Fruit and Vegetable News

Join us at noon on Wednesday all winter long for a webinar focused on the finer points of fruit and vegetable production. Each week we will cover a technical topic related to the successful management of fruit and vegetable crops, from planning to irrigating to managing pests. The target audience is small to medium sized farmers, as well as aspiring farmers.  Where: Zoom When : Wednesdays January 7 - April 22, 12:00 - 1:15 Attend one or as many dates as desired Recordings of the sessions will be available after the end of the series for those who register Cost: Free These webinars are led by UMN Extension educators, industry experts and experienced farmers. Register: https://z.umn.edu/fvwinterwebinar Topics and dates: Jan 7 Finding and selling to new markets: restaurants, wholesale, and farm to school in 2026 Jan 14 Crop planning to meet production goals Jan 21 Adding fruit to your farm Jan 28 Is a high tunnel right for your farm? Feb 11 Pumpkin IPM throughout the season Feb 18 ...

Join us for a two-day, hands-on workshop to learn about using your time and space efficiently on your farm. Improve your farming skills to grow and sell more high-quality vegetables for wholesale, farm to school, and cooperative markets. Space is limited. Register early to secure a spot! Audience:  Farmers with 2-5 years of experience looking to scale up or sell to wholesale markets Dates & time: January 15 and 16, 8:30am - 4:30pm Location: Eastman Nature Center, 13351 Elm Creek Road, Dayton MN 55369 Cost: $75, materials, lunch and snacks included. Scholarship available. Instructors: Learn from UMN Extension, experienced farmers, and wholesale buyers Registration:  https://z.umn.edu/vegintensive Tomatoes graded and packed for wholesale markets. Topics include: selecting the right markets for your crops, crop planning, variety selection, efficient weeding tools, scouting for pest and disease problems, post harvest handling, sorting and grading produce for wholesale m...

University of Minnesota Extension will host this year's Pumpkin Grower Meetup on   Monday, December 8th at noon  on Zoom.   This event is free and will be a time for pumpkin growers to come together to reflect on the 2025 season and learn together. Hear from seed reps, breeders, and researchers about improving pumpkin production in 2026! We look forward to seeing you there! Registration :  https://z.umn.edu/pumpkingrowermeetup Will the warty pumpkin trend ever die? We will discuss. Photo: Marissa Schuh, UMN Extension.

Article written by  Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator and Amaya Atucha, UW-Madison Professor and Department Chair Figure 1. Seasonal dynamics of cold hardiness in grapevine buds, illustrating fall acclimation (progressive gains in cold tolerance), winter maintenance of maximum hardiness, and spring deacclimation (gradual loss of cold tolerance as buds resume growth). Introduction to cold hardiness Cold climate hybrid grapes grown in Minnesota (ex. Frontenac, Marquette, Itasca, and Clarion) are better able to survive the harsh winters in the Upper Midwest than European Vinifera grapevines, though they are still at risk of cold damage. How successfully grapevines make it through the winter relates to their cold hardiness. Plant cold hardiness is the vine’s ability to survive freezing temperatures, and it changes throughout the season (Figure 1). In the fall, grapevines acclimate, gradually increasing their hardiness as they are exposed to cooler temperatures an...

Image: The cycle of growth, fall acclimation, and dormancy that a perennial fruit crop goes through each year. These stages are all necessary for its growth, reproduction, and survival, and can provide a lens that helps growers better understand fruit production. Infographic by Madeline Wimmer. Words to be familiar with : Fall acclimation : A series of physiological changes triggered by external and internal factors that prepare a perennial plant to survive the winter and have enough carbohydrate reserves to support next year’s bud break, before mature, photosynthesizing leaves have developed. Dormancy : the portion of a plant’s life cycle when a number of physiological changes occur that allow the plant to overwinter in a less active state. Endodormancy : Also referred to as true dormancy, this state happens when plants first acclimate and go into dormancy. This state usually remains until a certain number of chilling hours have accumulated. Chilling hours : Hours where the ambient te...

Are you new to growing in high tunnels? Join us for a nine-week course to learn the fundamentals of high tunnel vegetable production in northern climates. Topics include: crop planning, irrigation, fertility and soil health, managing weeds, insects & disease, pruning & trellising, ventilation, automation, and more.  Course details:  Who is this for? The ideal student for this class should already have a high tunnel, or plan to build one in 2026 Dates & time: Tuesdays from 12:00-1:30pm, February 3- March 31, 2026 Location: Online (Zoom) with optional summer field trips and hands-on field days Cost: $75.  Participants who complete a high tunnel management plan can receive a set of soil moisture monitors and a $300 scholarship to implement their plan. All course participants receive free soil tests and support with making a fertility plan. Scholarship and benefits are provided by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s Organic Research, Education and E...

 As we approach the winter season, this can be a helpful time to dive into literature to support your efforts to build various aspects of your farm management program, including supporting pollinators on your farm.  Pollinators provide a number of benefits to fruit and vegetable growers. They are essential for helping with cross pollination for many fruit crops like apples. For early blooming crops like honeyberries, supporting the right pollinators with other early-blooming plants, can ensure good fruit set for the season.  Supporting pollinators can be done by bringing managed pollinators to their site. This is most commonly done with honey bee colonies. But growers can also support pollinator populations by building, maintaining, and protecting pollinator habitat and resources. The other key step is to protect pollinators themselves by checking in with pest management programs on the farm. This can include following Integrated Pest Management (IPM) best management prac...