Service Award. I

was delighted to be able to take

my family to South Dakota to

receive the National Award at our

national meeting. I was honored

to be recognized and delighted to

share the experience with my

(Continued on page 10)

What a year it has

been. Winter was at the very

least a bear with heavy snows

and record cold temps. Our

longing for spring was at an all

time high around the middle of

February. I had –26o F at my

house which

was by far the

coldest since

1994. Many

plants were

tested this

winter and I

spent a great

deal of time

helping folks

decide what to

do with winter

damaged plants.

We discovered

that Leyland

Cypress does not need to be a

staple landscape plant for our

area. Boxwoods and several

holly varieties saw damage or

dieback. I believe we also

learned that patience with

damaged plants can pay

dividends because many plants

recovered while some did not.

After the hard winter

came some extended rainy

times that left tomato growers

scratching their heads. Most

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The charts you see on

these pages were

borrowed from a much

larger publication that was

created by the CEDIK

(community economic

development in Kentucky)

working group. The full

publication is called

Kentucky County

Agriculture and Food

Profiles: Nelson County—

Agriculture overview.

CEDIK does a wonderful

job of providing economic

development insight for

many different needs and

operations.

CEDIK does a

wonderful job of

providing

economic

development

insight for many

different needs

and operations.

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According to USDA 2012 data, 2,930 people

directly received income from farm operations in

Nelson County, which is approximately 14.7% of

total county employment.

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In 2012, Nelson County had 1,326 farm operations on

187,755 acres, which represented 70.3% of total county

land. In comparison, Kentucky’s farm operations made

up 51.6% of the state’s total land area, and U.S. farm

operations made up 40.5% of total land area in the

county.

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HE

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Daily good food

choices can pay

a lifetime in

dividends

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The pictographs on these

two pages come from a

twitter account I follow

called Daily Health Tips :

Ask a Doctor. I find these

pictures easy to under-

stand and help me make

better decisions in my

food choices. Every food

choice has a healthier

alternative.

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The popular

pre-conference

events begin

on Wednesday

and include a

great line-up

of one-and-a-

half day

intensive short

courses

This is a wonderful sounding conference being held in Lexington this winter. For 25 years, the Southern SAWG annual conference has been providing the practical tools and solutions you need at our annual conference. It is the must-attend event for those serious about sustainable and organic farming and creating more vibrant community food systems! This popular event draws over 1,000 farmers and local food advocates from across the nation. We offer outstanding “field-tested” presenters, a full slate of hot-topic conference sessions and pre-conference courses, several field trips, a poster display and a trade show.

The popular pre-conference events begin on Wednesday and include a great line-up of one-and-a-half day intensive short courses The four short courses we are offering this year are:

Start-Up Organic

Vegetable Production and Marketing

Advanced Organic Vegetable Production and Marketing

Growing Farm Profits by Managing for Profits

Developing a Food Hub: For Beginning and Emerging Food Hubs

and on Thursday, several exciting half-day field trips and mini courses. This year we are offering mini courses on these two hot topics:

Pastured Poultry Profits Mini Course

Extending Your Sales from Thanksgiving to St. Patrick’s Day Mini Course

Each of these pre-conference activities requires separate registration.

The celebrating will begin Thursday evening with our first “Voices From the Field” activities of the weekend. This special event will commemorate and reflect on the successes over the past 25 years in the sustainable agriculture and local food movements. Plan to arrive in time for this Thursday evening

gathering. To learn more

SAWG CONFERENCE TO BE HELD

IN LEXINGTON

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about this event, click here or visit

http://www.ssawg.org/special-events

The general conference is held on Friday and Saturday. The general conference, with a wide variety of program offerings and over 100 expert presenters, gives you the opportunity to learn vast amounts in a short two days! We have sessions for those with years of experience and for those who are new to the field. The session topics include organic and sustainable vegetable in fields and in high tunnels, grazing and sustainable livestock management, specialty crop production,

unique marketing strategies, food hubs, scaling up, increasing profits, business and finance management, beginning farming, farm to school, community food systems work, federal farm programs, agriculture policy developments and more.

