Social Media and Outreach With Farm to YoU NH

Hello again everyone, 

            Currently we have been very busy in the UNH high tunnels located adjacent to the Fairchild Dairy Barns.  We have many crops growing in both tunnels and are planning crops for the summer.  This week we are excited to be participating in two public outreach events. These events are part of the social media aspect of the course, which shows students the importance of social media and good communication skills in regards to running an agriculture business.  The first event is the 1^st annual Nutrition Month Expo on Thursday March 27^th from 11-2pm in the Memorial Union Building room 338.  I will have a table at the event representing Farm to YoU NH.  There will be 15 tables representing different programs involved in a range of nutrition related topics including those on campus and some coming from off campus.  Farm to You NH will be sharing a table with UNH Organic Garden.    

 The second event that Farm to YoU NH is involved with this week is the Macfarlane Greenhouse Open House on Friday and Saturday March 28^th and 29^th.  The Greenhouse Open House runs from 9am to 4pm with many activities happening throughout the day, including tours of the greenhouse and the Farm to YoU NH high tunnels.  Two tours of the high tunnels will be led each day by students in the class.   Particpants in the Farm to YoU NH high tunnel tours will meet at the Macfarlane Greenhouse and be shuttled to the tunnels and back.  The first tour on both days will run from 10-11 AM and the second from 1-2 PM.  Farm to YoU NH participated in the event last year and it was a great success so I would definitely recommend stopping by.  Hope to see you all there!  

http://www.unh.edu/health-services/ohep/nutrition/national-nutrition-month-expo

 http://www.unh.edu/news/releases/2014/03/bp06greenhouse.cfm

Update From the High Tunnels

Hello everyone for those of you who missed last week’s blog. My name is Megan Letendre and I am a student participating in Farm to YouNH.  Currently we have a lot happening by the conventional dairy barn in our high tunnels.

So far this semester we had been producing salad mix in the heated tunnel for the Dairy bar and several different crops in the unheated tunnel.  We are propagating all our transplants, including head lettuce, pollinator attractor plants, and many herbs in the heated tunnel.  Swiss chard, salad mix, and spinach are currently growing in the raised beds of this tunnel.
 

          Also, I am conducting a study comparing two methods of salad mix production.  The study is comparing the cost, labor, days to maturity, and yield of broadcast sown lettuce mix versus head lettuce transplants of  'Salanova'.  'Salanova' is a new line of varieties of head lettuce produced by Johnny's that are well suited for salad mix.  Johnny's claims that the new variety of head lettuce is more efficient by being more productive and less labor intensive than broadcast lettuce mix.  Our normal lettuce mix production consists of direct seeding using a multi row seeder.  The lettuce mix is harvested 2-3 times whereas head lettuce can only be harvested once.  This study will give us results on which type of lettuce mix is the more efficient production method.
           The unheated high tunnel is very full and we are growing an assortment of cold hardy crops including onion, carrots, beets,head lettuce, radishes and salad mix.  In class we recently studied irrigation and learned how to buy and set up drip tap irrigation systems. We have been planning out what crops will be grown during the spring and summer and planning for the produce that we need to grow for upcoming events with UNH dining.  Although we are growing plenty in the high tunnels with the cold weather we are excited for the warm weather so we can start on summer crops and work in our outside field!