Serious Grower

Will is an extension educator in northern New Hampshire and he's helping his growers manage a new and unusual pest attacking broccoli. We talk to experts in NH, ME, and VT to understand the state of the art in monitoring and management of swede midge.  Vegetable IPM Reports for New Hampshire   Watch the full interview with Dr. Tom Rounsville, Director, Applied Genetics and Genomics Lab at the Univ...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and she's been reading about Luther Burbank alongside a pile of seed catalogues. We discuss what makes crops "true to seed".   Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Libertalia, Arc De Soleil; Overture, Dozeoff; Can't Handle It, Ryan James Carr

Susan is a professor of agriculture at the University of New Hampshire. We discuss the ins and outs of growing in unconventional situations and talk spiders.  Learn more about the Farm2You program at UNH   Learn more about the research project Optimizing pest management in high tunnels to increase the resiliency of local food systems Learn more about pesticide regulation     With the Homies, Sarah...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and accidental grasshopper rancher. The ins and outs regarding the rearing and farming of insects is discussed. One of many popular ant forums can be found on Reddit  Learn more about the Schmidt Pain Index   With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; The Doom and Gloom Choir, Luella Gren; Drinkin' & Jivin', TAGE

Caleb Goossen joins us for a deep dive into the interplay between fertilization and pest severity. TL;DR Overfertilizing your crops might make some pest infestation worse, but underfertilizing won't solve all your pest problems.    We review data from Laybourne & Aradottir 2022 and Nowak & Komor 2010 .    Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Overture, Dozeoff; Riding High, J...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. In this episode we live react to an interview with Will Hastings about his work developing the Growing Kiwiberries in the Northeast guide.  Learn more about how kiwiberry is resistant to infestation from the invasive fruit fly, spotted wing drosophila! Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; La Belle Nini, El Flaco Collect...

Jason is turning his Oregon home into an edible landscape and a terrific place for his family to hang out. In this "garden coaching" session we exchange advice on topics, both mechanical and botanical, touching on hops, pole beans, melons, and luffa sponges. Resource from Oregon State University on Growing Hops in the Home Garden   Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Libertalia, Ar...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, where its been pretty windy lately. We discuss the history of hedgerows, bramble maintenance, wild fruits, and landscape alterations on the farm.   History of hedgerows in the UK The Hedgelayer Documentary   Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Aquatic Flower Dance, Ryan James Carr; Summertime Madness, Matt Large; Disco...

Susan is a professor of agriculture at the University of New Hampshire. She brings a ton of commercial experience to her college classroom but she also runs a community garden and has been extending her expertise to the on-campus daycare. We're joined by a fellow parent from Susan's daycare and we discuss how gardening in the classroom has long term benefits for young children, why principles of f...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer, growing in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and she recently lost quite a few apple trees to rodent damage despite her best efforts to protect them. We discuss behavior & pest management of voles and deer causing injury to trees, with the help of publicly-funded research brought to us by the US Department of Agriculture .   Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstra...

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. Learn more about Community Supported Research Oregon State Extension resources for backyard berries and fruit tree pruning Saffron Lifecycle   Container growing for blueberries?  Growing Sweetpotato? What could go wrong?    Music...

Susan is a professor of agriculture in the seacoast region of New Hampshire. She runs a community garden and works with students and community members across a wide range of age groups. She's an experienced commercial farmer but she has thoughts on how we value the non-commercial aspects of growing. Listen into this wide ranging conversation about unique pests in high tunnels, as well as a deep di...

Kasi is a non-commercial farmer, growing in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and she encountered a planting of cowpeas during a recent tour of her ag experiment station that was meant to support wasps. She wants to know what gives? We chat about stinging wasps and the non-stinging parasitic wasps who provide biocontrol of pest insects. Full interview with Dr. Veronica Yurchak Extension Specialist in C...