Persimmon conference

**"Lon J. Rombough" lonrom@hevanet.com>**

Since there have been announcements of flower shows and such on this list,
it seems like there should be equal time for fruit.  The following is
something from a friend of mine who is organizing the conference.
For point of reference, the "Claypool" mentioned in the announcement is
James Claypool, one of the few private breeders of American persimmons whose
work in St. Elmo, IL has done more to advance the quality of American
persimmons than almost anyone else.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, more, plus word on my grape book at
http://www.bunchgrapes.com

---------------

                                Persimmon Conference

The Indiana Nut Growers is pleased to announce that an American Persimmon
Conference has been  scheduled for Sept 27 & 28, 02. The conference theme
is, 
Commercializing the American Persimmon.

Discussion of the following subject material is planned:
Establishing the orchard.
Persimmon diseases & pests.
Varieties.
Claypool's breeding orchard.
Testing varieties in cooked products.
Processing equipment.
Food processing regulations.
Distribution and marketing possibilities.
Consumer demand & establishing a market.
Restaurant use.
Bus trip to Claypool's testing orchard.
Visit to two acre test persimmon orchard being established.

A loose leaf binder will be included with each basic registrant in which to
place papers provided by speakers. Papers and material which become
available 
after the conference will be mailed out.

This is also a call for papers and presentations. If you have information on
any of the above subjects that you would like to contribute please contact
Jerry Lehman. The length of your talk can vary from five to 30 minutes.
Sharing and pooling of information is the goal of this conference.

The dates are Sept. 27 & 28. Location is Holiday Inn, Terre Haute, Indiana.

Tentative Schedule:
Fri.,  Sept. 27
      8:00 A.M. Registration.
      9:30 Welcome.
     10:00 Papers.
     12:00 Pool side indoor luncheon.
      1:00 Continuation of papers and presentations.
      5:00  Adjourn.
      7:00 Buffet Banquet at Holiday Inn.
      8:30 Banquet presentation.
Sat., Sept. 28
       9:00 A.M. two-acre Lehman test orchard tour.
     11:00 Outdoor grilled lunch at orchard.
     12:00 Board bus for trip to Claypool orchard.
       3:00 Bus departs for Terre Haute* 4:30 arrival.
      4:30 Conference end.

For updates on speakers & subjects go to WWW.nutgrowers.org

* As this is near central Illinois some attendees may wish to depart for
home 
from that location.

Tentative speakers and subject matter.

William Heiman: 
Introduction to the James Claypool breeding orchard and history of 30 years
of breeding the American persimmon.

Dr. Robert Waltz, Indiana State Entomologist:
Insects in the persimmon orchard.

Martha Davis:
Testing various varieties of persimmon pulp in cooked products. Methods and
results. She is planning to have cooked products available for tasting.

Ken Neighbors, White Owl Winery:
Making persimmon and pawpaw wine and commercial wine sales. He is planning
persimmon & pawpaw wine tasting at the Claypool orchard.

Mrs. Dymple Green:
My years as a producer of canned persimmon pulp. Purchasing persimmon fruit,
processing, distributing and selling.

Wally Payne:
Past family commercial operation of shipping the American persimmon to
Chicago markets. 

Jerry Lehman:
Methods to establish an orchard. Tree density, seed vs purchasing grafted
trees, pollination considerations, sexual traits & flowering habits and
more. 
Hand pollinating for breeding purposes including, bagging flowers, pollen
extraction, handling pollen and applying.

Thomas Sears:
Testing persimmon fruit in the Claypool orchard. Claypool varieties suitable
for commercial use.

Dr. Richard Mandell:
Persimmon growing in the South.

Shirley Vargas:
Indiana State Dept.of Health, Wolesale Foods Dept. Shirley will discuss
regulations for wholesale
and retail foods processing.

Open: (Looking for a successful farm market operator. Problem is, the
conference falls in the peak  marketing period and experienced qualified
speakers are understandably too busy with their operations.)
Marketing fruit at the farm market. Attracting customers.

 Claypool Orchard:
See nearly 2,000 trees (both sexes), many bearing ripe fruit. Wonder over
the 
orchard and taste fruit from various trees. Possibly take fruit home in
small 
containers. Organize in small groups to evaluate
and compare fruits and record.    Persimmon & pawpaw wine tasting.

For a registration form, go to http://www.Nutgrowers.org

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

If you have photos for GWL, send them to gwlphotos@hort.net and they will
show up at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos