This series of courses includes: Basics of Orchard Production I & II, Fruit Tree Grafting, Hands on Fruit Tree Pruning, Harvesting the Fruits of You Labor and Apple Tasting.
This series of courses served to educate local growers on more effective and ecological techniques to improve profit and functionality of their orchard production. One of the local growers attending now have their own peach orchard set up and are selling on their own and at Farmer’s Market. The pruning and spraying techniques taught at these classes could potentially help growers to produce up to 2 bushels of more fruit per tree. As an example, Apples generally sell at about $20 per bushel, so that would be an extra $40 per tree per attendee. In addition, the grafting techniques learned saves growers money by allowing them to produce their own high quality fruit trees. In just this one class trees were grafted saving the attendees roughly $12 per tree and also increasing the amount of fruit produced in following years.
Farmer’s Market
Farmer’s Market Grand opening this season was on May 6th 2006. This market serves as an additional source of income for local growers and home owners. The Extension also provides Recipe cards and information on growing traditional and exotic produce to encourage growers to purchase and/or plant different produce. This endeavor is still in the growth stage. We are working on public awareness of the market and trying to get more vendors. This year there were four new vendors, which gave us an average of eight vendors. There is a steady stream of customers and the vendors usually sell out within two hours of opening.
Horticulture Club and Landscape Committee
This group of volunteers meets twice monthly. The first meeting is the Club meeting and is held every third Monday of the month. This Club meets to determine what we can do to improve knowledge in horticulture and provide a service to the community to meet specific needs. This is where the topics for the horticulture education classes are determined. The second meeting every month is a Landscape Maintenance Day. It is held on the Wednesday following the Horticulture Club Meeting. At this meeting volunteers help to beautify and maintain the grounds surrounding the Extension Office. This allows people a social opportunity in which they can learn from one another with hands on experiences and make an impact on the community at large. This also creates an opportunity for high school students, homemakers and others to obtain volunteer hours for their organization.
Horticulture Educational Classes
This series includes Poisonous Plants in the Home Landscape, Spring, Summer and Fall Gardening tips and Reminders, Forcing Plants and Bulbs, and Organic Gardening for the Homeowner.
This series of classes derived out of the councils request for more horticulture programs due to the increase in subdivisions in the county. These programs meet a wide variety of interests for home horticulture. They serve to help homeowners’ better plan and maintain their landscapes in such a way that makes them more functional, economical and safe. By better educating homeowners in horticulture we save them money and time. By speaking with repeat clients I have determined that the knowledge they have gained is causing them to change their practices and become more efficient and effective gardeners. It has also led many of them to consult with local lawn care services in order to improve the quality of their lawns and flower beds. We have also consulted with several lawn care and greenhouse businesses and a local golf course, assisting them in their business decisions and helping them to create a more profitable and safe workplace.