Folks,
I just wanted to pass this invitation along to the group in case anyone wants to attend. Don Lotter and I will be presenting information about compost tea in organic agriculture on the first day. We will also be discussing our proposed SARE project which will investigate the efficacy of compost tea for disease prevention in Mid-Atlantic vineyards and in other horticultural crops such as pumpkins and potatoes at The Rodale Institute. Below I have included the brochure and registration information.
Matthew Ryan
Alternative Viticulture – A Closer Look at Sustainable, Organic and Biodynamic Grape Growing Penn State
Day January 28 and 29,
2003 Spring Garden Conference
Center Middletown,
Pennsylvania Registration Fee -
$80 Pre-registration
deadline is January 17. The goal of the meeting is
to bring perspective and information to the often fuzzy realm of
non-conventional commercial viticulture.
This would include sustainable, organic and biodynamic methods. Recently, there has been a tremendous
growth in interest in these new techniques of farming wine grapes. Because much of the practices and
technologies exist outside of our customary agricultural experience, it is the
objective of this meeting to give sound and practical information on subjects
that are too often tainted with hyperbole and unrealistic expectations. A group
of serious consultants, researchers, growers, vendors and extension agents will
present their views and experience of this new frontier in grape growing. These are truly some of the best minds
in the business and many of their names will be familiar to you. It is hoped that, armed with this
information, new and experienced growers alike will be able to decide for
themselves if they want to employ these practices on their own farms. We are seeking to encourage creative,
innovative, disciplined and intelligent wine grape growing that will produce
high quality wines with a minimum impact on the environment and continued
profitability to the farmer. There
are great challenges to successful alternative practices under Eastern growing
conditions, hopefully this meeting will put these challenges and the risks into
proper perspective. Please plan to
attend and pass the word about this meeting to all your wine growing
friends. The Wine Appreciation
Guild will have a variety of publications on these special topics available for
sale and equipment/supply vendors will be present. Program
Tuesday,
January 28
7:00
Registration and Coffee 7:50
Mark Chien, Penn State Cooperative Extension - Welcome and
Introduction 8:00
Alice Wise, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Riverhead,
LINY.
Alternative Viticultural Practices on Long Island 8:45
Al MacDonald, Chemeketa Community College, Salem, OR.
Oregon Low Input Viticulture and Enology (LIVE) 9:45
Break 10:00
Vicki Bess, BBC Labs, Tempe, AZ. Soil Microbiology
and Microbial Diversity - Tools
for Vineyard Management" 11:00
William Brinton, Woods End Research Lab, Mt. Vernon,
Maine
Overview of Organic Agricultural Practices Noon
Lunch 1:00
Nancy Wenner/Elwin Stewart, Dept of Plant Pathology, Penn State
University – Vine Decline Research in Pennsylvania and New
York Jim Travis et. al., Dept of Plant
Pathology, Penn State University – Use of Compost in Commercial in Pennsylvania
2:00
Richard Fiegel, Silver Thread Vineyard, Finger Lakes, NY. Rob
Russell – Westport River Vineyard and Winery, Westport, MA – Grower Experiences with Organic
Viticulture in the East 3:15
Break 3:30
Vicki Bess – Strategies for Making Compost
Tea 4:15
Don Lotter, Rodale Institute, Kutztown, PA– Experience
with Compost Tea and Organic Agriculture 5:00
Q&A – All Speakers 5:30
Adjourn Wednesday,
January 29
7:00
Coffee 7:20
Mark Chien – Program Overview 7:30
Chris Wilson and Tom Piatkowski, Helena Chemical Company, Boyd,
Maryland
Helena’s Biological Agriculture Program 8:15
Gary Petersen, Dept of Crop and Soil Science, Penn State
University – Describing the Terroir
of Soils in SE Pennsylvania 9:00
Alex Blackburn, Virginia Tech, Loudon County, VA – Terroir of the
Piedmont Plateau
9:30
Gunther Hauk, The Pfeiffer Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY - BioDynamic Agriculture and Viticulture
Overview 10:30
Break
10:45
Alan York, viticulture consultant, California – The Art and
Science of Viticulture – The Role of Viticulture in Successful
Organic/BioDynamic Production and Organizing Priniciples in BioDynamic
Agriculture
12:15
Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron. Black Ankle Vineyard, MD
– A Grape Grower’s
Organic and Biodynamic
Travelogue through Southern France 12:45
Q&A – panel discussion with speakers
. 1:30
Wine Tasting – wines from France, California, New York,
Oregon
Local artisan cheeses and breads 2:30
Adjourn Confirmed speaker in
BOLD. Speakers and speaker topics may change. The organizers of this
meeting gratefully acknowledge funding and logistical support
from: The Pennsylvania Wine
Marketing and Research Program The Pennsylvania Association
of Winegrowers Alice and John Weygandt –
Stargazer Vineyard The Pennsylvania State
University College of Agricultural Sciences Sarah O’Herron, Ed Boyce and Phil Roth Without their generous
assistance, this program would not have been possible. Thank you!
