Dear Valued VCH Readers, Welcome to the first edition of the 2025 Vegetable Crops Hotline newsletter! As we begin this new growing season, I’m excited to continue our tradition of providing timely, research-based information to support Indiana’s vegetable-growing community. Our mission remains steadfast: to deliver crucial updates on pest management, production practices, food safety, and[Read More…]
Since 2013, the Indiana Small Farm Conference has been the premier annual event for Indiana’s small and diversified farm community – helping them experience continuing education and enjoy farmer-to-farmer networking. The Indiana Small Farm Conference is the annual educational and farmer-to-farmer networking event for the Indiana small and diversified farm community. It was developed in[Read More…]
College of Agriculture Press Release – February 13, 2025 Whether it’s called sustainable, regenerative or resilient agriculture, farmers across Indiana are exploring how to be effective stewards of the land while meeting food demands for the growing global population. Exploring these ideas, Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, in partnership with the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and[Read More…]
Growing watermelons in Indiana isn’t always easy if you have cucumber beetles and spider mites. These pests are some of the most damaging to Midwest cucurbits and are commonly managed with a combination of insecticides and miticides. Unfortunately, chemical management for one pest could interfere with control of another pest. For example, spider mite outbreaks[Read More…]
In this episode, we speak with Sam Erwin, owner of Indiana Berry Company, a leading supplier of bare-root strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, asparagus, and more. It is fascinating to hear Sam talk about the company’s history and the fruit industry in Indiana, as well as his version and advice for the new generation of fruit growers.[Read More…]
This week, we experienced another round of very cold days, with minimum temperatures dropping into the single digits. Under these conditions, row covers are essential for helping plants survive and preventing cold damage even inside high tunnels. The difference in the minimum temperatures inside and outside of high tunnels may not always be significant, as[Read More…]
The Summer School for Consumer Food Safety Education is an annual program that conducts continual consumer food safety training for educators and extension volunteers through expert-led presentations. This program serves as a platform to convey updated research information on current trending consumer food safety topics and helps participants gain a better understanding of the food[Read More…]
Passive solar greenhouses are widely used in northern China to grow crops year-round without supplemental heating. My former mentor introduced me to a project by the University of Missouri Extension, where they built a passive solar greenhouse. This past winter, I had the chance to meet Tim Reinbott at a conference and learned that his[Read More…]
How often have you heard that your neighbor received rain while you missed it? Precipitation is highly variable and has significant impacts on communities. Insufficient rainfall can cause drought and water supply issues, while excessive rain can lead to flooding and damage to infrastructure. The dense precipitation measurements provided by the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail,[Read More…]
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