After a spring of seemingly never-ending rains left us with deep concerns about having a successful trial season, we were very please to have a new trial location in central Wisconsin. The area is referred to as the Central Sands for good reason. The soil is mainly sandy loam, which allows for quick drainage and allowed us to plant earlier than we could have on heavier soils as we have in Elburn, Illinois. As a result, we planted in a timely manner and had successful visitations in August 2019.
Not all was perfect, as we had Septoria Leaf spot come in just prior to the week of the demo. The Septoria Leaf spot is common in tomatoes in Wisconsin and Michigan, but generally not as major concern in our other trialing locations. As it turns out, this was a blessing in disguise as our resistant varieties got a lot of attention as they stood out as compared to the competition; this was not as obvious in our other trial locations.
NEW Artemis cherry tomato
During week 33 we had visitors from across the country and around the world view our products in Wisconsin. In addition to the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil and squash we had on display in the open field, we were also able to demonstrate tomatoes and peppers in a commercial high tunnel planting on the same farm. Our thanks go to the grower, Jack Buchanan, who did an excellent job managing the multiple crops and having them looking great all at the same time.