Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

Pastures, ponds, gardens & groves

Feb. 10, 2007

For everyone in Brevard County who has; a pond and/or retention pond, a pasture or enough land for an agriculture exemption but your not sure what to grow on it – do I know of a program for you. We, the Brevard County UF-IFAS Extension, have scheduled our first small farms conference that we are calling Pastures, Ponds, Gardens & Groves.

This program will have three separate tracks which are ponds, pastures and horticulture. There will be five concurrent sessions, with a program from each of the three tracks, going on from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

To give you an idea of the topics to be covered, the pond track will have the following classes given: Aquatic Weed Control, Stocking Farm Ponds, Keeping a Healthy Pond, Bait and Food Fish Aquaculture for Small Farms and Shrimp and Prawn Aquaculture for Small Farms.

For those interested in pastures there will be talks on Weed Control in Pastures, Do I Need to Feed My Grass Too, What do I Need to do to Establish this New Grass, What Grass Should I Plant and How Many Critters Can I Have?

The last track, horticulture, will have programs on Starting a Nursery, Selecting Vegetable Crops for Small Acreage, Requirements for Organic Certification, Alternative Cash Crops for Small Acreage and Selecting Fruit Crops for Small Acreage.

We will have a variety of speakers ranging from some of our specialists from the University of Florida, Extension Agents from other counties as well as two of our own Brevard County Extension Agents. Eddie Leonard, our Marine Agent, will give the talk on Aquatic Weed Control and our Agriculture Agent, Joe Walter, will present the program on Do I Need to Feed My Grass Too? Every session will provide some time for questions also.

For anyone who pre-registers by March 9th the cost will be $25 and guarantees a boxed lunch. After March 9th the cost goes up to $30 with no guarantee of a boxed lunch. Pastures, Ponds, Gardens & Groves will be held at our office at 3695 Lake Drive in Cocoa, 32926. Registration will be from 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 31st.

To print up a program agenda with the registration form go to our website at http://brevard.ifas.ufl.edu/. In the scrolling banner that runs along the top, titled Upcoming Events you will see the Pastures, Ponds, Gardens & Groves mentioned, followed by a place to click for more details. When you click for more details it will go to the program agenda that lists all of the speakers, programs and the session times. Also on the brochure is the registration form. So, take a few minutes and think. Is there anyone else you know who might benefit from this program too? Maybe a friend who lives in a subdivision that has retention ponds or another friend who has some land but isn’t sure what to do with it. Go ahead, cut this article out and share it with others you know who may be interested in the Pastures, Ponds, Gardens & Groves. We hope to have a lot of people attend!