PRINCESS ANNE, MD – (June 25, 2019) – “How to Extend Your Strawberry Season and Grow Quality Fruit,” a UMES Extension workshop, is sure to offer a wealth of information to anyone with an interest. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 20, 2019 at the UMES Demonstration and Education Farm.
Dr. Kim Lewers, a research plant geneticist and strawberry specialist, is the guest speaker for the day. Participants will be taught the basics of growing strawberries using low tunnel systems, and everyone will receive a number of management tips for strawberry production. Those tips will include information centered on disease resistant strawberry varieties, strawberry production cropping rotation, and day neutral versus June bear strawberry plants.
Lewers has been a part of the fruit lab at the USDA’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center since 2001. In addition to strawberries, she conducts research on blackberries and raspberries. As a research geneticist for plants, she develops improved varieties of the fruit she studies. She examines the inheritance of important traits and develops molecular markers and genetic maps to help track those traits in breeding populations.
To attend the strawberry production workshop at the UMES Demonstration and Education Farm, registration is $20 per person. A boxed lunch is reserved for every participant. To register, visit 2019strawberryproduction.eventbrite.com. With questions or a need for special accommodations to attend, contact Berran Rogers or Sharon Ward at 410-651-6070 or by email at blrogers@umes.edu.
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Suzanne Waters Street, agricultural communications specialist, School of Agricultural & Natural Sciences, 410-621-3850, sstreet@umes.edu.
UMES Extension programs are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, gender, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, martial or parental status, or national origin.
