Fruit
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The Packer has run a number of stories in the last few weeks on the impacts of the western heat wave on agriculture in California. As you can imagine, the drought and heat have had some negative impacts on citrus and avocados. But garlic production is one of the biggest in decades due to weather…
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When you have blueberries to protect, any method may be considered. Here is one I have not thought of–UGA’s blueberry specialist Scott NeSmith is using a dancing tube man more commonly seen at car dealerships to grab attention to scare away birds from his precious variety trials. Early in the season the bushes only have…
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Vegetable and Specialty Crop News posted a story this week on how all of the rain we have had in the Southeast is impacting the development of several diseases on watermelons and other plants. In spite of the moist conditions, most farmers have been warding off the worst diseases by active and repeated spraying of…
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The Fruit Growers Newsletter posted a story this week describing blueberry yields across the United States this year. Unfortunately, Georgia took another hit this year from frosts following the warm February we had that encouraged the bushes to bloom early. Unlike last year, when one big frost event wiped out most of the blueberries, this…
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I love reading about foods that I love, and citrus fruit are certainly on that list. This article from Quartz provided a history of the grapefruit, a true North American fruit, although its ancestors came from China. You might enjoy reading it too. You can find it at https://quartzy.qz.com/1314705/grapefruit-and-stuff/.
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Fruit Growers News published an article by UGA’s Clint Thompson this week about the peach crop in Georgia this year. While there have been some issues to the peaches due to a frost in March and some bacterial blight, overall the cold winter conditions provided plenty of chill hours and yields are up quite a…
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Tomatoes might not be the first crop you think of when you consider Iceland, way up north near the Arctic Circle in the Atlantic Ocean. But one family has made a good living growing these delicious food items by harnessing the power of geothermal energy to heat their greenhouses, producing nearly a ton of fruit…