sisted of a three hinged panels of vinyl lattice mea- 

 suring 4x8 feet. For strength and stability, each 

 panel was framed with vinyl edging. Four lami- 

 nated posters describing and illustrating apple IPM 

 through the four seasons were hung on the frame- 

 work. The displays could be folded for transport 

 and were light enough to be carried by one person. 



Evaluation 



The self-guided tour was evaluated by a ques- 

 tionnaire mailed to participating growers. Seven 

 of the ten growers returned the questionnaire. 



Most growers (5 of 7) arranged the signs as 

 tours within their orchards. Two growers placed 

 all the signs in one place. Five of the seven grow- 

 ers told their customers about the tour. No grow- 

 ers provided extra signs to direct their customers 

 to the tour. Four growers added traps and other 

 IPM equipment to the tour. Positive comments 

 from customers about the tour were received by 

 four of the growers. Five growers reported their 

 intentions to use the tour as part of their educa- 

 tion program for school children. 



Growers reported that between 1% and 40% 

 of their customers took the "tour". Two growers 

 (with participation of 1% and 40%) rated this as 

 "unsatisfactory." All growers reported that the 

 message and information presented, presentation 

 and workmanship were good to excellent. The 

 over-all success of the project was rated good to 

 excellent on six farms and poor on one farm. 



Both educational projects were also evaluated 

 by a brief customer survey. Twenty-nine custom- 

 ers at two farmstands with self-guided tours were 

 surveyed, 30 at a farmstand with an IPM display, 

 and 40 at two farmstands with neither educational 

 program. 



Twenty-four percent of all customers professed 

 to having heard of IPM before coming to any of 

 the orchards. Where a self-guided tour was located. 



14% of customers interviewed had taken the tour, 

 whereas, 60% of customers looked at available 

 IPM displays. When asked to describe what they 

 learned from a farmstand display, the most frequent 

 response (37%) was that IPM uses less pesticide. 

 Ninety-five percent (20 of 21 responses) of the re- 

 spondents agreed that seeing this information af- 

 fected their attitude about farming. Of these, 85% 

 said that their attitude became more positive. Three 

 individuals traveling together said that their atti- 

 tude was more negative after viewing the display. 

 We also evaluated the program by visiting farms 

 where the tours and displays were used. It was 

 apparent tours were less successful where custom- 

 ers were not adequately informed that the tours 

 existed, or where the start of the tour was too far 

 from the farmstand. 



Conclusions 



Public education on farms can be especially 

 effective in a pick-your-own setting. As customers 

 indicated, families pick apples, in part, as a recre- 

 ational activity, but once the apples are picked, they 

 are looking for other things to do. 



These educational products were successful for 

 some growers, but not for others. As with most 

 educational or marketing products, they are tools 

 and must be used in an appropriate manner to pro- 

 duce the best results. Self-guided tours are best 

 placed in a convenient, conspicuous location and 

 promoted by the grower through welcoming 

 signage, talking to customers, and other methods. 

 Tours can become another reason for customers to 

 come a particular farm. In this project, press re- 

 leases attracted a number of customers. Static dis- 

 plays are much simpler for the grower to use, and 

 while they did not have the novelty or recreational 

 value of the tours, it was clear that the message 

 from simple signs reached a greater percentage of 

 customers. 



*,L Kf^ ^L *.L *>?. 



Fruit Notes, Volume 63 (Number 4), Fall, 1998 



19 



