Serious Grower
Join Anna (a stone-cold nerd) and her co-hosts to find out how science can help all the serious growers out there!
Expect some expert visitors to drop in and get into the weeds, both literally and metaphorically. Please reach out if you are interested in being a co-host or if you have a question that needs some serious attention!
Episodes

Feb 9, 2026
Feb 9, 2026
35 min
Kasi is a non-commercial farmer, growing in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and she recently lost quite a few apple trees to rodent damage despite her best efforts to protect them.
We discuss behavior & pest management of voles and deer causing injury to trees, with the help of publicly-funded research brought to us by the US Department of Agriculture.
Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstramentalist, Oh Please, Gerhard Feng; Aquatic Flower Dance, Ryan James Carr; Whiskey Saved My Soil, Daniel Fridell

Feb 3, 2026
Feb 3, 2026
23 min
Jason wants to turn his lawn into an edible landscape and an amazing place for his family in Oregon. We’ll drop in throughout the year to hear how things are progressing.
Learn more about Community Supported Research
Oregon State Extension resources for backyard berries and fruit tree pruning
Saffron Lifecycle
Container growing for blueberries?
Growing Sweetpotato? What could go wrong?
Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Riding High, John Runefelt; Libertalia, Arc De Soleil, Takes Two to Tango, Ryan James Carr

Feb 2, 2026
Feb 2, 2026
44 min
Susan is a professor of agriculture in the seacoast region of New Hampshire. She runs a community garden and works with students and community members across a wide range of age groups. She's an experienced commercial farmer but she has thoughts on how we value the non-commercial aspects of growing.
Listen into this wide ranging conversation about unique pests in high tunnels, as well as a deep dive into tomato hornworm and breeding for resistant tomato varieties.
UNH Farm2You on Facebook & Instagram
The full interview with tomato breeder, Dr. Greg Vogel, Cornell University
Learn more about Community Supported Research
Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Beginning to Dream, Ryan James Carr; Just a Friend, Matt Large; overture, doseoff; In the Bag, John Runefelt

Dec 28, 2025
Dec 28, 2025
23 min
Kasi is a non-commercial farmer, growing in Montana's Bitterroot Valley, and she encountered a planting of cowpeas during a recent tour of her ag experiment station that was meant to support wasps. She wants to know what gives?
We chat about stinging wasps and the non-stinging parasitic wasps who provide biocontrol of pest insects.
Full interview with Dr. Veronica Yurchak Extension Specialist in Commercial Vegetable Production at the University of Maryland
Learn more about Community Supported Research
Music: With the Homies, Sarah the Illstrumentalist; Summertime Madness, Matt Large; Whisky Saved My Soul, Daniel Fridell







