What's Killing My Kale?

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewees: Julie Weisenhorn and Nathan Hecht

In episode 25 of What's Killing My Kale, Natalie talked with Extension Educator Julie Weisenhorn, and recently graduated horticulture master's student Nathan Hecht. Both Julie and Nathan have been studying how flowering plants near fruit and vegetable plots impact pollination and fruit set. While we generally know that adding flowering plants to the landscape is good for pollinators and beneficial insects, we wanted to dig deeper and learn how much of an impact flowering plants can have, how to go about selecting the proper plants, and how the broader landscape impacts results. This is a longer episode, but it's packed with insight and good discussion.
You can listen to and download the episode here. What's Killing my Kale is also available on iTunes. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As always, reach out and let us know if there are any topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes!

In episode 21 of our fruit and vegetable podcast What's Killing My Kale? we talked to Courtney Tchida, farm manager at Cornercopia student organic farm. Courtney has been trying various weed management methods over the years, and has recently been experimenting with solarization using standard plastic as well as used billboards (as in billboards from roadside advertising!). Courtney shared her insight on how well these methods work, labor and equipment costs, convenience, and more.
Click here to listen to the episode. You can listen to it now, or download it to listen later. You can find all previous episodes on FruitEdge. What's Killing My Kale? is a podcast production of the University of Minnesota Extension, sponsored in part by the University of Minnesota Integrated Pest Management program. Co-hosted by Extension Educators Annie Klodd and Natalie Hoidal, the podcast focuses on innovative and timely pest management topics in fruits and vegetables, and sometimes ventures into other timely issues as well. Author: Natalie Hoidal, Extension Educator-Fruit and Vegetable Production

Spotted wing drosophila damage on tart cherry. Photo: Annie Klodd In Season 3 Episode 5 of What's Killing My Kale, Annie talked with Gigi Digiacomo, a research fellow in the Department of Applied Economics. They discussed Digiacomo's recent findings about how spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) has impacted the Minnesota berry industry, and weighed the economics of SWD management strategies.
You can listen to and download the episode here. What's Killing my Kale is also available on Apple Podcasts and FruitEdge. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As always, reach out and let us know if there are any topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes!

Author: Annie Klodd. Any farmers applying compost, manure, or straw should keep in mind that while these inputs have many benefits for vegetable production, they can also be modes of spread for weed seeds. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the amount of weed seeds that appear in compost and manure and then end up on the field.
Photo: Chryseis Modderman
Episode 16: Manure, Compost, and Weeds.
This month on "What's Killing My Kale?" (our fruit & vegetable pest management podcast) we had a fascinating discussion about this with Chryseis Modderman, UMN Extension Educator for manure management. Among other things, we talked about best practices for applying compost and manure on vegetable fields, and how it is that weed seeds and diseases can travel all the way from the pasture, through the animal, and onto the vegetable field. We then discussed practices that growers can adopt to minimize the risk of bringing in new weed infestations via manure and compost.
Click here to listen to the podcast, Episode 16: Manure, Compost, and Weeds. The episode will also be available on iTunes.

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewee: Yolanda Chen

In episode 26 of What's Killing My Kale, Natalie talked with Dr. Yolanda Chen, a professor at the University of Vermont. Yolanda has been studying Swede Midge on the East coast, where it has been a devastating disease of cole crops. In particular, her research has focused on organic management strategies.
In part 1 of this episode, we interviewed Angie Ambourn, supervisor of the MDA's pest detection unit, about recent Swede Midge sightings in Minnesota. We anticipate that this insect pest may move beyond community gardens to vegetable farms in the near future, so it's important for growers to be on the lookout, and to have some background in current research and management strategies.
Listen to part 1 here.
You can listen to and download the episode here. What's Killing my Kale is also available on iTunes. If you enjoy listening to our podcast, please leave a review on iTunes. As always, reach out and let us know if there are any topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes!