FRESH MARKET TOMATO FIELD DAY: YIELD, FIELD, PESTS REVEALED ... AND A TASTY SURPRISE

If you grow tomatoes for a living, there is a field day coming up that can help you transform ruby-red fruit into a gem of a crop. On Thursday, August 7, at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Fletcher, experts in the field -- literally -- will demonstrate how you can increase your profits, decrease your inputs and bring forth tomatoes tailored for markets that are more diverse than ever before. Let researchers and specialists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service give you the benefits of years of scientific study for an excellent price --- free!

Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. at the MHCRS station. Then, after a brief welcome and remarks, wagons will take you along a tour of that will let you see first-hand the results of the latest research techniques on raising super fresh market tomatoes. The tour ends with a barbecue feast at 6:00 p.m.

Need the latest low-down on late and early blight? The Fresh Market Tomato Field Day will give you up-to-date ways to keep these problems at bay. Want to learn more about sustainable production impacts on soil, pests and yields? The Fresh Market Tomato Field Day can help make sustainable obtainable. And, among other stops along the way, is a taste test station to sample special wares. Does organic really make a difference to your taste buds? Come to the Field Day and judge whether organic is hip or hype.

"With markets and techniques changing almost seasonally, a field day is the next best thing to taking a university course and working directly with scientists and horticultural experts," says Dr. Jeanine Davis, horticulture scientist at NC State University and MHCRS. "Growers can observe first-hand the techniques and products that can make a difference in their operations." Directions to the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station: From I-40 (in either direction) take I-26 East. Exit at #9 (Asheville Airport exit) and drive west on NC 280. Take the first road on the right past the airport, Fanning Bridge Road. (DON'T go to the WNC Agricultural Center across from airport!) Drive about two miles on Fanning Bridge Road. The Research Station is on your right immediately after you cross the river. If you are coming from Brevard or Hendersonville on NC 280, turn left on Fanning Bridge Road directly across from the French Broad Golf Course, and continue as described above.

For more information, please call Jimmy Prince at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station, (704) 684-7197.