Broccoli Roundup
About this Episode
Listen to a broccoli dream team discuss disease management, markets, varieties, insect control and more! Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Bhabesh Dutta of Georgia, Thomas Bjorkman of Cornell and Susan Scheufele of Massachusetts, a team tackling broccoli production east of the Mississippi. Learn more about their multi-state work on developing varieties and markets and improving pest and disease management.
Recent Episodes from The Vegetable Beet
Reducing tillage in vegetable production – an interview with Liz Dwyer of Dancing the Land
Deep compost mulch for vegetable production – an interview with Jimmy Bauman of Farm Fam
Managing soilborne diseases with biofumigation
Knocking the wind out of soil diseases
Building organic matter without building phosphorus
How do we build organic matter on farms without over-fertilizing our soils? And what are realistic goals for increasing organic matter? In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Nic Jelinski, a soil scientist at the University of Minnesota. They talk about soil formation, how organic matter accumulates in soil, broadening our metrics for soil health, and how different practices like compost additions and cover crops contribute to organic matter in the longer-term.
Where phosphorus comes from and where it goes
Across the Great Lakes region, we see vegetable farms with very high levels of soil phosphorus. In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews four ecologists who study nutrient leaching in freshwater ecosystems to understand how much it matters for vegetable farms to have high phosphorus levels in their soils, and what we can do about it.
Tunnel trouble: increasing many things, but not yield
High tunnel crops often look great for the first few years, but as tunnel soils begin to build up salts and alkalinity, we begin to see plant health problems around years 3-5. In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Elsa Sanchez and Thomas Ford from Penn State about trends they've seen in high tunnel soils, and strategies for dealing with common problems.
Sweet Corn and Beans Succotash - live from Great Lakes EXPO
In this special mid-winter offering, three university researchers agreed to be interviewed and recorded for this live and in-person show. They were Marty Chilvers, specializing corn and bean diseases; James Dedecker, specializing wildlife management; and Zsofia Szendrei, specializing in insect pests of vegetables. This show is brought to you by Fartless Beans, and Heavy Metal Tube Man.
Unique Upicks - live from Great Lakes EXPO
In this special mid-winter offering, three operations agreed to be interviewed and recorded for this live and in-person show. They were Blake Farms (Armada, MI), specializing in fruits, vegetables, and agritainment; Hoopers Farm Garden (Traverse City, MI), specializing in cut flowers for events; and Will Forage for Food (Grass Lake, MI), specializing in wild food tourism and educational events.