Fruit Ridge | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s): The Ridge | |
  Fruit Ridge Location in Michigan | |
| Coordinates: 43°07′05″N85°46′09″W / 43.11808°N 85.76921°W Coordinates: 43°07′05″N85°46′09″W / 43.11808°N 85.76921°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| Counties | Kent |
| Area | |
| • Total | 158 sq mi (410 km2) |
Fruit Ridge (also known as The Ridge) is a topographical land feature and growing region in West Michigan. The area is so named for its extensive agricultural activity, specifically because of its fruit production.
It is considered to be a "agricultural mecca" as its unique features make it one of the prime fruit-growing regions in the world. The area's deposits of fertile clay loam soils with excellent moisture holding qualities, elevation of greater than 800 feet (240 m), and its proximity to Lake Michigan; creates a unique climate and provides great soil and terrain for the growing of premium fruits and vegetables. [1]
The Ridge is well known for apple production, in 2006 the area accounted for 65% of all Michigan apple production. [2]
The Ridge is approximately 8 miles (13 km) wide and 20 miles (32 km) long covering 158 square miles (410 km2) in portions of Kent, Newaygo, Muskegon, and Ottawa counties. It extends from Walker in the south; to Grant in the North, and is primarily centered on Sparta; the location of the Old Orchard Juice Company. Fruit Ridge Avenue was named after it.
In addition to agricultural practices, Fruit Ridge is also becoming an area of interest for the construction of commercial wind farms. Iberdrola Renewables of Spain has installed a tower of nearly 200 feet (61 m) on the ridge to test whether the wind is strong enough to produce a steady flow of electricity. Company officials hope to build 30 to 35 towers in the area. The Ridge is an area of interest because of the availability of straight line winds, existing high-voltage transmission lines, and farmers eager to preserve agriculture on the ridge. [3] Heritage Sustainable Energy of Traverse City has also been securing wind rights leases in the Fruit Ridge Area. It is estimated that landowners will receive from $3,000 to $5,000 per year per megawatt. [4]
In 2005, International baby food manufacturer Gerber Products Company as well as Pacific Biocontrol, and Michigan State University all were working with area apple packers to develop a region-wide codling moth mating disruption program. This pest, which has been a major apple pest for many years, is developing documented resistance to the organophosphate insecticides. [5]
Maclura pomifera, commonly known as the Osage orange, horse apple, hedge, or hedge apple tree, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing about 8 to 15 metres (30–50 ft) tall. The distinctive fruit, a multiple fruit, is roughly spherical, bumpy, 8 to 15 centimetres (3–6 in) in diameter, and turns bright yellow-green in the fall. The fruits secrete a sticky white latex when cut or damaged. Despite the name "Osage orange", it is not related to the orange. It is a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae. Due to its latex secretions and woody pulp, the fruit is typically not eaten by humans and rarely by foraging animals, giving it distinction as an anachronistic "ghost of evolution".
Henderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 106,740. Its county seat is Hendersonville.
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive purpose. A fruit garden is generally synonymous with an orchard, although it is set on a smaller non-commercial scale and may emphasize berry shrubs in preference to fruit trees. Most temperate-zone orchards are laid out in a regular grid, with a grazed or mown grass or bare soil base that makes maintenance and fruit gathering easy.
South Manitou Island is located in Lake Michigan, approximately 16 miles (26 km) west of Leland, Michigan. It is part of Leelanau County and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The uninhabited island is 8.277 sq mi (21.44 km2) in land area and can be accessed by a ferry service from Leland. Guided tours on open-air vehicles are available to visitors, but most traffic is on foot. Larger North Manitou Island lies to its north.
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of Metro Detroit. The region is also branded as the Blue Water Area.
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland area, or more broadly to most of the region along the Lake Michigan shoreline of the Lower Peninsula, but there is no official definition for it.
The tamarillo is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit. It is also known as the tree tomato, tomate de árbol, tomate andino, tomate serrano, blood fruit, tomate de yuca, tomate de españa, sachatomate, berenjena,chilto and tamamoro in South America, and terong Belanda in Indonesia. It is popular globally, especially in Peru, Colombia, New Zealand, Ecuador, Rwanda, Australia, and the United States.
The Driftless Area, a region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. It was never covered by ice during the last ice age, and therefore lacks glacial deposits, also termed drift. Its landscape is characterized by steep hills, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and karst geology with spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams. Ecologically, the Driftless Area's flora and fauna are more closely related to those of the Great Lakes region and New England than those of the broader Midwest and central Plains regions. The steep riverine landscape of both the Driftless Area proper and the surrounding Driftless-like region are the result of early glacial advances that forced preglacial rivers that flowed into the Great Lakes southward, causing them to carve a gorge across bedrock cuestas, thereby forming the modern incised upper Mississippi River valley. The region has elevations ranging from 603 to 1,719 feet at Blue Mound State Park, and together with the Driftless-like region, covers 24,000 square miles (62,200 km2).
