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Today was the first day of visiting farms as a part of my time here in Guyana for the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer program. The Journey We drove to region 6, which is far down south along the coast for a total of about 3 hours commute time in each direction. Throughout ...

This week, one of our Texas growers held an internal full-day training program and were kind enough to allow me to take notes and share them with the rest of you growers! One of the many things I continue to really appreciate and like about the green industry in Texas: ...

If speakers provided permission to provide PDFs of their presentations, they are found at the end of the notes associated with that section. Speakers:

• Safety is a "Hot" topic: Heat illness prevention for outdoor workers. Dr. Shaadi Khademi, UT Health Science Center at Tyler (PDF)
• WPS Training Resources and Staying Compliant. ...
  
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Below are some notes taken from some of the speakers at the 2018 Ornamental & Turf CEU Meeting held by Helena Chemical Company at the Rose Center, Tyler TX on June 26th. Disclaimer: the notes below do not represent endorsement, research, or vetting by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and the AgriLife ...

Mr. John Wilson arranged with the help of some sponsors a full day of green industry professionals to provide talks for their growers on June 15, 2018 in Mansfield TX. John was kind enough to invite me and allow me to share detailed notes from the meeting with other grower ...

Another year and another successful greenhouse and nursery workshop here in Overton. We had many great speakers and are very grateful for our sponsors. I have included some summaries and resources from some of our speakers down below. I have created links below that will direct you to information pertinent ...

I was recently asked a series of questions on the release of the genetically modified mosquito produced by Oxitec. Snippets of my responses were published in a Forbes Opinion Article entitled "You can help stop these deadly mosquitoes", written by Kavin Senapathy, who also asks a number of other scientists ...

There is an increasing trend towards organic and natural products - from food, cosmetics, and even down to the choice in pesticides. It's not uncommon for people to lean towards or prefer a pesticide that is 'natural'. After all, an unnatural pesticide will be more harmful, right? However, there's a ...

From June 16th till the 30th, I was in Guyana as a part of a two-week volunteer project through US AID Farmer-to-Farmer program, administered through Partners of the Americas. The whole first week was spent visiting farmers to learn about their pest challenges and pest management materials that can be ...

Today we visited an urban farmer group that pays special attention to permaculture. For those that aren't familiar with permaculture, it's a type of gardening or farming aimed at creating a self-sustaining 'ecosystem' that doesn't require intervention to manage insect pests or weeds. This strategy, in theory anyway, relies on ...

Last Thursday, we visited a few farms in remote locations, referred to as "the bush" by the locals. Completely off the grid; using rain-water as their water supply, no need for electricity or using diesel generators when needed, fruits and vegetables everywhere, and the forest is your toilet. There are ...

First thing in the morning, we headed towards the interior of Guyana, where we visited a coconut, pineapple, and other smaller 'cash crop' farms. The most important pest brought to our attention was the devastation being caused by a rhinoceros beetle; a beetle that bores at the base of the ...

Today was the first day of visiting farms as a part of my time here in Guyana for the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer program. The Journey We drove to region 6, which is far down south along the coast for a total of about 3 hours commute time in each direction. Throughout ...

Our flight arrived early this morning, from Miami to Guyana. Our driver recognized us using our F2F hats we were provided in our orientation packages and started the one-hour driver to Georgetown. Like the couple other countries I have visited in South and Central America, 'highways' are two or maybe ...