Search Results for: "Peter Nitzsche"

Everyone knows that Jersey tomatoes are great. What you may not know is that Rutgers University is a leader in developing new tomatoes and is responsible for some of your favorites over the years… Peter Nitzsche, the Morris County agricultural agent for the Rutgers University Cooperative Agriculture Extension is on the planning committee for the event and shared with me that they are growing 160 varieties this year. Not all of those tomatoes will be ripe for the Great Tomato Tasting but he anticipates 60 tasting stations with varieties being cycled in when one variety runs out. With proper pacing of the stations, you may be able to taste over 100 tomatoes in one day… This year they are working on a new tomato to release in 2016 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Rutgers. “We have three varieties that are contenders and we need the public to help us with choosing one,” Nitzsche notes. “They are medium slicers developed by Dr. Thomas Orton. We’ve selected seedlings that have good plant habit, fruit quality and flavor. We’re hoping participants like what we’ve got.”

After a decade of quietly, painstakingly sowing their seeds, Rutgers agricultural scientists are finally reaping the fruits of their labor. The “Rutgers Scarlet,” as it is appropriately named, is being unveiled this month. “You have to be very patient to be a plant breeder,” said Peter Nitzsche, associate professor and agricultural agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “We have 13 farms across the state growing them on a test stage, and they are just coming in now. We’ve been harvesting in South Jersey since last week. This week, they’ll be harvesting them in Central Jersey, and next week, in northern New Jersey,” said Bill Hlubik, a professor and agricultural agent for the Cooperative Extension.

The Rutgers Scarlet strawberry doesn’t like road trips. It’s designed to be grown – and eaten – in the Garden State… A new breed of strawberry is the product of years of cross-breeding by the folks at Rutgers’ New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. It was designed to be superior to all those berries that were bred to be grown in California then trucked to New Jersey… The 10-year project comes to fruition – literally – later this month when test plots at over a dozen Jersey farms will produce the berries. Supplies will be scarce this season, according to Rutgers, but consumers and gardeners will be able to buy their own plants at an August 15 open house at the EARTH Center in South Brunswick…”If you have something that is only sweet, it can be bland,” said Peter Nitzsche, associate professor and agriculture agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “But the combined sweetness and acidity is what really creates that excitement in your tongue.”