Organic horticulture is the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants by following the essential principles of organic agriculture in soil building and conservation, pest management, and heirloom variety preservation.
Pouteria caimito, the abiu, is a tropical fruit tree originated in the Amazonian region of South America. It grows to an average of 33 feet (10 m) high, and can grow as high as 116 feet (35 m) under good conditions. Its fruits' shape varies from round to oval, pointed at the distal end. When ripe, it has smooth, bright yellow skin and has one to four ovate seeds. The inside of the fruit is translucent and white. It has a creamy and jelly-like texture and its taste is similar to the sapodilla — a sweet caramel custard. The abiu tree is part of the family Sapotaceae and is very similar in appearance to the canistel.
Buffalo Ridge is a large expanse of rolling hills in the southeastern part of the larger Coteau des Prairies. It stands 1,995 feet (608 m) above sea level. The Buffalo Ridge is sixty miles (97 km) long and runs through Lincoln, Pipestone, Murray, Nobles, and Rock counties in the southwest corner of Minnesota.
The Suisun Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Solano County, California, located just east of the Napa Valley wine region in the Coast Range. It was established as a wine appellation on 27 December 1982, making it among the first AVAs of California, Napa Valley being the first.
The Kankakee Outwash Plain is a flat plain interspersed with sand dunes in the Kankakee River valley in northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois of the United States. It is just south of the Valparaiso Moraine and was formed during the Wisconsin Glaciation. As the glacier, stopped at the Valparaiso Moraine, melted, the meltwater was carried away to the outwash plain. On the south side of the moraine, where the elevation drops, the meltwaters eroded away valleys, carrying sand and mud with them. As the muddy meltwater reached the valley where the slope lessened, the water slowed, depositing the sand on the outwash plain. This created a smooth, flat, and sandy plain. Before its draining, the Kankakee Marsh, located on the outwash plain, was one of the largest freshwater marshes in the United States.
Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section Cyanococcus within the genus Vaccinium. Vaccinium also includes cranberries, bilberries, huckleberries and Madeira blueberries. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) and cultivated (highbush)—are all native to North America. The highbush varieties were introduced into Europe during the 1930s.
In New Zealand, agriculture is the largest sector of the tradable economy. The country exported NZ$46.4 billion worth of agricultural products in the 12 months to June 2019, 79.6% of the country's total exported goods. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector directly contributed $12.653 billion of the national GDP in the 12 months to September 2020, and employed 143,000 people, 5.9% of New Zealand's workforce, as of the 2018 census.
Organic beans are produced and processed without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In 2008, over 2,600,000 acres (11,000 km2) of cropland were certified organic in the United States. Dry beans, snap beans, and soybeans were grown on 16,000 acres (65 km2), 5,200 acres (21 km2), and 98,000 acres (400 km2), respectively.
The Celebrity tomato cultivar is a hybrid (biology) that produces long fruit-bearing stems holding 20 or more very plump, robust tomatoes. Fruits weigh approximately 8 oz., and are 4 inches across. Plants need caging or staking, and produce fruit throughout the growing season. The celebrity tomato is a cultivar of the species Solanum lycopersicum. It is a crossbreed of the common tomato that is widely used for various culinary purposes. This tomato is of great size and is known to be resistant to most tomato diseases such as Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, Tobacco mosaic virus and Root-knot nematode due to its hybrid nature. Celebrity tomatoes are highly adaptive to harsh environments and can grow in a wide range of places including dry, humid and wet regions. They are resistant to cracking and splitting which usually occurs when there is an excess of water and sugar movement in the fruits. Therefore, causing the tomato skin to grow at a slower rate compared to the expansion of the fruit. They can survive in harsh uneven rainfall. However, they are highly susceptible to colder environments and are at a higher risk of dying in regions with short growing seasons. The plants can grow up to 5 feet in height with bright red medium-sized fruits. The plants are generally very thick and grow in clusters. The tomato fruits are mostly used in the making of various salsas, salads, juices and canned food.
Hood River Valley is the river basin of Hood River in northern Oregon, U.S. It is bounded by the Columbia River to the north, Mount Hood to the south, the Cascade Range crest to the west and an apparently unnamed ridge system to the east which contains Hood River Mountain and Snyder Canyon. Mount Hood National Forest surrounds the Hood River Valley west, south, and east. It is entirely contained in Hood River County.
Gerber Products Company is an American purveyor of baby food and baby products headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, with plans to relocate to Arlington, Virginia. Gerber is a subsidiary of Nestlé.
EverCrisp is an American apple cultivar developed by the Midwest Apple Improvement Association (MAIA). Trademarked as EverCrisp, the MAIA-1 variety is a cross between two existing apple cultivars – the Honeycrisp and Fuji. Originally produced in Ohio, EverCrisp has since expanded to apple-growing regions across the Midwest in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, and in the Northeast in Pennsylvania and New York. The apple entered the public marketplace in 2017.