The general conference line-up includes over 50 educational sessions, plus a state networking session for each of the 13 states in our region, and another 13 information exchange sessions where you get to exchange ideas and information with those who share your interests.

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The 2016 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Conference will have something of interest for all fruit and vegetable producers. The event runs from 8 a.m. EST Jan. 4 until 5 p.m. Jan. 5 at Lexington’s Embassy Suites Hotel.

Preconference activities on Jan. 3 will include tree fruit, small fruit, and vege-

table roundtable discus-sions.

“We are looking forward to this conference and offer-ing many excellent sessions with over 70 speakers,” said John Strang, University of Kentucky College of Ag-riculture, Food and Envi-ronment horticulture spe-cialist. “Success with fruit and vegetables greatly depends on a producer's management skills, espe-cially being able to do things on time. This confer-ence is for beginners and

Participants will

also get to enjoy

Kentucky Proud

products at the

Exhibitor/Grower

and conference

luncheons as well

as to visit with

exhibitors at the

trade show.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE

CONFERENCE SET FOR JAN. 4-5

advanced growers alike. We have something to share with everyone, no matter their experience level.”

Participants may choose from several concurrent sessions with topics includ-ing farmers markets, com-mercial fruit and vegetable production, greenhouse and high tunnel production,

small fruit production, or-ganic production, direct marketing, the Grape and Wine Short Course, direct and wholesale marketing, food safety and processing, and the Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Participants will also get to enjoy Kentucky Proud prod-ucts at the Exhibitor/Grower and conference luncheons as well as to visit with exhib-itors at the trade show.

The conference is a joint meeting of the Kentucky

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State Horticulture Society, the Kentucky Vegetable Growers As-sociation, the Organic Association of Kentucky, and the Kentucky Wine Association.

An optional Celebration of Ken-tucky Wines at 6 p.m. Jan. 4, will feature Kentucky 2015 Commis-sioner’s Cup Award winning wines. The $20 cost for the event includes a souvenir glass and re-freshments.

Participants will have an oppor-tunity to use a Trading Post bulle-tin board to sell used equipment.

Conference registration is $40 per person and includes a one-year membership in the Kentucky Veg-etable Growers Association, Ken-tucky State Horticulture Society or the Organic Association of Ken-tucky and entry to the Grape and Wine Short Course. Strang recom-mended preregistering by Dec. 18 to ensure nametags and confer-ence materials for participants. Registration is also available at the door.

The UK Cooperative Extension Service, Kentucky State University and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture jointly sponsor the conference.

For more information about the conference, or to request registra-tion materials, contact Mary Ann Kelley at 270-365-7541, ext. 216. The conference program and reg-istration sheet are available online at http://www.uky.edu/hort/2016KyFruitVegConf.

Fruit Fertilizer Guidelines (1/2 lb granular fertilizer is equal to approximately 1 cup)

Fruit Rate (Distributed in dripline area)

Time

Tart Cherry 1/6 lb 33-0-0 or ½ lb 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age

Feb.

Pear 1/8 lb 33-0-0 or 3/8 lb 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age

Feb.

Apple ¼ lb 33-0-0 or ¾ lb 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age

Feb.

Peach, Plum

1/6 lb 33-0-0 or ½ lb 10-10-10 per tree per yr of age

Feb.

Strawberry 5 lb 10-10-10 per 100 ft of row 2

After fruiting (June-July)

Blackberry, Raspberry

3.5-10 lb 33-0-0 or 10.5-30 lb 10-10-10 per 100 ft of row

Feb.

