Nelson County Soil Conservation District Annual Field Trip

Let me just tell you about my day. AsI said in the title the Nelson County Soil Conservaiton District sponsored a field trip today to visit some of the regions agriculture entrepeneurs. In Nelson County we visited Robert Mayer's aquaculture farm dedicated to the raising of large mouth bass. The unique thing about this operation is the marketing aspect. The fish are shipped live to Toronto Canada to be consumed by an ethnic market. Robert and his family have realy done their homework and created a very nice business niche for themselves. For more information on aquaculture visit the Kentucky State University Aquaculture website.

Second stop on the tour took place at the Roundstone Native Seed LLC. facilities in Upton,KY. Another entrepeneur that has created quite the business with one goal in mind; To be The Best in the Business. An from all indications they seem to know what they are doing. Their main business is seed production of our native grasses such as Big Blue Stem, Little Blue Stem, Eastern Gamma Grass, etc. They also produce over thirty different varieties of wild flowers and other wildlife friendly plants. For more information on this company check out their website by clicking on Roundstone Native Seed LLC.

Pumpkin Picking Time of Year

This has to be my favorite time of year. The night temperatures begin to fall and the mornings are crisp and fresh. The past two days have been pumpkin picking time at the Smith household and this family farming activity is a wonderfully anticipated time for everyone involved two years old and up. Pumpkins should be in full orange color when harvested with a fresh green stem. However, if necessary(insect damage, fruit rot occurring, heavy disease pressure, etc.)you can harvest pumkins when they are slightly green and theywill go ahead and orange-up. Click on Picking Pumpkins for some interesting pumkin picking facts.

Commercial Vineyard Establishment

What a beautiful almost fall day in central Kentucky. Today I participated in an all day workshop dedicated to the establishment of commercial vineyards and beginning winemaking. The event was hosted by the Kentucky Vineyards Association and the Kentucky Cooperative extension Service. Dr. Tom Cottrell and Dr. Kaan Kutural made their speaking debuts to central Kentucky. They are our new enology specialist and viticulturist respectively. They covered such topics as site selection, site preperation, weed management, and nutritional analysis. It was a very informative day and you can check out some of the information covered under the links for Grape Growing.

Perfect time to rennovate your Lawn

I have been getting a lot of calls this week in regards to lawn care. The interest has been created because of the un-normal summer we have just encountered. We have taken quite a hit to our lawns this season for a number of reasons. The top two reasons are the drought and a fungal disease known as brown rot. Brown rot is a result of hot, humid, and dry weather with just intermittent showers. The disease looks like it sounds were the grass just kind of melts out leaving a straw brown appearance in an irregular pattern. As a general rule when 30% of the lawn is affected it is time to consider rennovating. Check the turf care links to see the best methods to rennovate.