Annual Badgersett Field Day

Badgersett Farm, Canton, MN
Saturday, August 19, 2006

We run tours all day, starting at 10 AM up to 5 PM. This is likely to be a lightly attended field day, I have not done much publicity, partly because we have very few plants available to sell again this year. There WILL be a few hazel tubelings available; lots of chestnuts, in spite of some other announcements saying there won't be any.

Since it will likely be a small crowd, we should be able to run a couple of specialized tours to see things that have not been on the "regular" tour that is mainly aimed at neophytes. I'm hoping to run a couple groups aimed more at the experienced growers.

A few things to see this year:

• We have substantial demos in place regarding fertilizer, both in years 1-3 and later establishment phases. They're really clear—if you're not fertilizing, you're losing years and plants. When people see the demos they always react with something like, "oh, my gosh".
• It's pretty certain that the huge nut theft problem last year was due to CROWS. It's already happening again this year. We have mulitple responses for it, but it's something ALL growers are going to have to face, and it has NOT been on our radar before. We'll demonstrate some tactics, and talk.
• Also, we have a major row where the pH has been allowed to drop to 5.0 and lower. The results there are clear, also. Multiple bad stuff happens—essentially, the nut crop is dismal and plant health is decreasing. This also is a major concern: use of "lime" to moderate acidity caused by fertilization is NOT WORKING, precisely because we can not/do not incorporate the lime. Everyone will have to deal this this, too. There are ways.

We'll have some soft drinks available this year but won't have the usual Amish buggies. They were all are busy this year; back next year.

I'd strongly suggest serious people come and see—we learn every year. Basic hazel crop looks good, some very heavy (actually lying on the ground).