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Serious Grower: Daily Summaries Delivered
by New Hampshire Community Supported Research
Join Anna (a stone-cold nerd) and her co-hosts to find out how science can help all the serious growers out there! Expect some expert visitors to drop in and get into the weeds, both literally and metaphorically.
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- 6 days ago33 min
Kira lives for tomatoes: gardening for beginners and the science behind flavor.
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
- 2 weeks ago9 min
Field Report for September 2: late blight alert for tomatoes!
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://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
- 2 weeks ago39 min
Giant pumpkin growers, mic-ed up: genetics, vegetative growth stage, and setting fruit
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
- 3 weeks ago8 min
Field Report for August 26: cucurbit downy mildew alert!
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/
- Aug 19, 20269 min
Field Report for August 18: brassica clubroot management, boron issues, and avoiding phytotoxicity.
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 https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/boron_in_vegetables_not_too_little_not_too_much More about cornsilk flies https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN381
- Aug 17, 202637 min
Kasi gets a robot vacuum
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 Ector; Mechakucha - Sugoi; Snakes and Fire - Par Hagstrom; The Big Aisle - John Runefelt
- Aug 12, 20269 min
Field Report for August 12, 2026
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. We’ll get you hooked up with the right expert in your area! 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-advisory.rutgers.edu/white-mold-in-greenhouse-and-high-tunnel-tomato-2-2-2/
- Aug 5, 202611 min
Field Report for August 5, 2026
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. We’ll get you hooked up with the right expert in your area! 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?si=qQ4_PL2NXJ4iD1DQ More information about deploying biofumigation using mustard cover crops Biofumigation https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fne15-817/ https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/f82d6e90-0e81-4652-9dfc-f7a16cb624b5/content
About Serious Grower
Join Anna (a stone-cold nerd) and her co-hosts to find out how science can help all the serious growers out there! Expect some expert visitors to drop in and get into the weeds, both literally and metaphorically.
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