As a follow up to last week’s post, I wanted to add the finalized agenda to the two events that are scheduled for the end of September, first two days of October.  Please feel free to contact Monte, Larry or me if you have any questions about our the fruit conference or Russ Wallace if … […]

Make Plans to Attend the Second Annual Texas Fruit Conference! And Texas High Tunnel Conference! Two great educational events for fresh fruit producers and enthusiasts in Texas! Dates are set as follows— Texas Fruit Conference; Monday September 30th & Tuesday, October 1st:  As we did with our first meeting in 2012, we are developing a … […]

I have been remiss in not posting more often, but its been a whirlwind trip here with much to see and do.  The fruit growers here are amazing and what is perhaps most remarkable is the number and kinds of crops growing side by side.    Here is what I have been seeing on a daily … […]

Its Friday, the first day of the weekend here and its been a hectic week.  Did some touring this morning and early afternoon, but finally have a chance to get a few more posts in on what I have been seeing.  Day two in the field was a good one as well.  Started out in … […]

Had my first day in the field today, about 90km north of Cairo toward Alexandria. And this is who I am as they introduce me: What used to be called the desert road which was until 30 years ago, just that, sand.  At that time, land sold for 50 Egyptian pounds/fadan,  the equivalent of 75 … […]

Had an opportunity to volunteer for a US AID project in Egypt, so I took it.  Will be working with peach, plum and apricot growers in the Nile delta.  Departed Friday, through JFK, to Milan to Cairo.  Got here yesterday, good nights sleep and its Sunday now, first day of the work week here and … […]

Scott Korcz writes in and adds some photos about a problem with his ‘Harvester’ peach tree this spring.  Here are the photos he supplied You can see that Scott has a good mulch layer down to conserve moisture and eliminate weed competition, but this tree has a couple of problems going on.  First, this tree … […]

First,  my apologies for not being more regular in my posting.  As I am  sure you all know, this is the time of year us fruit people are in the field most of the time.  We have also been trying to keep funding for our grape projects, so needless to say its been hectic. In … […]

Well, the cool spells that are coming in have helped hold trees and vines back a little, but every crop we work with is showing signs of life.  Grapevines have wooly buds, blackberries are forcing, peaches are pushing, one more extended warm spell will mean bloom and budburst in everything.  Even pears, normally one of … […]

Lots of nervous peach growers.  In Fredericksburg we are sitting right at 660 hours of winter chilling, 100-150 hours short of what we really need to break dormancy on many of the standard varieties.  Some growers are opting to apply Dormex, a growth regulator that helps overcome insufficient chilling.  The risk is that once it … […]