Fruit and Vegetable News

  Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator. Apples Growth stage update Article: Bocking comfrey orchard understory cover (Site specific strategies; video included) Grapes Growth stage update Hedging and skirting grapes Early-veraison is the next chance for petiole testing Apples Growth stage update:  Fruit development (average 70-90% final size) Images: Apples are approaching 70-90% of their full size at Sekapp Orchard (Rochester, MN), depending on the variety. Varieties in photos from left to right, top: McIntosh, Gala, First Kiss; bottom: Honeycrisp, Kindercrisp, and Zestar!.    Apples are continuing to size up as the season progresses. General management during this time focuses on preventing summer rots and sooty blotch and flyspeck. Insect pest management should continue as needed, based on trap catches. For example, apple maggot is estimated to be at 50% adult emergence in most parts of Minnesota (see below), and growers shoul...

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator   Images: Flowering Bocking 14 comfrey at Alternative Roots Farm (left) and an apple tree row with Bocking 14 comfrey before it collapses into a mat (right, photo by John Knisley of Alternative Roots Farm , New Ulm, MN).  Introduction Conventional herbicides are commonly used to manage unwanted vegetation in orchard understories in conventional management. Because these products come with their own drawbacks and limitations, and are not allowed for USDA Organic production, organic producers, and orchards looking to cut down on herbicide use may explore alternatives.  While a few herbicides are listed in the Organic Materials Review Institute (mostly contact herbicides) many non-chemical ground management options can also be considered. Practices can include mowing, mulching, cultivation, strategic livestock integration, and establishment of an understory ground cover.  This topic and a number...

Author: Cindy Tong Sprouting or mini broccoli is a cross between the heading broccoli most familiar to Americans and gai lan, or Chinese broccoli. Instead of just one main head that many heading broccoli varieties produce, sprouting broccoli can form a small crown, and thereafter, numerous side shoots that can be harvested for months, such as from August to October. Some heading broccoli varieties (like Gypsy) can also produce small side shoots if the plants are not pulled after the main head is harvested, but may not be as prolific as sprouting broccoli. With the help of Tim Kirkman of Fox and Fawn Farm in New Germany, Joan Olson of Prairie Drifter Farm in Litchfield, and Charlie Rohwer of the Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, we tested several different varieties of sprouting broccoli for yield and consumer liking in 2024 and 2025. The varieties BC1611, Burgundy, and Montebello yielded well at all sites. If transplanted at the same time in the spring, these varieties p...

Marissa Schuh, IPM Extension Educator, mschuh@ umn.edu . Originally published 2025, revised 2026. Tomato might be the spottiest vegetable we grow – there are many diseases that can cause leaf spots, and they can all look very similar. Some of the diseases are caused by bacteria, some are caused by fungi. This means that some of the same cultural practices may work, but if you are thinking about chemical controls and longer term management, knowing which pathogen you have will be important.   Early blight attacks the oldest leaves first. Photo: Gerald Holmes, Strawberry Center, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Bugwood.org Common leaf spot disease caused by fungi We have two fungal diseases we commonly see causing leaf spots in Minnesota – early blight and septoria leaf spot. Early blight is very common. The pathogen survives in crop debris and weeds, then infects plants by splashing up into the foliage. This means that the first part of the plant infected is the oldest leaves. Infected ...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, Food Safety           If you use well or surface water in the production of your fresh fruits and vegetables, bacteria, viruses or parasites may be present in water and contaminate your produce or equipment. You might assume your well water is safe because it smells and tastes good, but without testing it, you cannot tell if the well is failing or surface water is getting in.  But what do you tell the water testing lab when you call? Follow this general script to help navigate that conversation. What to test for? You will want to test your well and surface water sources for generic  E. coli,  since this is an indicator of the presence of fecal contamination in your water. Where there is E. coli, there might be poop, and where there might be poop, there might be a host of other pathogens such as Salmonella , Cyclospora, or Listeria monocytogenes . You might add things like lead, arsenic or nitr...