EVENTS
Twilight Meetings
Each year, MVSFGA has two twilight meetings. A twilight meeting is hosted at a member's farm. The host provides a tour, and provides more insight into how their business works. These meetings also serve as a time for Extension to fill us in on the latest updates on their end. The first meeting happens in the spring, the second in the fall.
Spring
Twilight Meeting
June 6th, 2023
5:30pm
Stevenson's Farm
Stevenson’s farm is well known for their strawberry production which is a large part of their operation. In
addition to the strawberries, they also produce a lot of mixed vegetables/fruit including corn, pumpkins,
watermelon, melons, tomatoes, and peas. They offer pick your own on strawberries, peas and pumpkins. Much
of what they produce is sold through there retail stand on Rt. 202 in Winthrop Me.
Fall
Twilight Meeting
TBD
Educational Opportunities
Hygienic Equipment Design for Vegetable Growers
04/06/2023
10am-3pm, Bell Farms
This workshop is hosted by Chris Callahan, UVM Extension Associate Professor: Agricultural Engineering; the Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry (DACF); the University of Maine Cooperative Extension; and Bell Farms.
We will be working with a green bean sorter, harvest totes and worktables, and possibly a potato wash/pack line. Bring a chair if you don’t want to sit on pallets. Bring a clipboard. Dress for packing house temperatures of around 55F.
Agenda:
10:00 – Sanitation issues for vegetable crops with Robson Machado, University of Maine
10:45 – Hygienic design evaluation and checklist, and introduction to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for produce safety with Chris Callahan, University of Vermont
12:00 – Lunch
1:00 – Small group hands-on evaluation of equipment utilizing the checklist and considering using an SOP with Chris Callahan, Robson Machado, and Lindsay Werner (DACF).
2:00 – Full group discussion
3:00 – Adjourn