Fruit & Vegetable Magazine

Features Production Research
Saskatchewan vegetable and fruit growers hold field day

April 17, 2008  By Fruit & Vegetable


The Saskatchewan Vegetable
Growers’ Association and the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers’ Association
both held field days in late June, highlighting industry successes and
opportunities across the province.

The Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers’ Association and the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers’ Association both held field days in late June, highlighting industry successes and opportunities across the province.

SVGA members held their tour, led by past SVGA president Oliver Green, on June 25. The group started the tour by visiting the Canada-Saskatchewan Irrigation Diversification Centre (CSIDC) in Outlook. There they viewed the centre’s vegetable demonstration garden, which shows how vegetables can be grown under irrigation. They also learned about the use of drip irrigation, high and low tunnels, plastic mulch, transplanting equipment and row crop equipment. After lunch, the tour continued on to Broderick where they observed a commercial planting of pumpkins grown under mulch plus squash, cucumber, peppers and other vegetable plots.

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The SVGA summer field day is an annual event, highlighting increased opportunities for vegetable producers in the province.

SFGA members also held their field day June 25, starting off at the Loon Creek Saskatoon Orchard near Cupar. Owned and operated by Stan, Kathy and Tyler Weisbrod, the operation features 20 acres of eight-year-old saskatoon berries, including Smokey, Northline, Honeywood, Martin and Thiessen varieties. The orchard also features a cherry planting, 700 sea buckthorn shrubs and 600 raspberry bushes.

Next stop on the tour was Barry Isaac’s operation, Last Mountain Berry Farm, located near Southey. The farm features 15 acres of mechanically harvested saskatoon berries plus an on-site processing plant.

“I like to see how other people proceed in their operation,” said SFGA member Marilynn Lazorko. “ We learn something everywhere we go. There will often be fruit experts with us in the group who will share their knowledge. Plus, as fruit growers, this gives us an opportunity to network, to talk about the challenges we are facing in the industry, like marketing, and how to solve these challenges.”


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