NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWS 



NHPGA Receives Grant 



The New Hampshire Plant Growers' 

 Association has received a NH De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Markets & 

 Food Mini-Grant in the amount of 

 $500. The grant money will be used 

 for the development of a new retail 

 directory for our organization. 



Robert Demers, of Demers Garden 

 Center and a long-time NHPGA 

 Board of Director, spearheaded the 

 grant proposal. Demers plans to de- 

 velop, create and distribute a directory 

 of all NHPGA retail members to dis- 

 tribute to the general public at events 

 like the Farm & Forest Expo as well 

 as other state and local events that in- 

 volve the green industry and the gar- 

 dening public. 



The directory will be in booklet 

 form with a color cover. NHPGA re- 

 tail members will be listed by region 

 (north, central-lakes, west, south & 

 seacoast) with each region represent- 

 ing a separate section of the booklet. 

 Retailer information would be listed: 

 firm name, address, contact informa- 

 tion, business descriptive and possibly 

 directions from a major highway. The 

 booklet will also include advertise- 

 ments and coupons. 



The NHPGA Retail Directory will 

 increase the general public's awareness 

 of our association and its excellent 

 products and services. The directory 

 will be completed for distribution at 

 Farm & Forest 2004. 



12,695 Attend New England 

 Grows in Boston 



Move to New Convention 

 Center Announced 



The winter of 2003 held true to form 

 with a storm that dropped 12" of 

 snow on Boston during New England 

 Grows. Despite the weather, 12,695 

 hardy New Englanders braved the 

 storm and made their way to the an- 

 nual conference, held February 6—8, 

 2003 at the Hynes Convention Cen- 

 ter in downtown Boston. 



A highlight of New England 

 Grows is the educational conference 

 that brings the "best and the bright- 

 est" speakers from around the globe 

 to provide more than 35 hours of 

 top-notch training. Industry luminar- 

 ies such as Patrick Chasse, Rick 

 Darke, Peter del Tredicci, Gordon 

 Hayward, Kevin Kehoe, and David 

 Minor received rave reviews from 

 conference participants. 



The New England Grows market- 

 place featured 620 exhibiting firms in 

 more than 925 booth spaces. The five 

 exhibit halls, which covered 200,000 

 square feet, were brimming with the 

 latest plant material, products, equip- 

 ment and services for green industry 

 professionals. 



Once again. New England Grows 

 presented grant awards to the six New 

 England state cooperative extension 

 systems. This year, $30,000 was given 

 to support services that directly im- 

 pact the green industry. Since its in- 

 ception, the New England Grows en- 

 dowment fund has contributed more 

 than $225,000 to the region's exten- 

 sion systems. 



In another development, the New 

 England Grows board of directors an- 

 nounced plans to move the confer- 

 ence and marketplace in February 

 2005 to the new Boston Convention 

 and Exposition Center — a $800 mil- 

 lion convention facility currently 

 being built on Boston's waterfront. 



"We are very enthusiastic about 

 our decision to change venues in 

 2005," said Scott McPhee, president 

 of New England Grows. "The board 

 spent more than three years deliberat- 

 ing the pros and cons of such a move 

 and we're confident we've made the 

 right decision for all of New England 

 Grows' stakeholders." 



Upon completion, the Boston 

 Convention and Exposition Center 

 (BCEC) will rival any major conven- 

 tion center in the world. The 

 600,000 square feet of contiguous ex- 

 hibit space will allow current New 

 England Grows exhibitors the oppor- 

 tunity to increase their display space, 



as well as accommodate more than 

 100 companies who have been wait- 

 ing years to exhibit. The expanded 

 marketplace, combined with mid-week 

 dates, more parking, and a state-of- 

 the-art convention facility promise an 

 event not to be missed in early Feb- 

 ruary 2005. 



Started in 1993, New England 

 Grows is sponsored by the New En- 

 gland Nursery Association, Associated 

 Landscape Contractors of Massachu- 

 setts, Massachusetts Arborists Associa- 

 tion, and the Massachusetts Nursery 

 & Landscape Association. 



New England Grows 2004 is 

 scheduled for Thursday, February 5 

 through Saturday, February 7 at the 

 Hynes Convention Center in Bos- 

 ton, MA. For more information, 

 contact New England Grows by 

 phone at (508) 653-3009, by e-mail 

 at NEGrows@aol.com, or visit www. 

 NEGrows.org. 



2003 Farms of Distinction 



As reported in the Weekly Market 

 Bulletin, twelve outstanding agricul- 

 tural operations were named New 

 Hampshire Farms of Distinction for 

 2003. Two of these outstanding op- 

 erations have ties to the NH Plant 

 Growers' Association: 



Goudreault Farm, 

 Plaistow NH 



This family owned and managed farm 

 is a landmark amid the suburban 

 neighborhoods next to the Massachu- 

 setts border. Once a dairy farm, it has 

 been transformed into a thriving hor- 

 ticultural enterprise, featuring an- 

 nuals, perennials, and poinsettias in 

 season, plus pumpkins and vegetables, 

 all marketed through a farm store. 

 The Goudreault Farm is a NHPGA 

 member. 



Windswept Maples Farm, 

 Loudon NH 



This is the oldest continuously oper- 

 ated family farm in Loudon, and is 

 now operated by the sixth, seventh 

 and eight generations of the Moore 



SPRING 2003 



