Marissa Schuh, Horticulture Integrated Pest Management extension educator Thinking about scaling up your vegetable production? Curious about irrigation setups, integrating chickens into a vegetable farm, or organic pest management? Want to connect with UMN researchers and extension educators? Sign up now to attend the Organic Fruit and Vegetable Field Day July 15 from 5-8 on the UMN St. Paul campus . Enjoy a free meal, tour university research plots, and network with other growers and resource people from the UMN. This event is free and will be interpreted, please register so we can make sure we have enough food and the right interpreters in place. This event is sponsored by the Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program. For more information and registration, visit the event information page or fill out the below form. Loading… Questions? Reach out to Marissa Schuh at mschuh@umn.edu.
Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety No farm is complete without a dedicated space and some sort of equipment for safely washing and packing produce. You do not need to spend a lot of money to have a safe, efficient and comfortable location to wash and pack your produce. Non-mechanized postharvest equipment Spray tables and wash basins are the most basic and essential infrastructure to include in your packshed design. Spray tables Spray tables are used to spray bunched crops, pack boxes and more. Tables can be easily built using a variety of designs and materials. They consist of a frame (built from wood or metal), and a top with gaps that allow dirty water to run off the table as the produce is sprayed. Spray tables are the most effective option for cleaning bunched crops. Whatever spray table you build should be strong enough to hold the produce you will place on it and large enough to spray a good amount of produce at one time. Spray table with wooden frame...