<![CDATA[Qualla Berry Farm]]>http://www.quallaberryfarm.comen-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssCopyright 2012Qualla Berry Farm<![CDATA[ASAP Business of Farming Conference on 2/25/2012]]>ASAP is sponsoring a day-long conference at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC on Saturday, February 25th, 2012 for farmers and people seriously considering farming for a profession.  The line up and quality of the sessions they put together for farmers is top notch and very affordable...Register before February 1st for $30.00 or $45.00 for two farm partners after February 1st its $35 single and $50 for two farm partners. Visit www.asapconnections.org/conference.html for info or to register online.  Brochures now available at the Folk School.  ASAP has been a great help to our farm and WNC farmers.

]]>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:42:56 -0600<![CDATA[Organic Growers School UNCA on 3/3/2012]]>Fabulous two day spring conference in Asheville with something for everyone...keeping chickens, managing timber, Integrated parasite control for small ruminants, building a bamboo greenhouse(taught by our own Brasstown wonder, Joe Baumgartner), soil enhancement with compost, Farmstead BioChar, bread baking and cob ovens, organic small fruit production, herbal tooth care and medicines, primitive hunting and trapping techniques, farm-scale permaculture, Microhydro power and ram pumps, irrigation, myco-forestry, kitchen pickling, on and on...check it out March 3-4th. Children\'s program for 7-12 year olds is available but sells out fast.  Go to www.organicgrowersschool.org

]]>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:29:27 -0600<![CDATA[Local Food Lunch and Learn on 2/4/2012]]>Please sign up for a seminar and luncheon on Saturday February 4th at Brasstown Civic Community Center from 10am to 2pm. You are invited to learn about Winter Community Supported Agriculture(CSA\'s) and Making Products from the Farm with Martha Vining and Chris Reedy of Asheville\'s Blue Ridge Food Ventures.  We have limited space so please call and send in your reservations as soon as possible. 

]]>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:11:44 -0600<![CDATA[Local Food Lunch and Learn Registration]]> 

Click here for February 4th Local Food Lunch and Learn Registration Form

Send your payment and registration to: Frances Juhlin

                                                       135 Candy Mountain Road

                                                       Murphy, NC 28906

]]>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:03:27 -0600<![CDATA[Working the Berries in winter]]>Wet, grey, warm weather. Today we began cutting the raspberry canes down to promote only one crop in June this year to attempt to outwit the new fruit fly pest that arrived last fall.  Hot weather and wetness is less to their liking from what we have learned from some organic berry growers in Oregon.  We are beginning our research and welcome any experience or information you find on successful strategies to outmanuever the Drosophila suzuki fruit fly in our berrry crops.

Two weeks ago we heard the first woodcock bzzzing then the whirrring whisper of bird wings as the male  does his diving mating dance.  We thought they had disappeared from our farm because we missed hearing them for the first time ever last year.  Miracles...the simple familiar bird sounds returning, yellow winter aconite first blooms low and bright amidst drooping blooms of cream, green, and purple shades of winter hellebore.  Multitudes of green daffoldil blades have popped up 1 to 6 inches tall.  We see the pink purple buds fattening on the plum tree.  Seems early.  More cold to come.

Hope weather is good for the Local Food lunch and learn this upcoming February 4th in Brasstown.

]]>Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:53:57 -0600<![CDATA[Local Food Lunch and Learn Event Feb 4--for friends of Qualla Berry Farm and anyone else!]]>You are invited to a “Local Food Lunch and Learn”
Topics include Community Supported Agriculture and Value Added Products

Saturday, Feb 4, 2012 from 10AM to 2 PM
At Brasstown Community Civic Center, 255 Settawig Rd, Brasstown, NC 28902
Workshop features guest speakers from Blue Ridge Food Ventures, Asheville
And a winter menu luncheon featuring locally sourced ingredients
Registration fee of $10.00 includes lunch

For more information contact: Karen Hurtubise, Qualla Berry Farm 828-389-3551,
Frances Juhlin, Candy Mountain Farm 828-494-2083,
or Pattie Reynolds, Firefly Farm and Wine Garden 828-494-5608
Updates and details posted at www.quallaberryfarm.com

