Mark Gaskell, SFP Advisor
San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties

Contact Information: UC Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties 624 W. Foster Rd., Suite A Santa Maria, CA 93455 (805) 934-6240 fax: (805) 934-6333 e-mail: mlgaskell@ucdavis.edu Additional home page

Key Research Projects/Interests

• New crop research and development
• Special production constraints of organic agriculture

Current Research Projects

Lychee and longan field trials are conducted on 20 sites between San Luis Obispo and San Diego Counties.

• Extended season blueberry production in California

• Research and development leading to commercial production of lychees and longans in California

• The effects of green manure, compost, and feather meal on soil nitrogen dynamics, beneficial soil microrganisms and bell pepper yield

Extension Educational Outreach Projects

• Alternative crops and markets
  • off season fresh market small fruit (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry) production
    
  • fresh market edamame production in California for domestic or export markets
    
  • lychee, longan, and exotic subtropical fruit production in California

• Soil management practices for efficient organic vegetable production

• Improving production and marketing efficiency on small farms
  
  • irrigation management
    
  • financial management
    
  • market information

Collaborative or Other Special Projects

Fresh market lychee fruit is one of a number of promising potential new commercial crops in California.

• Lychee and longan research and development
  • Ben Faber, UC Cooperative Extension, Ventura County
    
  • Ramiro Lobo, UC Cooperative Extension, San Diego County
    
  • Gary Bender, UC Cooperative Extension, San Diego County

• Organic Soil Amendments
  • Carolee Bull, USDA Agriculture Research Service, Salinas
    
  • Richard Smith, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County
    
  • Steve Koike, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County

• Edamame Production
  • Wyatt Brown, Crop Science Department, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
    
  • Marita Cantwell, Vegetable Crops Department, UC Davis
    
  • Richard Smith, UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County
  • Richard Molinar, UC Cooperative Extension, Fresno County
  • Steve Temple, Agronomy and Range Science, UC Davis

Publications

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software) to download some of the publications. Printed copies are available from the Small Farm Center at (530) 752-8136. Contact Mark Gaskell directly with questions regarding additional publications.

Ongoing field trials with organic fertilizers are important aspects of research efforts to improve organic vegetable production in California.

• Organic Certification, Farm Planning, and Marketing (Pub 7247)

• Soil Management and Soil Quality for Organic Crops (Pub 7248)

• Weed Management for Organic Crops (Pub 7250)

• Insect Pest Management for Organic Crops (Pub 7251)

• Plant Disease Management for Organic Crops (Pub 7252)

• Edible Pod Pea Production in California (Pub 7233)

• Pumpkin Production in California (Pub 7222)

• Summer Squash Production in California (Pub 7245)

• Small Farms and Specialty Crops Newsletter Articles

• Organic Vegetable Production in California - Science and Practice.
  Gaskell, Mark, C. Fouche, S. Koike, T. Lanini, J. Mitchell, and R. Smith. 2000.
  Horticultural Technology 10(4):699-712. Contact Mark Gaskell directly for more
  information about this publication.

Miscellaneous

(Languages spoken, links to recommended web pages, etc.):

Fluent Spanish reading, writing, and speaking

Recommended web pages:

• California Agriculture Magazine November-December 1999 Special Section: Small Farms
  
• Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) publications catalog
  

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