Summer Tour: Videos 1-3 released on Monday, Aug 10th
This year the NSFGA Annual Summer Tour is virtual for the first time ever. Each year the tour alternates between visiting orchards on the east and west side of the Valley as a way for Nova Scotia growers to learn local technical and research information. This year the tour is on the east side of the Valley. Over the next week, a total of nine videos will be released on topics including rootstock trials, new plantings, apple replant disease, a grower panel discussion, fruitlet thinning, organic production, and entomology research.
Video 1: Grab your coffee, the tour is beginning
Immerse yourself in the tour experience with this video including introductions by Peter Eisses, President of the NSFGA. Help acknowledge the incredible generosity of our sponsors. Gather for special messages from the Hon. Keith Colwell and Cody Blois, MP for Kings-Hants. Say hello to each member of the NSFGA Production Committee in their element. Then buckle up and take a passenger side seat with your guide Michelle Cortens, Tree Fruit Specialist with Perennia.
Video 2: Rooted in rootstock trials
Arrive at the Kentville Research and Development Centre with your guide Michelle Cortens, Tree Fruit Specialist with Perennia. Find Dr. Suzanne Blatt, Entomologist with AAFC, in the research orchard at an NC-140 rootstock trial with the scab-resistant variety Modi. The rootstocks include G.11, G.30, G.41, G.202, G.214, G.222, G.890, G.935, G.969, and M9.T337. Take a step out and look at the properties that matter on each tree. Dr. Blatt shows us how the rootstocks compare in terms of vigour, yield, root suckering, and crop efficiency.
Then follow Dr. Blatt to an on-farm rootstock trial at Wohlgemuth Farms using Buckeye Gala. The rootstocks in the research include B.10, G.11, G.41, G.935, G.969, G.4814, IFO#2, M9.T337, and M.26. Although this research is still young, get a sneak peek into measurements of trunk cross sectional area, root suckers, and yield.
Video 3: Come and look at this new planting!
Go on the road to Port Williams with your guide Michelle Cortens, Tree Fruit Specialist with Perennia to meet Rob Peill at Townplot Orchards. Pull in to get a close look at the picturesque new planting that you usually only see from the road. Take a walk through the orchard and hear from Rob’s experience with Honeycrisp and Ambrosia on several different rootstocks. Hear from Rob about every aspect of his new planting including land preparation, trellis system, weed control, pest priorities, and defruiting. Briefly visit his organic block with scab resistant varieties. Then take a spur-of-the-moment visit to Rob’s tree nursery to see an interesting comparison between t-buds and chip buds. Rob’s final comments point out that he relies so much on the skilled labour on his farm.