Grape 0.2 lb 33-0-0 or 0.7 lb 10-10-10 per vine 0.2 lb 33-0-0 or 0.7 lb 10-10-10 per vine

April 1 Fruit set

Blueberry

(new)

1 lb ammonium sul-fate per 100 ft of row ¾ lb 10-10-10 per 100 ft of row

6 weeks after planting 6 weeks later

Blueberry-

(established)

5 lb 10-10-10 per 100 ft of row 2½ lb ammonium sul-fate / 100 ft of row 2 lb ammonium sulfate per 100 ft of row

February Bloom 6 weeks later

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This community

of growers could

include you and

would simply be

adding some

extra rows to

what you are

already doing in

your garden. .

family.

I also want to

thank all the folks who

volunteer and help make

our Horticulture program

possible and productive.

Whether you are an active

Master Gardener, Bee Club

steering committee

member, or on the farmers

market board of directors;

you are the people. You

make things that you care

greatly about move forward

and thrive.

A new initiative

that we will begin

discussions about this

winter has to do with

increasing nutritional

offerings to groups of

people who are at risk of

being trapped in a

nutritional deficit. This fall

we have begun piloting a

program where we supply

fresh produce to one of our

local food pantries from the

extra production of one of

our local growers. Our

goal is to increase the

weekly offerings of

nutritionally superior

produce by tapping into a

community of growers.

This community of growers

could include you and

would simply be adding

some extra rows to what

you are already doing in

your garden. On February

5th @ 12:00 noon I would

like to invite you to join us

(Continued from page 1) to discuss how we can

accomplish the goal of

increasing the nutrition for

our neighbors in need. I

will fix lunch on this day

and we can eat together

and plan together. Call,

text, email or stop by the

office to let me know you

may be interested in

helping with this worthy

endeavor.

During this

meeting we will discuss:

What to grow

How much to grow

When to have it ready

Harvesting logistics

What demands for our

product exists

Where the produce be

distributed

Plus, I am sure, many other

items will be discussed.

This is something

that is needed and can

greatly benefit your

neighbor in ways we can’t

understand. Therefore,

please consider getting

involved in one way or

another. If you are not a

grower maybe you can help

harvest, or offer land to

grow on, or even help with

distribution. I am certain

we can find you a niche in

this new endeavor. Also, if

you know of a good

gardener that this

newsletter does not reach

please ask them to join us

for the meeting on

February 5th to see if they

may be interested in

helping.

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With

this weather

it is still not

too late to

plant some

spring flow-

ering bulbs

You can

transplant

trees now

before the

ground freez-

es for winter

Keep track of

the different

types of birds

that visit

your feeders

with your

camera

If you didn't

get your

grass seed

sown this fall the next best

time will be

from Mid

February to

Mid March

If you are

wanting to

add an or-

chard to your

landscape,

trees need to

be ordered

now

Laying out

what goes in

the garden

and where

now will save

you lots of

time and

money this

spring

Winter is a

wonderful

time of year

to prune

trees; no

leaves makes

it easier to see the struc-

ture

Equipment

maintenance

should be

done before

putting away

this winter

Remove

mummified

fruit, and

other dis-

eased plant

material

from the

garden

Apply ma-

nures and

compost to

gardens and

landscapes

now in order

for the nutri-

ents to be

available for

plant uptake

this spring

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Phone: 502-348-9204

Fax: 502-348-9270

email: robsmith@uky.edu

Website: http://nelson.ca.uky.edu/

@hortagentrob

NelsonCounty Extension

Robbie Smith

County Extension Agent for Horticulture

Calendar of Events

January 4-5—Kentucky

Fruit and Vegetable Educa-

tional Conference and

Tradeshow.

January 27-30— SAWG–

Sustainable Agriculture and

Local Foods Annual confer-

ence.

February 5th— Neighborly

Nutrition: Developing a Giv-

ing Garden to help increase

nutritional options for our

neighbors in need. This is a

planning meeting; please

joins us at the Extension

office at 12:00 noon for a

luncheon discussion.

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