Aug 29, 2016

UNH farm to host Harvest Day

The UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture will host a Harvest Day Saturday, Sept. 24. The event, which is part of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration, is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the students enrolled in the Food Production Field Experience class, also known as Farm to You NH, the Harvest Day runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, a facility of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station. Programs will take place at the dairy’s high tunnels and conference room.

There will be several activities taking place as well as guided tours of both high tunnel operations and field work. Faculty members will present brief oral presentations on their summer’s research, and a poster session will highlight the work of graduate and undergraduate students.

Seacoast area business and nonprofits are welcome to set up a table to promote their sustainable agriculture enterprises. Interested groups should contact Andrew Ogden,
 lecturer in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, at [email protected] for more information.

Part of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems program, the year-long Food Production Field Experience course provides students with hands-on experience in growing food and managing a small farm business. Students grow fresh vegetables and some fruits for the UNH Dairy Bar. Students learn about all aspects of sustainable agriculture production, including propagation, crop establishment, irrigation, crop management, soil considerations, pest and disease practices, crop harvesting and maturity, post-harvest considerations, marketing, special event planning and execution, record keeping and small farm business management.

The Fairchild Dairy Center is located at 36 O’Kane Road off Mast Road Extension in Durham. It is open to the public seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can observe the milking of cows at 3:30 p.m. each day. Directions: https://colsa.unh.edu/nhaes/directions/Fairchild.