Soon it will be time to start planting pumpkins. Generally for the eastern U.S., the planting month is July (or between June and July for western growers). Pumpkins are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes cucumber, muskmelons, watermelons and squash. Pumpkins can be seeded in a ...

Thanks to the excessively wet weather in many growing regions, tree fruit growers have been (and are continuing to) contend with all types of diseases which favor wet conditions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), regional precipitation ranks for May 2019 show that...

This month, the Southern Nursery Association (SNA) released the proceedings of their 63rd annual SNA Research Conference, and there is a lot of interesting research to sift through. Over the upcoming issues of Country Folks Grower, I’ll be recapping some of the relevant studies for our readers. Firs...

Talk about creative expression – we are living in the middle of a vast creative entrepreneurship where unique ideas drive business. When it comes to direct marketing, there seems to be no limit to where ideas can take you. Think of dinner in a box direct-shipped to the home, curbside grocery pick-up...

In some regions, recent excessive flooding has been devastating: preventing planting, washing away soils, causing concerns with water and soil pollution, decimating crops, displacing livestock and claiming lives. With much of the nation seeing overly wet weather during this spring, many growers are ...

The Millennial: what a debated figure in the current economic climate. They have been accused of killing everything from the diamond industry to blowing their meager disposable income on frivolities such as avocado toast. They do make money (often at more than one job), and they do spend it. But how...

Dr. Brian Jackson, associate professor of horticulture at North Carolina State University, would answer that question “Yes.” Jackson focuses his research on the development of traditional and new substrates for potting soils for horticultural crop production. Jackson wanted to understand, both as a ...

Establishing a new orchard is no small feat, and comes with significant expense in materials, time and labor. Thanks to improvements in rootstock and technology for many aspects of orchard management, growers often opt to establish orchards as high-density or tall spindle systems. Don Seifrit, Penn ...

There’s no better way to avoid potential plant problems than to know when and how they might occur, and to be ready for them so that they do not cause severe problems. One group of vegetables that require special knowledge are the cole crops. The word “cole” comes from the German word “kohl,” which ...