Fruit and Vegetable News

Did you plant a cover crop that survived over the winter? We recommend terminating cover crops 3-4 ahead of planting your next crop so there's sufficient time for residues to break down. Our new video walks you through different methods for killing cover crops. Check it out below!

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety  Join UMN Extension for a hands-on workshop on building on-farm produce coolers. Coolers are critical for maintaining produce quality and safety, but for many small farms, new coolers can be expensive and can seem complex to build and maintain. Image: Cool-Bot and an AC in a walk in cooler Image credit: Cool-Bot This field day will walk participants through the process of putting together disassembled and used cooler panels to make a produce cooler, installing an AC and using a Cool-Bot controller unit to turn the AC into a cooling unit. Participants will participate in all aspects of building the cooler from start to finish.  You will leave with a list of materials and suppliers and the ability to build your own low-cost produce cooler. Plan to wear work clothes, get dirty, and learn together! This workshop will be led in English. If you require translation, please reach out to the organizers at least 3 days prior to the even...

  Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Fruit Production Educator.  Welcome letter Dear readers, After a winter full of farmer conferences and pruning workshops, the 2026 growing season is rapidly approaching for many fruit crops throughout Minnesota. A big welcome to those who are joining this series for the first time! This is one of the main ways to follow fruit crop updates in real time through the University of Minnesota Fruit Production program.  New: Fruit crop observation form Much information in the Fruit Update articles is instructional and rooted in evidence-based practices that will help you gain knowledge about your crops to establish annual routines for crop care; however, in order to gain a better understanding in regional patterns throughout the state, we rely on your input about what’s going on in the field in your region. That’s why, this year, we’re adding a link in our articles for you to share observations and questions you have about specific crops...

It's never too early to begin thinking about spring frost protection for the fruit crops you grow. Cold stress and frost damage have the potential to impact perennial fruit crops during different times of the year, and springtime in the Upper Midwest is no exception. While cold stress can happen at warmer temperatures, frost occurs when ambient temperatures fall below freezing (32 ° F).  When a spring frost happens, it can harm vegetation, and negatively impact bloom and fruit set. This is problematic recognizing that many perennial fruits exit dormancy and begin growing in Minnesota before the threat of spring frost has passed. Crop loss due to frost damage can be devastating and many strategies that help annual crop growers (e.g., delayed planting) are not usually possible for perennial crops. Image: Young grape shoots damaged by late spring frost (May 11th, 2021). Photos taken by Madeline Wimmer. What happens when dormant chilling requirements are ahead of schedule? During winte...