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29 PLOW sha cytq, the participants and features excellent audio - visual capabili- ties in the Center's meeting room. We will also have an ex- cellent caterer to provide the lunch. The school will start with registration from 7:30 -8:30 a.m., break for lunch, and will adjourn at 3:45 p.m. The school will open with Gary Bullen, Extension Special- ist, with the Dept. of Agricultural Economics at North Caro- lina State University. Gary will outline excellent marketing strategies for direct marketers to follow that will ensure their success when selling to their customers. The southeast U.S. is blessed with a long growing season. Why not take advantage of that and do things to lengthen the growing season to extend your marketing season? Steve Upson, who is a horticulturist at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma, has been study- ing how to extend the growing season by using hoophouses. Hoophouses are simple inexpensive portable greenhouses that are placed in the fields of high -value fruit, vegetable and flower crops to gain early maturity in the spring, and to extend the harvest season in the fall. Steve has been growing several different crops in these hoophouses and will give a general overview of how to as- semble the structures, the cost, and how they work on the morning program, and will devote time to specific crops that are well- suited to growing in hoophouses on the after- noon program. As marketing topics are the ones that growers always ask for at the Specialty Crops School, the time has come to in- troduce a new alternative marketing system that is currently being developed to serve growers in the tri -state region of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. This new marketing system will be the opening of a new regional produce auction that will be located in the northern Piedmont of North Carolina or Virginia. Carl Cantaluppi will explain how growers that want to grow large quantities of produce, herbs, bedding plants or nursery stock can par- ticipate in selling at the auction to sell items in lots'that will be bought by buyers on -site. The produce auction concept was explored by Cantaluppi after seeing the successes of auction marketing in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Carl will inform growers about how the auc- tion will operate, including costs, days of operation, etc. It is hoped that growers from a large geographic area can par- ticipate in this auction to serve buyers of small grocery stores, roadside stands, farmers market sellers, garden cen- ters, and specialty restaurant owners. Strawberries that are grown in the Southeast as a specialty crop are almost always grown in combination with drip irri- Page 5 gation and black plastic mulch. This intensive system is known as strawberry plasticulture. The pioneer of strawberry plasticul- ture is none other than Dr. Barclay Poling, Extension Small Fruit Specialist at North Carolina State University who intro- duced the system in the early 1980s. Barclay will go over the keys of the plasticulture system and will "fine- tune" the important aspects, such as costs to grow the crop, and will explain pricing strategies to help you price your berries effectively, so that you can obtain a realistic profit for your efforts. North Carolina is home of the beautiful Biltmore House in Asheville. Eli Herman serves as the horticulturist who grows the fruits and vegetables that are served to the house guests. Listen to Eli as he covers the specialty crops that he grows to pick up and take home some ideas for individuals who might be interested in offering these items at a bed and breakfast, or other tourist attractions. .For a copy of the program, pre - registration form, and a list of local motels, contact Carl Cantaluppi at 919 - 603 -1350. NC Herb Association Winter Conference February 15 -17, 2002 Betsy Jeff Penn 4 -H Camp, Reidsville, NC What better way to get ready for a beautiful North Carolina spring than to im- merse yourself in a week- end of learning more about herbs? This conference will be a learning experi- ence, interspersed with fun and entertainment. Satur- day night fun will feature "The Love Connection" complete with music, po- ems, stories, dancing... a real "Saturday Night Live ". There will be programs geared towards business people in the herb industry as well as the hobbyist. Reservations will be taken on a first come basis. So sign up right away; don't miss this informative conference. Come learn, meet and relax with old friends and make some new friends; all for the love of herbs. The North Carolina Herb Association is a non - profit organiza- tion established in 1986 to promote the production and use of herbs and herb - related products. Membership is open to anyone interested in any aspect of herbs.