Rutgers Clifford E. & Melda C. Snyder Research & Extension Farm welcomed more than 600 visitors to its annual Open House and Tomato Tasting event on Aug. 31, Visitors were treated to a wagon ride tour of the current research being conducted at the farm, including hard cider apple variety trials, organic insect control for sweet corn, hemp for fiber, disease resistant basil breeding, yacon as a specialty crop, and the future site for agrivoltaics research.
Faculty and staff, along with Rutgers Master Gardener volunteers, were on hand to address questions about the research and to answer home gardening inquiries. The tomato tasting featured more than 50 varieties of tomatoes.
Research at Snyder Farm often generates excess fresh fruits and vegetables, and once research data has been collected, excess produce has been donated to community organizations to help feed the needy. This year’s Open House marked the milestone of two million pounds of fresh produce donated to charity over the last 25 years.
