Events for maple producers slated

The 2019 Ohio Maple Days program, presented by CFAES and aimed at helping maple syrup producers get ready for their coming season, is on tap (pun intended) for three days in three locations: Jan. 17 in Fulton, Jan. 18 in Fredericksburg, and Jan. 19 in Middlefield. The program is the same at all three locations. Download the flyer and registration form. (Photo: Getty Images.)

Hop conference: Register by today for discount

Early bird registration for the 2019 Ohio Hop Conference, set for Jan. 9-10 in Columbus, ends today, Tuesday, Dec. 18. The early bird discount saves you $25 off the full conference registration. The theme of the conference is “From Bines to Steins.”

Continue reading Hop conference: Register by today for discount

He’s making their local craft beer sustainable

Meet CFAES alumnus Vinny Valentino, who’s pictured below, in a delightful profile by CFAES writer Sherrie Whaley.

Valentino, a 2015 graduate of CFAES’s Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability program, is sustainability manager for Columbus’ Land-Grant Brewing Company, a job the former bartender (and rock-and-roller) created himself.

His story is one of our CFAES Stories. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain.)

Because we’re hoppy

CFAES is offering three Hops Field Nights in August. They’re for new and experienced growers; will feature talks and demonstrations on a variety of topics, including drying, fertigation, drip irrigation, mechanical harvesting, a galvanized trellis system, and pest and disease management; will offer tours of the hop fields at each location; and will provide you with helpful handouts, including the Ohio Hop Disease Management Guide.

Hops are a new and growing crop in Ohio and a key ingredient in craft beer.

CFAES’s Brad Bergefurd, who studies and shares know-how on growing hops in our state, will serve as the host for all three events.

Registration for each event is $15, includes dinner, and you need to register in advance by contacting Charissa Gardner, gardner.1148@osu.edu, or 740-289-2071, ext. 132. (Photo: CFAES.)

Growing a ‘flourishing neighborhood resource’

On Saturday, July 14, Magic House Farm, which spans a half acre of formerly vacant lots in Columbus’s Franklinton neighborhood, will host the next stop in the Columbus Urban Farm Tour Series. You’re invited, the tour flier says, to see “how this urban oasis in a distressed neighborhood has grown from a small one-man operation to a flourishing and necessary neighborhood resource.” Free admission. Read more. See the series schedule.

How your pond can produce more fish

The Intensifying Pond Production of Fish workshop, its website says, will help pond fish producers “to intensify their operation and grow more pounds of fish per acre of water.” It’s July 14 in Marysville in central Ohio, in part at the Millcreek Perch Farm. CFAES’s Aquaculture Boot Camp is a co-host.

Find out more. (Photo: Yellow perch, Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Follow our student farm on Twitter

The tweet below includes a video update on Ohio State’s Student Farm, which is located at CFAES’s Waterman Agriculture and Natural Resources Laboratory in Columbus. Watch to the end for an interesting way to control weeds without using chemicals.

https://twitter.com/CFAES_OSU/status/1012346524498571270

See what’s new at the farm, and all throughout CFAES, by following @CFAES_OSU on Twitter.

You also can follow the farm on Facebook.

Watch: ‘An amazing place’ for students, growing

Ohio State’s Student Farm is an “amazing place for students to learn how to grow their own food while getting more in touch with the environment.”

So says Maria Fredericks, an environmental policy major in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources and the farm’s outreach coordinator. She’s quoted in a story about the farm on the CFAES Stories website and speaks in the video above. Tasty extra: Find out about the farm’s CSA and farm stand.