On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we talk with Local Foods and Small Farms Educator Grant McCarty about how things are going in northern Illinois and some of the different crops he's been trying in his garden, like day-neutral strawberries, grapes, and fall-planted blackberries. We also discuss an orchard crawl Grant did, and Ken gives updates on his rice and glass gem corn.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GPLfk0Mavp4

01:35 - Rice and glass gem corn update

03:45 - Welcome Grant

04:35 - Growing conditions this year in northern Illinois

07:18 - What is an orchard crawl? What did you see and do?

10:25 - How are commercial and backyard orchards looking?

13:20 - Growing day-neutral strawberries

20:02 - Growing table and wine grapes

26:40 - Planting blackberries in the fall

30:39 - Thank you, what's up next week, and goodbye

Some helpful resources on this week's topics:

Iowa State Grape Cultivars - https://www.extension.iastate.edu/viticulture/cold-climate-cultivars

Day-Neutral Strawberries in Minnesota - https://extension.umn.edu/strawberry-farming/day-neutral-strawberries

Impact of Heat on Vegetables - https://blog-fruit-vegetable-ipm.extension.umn.edu/2021/07/vegetables-not-yielding-well-blame-heat.html

Check out the Good Growing Blog extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing

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Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.