Serious Grower

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 diet before taking any advice from two middle aged women without medical degrees. Also, we talk about our periods and other bodily functions a whole lot.  Music: With the Homies - Sarah, the Illstrumentalist; Papa Funk - Spring Gang; Funk Wife Punk Life - L.M. Styles

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 tell the difference between tomatoes that were picked green and allowed to ripen on the counter versus picked red and allowed to ripen on the vine.    Music: With the Homies - Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Patinia - Ryan James Carr

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.psu.edu/2026-late-blight-updates https://extension.psu.edu/tomato-potato-late-blight-in-the-home-garden  More information about spotted lanternfly https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-pests-diseases/slf     

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 within a giant pumpkin growing project with the boys over at Brookdale Retirement community in Durham, NH. In part one of a multi-part series, Chris walks us through the nitty gritty of how to get started and we get some sage words of wisdom from Steve.  Check out the One Ton Genome Project to learn more about the genetics of these giant pumpkins. You can also find information about how to contribute and make sure this project is fully funded!   Music: With the Homies - Sarah, The Illstumentalist; Jetski - Kiddo Keys; Fantasize, Bonafide - I'MIN; A Woman's Design is Devine - Blood Red Sun

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-mildew-of-cucurbits/mobile-fungicides-for-managing-downy-mildew-and-other-major-cucurbit-diseases/ https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/downy-mildew-of-cucurbits/list-of-biopesticides-for-organic-production/     Plectosporium https://plant-pest-advisory.rutgers.edu/vegetable-disease-of-the-week-3-2-2-2-2-2/   Basil downy mildew https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/pest-management/disease-factsheets/basil-downy-mildew/ https://www.growingproduce.com/crop-protection/disease-control/research-finding-better-ways-to-deal-with-basil-downy-mildew/ https://usbasilconsortium.rutgers.edu/basil-advanced-studies-and-innovation-lab/   Verticillium wilt eggplant https://blogs.cornell.edu/livegpath/gallery/eggplant/verticilium-wilt-on-eggplant/