Southern Christmas Tree Association Provides Support for Growers

The Southern Christmas Tree Association is an organization of Christmas tree growers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. They are open to all state growers.

Their mission is to assist growers in the production and marketing of high quality, REAL Christmas trees for consumers.

If you are a grower, check out their website. 

Welcome a new Agritourism Business in Louisiana

Bonnie Blue Farms and Nursery in Bush, LA just became a certified agritourism operation, congratulations! 

Bonnie Blue Farms and Nursery is working to transform how the West Florida Parishes, Southeast Louians and the Gulf Coast grows their food and resources. Bonnie Blue grows hardy productive trees for southern and warmer climates, produces food in the form of fruits, nuts and naturally raised animals and conducts research on edible tree cros fit for the generations ahead. 

The weekend of December 5-6, 2015 Local Cooling and Bonnie Blue Farms will be hosting Daniel Salatin of Polyface Farms to share the techniques of Polyface's profitable farming systmes with Southeast Louisiana as part of a weekend workshop event on profitable farming.The weekend will be full of how to build healthy farms of the future that have both pastures and profits. 

Click here for more information.

Take Advantage of Forestlands in your Agritourism Venue

If you have forestlands on your property, consider developing them as part of your agritourism plan of operation. Forests are great places to learn about orienterring, wildlife, hunting, fishing and nature.

There are many online nature scavenger hunts that you can download and share with those who visit your venture. You can also take advantage of the U.S. Forest Services' campaign to get people to experience the outdoors.

Make Agritourism Operation Entry Welcoming

Agritourism entrys should be warm and welcoming. Select plants that require little or no care and update the beds with annuals.Dr. Dan Gill, LSU AgCenter Horticulturist, says that, "This is the time to plant cool-season bedding plants in your flower beds. These plants will thrive in the cool to cold weather of fall to spring and keep your flower beds looking attractive." to learn more click here.

Tips for Harvesting Winter Vegetables

By Dan Gill
LSU AgCenter Horticulturist

The vegetables we grow in Louisiana during the cool season are some of the most delicious and nutritious that our home gardens can produce. Many of the vegetables we planted in late summer and early fall are now ready to harvest – or will be soon. It is important to harvest vegetables at the proper stage for best results, so here are a few guidelines for some common cool-season crops. To read more, click here.

What is Agritourism? - Topic for 2015 Louisiana Women in Agriculture Conference

Tomorrow, I have been invited to share, "What is Agritourism?" at the 2015 Louisiana Women in Agriculture Conference in Bunkie, LA. I'm looking forward to the meeting.

In Louisiana, our limited liability agritourism law defines agritourism as:
"Agritourism" means the travel or visit by the general public to, or the practice of inviting the general public to travel to or visit, a working farm, ranch, or other commercial agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural, or forestry operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or participation in the activities of the farm, ranch, or other agricultural, aquacultural, horticultural, or forestry operation.

"Agritourism activities" means those activities related to agritourism as defined in rules and regulations adopted by the commissioner of agriculture and forestry in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, and which the conduct of any such activity is set forth in a plan of operation approved by the director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service of the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center or his designee.

To learn more about the law click here.

MarketMaker Perfect Choice for Agritourism Operators

MarketMaker is a national network of states that connects farmers and fishermen with food retailers, grocery
stores, processors, caterers, chefs and consumers. It is an ever-growing partnership of land-grant universities, departments of agriculture and food and agricultural organizations investing in a coordinated effort to build a virtual infrastructure that brings healthful, fresher and more flavorful food to the average consumer.

MarketMaker was created at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004 and is licensed
to Riverside Research, an independent not-for-profit organization. Whether you are a producer looking to reach new markets; a buyer wanting to connect with local or specialty suppliers, a consumer looking for goods and services in your area or someone wanting to find an agritourism operation; listed simply at "tourism" at this site, MarketMaker is a must have resource.

Growing Cut Flowers

The LSU AgCenter has great resources for Louisiananas who want to grow cut flowers. I recommend you check out the two resources below:

Cut Flower Production Basics Cut flowers can be a profitable crop in the Southern U.S. This manual provides basic information on the production of specialty cut flowers.

Field-grown Cut Flowers for Louisiana Species and variety recommendation for field grown specialty cut flowers in the South. Horticulture Hints is a quarterly newsletter from the Horticulture Division of the LSU AgCenter's School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences.  You can access current and archived hints by clicking here.