Horticulture in Devon and Cornwall

Event Schedule

1030

Registration

11:00

Chairman's Introduction - John Lockwood

11:10

The Cider Industry in the South West – Liz Copaz, National Association of Cider Makers' Orcharding Advisor and Field Trial Officer Liz Copaz is a major consultant to the expanding small volume Cider Industry in the South West. She brings many years of experience in husbanding cider apple orchards and in making cider itself. She worked originally in the Cider Department of Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) and then branched out as an independent consultant when Long Ashton was closed. There are few greater experts on this topic.

11:45

Education development at Rosemoor - Sarah Chesters, Principal Education Officer, RHS Garden Rosemoor The Education and Training programme at RHS Rosemoor goes from strength to strength under the guidance and expertise of Sarah Chesters. Kew-trained she has a deep understanding of horticulture and uses this to instil knowledge and competence into her students. She will provide an overview of education and training provision at Rosemoor, its relevance for the students and opportunities for the industry.

12:20

Cauliflower and other Brassica trialling in Cornwall - Bill Herring, Coordinator of National Brassica Variety Trials Brassicas in particular the cauliflower crop are vital parts of the Cornish rural economy. Finding suitable cultivars capable of cropping satisfactorily is essential and Bill Herring, now Head of Horticulture at Duchy College, has for many years taken special interest in fulfilling this task. His work is funded now by the Horticultural Development Company (HDC) producing annually recommendations of new hybrid cultivars for growers’ use. He will describe this work with all its successes and problems.

13:00

Sandwich Lunch

14:00

End of meeting