In Ann's words...
FRONT RANGE FRUIT GROWING SYMPOSIUM
Last weekend, I went to The Front Range Fruit Growing
Symposium. It was held at Silver Creek High School, and organized by Dr. Joel
Reich of Colorado State Extension – Boulder County, and sponsored by: Nourse
Farms and Cummins Nursery, (plant suppliers), Mad Greens (donated an excellent
lunch), and Sprouts (refreshments and snacks). There were 1 ½ days of
presentations and a ½ day apple grafting class.
It was aimed at all levels of fruit growing enthusiasts, from someone
with one tree in their yard to commercial growers.
Speakers included: Walt
Rosenberg of Masonville Orchards, with multiple sites on the Front Range, Tim
Ferrel of Berry Patch Farms in Brighton, Pete Tallman, a local berry breeder ,
specializing in Black Raspberries, Scott Skogerboe, Head Propagator of Ft.
Collins Wholesale Nursery, Irene Shonle of CSU Extension -Gilpin County, Harrison
Hughes from the CSU Dept. of Horticulture, Joel Reich from CSU
Extension-Boulder County, Whitney Cranshaw of CSU Dept. of Bioagricultural
Sciences, Andy Hough, Director of Agricultural Resources-Douglas County.
Wow! What a fabulous program it was! If you’d like to have a
look, most of the handouts and slides are online at: BoulderCounty Extension - Horticulture Classes & Events
Walt Rosenberg of Masonville Orchards, and Tim Ferrel of
Berry Patch Farms spoke about the challenges of growing fruit in our climate,
and the hazards of running an orchard business.
Pete Tallman spoke of his 20 year adventure of finding,
developing, and patenting, a first year fruiting,
primocane, black raspberry
called ‘Explorer.’
Scott Skogerboe, Head
Propagator of Ft. Collins Wholesale Nursery has an amazing hobby, researching,
and propagating ancient apple varieties. He has resurrected Johnnie Appleseed’s
last living apple tree, and the tree that “inspired” Isaac Newton’s ideas about
gravity, among others. These pieces of history live on, though not too available
commercially. His talk was titled “Eat a Piece of
History:
Growing Historic Fruit Trees in Colorado.”
Irene Shonle, of CSU Extension -Gilpin County, spoke about
native plants and the quality of their fruit. Serviceberry, Golden Currant,
Buffaloberry, etc. wild strawberry…. and what not to eat!
Harrison Hughes from the CSU Dept. of Horticulture and Joel
Reich from CSU Extension-Boulder County, added sources of more information and
opportunities to have hands-on volunteer adventures in orchards and vineyards.
Dr. Reich also showed us examples of pruning techniques to promote fruit
production on apples and peaches.
Andy Hough, Director of Agricultural Resources-Douglas
County spoke about ongoing research occurring near Franktown on field and high
tunnel production of fruits and berries.
Whitney Cranshaw of CSU Dept. of Bioagricultural Sciences came
with lots of bug slides, and great enthusiasm for the infestations that he
promotes in his own yard….so he can get those slides! Dr. Cranshaw’s slides and
handout are at:
We did have one speaker who couldn’t make it due to the
weather, it snowed, remember, yahoo! This was our new Fruit Specialist from
CSU, Amaya Atucha. Her handout is on the Boulder County Extension page above.
Now, our county Extension Agents have a wealth of
information for you, too. Besides these handouts, there are webinars, and lots
more!
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Thanks for taking a peek...like we said earlier, don't hesitate to contact us for further questions!
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Thanks for taking a peek...like we said earlier, don't hesitate to contact us for further questions!
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