Central Jersey Vegetable Grower Meeting
February 22, 2019
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County
1440 Parkside Avenue, Ewing, NJ 08638
New Location!
Registration details will be available in early January

Do you grow specialty crops and use organic practices?  Meredith Melendez, who is an Agricultural Agent at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County and Thierry Besancon, Weed Specialist, Department of Plant Biology at Rutgers The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences are conducting a survey to assess weed pressure and management strategies. This research is conducted through an anonymous 23 question online survey. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete. Anyone who is certified organic, transitioning to certified organic or uses organic production practices is eligible to complete the survey. Results will be used to assess programmatic impacts and develop future outreach efforts. This survey will open from March 2018 to April 2018.

To access the survey please click HERE!

If you have any questions about the study or study procedures, you may contact myself at 930 Spruce Street, Trenton, NJ 08648 or Melendez@njaes.rutgers.edu or 609-989-6830.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension continues its Ultra-Niche Crop Series with the upcoming workshop “Farming Roselle.” This workshop, the ninth class in the Ultra-Niche educational series for farmers seeking new crop opportunities, will be held on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Rutgers Eco Complex in Bordentown, New Jersey.

This workshop will feature a 20-minute “Virtual Field Trip” video on the production and marketing of roselle. In this session, farmers will learn how to grow, market and sell roselle and other ethnic crops and how to make practical decisions on marketing and crop production. This potentially lucrative market for farmers will require a marketing plan to determine what buyers want. Dr. Ramu Govindasamy, Extension Specialist from Rutgers University, will present on marketing ethnic crops and Dr. Albert Ayeni, Ethnic Crop Specialist at Rutgers University, will be answering questions related to crop production of roselle.

Participants at the Farming Roselle class will be led through worksheets to help them determine whether or not growing this crop is right for them, their acreage, and their situation. The cost for this workshop is $20 and includes a dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by the program at 6 p.m. Additionally, pesticide recertification credits are available:
1A (Ag plant) 3 credits
PP2 (Private Applicator) 3 credits

For more information, contact Jenny Carleo at (609) 465-5115 or email Jennifer Matthews at JLM479@njaes.rutgers.edu.

To register by January 19, 2018, go to Eventbrite: https://rutgerscmcag.eventbrite.com

To find out more about the Rutgers Ultra-Niche Crops Project, please go to https://njaes.rutgers.edu/ultra-niche-crops/.