What's Killing My Kale?

Author: Natalie Hoidal. Interviewee: Angie Ambourn

In episode 26 of What's Killing My Kale, Natalie talked with Angie Ambourn, supervisor of the MDA's pest detection unit. Angie's team has been studying emerging insects and diseases in community gardens across Minnesota, and they've recently detected Swede Midge in gardens across the Twin Cities. Swede Midge is an important pest of cole crops on the East Cost, and while has not yet caused economic damage on Minnesota farms, it's important for producers to keep an eye out and anticipate this insect pest in the years to come.
In part 2 of this episode, we interviewed Yolanda Chen from the University of Vermont about management strategies for organic farms.
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!

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

In Season 3 Episode 10 of What's Killing My Kale, Natalie talked with Dr. Brent Loy, emeritus professor of plant genetics and cucurbit breeder extraordinaire at the University of New Hampshire.
Every year we hear about fruiting in flowering issues in cucurbit crops towards the middle of the summer. Many of the strategies to prevent this from happening should be implemented now, when you're transplanting.
In this episode we discussed:

• Why we so often see flower abortion, small fruit, and oddly shaped fruits, particularly in summer squash and zucchini
• The biology of male and female flowers in various types of cucurbits (and why it matters)
• The role that variety selection plays
• Best practices for nutrient management and spacing in cucurbits

Click here to download and listen to the episode directly. You can also listen to all of our episodes on Apple Podcasts.
Please leave 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 Season 3, episode 9 of What's Killing My Kale, Natalie talked to Dr. Paulo Pagliari, an associate professor of soil science at the University of Minnesota, about nutrient management in wet soils.
Though this spring has been relatively dry, our climate is becoming wetter overall, and we may still see heavy rainfall and flooding this season. In preparation, we interviewed Paulo to learn about best practices. Much of the information in this episode is also relevant for normal conditions in addition to flooding conditions.
In this episode we discussed:
Image: Anne Sawyer

• Best practices for split applications and when to apply different fertilizer sources
• How to respond if you suspect that a heavy rainfall or flooding event resulted in nitrogen leaching
• Foliar testing
• Best practices for manure applications to prevent leaching
• How to adapt your nutrient management practices in reduced tillage systems

Click here to download and listen to the episode directly. You can also listen to all of our episodes on Apple Podcasts.