WSU Extension Presents 2013 Fruit School on ‘The Honeycrisp Experience: Production, Harvest and Storage’

WENATCHEE, Wash. – WSU Extension is offering a series of workshops designed for commercial growers interested in or currently growing the wildly popular Honeycrisp apple. In the 2013 Fruit School on “The Honeycrisp Experience: Production, Harvest and Storage,” participants will learn how to grow the tree and produce a crop that stores and eats well.

Through a series of summer orchard tours, participants will learn from fellow growers both the many challenges and options in growing Honeycrisp in Washington State. Site selection, site mitigation, strains and rootstocks, training systems, nutrition, irrigation, cropload and light management will be discussed at each orchard. A later series of pre-harvest tours scheduled for early September will provide expert insight on tree growth, fruit quality, maturity evaluation for optimum storage, and harvest strategies for best handling practices.

The Honeycrisp Experience culminates with a day-long research-to-practice workshop that answers the economics of “what-ifs,” as well as offering in-depth talks on orchard establishment and site optimization, growing trees, cropload and light management, harvest strategies, fruit quality and storage regimes.

The season-long workshop series is scheduled as follow:

Summer Orchard Tours, 4-6 p.m.

  • June 11 – BMR Orchards, Royal Slope
  • June 12 – Maverick Orchard, Brewster
  • June 13 – Chiawana Orchards, Gleed

Pre Harvest Orchard Tours, 4-6 p.m.

  • Sept. 10 – BMR Orchards, Royal Slope
  • Sept. 12 – Chiawana Orchards, Gleed
  • Sept. 17 – Maverick Orchard, Brewster

Research to Practice Workshop, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

  • Dec. 5 – Wenatchee Convention Center. Lunch provided by AgroFresh

Space is limited and registration required. The cost is $100 for all three events or $80 for the Research to Practice Workshop only. Register online at www.wahort.org/events. Register by June 7 and be entered in a drawing to win an iPad.

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