| Teaching kids about agriculture through hands-on training gets a new twist this year | BEING HELD this year on April 6-10 and April 13-17 in Bartow, one event hosts 6,000 fourth-graders for hands-on agriculture fun and learning. This year, Agri-Fest offers time-honored traditions and new insights, showing what agriculture in Polk County is all […]
What’s new at Agri-Fest? Read More »
Seventy-one-year-old Benny McLean Jr.’s family used to grow citrus organically before anybody cared about organics. Before herbicides and chemical fertilizers were introduced in the mid-1960s, they sprayed with sulphur and lime. [emember_protected custom_msg=”Click here and register now to read the rest of the article!”] So when McLean’s son, Matt, came home from college 13 years
Harvest time: Organic blueberry growers battle odds in niche market Read More »
| Season’s surprises keep Florida blueberry growers on their toes as they continue to diversify | Florida’s blueberry crop was lighter than anticipated this year, which meant higher prices overall for the state’s blueberry growers. With gross prices averaging $5 a pound, some growers had a pretty good year; but returns were mixed. “This is
Commercial harvests, u-picks operations, & making wine Read More »
July 4: Dad’s done. The ribs are bare and the corn cobs look like modern art. Though belts are bursting, there’s always room for a little holiday dessert. Now’s the time for Florida fruit … just to make us all feel healthy and take the edge off the guilt from such a rich meal.
Recipe Spotlight: Patriotic desserts made with Florida ingredients Read More »
Blueberries need a lot of water. Water leaches quickly through pine mulch beds during Florida’s hot summer days, and Florida’s winter requires overhead sprinklers to protect new buds and blooms from getting freeze damage. Drip irrigation helps reduce water usage, but freeze protection requires overhead irrigation that may apply a lot of water within a
Water, water everywhere, but is there enough? Read More »
Food safety is becoming a hot issue for all farmers, no matter what the crop. Change is coming and it’s best to prepare for it now by cleaning your groves and cropland, if necessary. [emember_protected custom_msg=”Click here and register now to read the rest of the article!”] Fresh fruit growers, in particular, will have tighter
Food safety guideline changes on the way Read More »
| Agri-Fest: Where kids see and experience Florida’s cattle industry firsthand | Seeing a cowboy, holding a bullwhip, learning about cows in Florida — at first, it might sound like the topics at-hand for local fourth-graders attending the beef station at this year’s Agri-Fest are more fit for a western fictional tale than academics, but
Fourth-grade introduction to beef cattle Read More »
Way back in the Dark Ages, about 1978, I wrote my first food page. It was about strawberries, and part of it was preserves. “Jam some in a jar,” I wrote. “What does that mean?” a copy editor asked. No matter how patiently I tried to explain it, he just couldn’t grasp the subtlety.
Recipe Spotlight: Jazz up your jam with Florida fruit Read More »
For 25 years, Polk County Agri-Fest has been educating fourth-graders at this annual event to help cultivate future leaders for the agriculture industry. But most importantly, their efforts show children agriculture commodities that they may not have even been aware of.
Editor’s Blog: An Opportunity at Agri-Fest Read More »
January 2013 has definitely started out warmer than past years. This burst of temperate weather has altered the way many of the bushes and trees around Central Florida are behaving. This month we will discuss how you may need to adjust the way you care for your plants this year.
Late-Season Cold Front Preparedness Read More »