Join us in a wonderful community wintertime opportunity to visit, eat some good food, and discuss ways to promote and encourage our local small farms and food producers. Enjoy winter soup, fresh greens salad, freshly made vinaigrettes, homemade bread, and dessert with friends and neighbors and get ideas and information on how to build and support our local food network with community supported agriculture and value added farm products.
Martha Vining, Product Developer, and Chris Reedy, Program Manager, of Blue Ridge Food Ventures from Asheville will be the keynote speakers. Blue Ridge Food Ventures, winner of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Business of the Year Award, is a unique business incubator for area farmers, chefs, artisan food entrepreneurs, caterers, bakers, and natural product manufacturers located in nearby Asheville, NC. To discover more about Blue Ridge Food Ventures, visit their website at:  www.blueridgefoodventures.org.

We welcome small farmers, gardeners, value-added producers, and people who support healthy food, farms, and community. If you have a garden, farm, agricultural or food related business or group, bring a display or literature to share information at one of our tables.

Please pre-register so we can plan for enough food and chairs.

Sponsored by Three Sisters Apalache Agriculture with generous help from the Clay County Small Farm Initiative, Blue Ridge Food Ventures, Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, and community volunteers.

________________________________________________________________________________________
REGISTRATION FORM
Make checks payable to “TSAA” or Three Sisters Apalache Agriculture,
Mail your payment c/o Frances Juhlin, 135 Candy Mountain Heights, Murphy, NC 28906
Name________________________________________ Phone_________________________
Address_____________________________________________________________________
Email________________________________________

Total Number of Local Food Lunch and Learn tickets:_______ Cost: $10.00 per ticket
Would you like to be notified of future events related to local food and sustainable agriculture in our area? Y___N___

]]>Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:34:36 -0600<![CDATA[No Fall Raspberry Upick 2011]]>We have a total raspberry loss this year.  The fruit fly wins this round.

]]>Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:19:43 -0500<![CDATA[Confirmed Drosophilia suzukii in our raspberries]]>Fruit fly fiasco. Our berries have gone to mush as this new fruit fly pest lays eggs like crazy in each berry druplet.  The eggs hatch into tiny maggots which eat the fruit.  It's gross but there you have it.  We caught lots of them in 60 vinegar traps John set out which just shows us how efficient they are at invading our raspberries.  Still shocked.  This will take time to work out a new strategy.  Will keep you posted.

 

]]>Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:16:29 -0500<![CDATA[John C Campbell Folk School Fall Festival ]]>Lots to do in Brasstown this Folk School Fall Festival weekend, including music, crafts, and visiting the Folk School Organic vegetable garden.

]]>Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:04:28 -0500<![CDATA[Fall u-pick season postponed at Qualla Berry Farm]]>
Normally at this time of year we would be announcing the beginning of the Fall U-Pick season. However, this year our fall season is in serious jeopardy due to a new pest problem.

We have found the Spotted Wing Drosophila in our raspberries and we are going to have to take some drastic measures to deal with it. This is an Asian fruit fly (Drosophila suzukii) that appeared on the west coast within the last two years and has been spreading through the Carolinas, including a very rapid spread across North Carolina this year. This is the first time we have seen them.

The fruit fly attacks ripening berries and lays eggs inside them, leaving a scar and damaged fruit. It goes after raspberries and blackberries, cherries, strawberries, and blueberries.

We have been searching for information on the internet and have been getting advice from NC Agricultural Extension. They suggest getting rid of the currently ripe fruit and freezing or baking it to kill the larvae. They also suggest very aggressive spraying programs to kill the adults. However, as an organic operation we are not going to use organophosphates like malathion or diazinon and as beekeepers we are reluctant to use organically approved insecticides like spinosad or pyganic which can be harmful to honeybees and native bees. Our current plan is to dispose of the damaged fruit and use traps baited with apple cider vinegar to reduce the numbers of adult fruit flies.

Because of all this we are postpononing our fall U-Pick season until we can get a handle on the fruit flies. It is doubly sad because we had just installed drip irrigation this sumer and the berries are all mulched and weeded and ready. It was looking like a good harvest in spite of the heat and drought. The rain last week was bringing on a flush of ripe berries. We will keep y'all posted and will let you know if we can harvest again later in the fall.

Thanks for your support.  Wish us a miracle!

Karen Hurtubise
John Clarke
Qualla Berry Farm]]>Sat, 10 Sep 2011 08:57:01 -0500