University of Kentucky extension specialist for vegetable production Dr. Rachel Rudolph and senior extension associate for horticulture Joshua Knight each received two American Society for Horticultural Science
(ASHS) awards in July for their development of extension materials. One award was for the development of a customizable PowerPoint presentation shared with horticulture and agriculture agents around the commonwealth to help them develop their own programming for high tunnel production. The second award was given to Rudolph, Dr. Krista Jacobsen and Knight for the development of a poster/infographic titled High Tunnel Planting Calendar for Annual Crops, including three region-specific versions and an accompanying extension fact sheet (CCD-FS-9) to help growers get the most out of the poster. The poster shows risk-friendly seed/transplant and harvest timing and critical air temperature ranges for as many as 37 different crops that can be grown in high tunnels. Additionally, the calendar uses a color-coded at-a-glance reference to show crop families. This lets growers planning their season make choices for rotation that take into account succession planting and rotation by botanical family when deciding what crops to plant in their high tunnel. Rotation by botanical family is often a critical management strategy for reducing disease pressure. A link to high-resolution posters for each region is available on the UK Center for Crop Diversification website alongside other system specific production resources. A shortened, direct link is available here: https://tinyurl.com/y4d3qn7d. Hard copies printed on poster paper can be requested through your county’s extension office. Both projects were developed in response to feedback and interest from our grower communities and with multiple rounds of review by research faculty and extension personnel.