As we shift into winter, I’d like to highlight some changes among the UVM Fruit program, and to present a number of opportunities for learning and networking this season. First, our website which has been operating since 2013 was retired on fairly short notice when the background sofytware was retired by . Thanks to the Extension Web Team, we now have a new site shared with the Vegetable Program, now together known as UVM Commercial Horticulture. The site is not completely migrated yet, but is largely in-place at: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/horticulture/commercial. Please update your bookmarks, but save the “…this link is broken…” emails for a bit until we can get things squared away. The complementary UVM Fruit Blog is still available, but will likely be tweaked a bit this winter to make specific material easier to find. Consider the website as the main site for static information, and the blog as a place where I post more time-sensitive material, particularly an archive of all emails sent to our mailing lists.

One of the key outputs of our program is the annual Vermont Tree Fruit Grower Association meeting held every February. Obviously, that is not going to happen this year. On the other hand, we do have a number of online meetings and webinars that will provide opportunity for learning, collaboration, and to acquire pesticide applicator’s recertification credits. These will happen under different banners, so I’ll summarize them below. All of these require preregistration, and each platform has a different sign up.

2020 Vermont Vegetable and Berry Grower Webinar Series registration (all use same link, on right side of page)

• 12/2/2020: Bags, Liners, Containers – So Many Options – Chris Callahan
• 12/9/2020: Adding Tree Fruit to a Diversified Farm – Terry Bradshaw
• 12/16/2020: VVBGA Meet and Greet. Lisa McDougall, Justin Rich, Andy Jones

2020 UVM Fruit Program / VT Tree Fruit Growers Assoc Annual Meeting.

• 2/18/2021: Meeting hosted by UVM Fruit Program on Zoom; VTFGA will handle registration (watch for details)

2020-2021 New England Winter Fruit Meetings registration page (not all meetings set up for registration yet)

A collaboration among the New England Tree Fruit Extension Professionals. Most of these meetings will qualify for pesticide recertification credits.

• 1/12/2021: Harvista and SmartFresh on Honeycrisp and Other Varieties; CA Storage Techniques Presenter: Jennifer DeEll, OMAFRA and Randolph Beaudry, MSU
• 1/19/2021 : Training and Pruning Strategies for Healthy and Productive Peach Trees Presenter: Bill Shane, MSU
• 1/26/2021: Blueberry Twig Blight Diseases Presenter: Mark Longstroth, MSU
• 2/9/2021: Cider Apples in 2021: Where Do We Stand? Presenters: Terry Bradshaw and Liz Garofalo
• 2/16/2021: Invasive Insect Pests: Spotted Wing Drosophila, Brown Marmorated Stink Bug and Spotted Lantern Fly Presenter: Jaime Piñero, UMass
• 3/3/2021: Managing a Trickster: Adventures in Apple Maggot Control Presenter: Suzanne Blatt, Ag Canada
• 3/10/2021: Research Update on Early-Season Insect Pests Presenter: Jaime Piñero, UMass and Glen Koeher, UMaine Extension
• 3/17/2021: Honeycrisp Bitter Pit and Soft Scald Management Presenters: Renae Moran and Glen Koehler, UMaine Extension
• 3/23/2021: Tree Row Volume: What it is, why it matters and when to use it Presenter: Terry Bradshaw, UVM
• 3/30/2021: Network for Environment and Weather Applications (NEWA) 2.0 – Project Upgrades 2021 Presenter: Dan Olmstead, NEWA

There are more details to come on all of these, and each will be outlined in later posts. I look forward to a productive winter, and wish everyone the best during this holiday season.

Take care,

Terry