Presented by Dr. Mark Schonbeck, this full day course will cover the key principles and concepts that can be used to effectively manage weeds in small-scale, diversified vegetable production without the use of herbicides. The course takes place on Thursday, September 15, 2011; 8:30 AM till 4:30 PM at the Madren Conference Center Auditorium and the Clemson University Student Organic Farm, Clemson, SC.

The weed management approach that will be presented is based on preventive cultural practices such as cover cropping, rotation of crops and tillage practices, and “feeding the crop but not the weeds,” supplemented with timely cultivation and other weed control tactics.  Examples of innovative and successful strategies and tactics from working farms will be used to illustrate principles.  The morning session will be spent in the classroom followed by lunch (provided). The afternoon session will be spent in the field at the Clemson Student Organic Farm where the group will see examples of real-life weed problems followed by open discussion on best strategies for management.

This workshop will begin with check-in at 8:30 AM at the Madren Conference Center located at  230 Madren Center Drive, Clemson University.  For directions please go here: http://www.clemson.edu/centers-institutes/madren/directions.html.

About the instructor: Dr. Mark Schonbeck is a consultant in sustainable agriculture with expertise in organic vegetable production and in organic soil and weed management. He serves as editor for the Virginia Biological Farmer and has authored publications on cover cropping, mulching and other practices for organic soil improvement and weed control. He has developed learning modules on organic weed management for a unique online sustainable agriculture curriculum for Extension agents supported by Southern Region SARE, and has written numerous articles on weed management for eOrganic, the Community of Practice for organic agriculture that is part of the national eXtension project. In addition to years of experience as homestead gardener using organic practices, Dr. Schonbeck has conducted on-farm research to develop improved soil and weed management practices for organic vegetables, and is familiar with the latest cutting edge research on organic weed management for the region.

Registration: Registration for the course is $40 which includes lunch.  Registration fee will be waived for Clemson and SCSU Extension agents. Registration deadline is September 8th. To register, complete the registration form below and send along with a check for $40 payable to Clemson University to: Kelly Gilkerson, Sustainable Agriculture Program, 114 Long Hall, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634. Contact Kelly Gilkerson at kgilker@clemson.edu for additional information.