Registration Please pre-register to assist organizers in planning the meeting. Pre-registration is required. Deadline for registration is January 17. After January 17, a $25 late fee will be imposed. Thank you for your cooperation. The cost of the meeting is
$80 per person. Continental
breakfast, snacks, drinks and lunch (first day only) are included in the
price.
Name(s):______________________________________________________________________ Vineyard Name:
________________________________________________________________ Address:
______________________________________________________________________ Telephone:______________________________ Email:
________________________________ $80 x _____ person(s) = $
_____________ enclosed Please make checks payable
to Agricultural Extension and send to Penn State Cooperative
Extension 1383 Arcadia Road, Room 1,
Lancaster, PA 17601. Questions? Call Mark Chien at 717 394-6851 or
mlc12@psu.edu.
Please give a brief
description of any alternative viticulture practices you are currently using on
your farm – this will give our speakers an idea of the level of activity and
experience in our audience…
_____________________________________________ The meeting will be held at
the Spring Garden Conference Center (Commonwealth Caterers), southeast of
Harrisburg, PA off of Rte 283.
Please get good directions before you hit the road.
Spring Garden Conference
Center – 901 Spring Garden Road, Middletown. 717 939-4003 Their web address is at
Commonwealth Caterers - http://www.commonwealthcaterers.com/. For directions, go
to the home page > Spring Garden > Contact Us. Please note that the exit from Rte
283 WEST says NORTH UNION ST (Rt 441). (Not Union St.). Spring Garden is five minutes from the
Harrisburg airport and a few minutes from the hotels listed below. Nearby airports –
Baltimore/Washington (BWI), 60 minutes from Middletown; and Harrisburg (MDT),
five minutes from Middletown.
Shuttles from MDT are available to most of these hotels.
Hotels – you are responsible for
your own room reservations. Please
make them right away.
Single
Double 1.
Wyndham
Garden, 765 Eisenhower Blvd, Harrisburg
(5 mins)
717 558-9500;
http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/MDTWY/main.wnt 2.
Days
Inn, 800 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg (5 mins) 40
40 717 939-4147;
http://www.the.daysinn.com/middletown07561 3.
Wingate
Inn, 1344 Eisenhower Blvd., Harrisburg (5 mins) 65
65 717 985-1600;
http://www.the.wingateinns.com/harrisburg05480 4.
Fairfield Inn, 1018
Briarsdale Rd., Harrisburg (10mins)
99
99 717 412-4326;
http://www.marriott.com/dpp/PropertyPage.asp?MarshaCode=HARFF 5. Best
Western, 815 Eisenhower Blvd, Harrisburg (5 mins)
71
71
(ask for Penn State rate)
717 939-1600 Vineyard and Winery Visits For a listing of wineries in
Pennsylvania, please visit the Pennsylvania Wine Association web site at
www.pennsylvaniawine.com/ If you want to tour
vineyards, please contact the Pennsylvania Association of Winegrowers at 610
255-5684 or Mark Chien. Nearby Tourist Attractions Hershey, PA – chocolate
scented air -
http://www.hersheypa.com/ Harrisburg, PA – the capitol
of Pennsylvania - http://www.visithhc.com/capcity.shtml Amish Country/Lancaster, PA
– buggies, farms, plain people and smorgasbords -
http://www.padutchcountry.com/ Note: This meeting is not part of the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention. Grapegrowing 102, an intermediate viticulture seminar will be offered at convention in Hershey on February 4. It will cover a wide range of topics from insect control to cultural management practices. For more information, please call SHAP at 717.677.4184. A regional calendar of events and viticulture information is available on the Winegrape Network at http://winegrape.cas.psu.edu. 1. This
publication is available in alternative media on request. 2. Penn State
encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and
activities. If you anticipate
needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access
provided, please contact (fill in
person's name and phone number) in advance of your participation or
visit. 3. "The
Pennsylvania State University is committed to the policy that all persons shall
have equal access to programs, facilities, admission, and employment without
regard to personal characteristics not related to ability, performance, or
qualifications as determined by University policy or by state or federal
authorities. The Pennsylvania State
University does not discriminate against any person because of age, ancestry,
color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex,
sexual orientation, or veteran status.
Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the
Affirmative Action Director, The Pennsylvania State University, 201 Willard
Building, University Park, PA
16802-2801: Tel. (814)
865-4700/V, (814) 863-1150/TTY." 4. Penn State is committed
to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its
workforce. 5. Where trade names
appear, no discrimination is intended, and no endorsement by Penn State
Cooperative Extension is implied. 6. Where trade names are
used no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Cooperative Extension
is implied. Although every attempt
is made to produce information that is complete, timely, and accurate, the
pesticide user bears the responsibility of consulting the pesticide label and
adhering to those directions. 7. Registration fee covers speakers, refreshments and incidentals.
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