Year of Monthly Field Days Begins Jan. 16

GOODMAN, Miss. (Press Release) — Organizers have planned a variety of relevant workshops in 2015 for farmers and home gardeners as part of a year-long series of monthly field days at the Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture Production Farm near Goodman.

Experts from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Alcorn State University and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will provide information and hands-on demonstrations at the first field day Jan. 16.

Topics include using high tunnels for season extension, mulching, starting seed, propagating muscadines and preparing spring fields. Participants will receive free muscadine cuttings.

The field day begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m. Attendance is free, but preregistration is required. Lunch and materials will be provided. Growers of all experience levels can learn techniques to improve their skills and increase productivity.

Field days are scheduled for the third Friday of each month from January through November. The last field day is set for Dec. 11.

To register for the field day or for more information, contact Keith Benson at 601-988-4999 or keithmdp@yahoo.com. The Alliance for Sustainable Agricultural Production is located in Holmes County between Goodman and Durant. It is one mile southwest of Highway 51 at 1184 Coleman Road.

The MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Alcorn State University Extension Program and the University of Mississippi Transactional Legal Clinic produce the series, while the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Grant Program fund it.