Virginia Tech. Small Fruit Program at Hampton Roads AREC

06/11/2026

Blackberry fruit tasting opportunity for Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Norfolk residents on July 1. More details are in the flyer below

06/10/2026

Some more photos from our field day in this post.

06/08/2026

Sharing some photos from our field day held at Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center last week. We had over 40 attendees and several speakers from Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty and graduate students, as well UF IFAS Horticultural Crop Physiology Lab . Thanks to Virginia Tech Tidewater AREC communications and marketing team for taking photos at our event.

06/07/2026

We had my colleague from UF IFAS Horticultural Crop Physiology Lab at the berry field day on June, 3 in Virginia Beach.

06/04/2026

05/30/2026

For any commercial fruit growers in VA…

# vtberrybites

VCE will be hosting a Virginia Fruit and Berry Grower Freeze Management Meeting on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 from 11:00am to 1:00pm via Zoom. Producers and other interested parties can join with this link: https://virginiatech.zoom.us/j/87036106959

The seminar will include presentations from the Honorable Katie Frazier, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry; Ms. Lauren Vaughan, Virginia FSA Acting Farm Program Chief, and; Dr.'s Harner, Samtani, and Sherif addressing vineyard, berry, and tree fruit concerns related to the damaging frost/freeze events of April 2026. The attached program agenda provides additional detail.

05/21/2026

My lab. has been diligently harvesting strawberries four times per week since mid April. Each harvest is graded, sorted, weighed, recorded and entered. It is quite a process and no easy task, but these plants and the fruits give us so much joy and satisfaction. We are looking forward to analyzing data for treatment effects next. Our yields are not the highest this season, but we are consistently tasting some of the sweetest fruits ever!

05/20/2026

Last week, we were happy to host students and faculty from Delaware State University at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center. We exchanged information on research and science and discussed future collaboration opportunities.

05/04/2026

have become a popular backyard plant across Virginia over the past decade, and it was about time to share information on fig production. At Virginia Cooperative Extension, we are pleased to announce the release this article. Thanks to my student Amy Burnett for taking the lead on this! .

Send a message to learn more

04/30/2026

WINCHESTER—With crop damage ranging from disruption to devastation, fruit growers across Virginia have felt the strain of an exceptionally frigid spring.