Blue Fruit Farm Field Day

Join the Organic Fruit Growers Association, the UW-Madison Emerging Crops Program, and hosts Ben and Natalie McAvoy at Blue Fruit Farm for a look at one of the Upper Midwest’s oldest organic fruit farms.We will tour their 5 acres of certified organic fruit, including aronia berries, black currants, blueberries, elderberries, honeyberries, and plums. Blue Fruit Farm has grown out of long history and experience: the farm was founded by Jim Riddle and Joyce Ford in 2008; Ben and Natalie started working with Jim and Joyce in 2021, and they became proud farm owners in 2023. They market their fruit and value-added products on-farm (both U-pick and pre-picked) as well as to local restaurants. The tour will focus on organic production & marketing of their diverse mix of fruit crops and will also showcase the farm's rainwater collection and solar-powered irrigation; on-farm composting; fertigation; deer, racoon, & bird exclusion measures; and pollinator habitat.

Eat some honeyberries!The UW-Madison Emerging Crops Program and SeedLinked, a trial management platform, will host a honeyberry tasting at this field day as part of a project to crowdsource performance data through on-farm, collaborative trials.

Agenda

10:00-10:30 am: Welcome and check-in
10:30 am-12:30 pm: Farm tour and discussion
12:30 pm: Catered lunch