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Twilight Tour: Pest Management Techniques for Organic Vegetables Farmers and vegetable gardeners seeking tips on pest management in organic systems should mark their calendars for a summer twilight tour that will demonstrate successful strategies to combat pests in small fruits and vegetables. The Aug. 8 tour will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will spotlight research on vegetable varieties and pest management strategies in certified organic plots at the University of Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore Research and Education Center in Salisbury. The research, which spans four years, features such unusual, marketable crops as mini-melons, edible flowers and edamame soybeans. Participants will view new pest management strategies, such as laying silver plastic mulch to reduce weeds in edible flower plots. Laura Hunsberger, Worcester County Extension educator, warns visitors to wear their sunglasses before viewing the silver plastic plots, which are being compared to the efficiency of more traditional black plastic. The researchers also have tested straw and compost as weed-deterring mulches in edamame. “We’ve held a summer twilight tour each of the last four years, and every year it has grown in interest and size,” says Hunsberger, who oversees the mini-melon and edamame field trials and will offer melon taste tests during the field tour. Ginny Rosenkranz, Extension educator in Wicomico County, will offer samples from her edible flower trials. And Jerry Brust, a regional Extension vegetable specialist, will discuss biological control and use of organic pesticides to combat unwanted insects. The researchers rotate their crops with cover crops, keeping one acre under production and the other under cover. Recently, a University of Delaware researcher has begun using the site to test peas. The twilight tour is being co-sponsored by Maryland Cooperative Extension and Future Harvest-CASA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting profitable and sustainable food and farming systems in the Chesapeake Bay region. To register or for more information or directions, call the Maryland Cooperative Extension office in Wicomico County at (410) 749-6141. The University of Maryland is an Equal Opportunity Employer with Equal Access Programs. 
Future Harvest-CASA
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