IPM Field Walk: The Farm School, Athol

This walk is being given as part of a series from the UMass Extension. Learn to identify and scout fruit and vegetable pests and select integrated pest management strategies that work for you. Walk the fields with Extension Educators and Farmers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont to learn how each area and farm is practicing IPM.  Bring a hand lens if you have one. This series is funded in part by a Northeast IPM Center grant. Each field walk includes 2 education credits for certified pesticide applicators.

The Farm School has a day camp program for elementary students, a middle school, and an adult apprenticeship program. The apprentices grow food for a 175 member CSA, Farmers’ Market, and manage 150 acres of forest land. The adult program’s teacher/growers, Tyson Neukirch and Carlen Rigrod partnered with UMass Extension to train their students in IPM and scouting techniques. This field walk will feature IPM scouting and management practices in apples, raspberries, and multiple vegetable crops with UMass Extension staff: Ruth Hazzard (vegetable), Katie Campbell-Nelson (vegetable), Sonia Schloemann (small fruit), and Arthur Tuttle (tree fruit).