Macfarlane Research Greenhouses Open House to be Held April 18
The New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station (NHAES) is hosting its annual Macfarlane Research Greenhouses Open House on Saturday, April 18, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The annual event — which is free and open to the public — highlights the research and work of NHAES scientists and UNH Extension education specialists.
Guests can explore the various compartments of the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses and learn about some of the research taking place in each, explore and discover how a research greenhouse operates, and meet the researchers working at the facility and the staff who operate it. The Open House will feature presentations on a variety of horticulture topics, and Open House guests can also enjoy lunch, courtesy of the Portsmouth-based food pantry Gather.
Schedule of Events:
- 9 a.m. – Macfarlane Research Greenhouses Open House begins
- 10 a.m.–11 a.m. – Raising healthy transplants: 10 tips. Jonathan Ebba, field specialist - greenhouse horticulture, Cooperative Extension
- 11 a.m.–noon – A nature-inspired way to make probiotics for plants. Anna O'Brien, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences
- 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. – Lunch provided from the Gather food pantry. Lunches will be available to all, with donations encouraged
- 2 p.m.–3 p.m. – Keeping greenhouse crops healthy: Preventing and managing common plant diseases. Xiaochen Yuan, assistant professor of plant pathology
- 3 p.m. – Open House ends
The Macfarlane Research Greenhouses offer a controlled environment for a diversity of agricultural and floricultural research projects that includes ornamental and food crop breeding, sustainable ornamental plant nutrition and development, aquaculture, biological pest control, bioremediation and plant genetic diversity. The greenhouse environments are monitored and precisely regulated through a computer-based control system that creates a sustainable growing environment through the conservation of heat, electricity, water and fertilizer, and increased plant resistance to insect pests and diseases.
“We’re excited to showcase the research and teaching programs that take place at the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses,” says Matt Biondi, research greenhouse manager. “It’s an event for science-enthusiasts of all ages, so definitely bring your questions about gardening, greenhouse growing, and managing plant pests, and discover how UNH researchers are working to ensure sustainable, science-based management in the future.”
Examples of current and ongoing research taking place at the Macfarlane Greenhouses — research that Open House visitors will have the chance to learn more about — include growing traditional warm-weather plants and using genetics to breed local varieties of strawberries, kiwiberries, Tartary buckwheat and others. The 22,000-square-foot greenhouses were named in honor of UNH’s first greenhouse director, James Macfarlane. Since the establishment of these greenhouses, they’ve played a critical role in the land-grant mission of the university.
“Our research greenhouses provide a wide variety of research to sprout — from developing new vegetable and fruit plants to biotechnology that will help reduce food waste, new approaches for growing food year-round in cool climates, improving maple tree health, making our forests and lands more sustainable, and so much more,” described Anton Bekkerman, director of the NH Agricultural Experiment Station. “The Open House is a day when our community can take a peek at the future of New Hampshire agriculture.”
Parking
Parking for the event is free in the nearby A lot (see map).
188体育app_188体育在线-平台官网 the NHAES
Founded in 1887, the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture is UNH’s first research center and an elemental component of New Hampshire's land-grant university heritage and mission. We steward federal and state funding, including support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, to provide unbiased and objective research concerning diverse aspects of sustainable agriculture and foods, aquaculture, forest management, and related wildlife, natural resources, and rural community topics. We maintain the Woodman and Kingman agronomy and horticultural research farms, the Macfarlane Research Greenhouses, the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center, and the Organic Dairy Research Farm. Additional properties also provide forage, forests, and woodlands in direct support to research, teaching, and outreach.