Serious Grower

Dr. Chris Hernandez is a geneticist and crop breeder at the University of New Hampshire. Steve Geddes is record-breaking giant pumpkin grower living and growing in New Hampshire. As far as Serious Growers go...you can't get much more serious than this! Elite level growing and fierce competition, overseen across the globe by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth . Join Anna (an entomologist) as she embeds...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. In this wide ranging discussion, we discuss how magnesium supplements have been helping Kasi avoid migraine headaches , get nostalgic about rhododendrons, and get a little twisted up making analogies between nutritional supplementation for human health and plant health.  Content warning! Talk to your doctor about supplementing your di...

Kira is a regular lady from the Seacoast of New Hampshire who loves fresh, local produce and wants to get into varsity level growing, backyard tomatoes. We discuss low light levels in the home that are great for house plants but not quite enough for starting vegetable transplants, we try a de-goatified goat cheese, and develop a sensory panel activity to determine if farmers' market attendees can...

A summary of what vegetable pest experts are talking about this week (the last field report for the season)...including risk of late blight infections in tomato, first report of spotted lanternfly in New Hampshire, emerging diseases, and reports of early maturing pumpkins. More information about late blight https://blogs.cornell.edu/livegpath/gallery/tomato/tomato-late-blight/   https://extension....

Dr. Chris Hernandez is a geneticist and crop breeder at the University of New Hampshire. Steve Geddes is record-breaking giant pumpkin grower living and growing in New Hampshire. As far as Serious Growers go...you can't get much more serious than this! Elite level growing and fierce competition, overseen across the globe by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth . Join Anna (an entomologist) as she embeds...

A summary of what vegetable pest experts are talking about this week…its mostly diseases impacting cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes!   Seasonal reporting on CDM https://extension.psu.edu/2026-cucurbit-downy-mildew-updates   more information on fungicide selection for major cucurbit diseases, including cucurbit downy mildew https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/downy...

A quick summary of what the experts are talking about when it comes to managing late summer pests, diseases, and other vegetable crop maladies. More about clubroot management in brassicas https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/extd8/files/documents/em9148.pdf     More about bottom rot in lettuce https://sites.udel.edu/weeklycropupdate/?p=18469     More about boron deficiencies and toxicities http...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. In this wide ranging discussion, we discuss garlic irrigation strategies , right to repair laws , and all the technologies that are showing up on the farm thanks to space exploration , including UV-C for water purification and disease management. Music: With the Homies - Sarah the Illstrumentalist; All the Freedom You Need - Terin Ect...

More information about alternaria leaf spot of brassicas https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/alternaria-leaf-spot-of-brassicas/   More information about pepper maggot: https://youtu.be/4NuJSPBeZyM     More information about tomato pith necrosis https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/tomato-pith-necrosis     More information about tomato timber rot https://plant-pest-advisor...

The 2026 Cornell IPM Organic Production and IPM Guide for Vegetables is out and available online now!   More information about southern blight in tomatoes https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/southern-blight-of-vegetable-crops   More information about managing leek moth in storage onions https://www.uvm.edu/d10-files/documents/2025-02/2020-Leek-Moth-Research-Brief-FINAL.pdf   https://youtu.be/OVaMkw6UmIU?...

Chuck is a commercial farmer in New Hampshire and an expert in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for fruit and vegetable crops.  This episode touches on how the scientific community is seeking alternatives tools & tactics to replace neonicotinoid pesticides in vegetable pest management and how science and policy influence the nitty gritty business of growing food.  From New Hampshire's House Sp...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

For more information about fall armyworm https://extension.psu.edu/fall-armyworm-as-a-pest-of-field-corn   For more information about corn rusts https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/common-rust-of-sweet-corn/   For more information about yellow vine decline https://plantpathology.mgcafe.uky.edu/yellow-vine-decline-cucurbits-ppfs-vg-12    

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. In this wide ranging discussion, we touch on microbes, nitrogen amendments for growing flowers, invasive species, comfrey tea, "chop and drop" mulching, using compost tea as a liquid fertilizer and as a pesticide... and why Anna needs to get off r/permaculture. More information about how to interpret your soil tests from Vermont and M...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

Jason wants to turn his lawn into an edible landscape and an amazing place for his family in Oregon. We’ll drop in throughout the year to hear how things are progressing. This conversation includes fitting tree fruit into small spaces , how to trap earwigs and why they are both good and bad, and why mail order pollinators could be causing more problems than its solving .    Listen to the full inte...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

Do you want to know more about where your tomatoes come from and the experts who are supporting our vegetable farmers to grow us the freshest, tastiest tomatoes possible, using the most economically & environmentally sustainable practices? This discussion includes discussions of how growing tomato crops under cover can solve one problem (fungal diseases) but might create new problems in need o...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. We celebrate Birdhouse Day, discuss the ins and outs of cover cropping for a squash crop and for weed management, and the difference between "doing science" and "doing a science." Anna has an existential crisis over some very charismatic tomato plants .  Tarping in the Northeast: A Guide for Small Farms    Music: With the Homies, Sara...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

Fellow entomologist, Elisabeth Hodgdon, joins us for a deep dive into onion thrips management as she has been troubleshooting an unusual situation that is becoming more common among small-scale farming in across the northeast. We are joined by Ethan Grunberg to compare and contrast pest complexes in small- and large-scale onion production.  The full interview with Elisabeth & Ethan, Cornell Co...

I will be including brief field reports in the feed through the growing season, featuring real-time reports from extension specialists in New England, New York, and the mid-Atlantic states. Pay close attention to where some of these reports are coming from because we’ll be covering a wide region and please reach out if you need help connecting with your local extension specialist wherever you are....

Jason wants to turn his lawn into an edible landscape and an amazing place for his family in Oregon. We’ll drop in throughout the year to hear how things are progressing, including an update on their luffa project, more construction plans and a discussion of new and repurposed building materials. Check out this example of the Sunset Climate Zones put to use , this pictographic on Trigger (Willie N...