Keeping Up With the Johnsons at Buffalo Ridge Orchard – Food Safety and Packhouse Sanitation
Thursday, June 2 | 12:30 – 1:05 p.m.
When your farm raises an array of vegetables in the field and high tunnels, has a full production apple orchard and is gearing up to open a farm store, there is plenty to show and learn! In this three-part series, Emma will show Buffalo Ridge Orchard’s new packhouse procedures for food and employee safety with vegetable crops. We’ll join Emma on a virtual tour of the farm’s cherry tomatoes growing in the high tunnel. Finally, we’ll see how the Johnsons test and determine when different apple varieties are ready to be picked.
Hosts: Emma & Marcus Johnson | Buffalo Ridge Orchard | Facebook
The Farm: Marcus and Emma Johnson operate Buffalo Ridge Orchard near Central City, Iowa, with Emma’s parents, Mary and Vernon Zahradnik. The 80-acre farm has 5 acres of diversified vegetables in the field and high tunnels, and 13 acres of orchard, including 3,600 apple trees consisting of 50 new and classic varieties. Their packhouse, completed in 2019, includes a farm store (open in 2020) and a processing and packaging area for dried apples.
Topics:
- Enhanced practices for COVID-19
- Employee health
- Food safety
- Sanitizing
- Collaborative box packing and distribution
Format: Virtual Field Day (#1 of 3 in series)
Platform: Facebook Live
Other Events in the Series:
- July 28: High tunnel cherry tomato tour: transplanting, trellising and pruning, harvest, variety tour
- Sept. 22: Testing apple varieties for optimal pick time, apple varieties, iodine test, Brix test, pressure test
Note: You may attend all events in the series, or pick the ones you’re most interested in.
By registering, you’ll receive email reminders leading up to the event with instructions on how to join, and a link to participate, if applicable.
The Facebook post preview below will broadcast this field day at start time. If you have a Facebook account you can watch below, but you will be unable to comment with questions. Tune into the virtual field day on Facebook to comment.
Acknowledgements
This field day was made possible in part by the support of Ceres Trust.
2020 Field Day Sponsors
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