During January 2021, a local orchard hired a new farm manager. The new manager has previous experience working with grapes and vineyard management, but lacked knowledge of tree fruit management.  The orchard has over a 100 apple trees, 200 blackberry bushes that needed to be properly pruned and sprayed to ensure years of production.  The Franklin County Horticulture agent coordinated with the Extension Fruit Specialist and Extension Enotmologist to visit the farm and teach the new manager how to properly prune and spray the trees and shrubs.  The agent spent several days helping prune the orchard to reinforce the information. The agent also assisted with the farm manager to obtain an appropriate sprayer and calibrate the equipment.  Last fall they harvested 300 lbs of blackberries and 400 lbs of apples.

The farm also has a quarter acre of hops. In past years, the hops have not grown-well and the owners tasked the new manager to prioritize this.  The Horticulture agent helped the manager to develop a fertility plan for the hops.  The plants are much more robust this year and are on-track for their biggest harvest to date.