Winter Vegetable Conference Next Week!

The premier vegetable conference for western NC is happening next week in Asheville.  The 45th Annual Meeting of the NC Tomato Growers Association and Winter Vegetable Conference and Trade Show will take place Feb 20 and 21st at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. 

This conference is the largest gathering of vegetable growers in the area and attracts growers not only from WNC, but also TN, GA, SC and VA.  The trade show includes over 55 vendors. The educational program is chosen by the growers and highlights the research done by vegetable specialists in NC and throughout the Southeast.  You can view the educational program here.

As a special treat, Dr. Paul Shoemaker will give a talk "On the History of the Tomato Production in WNC".  Dr. Shoemaker is a professor emeritus in Plant Pathology at NCSU and owner of Holly Springs Farm in Henderson County.  

In addition, we will be live-streaming the  FDA Listening Session on the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) in Raleigh.

Finally, following the luncheon on Thursday, TriEst will be offering a training on the new fumigation regulations and on-line training site.  To learn more about these changes or to take the on-line training, visit the EPA's Soil Fumigation Toobox.

Don't miss out on this great event!

Pre-registration is no longer available, but you can register at the door.  All are welcome.

Winter Vegetable Meeting 2012

The 44th Annual NC Tomato Growers Meeting and Winter Vegetable Conference and Trade Show is taking place on February 22-23 at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville.

This is the premier vegetable conference and trade show for western NC.

Topics include:

• Emerging insect pests for vegetables (brown marmorated stink bug and kudzu bug)
• Emerging diseases of tomato
• Marketing opportunities, featuring a panel of local experts including representatives from Ingles, Custom Pak and Bejo Seeds
• Weed management
• Grafting for disease management
• Irrigation management
• Physiological disorders of vegetables (identification and control)
• Vegetable for human health
• Labor update
• East Coast broccoli project update
• Colored and green bell peppers
• Twospotted spider mite management
• Tomato breeding update

Pesticide credits will be available.

Also, new this year we will be conducting a survey of vegetable growers in order to find out what it important to you! This will be an interactive survey with anonymous audience participation (sound intriguing, huh?).

View the complete schedule.

Visit www.nctomatoes.com for more information or to register.

Fresh Market Vegetable and Tomato Field Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Thursday August 4 is the Annual Fresh Market Vegetable and Tomato Field Day at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River.

The annual tomato field day at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Mills River! This is your opportunity to see new up and coming varieties and learn the latest about disease, insect, and weed control for staked tomato production and vegetables in western North Carolina. As always, the afternoon field day will be followed by a pig pickin' at Lake Julian.

The field day begins at noon and pesticide credits will be offered.

To view the complete program click here.

Tomato field day is sponsored by North Carolina State University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, NC Agricultural Research Service and NC Cooperative Extension Service, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the North Carolina Tomato Growers Association. For more information, contact Denny Thompson at 828.684.7197 or Jim Walgenbach at 828.684.3562.

Winter Vegetable Conference February 16 & 17

The 43rd Annual NC Tomato Growers Association Meeting and Winter Vegetable Conference and Trade Show is Feb 16 and 17. Come join local growers, specialists, industry professionals and over 65 exhibitors at western NC's premier vegetable conference.

The meeting takes place at the Crowne Plaza Resort in Asheville. Registration begins at 9:30 am on Wednesday and the educational program starts at 1 pm. Registration is $25 at the door. Conference program.

Special Fumigant Session:
Immediately following the conference on Thursday there will be a special session on Working with the New Fumigant Regulations. The schedule for this special session can be found on the conference program. Pre-registration for this session is required and separate from the main conference.
PRE-REGISTER by contacting Robin Tutor at 919-880-4425, tutorr@ecu.edu or Barb Gallagher at 910-567-7159, bgallagher@commwellhealth.org.