Summary: Josh Kirschenbaum, Vegetable Account Manager for PanAmerican Seed is truly a vegetable expert. From his past work in the consumer packet seed industry to his current role, he has been working for many years to bring home gardeners and fresh market farmers the best vegetables to maximize production and hit on the latest trends. In this episode we start high level with big picture trends impacting the veggie and herb side of our industry and work our way toward some of the best new introductions from the past few years – touching on edible ornamentals, container gardening, the importance of earliness, specific disease resistance that today’s breeders are working toward and even digging into the specific needs of high tunnel growers. Besides these topics, we also get into the top two vegetables – tomatoes and peppers and specific breeding direction, as well as others like squashes and more. Be sure to listen all the way to the end because Josh gives us a sneak peek at what’s coming in the near future and breakthroughs that are just around the corner. He also shares some of his personal favorites and from a guy with so much experience, his advice is to be followed. We’ll no doubt have Josh on again very soon because we left a lot on the table. Get ready for a wild ride! PanAmerican Seed & Handpicked Vegetables Links Referenced in Episode: • Handpicked Presentation you can share! https://www.slideshare.net/bcalkins/handpicked-vegetables-and-herbs-for-stem-podcast • Handpicked Collection Catalog & Resources: https://www.panamseed.com/vegetables.aspx • Handpicked Vegetables Video with Josh! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQKzn4s4ezs&feature=youtu.be Contact Links: Email Guest Josh Kirschenbaum: jkirschenbaum@panamseed.com Email Host Bill Calkins: bcalkins@ballhort.com Tweet Host Bill Calkins: @billcalkins Connect with Ball Seed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ball-seed-co/ Follow The Gardens at Ball on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GardensAtBall/ See Ball Seed Videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BallSeedVideo
