On a sunny afternoon in May, the contenders, each plant about 4 inches tall, were growing in a greenhouse in a rural stretch of Cumberland County. A hanging thermometer said the temperature indoors had reached 85 degrees. “This is about as warm as you want it to get,” said Tom Orton, the plant breeder here at the Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center farm in Upper Deerfield, looking protectively over his seedlings. Orton has a PhD. in plant genetics and tends to talk like a scientist, but he can speak tenderly, almost anthropomorphically, about tomatoes.
Entrepreneurs "Birthed" Here
They come from all over the region, no more than two dozen invited at a time. They drive to Bridgeton in rural Cumberland County, near Delaware Bay, for a five-hour seminar at the Rutgers Food Innovation Center. "They are mostly individuals who hav…
The Right Grapes in the Right Place
There is a fundamental understanding in the world of viticulture (grape growing) that soil and climate should dictate what grape varietals are grown at a specific location. The operators of New Jersey’s Beneduce Winery are following this philosophy wit…
Moth Week Takes Wing
Keep those porch lights burning! National Moth Week is July 20 to 28, and it promises to be a fluttering good time. It’s no surprise this burgeoning celebration of the mysterious creatures of the Lepidoptera order started in East Brunswick. The critter…
Saving Barnegat: Development and Pollution Threaten A Delicate Ecosystem
A late March snowfall has begun to speckle the dark surface of Little Egg Harbor and Barnegat Bay. At 8:30 am, the air temperature in the seaport of Tuckerton hovers around freezing as Dale Parsons Jr. prepares to spend another day on the water. "Y…
Alba Vineyard is Toast of NJ Wine Competition
Alba Vineyard of Milford is the big winner in this year’s New Jersey Wine Competition Awards, taking home six gold medals and earning the title Winery of the Year. In all, 140 medals were presented to 24 producers, representing the best of the Garden S…
Cicadas Still Poised to Emerge
We’ve all heard the warnings: an invasion of cicadas to descend upon the East Coast in a swarm of Biblical proportions. But the huge insects, and their incessant chirping, are still nowhere to be seen (or heard)…George C. Hamilton, chairman of Rutger…
