UNITY, Maine — The annual Spring Growth Conference presented by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) and held at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center in Unity is a daylong event that digs deeply into topics that impact farmers, whether a specific crop, technique or management practice. The 2018 conference, to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 3 (snow date March 4), will focus on organic seedling production.
There is no place more important to get off to a good start than growing seedlings for your farm. Weak or diseased seedlings rarely recover to produce timely and good crops. The program at Spring Growth this year will help you evaluate your production with topics from how to set up the production equipment (benches, containers, etc.), evaluate your soil mix, keep up the plant nutrition and avoid problems. Hear from farmers and service providers including Ann Mefferd, Mary Ellen Chadd, Alicyn Smart, Bruce Hoskins and Stephanie Burnett.
Greenhouse Set-Up with Stephanie Burnett, UMO Associate Professor of Horticulture
Proper greenhouse set-up will allow you to have an early start on the growing season. Learn how to evaluate heating and cooling systems to determine which would be the best fit. Stephanie will also discuss options for reducing fuel usage and heating sustainably. Finally, she will describe some of the options available for benching and floor coverings.
Evaluating soil mixes with Bruce Hoskins, UMO Analytical Lab and Maine Soil Testing Service
Seedling starts and greenhouse bench production require different rooting/growing media and different management practices than what is normal for outside crop production. OMRI-approved organic growing media can now be purchased from several commercial sources. Growing media can also be produced yourself, following any of several proven recipes. Seeding mixes are especially difficult to produce and manage, due to the small volume of soil and the high sensitivity of new seedlings to soil and environmental conditions. Soil drainage and fertility problems commonly occur with any seeding mix, but especially with commercial or homemade organic mixes. Many of these problems can be anticipated, minimized, or avoided altogether with proper on-farm or laboratory monitoring and by following a few best management practices.
Hear from Farmers featuring Ann Mefferd, Seedlings by Annie/One Drop Farm and Mary Ellen Chadd of Green Spark Farm
Come hear how these farmers manage their seedlings, from how to make instructional record keeping sheets to what they use for back up systems. Farmers will also discuss efficiency tips and extending the plant sales season as well as valuable resources they look to and lessons learned.
Diseases in Seedlings with Alicyn Smart D.P. M., Assistant Extension Professor & Plant Pathologist
This talk will be an overview of those pesky plant pathogens that like to feed on your poor seedlings and how to limit their presence. Follow these steps and you could get the best looking seedlings in your county!
Registration (includes an organic lunch): $75 individual and $100 couples. FMI and to register, please visit http://mofga.org/Events/SpringGrowthConference.
–MOFGA
For more articles out of New England, click here.