(Herkimer, NY – April 2013) Have you thought about growing a berry crop at home? What berries would be most suitable and what should the soil conditions be? These questions and many more will be answered at a workshop sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County on May 21 when Extension Berry Support Specialist Cathy Heidenreich will speak about Berries in the Home Garden.
This will be a “how-to” talk on planning and preparing for planting berries for your home use. Discussion topics will range from selecting berry crops for season long enjoyment through maintaining established plantings and managing weeds, diseases, pests and wildlife. There will be an in-depth look at establishing strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries along with a review of home berry gardener resources.
A native of the Tug Hill region of New York, Cathy works at the Geneva Experiment Station for Cornell University and works primarily with commercial berry growers in the areas of berry production and pest management. She also works as the webmaster for the Cornell Fruit Resources berries pages.
The workshop will be held at the CCE Herkimer offices on Rt. 5 in East Herkimer from 6:30 to approximately 8:30 p.m. Although registration for the workshop is free of charge, those who wish to attend should call the Extension office at 866-7920 to reserve a space since audience size is very limited.