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Still some other possibilities, but we will have the following friends here, selling and showing off. People here: Featherstone Farm produce: 11 AM - 3 PM -ish Oak Meadow Meats : Afternoon Small animal booths: Sharon Lewis et al. Anna Stutzman's Amish baked goods and preserves: 10 AM - 4 PM -ish The Inn at Sacred Clay Farm NOTE - it would be a good idea for you to bring a cooler- you may want to pick up some of the great local meats available, and other produce might benefit, too- and maybe a small-animal transporter if you'd like to take home a hen or two... Booths/info, maybe without people: Eagle Bluff The Inn at Sacred Clay Farm Habitat for Humanity - Harmony Denise Walser-Kolar : award-winning paintings of Badgersett hazels

Here's an outline of the schedule for the field day; pretty close to set at this point. Friday: Arrive and set up camp, if you like. Primitive camping under our 1993 Chestnut planting west of the maze, portajohn and water available. Saturday: 9:30 AM - 5 PM Registration and Registration-Tent Sales Open 10 AM - 6 PM Plant Sales open at Greenhouses 10 AM - 5 PM Vendor and Displays Open (not all vendors/presenters will be there all day) 10:30 AM First Tours start, 1 1/2 -2 hours Introduction to Woody Agriculture: for first-timers, and a refresher/update for experienced growers who haven't taken this tour for a couple of years. Integration of Animals in Woody Agriculture Fields: Advanced tour for those interested in fitting animals into their woody ag operations. This includes people who don't want to burn as much gas for mowing. 11:15 AM Greenhouse Tour. Off-grid, solar-heated four-season greenhouse; in operation for about two decades. We can show you some things that wor...

Hazel grower Don Price called us this morning to let us know that he will be bringing a harvest processing tool he's been working on with him; and we'll set it up and run it. Don's been working with rebuilding and adapting what used to be a standard tool for all farms, a fanning mill . He started working with one at least 3 years ago, and provided one for us to play with here at Badgersett, too. We haven't had the time we've wanted, to work with the really excellent machine he brought us; but he's done some tinkering with his, and has been using it to clean (at least) his hazel nuts. It's likely that with a bit of remodeling, these things can be made to size nuts, also; and remove blanks and lightweights. It'll be here, set up and demonstrating, for the Field Day. Item 2; Sue Wiegrefe has been systematically collecting data on soil pH in a variety of our hazel plantings, with known fertilization/lime treatments. And- we've got results t...

We arranged to demonstrate machine picking of neohybrid hazelnuts 9 years ago. I'm astonished it's been so long. The entire world has changed, in the meantime; for one thing, the machine company we dealt with, BEI, Inc; has been sold. 9 years ago, I'd been talking to their founder and president, Butch Greiffendorf, for 15 years already. He was an enthusiast for the hazels, and came to one of our Annual Field Days, to see the crop for himself, and meet potential growers. But he sold the company, the rascal, a year or so before I called BEI to arrange a trial, on the 9 acres of Badgersett hazels at Arbor Day Farm. Enough enthusiasm survived that the trial did happen. We're trying to arrange real machine picking, now, this year; and so far it's been an uphill battle. These are harder economic times, of course. The Illinois planting we featured here is loaded, and really needs a machine. I of course made a video of the picking trial; but it wasn't ea...

Here's a little updated information on the Field Day- it's looking like attendance will be great, and even the weather seems to be cooperating. This is a version of the press release we sent out: Press Release: For Immediate Release 8/10/11 BADGERSETT RESEARCH FARM 20th ANNUAL FIELD DAY: SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 20th Field Day; 30+ Years Of Progress With New Sustainable Crops If you’ve ever heard anyone say the word “hazelnuts”, in the Midwest, it’s a sure bet they’re talking about the hybrids developed first by Badgersett Research Farm, in Fillmore County. Unknown to many, Badgersett has also been developing two other crops, for the same 30+ years; hybrid chestnuts, which they claim will someday be comparable to corn as a mainstream crop, and hybrid hickories, now in the early years of showing what they can do. “This 20th Annual Field Day is a fantastic chance for folks to see the realities involved in these new crops. At this point, with 5 universities picking up our hyb...