Growing For Market Podcast

Over 25 years of running Buglady Consulting, entomologist Suzanne Wainwright-Evans has helped a lot of farmers with biological controls. This conversation is both a wealth of information and a hoot, as Suzanne tells us why beneficial insects are like sushi (you don’t want them old) while discussing how to source beneficial insects. We also talk about other biological controls, like soil drenches and dips, that work well in conjunction with beneficial insects to keep pest populations down.
We talk about which beneficials to use for which pests, and the most thorough way of scouting. Suzanne tells us when dipping can be better than spraying, and how to keep pest eggs from coming onto your farm on plants. We also discuss how the species of beneficials needed may vary depending on season and temperature, and so much more in this week’s podcast interview.
Podcast Sponsors:
Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:
Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last. Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day. Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.
If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.
Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm.
Tilth Soil makes living soils for organic growers. The base for all our mixes is NOP-compliant compost, made from the 4,000 tons of food scraps we divert from landfills each year. And the results speak for themselves. Get excellent germination, strong transplants, and help us turn these resources back into food. Try a free bag and learn more at tilthsoil.com/gfm.
For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

Whether on the roots or aboveground, a lot of the pathogens we need to protect our plants from are fungi or water molds. In this interview with Penn State Extension Commercial Horticulture Educator Jennie Mazzone, we talk about how to diagnose infections caused by fungal pathogens and how to treat them. We also discuss the differences between fungi and water molds, why it matters and how these pathogens spread to your plants.
Pathogens covered include late blight, Phytophthora capsici, downy mildew, pythium and more. We talk about how fungal spores are and aren’t comparable to seeds from plants. And perhaps most importantly, we discuss how to prevent fungal infections in the first place, and what to do to keep them from getting out of control if they show up on your plants.
Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:
Tilth Soil makes living soils for organic growers. The base for all our mixes is NOP-compliant compost, made from the 4,000 tons of food scraps we divert from landfills each year. And the results speak for themselves. Get excellent germination, strong transplants, and help us turn these resources back into food. Try a free bag and learn more at tilthsoil.com/gfm.
Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last. Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day. Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.
If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.
Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm
For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

One of the most important things about business planning is how to plan for quality of life- and longtime GFM contributors Julia Shanks and Dan Brisebois have teamed up on a new book, The Profitable Farmer, that will help you plan for profit and quality of life. We talk about why it’s important to make a plan even if it may change, and what to do when it is time to go back to the drawing board. Dan and Julia tell us why you don’t have to track every single detail, and what to track to develop sales metrics and targets customized to your farm.
We discuss how to make a plan, how far ahead to plan for and when to rip it up and start over. We talk about how Important it is to keep asking “do you still love farming” so you can keep answering “yes” well into the future! So, listen to the podcast and then check out the book The Profitable Farmer: Strategic Business Planning for Profit, Purpose and Quality of Life.
The authors are giving a free webinar on Oct 29 at 2 PM EST called Step Off the Treadmill:
Build a Farm That Sustains You, Not Just Your Crops, click here to reserve your seat!
Connect with guest:
Website: Julia Shanks
Dan Brisebois
Instagram: @thefarmersoffice
@danbriseboisfarm
Podcast Sponsors:
Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:
BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America.
Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last. Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day. Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.
If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.
Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm
For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

Pests and beneficials can sometimes act differently in greenhouses versus the field. So, this week we’re talking with Professor Laura Ingwell from Purdue University and Professor Samantha Willden from Cornell University about IPM for common greenhouse pests, including where and when they are likely to arrive. They tell us about a study they did on 36 farms over 2 years, and how conditions on those farms affected the insect populations.
We talk about whether high tunnels are protection from or for pests, and how to design environments that are less conducive to them. We discuss the differences between using beneficials versus sprays, some guidelines for when to do each, and which beneficials to use against which pests. They recently wrapped up a biocontrol research project, but since the details haven’t all been published yet we couldn’t get into the nitty gritty on that one so maybe there will be a sequel to this interview!
Connect with guest:
Website: Laura Ingwell, Purdue University
Samantha Willden, Cornell University
Instagram: @willden.cea.lab
Podcast Sponsors:
Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:
Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last. Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day. Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.
If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.
Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm
For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

Radicchio has long been a favorite with market farmers for its ability to provide something colorful and delicious in the fall and winter. But with its adaptation to very specific regions of Italy, figuring out how to grow the vegetable in North America has been a bit of a puzzle. Luckily, Lane Selman puts that puzzle together for us with her new book Radicchio: A Celebration of the Beloved Italian Vegetable!
At almost 400 pages long, the book is fascinating and covers the history of radicchio, the project to find timing and varieties that grow well in North America, and many recipes for how to cook it. Lane and her work with the Culinary Breeding Network has been instrumental in working with Italian seed companies to find and develop varieties that work for growers on this continent. So, listen to this interview and then check out the book! As always, Growing for Market subscribers get 20% off all books when logged in at the website!
Connect with guest:
The book: Radicchio: A Celebration of the Beloved Italian Vegetable
Website: Culinary Breeding Network
Instagram: @culinarybreedingnetwork
Podcast Sponsors:
Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:
Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm
Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last. Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day. Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.
If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.
For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!