REMINDER!!

 

 

 PITAHAYA  SEMINAR AND FIELD DAY

This year's Pitahaya Seminar will be held on August 21, 2015

in San Marcos, 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

TOPICS COVERED (subject to change):

• Pest and Regulatory Updates for San Diego County
• Pitahaya Production and Research Update
• Pitahaya Orchard Establishment, Economics and Marketing Considerations
• Genetic Characterization of Pitahaya or Dragon Fruit
• Pitahaya or Dragon Fruit Post Harvest Management and Sensory Evaluation
• Nematode Management in pitahaya/Dragon Fruit
• Insect Pest Management for Pitahayas /Dragon Fruit
• Diseases and Disease Management of Pitahaya or Dragon Fruit  
• Integrated Pest Management of Pitahaya/Dragon Fruit
• Understanding Soil, Water and Leaf Analysis to Optimize Crop Production
• Fertility Management in Pitahaya / Dragon Fruit
• Marketing and Market Development using the Internet
• Is Pitahaya Production Feasible? Does it Pay to Hand Pollinate? Review of Tools to Conduct this Analysis

 

The Pitahaya Field Day will be held on August 22, 2015 in Irvine 

 at the South Coast Research and Extension Center, 7:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

 Program (subject to change): 

• Overview of Pitahaya Production and Review of Varieties for California
• Weed Identification and Weed Control Clinic
• Vertebrate Pest (Gophers, Ground Squirrels, Voles and Coyotes) Management and Control Demo
• Pitahaya Irrigation Research Trial and Irrigation System Design Considerations
• Pitahaya Diseases and Disease Management
• Integrated Pest Management for Pitahaya / Dragon Fruit Production
• Pitahaya Pruning and Trellis Demonstration
• Pitahaya Fruit Display, Pitahaya Fruit and Ice Cream Tasting and Sensory Evaluation
• Pitahaya Grafting and Pollination Demonstrations
• Hands on Computer Lab to Analyze the Feasibility of Pitahaya Production, the Cost/Benefit of Hand Pollination and Review of other tools to Analyze and manage Risks.

REGISTRATION

Registration Fee: Package Registration for both theSeminar & Festival/Field Day is $80.00 per person,if postmarked or submitted online by Friday August 14^th. No package registration after this date. 

Registration for the Seminar - $60.00 per person. 

Registration for the Festival/Field Day - $40.00 per person.

The registration fee includes continental breakfast, refreshments, lunch, pitahaya fruit & ice cream

 tasting, handout materials, and five pitahaya cuttings of your choice.

REGISTER EARLY, This event has sold out in the past!! Register online at 

http://ucanr.edu/2015pitahaya or Click here to print registration,

complete and mail the registration form

along with your check payable to UC Regents to the address below:

UCCE San Diego

Attn: Pitahaya Field Day

9335 Hazard Way, Suite 201

San Diego, CA 92123

PLEASE NOTE: If space allows for walk-ins, you must have exact change or checks.

Please contact Roland Hills at (858)822-7711 for more information about the program or to request any special accommodations you may need.

Long overdo is a big welcome to our newest, if you can call having been here for nine months 'new', team player - Niamh Quinn, Area Vertebrate Pest Advisor for Cooperative Extension. Arriving here from her native home of Ireland, Niamh's career in the area of vertebrate pest control has taken her across the globe, including a couple of short terms with the University of California.

Since arriving here, Niamh has been very busy writing and forging partnerships with local pest management professionals forming the Southern California Urban Wildlife Management Council, along with providing numerous consultations regarding pests such as gophers, coyotes, rats, and moles to name a few.

Niamh's infectious personality and quick wit has made her a favorite among the local talk circuit and a lovable member of the Orange County UCCE family.

If you get a chance, and haven't already, stop by and give a warm welcome to the 'Rat Whacker'.

 

 

Orange County Farm Bureau hosted their annual Steak Fry Fundraiser and celebration of the groundbreaking for phase one of the expansion of the UC ANR South Coast Research and Extension Center, at UC ANR South Coast REC on June 13, 2015.

Bill Frost, UCANR Vice-President, along with Will Harrison, OCFB President, and Darren Haver, Center and County Director, shoveled the first granules of dirt. On hand to witness the momentous occasion were Charlie Peltzer, Peltzer Farms - OCFB Board; Kenny Watkins, California Farm Bureau Federation 1st Vice President; Terry Cook, Village Nursery - OCFB Board; Mark Lopez, OC Produce - OCFB Board; Rick Mack, Crop Protection Services - OCFB Board; Chris Greer, UCANR Vice-Provost; and invited guests.

Attendees enjoyed the beautiful evening feasting on the delicious steak barbecue which included roasted potatoes harvested from a OC Farm Bureau sponsored field day for local youth at South Coast REC. 

Proceeds from the event will help fund educational programs sponsored in partnership with OC Farm Bureau at South Coast REC's new ag-urban center.

 

 

A group of 109 gathered for a casual lunch to celebrate the twenty-eight years of service that  Dr. John Kabashima, Environmental Horticulture Advisor for Orange County, has dedicated to the UC ANR Cooperative Extension. Attendees included colleagues – researchers, advisors, staff, and business contacts; along with many of the UCCE Master Gardener - Orange County volunteers.

The festivities included a looping picture collage of his career, speeches, and a barbeque lunch hosted by Darren Haver, Center and County Director, and cooked by UC ANR South Coast REC staff.

In addition to many administrative and academic accomplishments, John's active career has included cutting edge research on invasive species such as the red imported fire ant, the glassy winged sharp shooter, and the polyphagus shot hole borer to new name a few, in the Southern California area and beyond.

Luckily for those of us who work with him, retirement will not last long for John who will retain emeritus status conducting further research on the invasive species that plague Southern California and beyond.