On this week's show, we’re joined by Kevin and Alicia Stump, the passionate husband-and-wife duo behind Stump Farms, a family-owned urban and hydroponic farm nestled in the mountains of Hendersonville, North Carolina. Kevin and Alicia have built something extraordinary—a full-spectrum farm offering everything from microgreens, mushrooms, and produce to herbal skincare, soaps, teas, and pantry staples like jams, salsas, and all kinds of pickles. They are showing that with the smallest plot of land, you can produce just about anything you need. Get ready for a conversation about innovation, resilience, community, and sustainable farming with two people who epitomize what it means to grow big on any scale of land.

Makoto Dressings isn’t just salad dressing—it’s a flavor revolution. From their cult-classic Original Ginger to bold favorites like Honey Ginger, Wasabi Ginger, and Boom Boom Sauce, this family-owned brand has been waking up taste buds since 1985. What makes Makoto stand out isn’t just the flavor—it’s the story. Back in 1985, at a Japanese steakhouse in Melbourne, Florida, diners loved the dressing so much they begged to take bottles home.

Today, we chat with Christian Greene—third generation of the family that started Makoto Dressings—about how their dressings grew into a Top 10 national brand, why fresh veggies and ginger made in small batches is the key, and how they have delighted salad lovers for over forty years.

If you love fresh veggies, bold flavors, and stories of family entrepreneurship, this episode will leave you hungry for more.

What makes Hatch chili peppers so delicious and sought after? It’s the unique microclimate where they grow. They are named for the tiny town of Hatch, New Mexico, which sits at a towering elevation. It’s no wonder they’ve risen to such great heights in the culinary world. This week, we’re joined once again by “The Produce Expert,” Robert Schueller, who will tell us all about these peppers with a cult following.

Robert is the Director of Public Relations at Melissa’s Produce, the largest distributor of specialty produce in the United States. Robert has been featured everywhere from national TV segments to major newspapers, bringing insight, passion, and a deep understanding of the produce industry to audiences across the country. He’s also the author of several books about fresh fruits and vegetables, making him not just a spokesperson for Melissa’s but a true educator and advocate for eating seasonally and adventurously.

In this episode, Robert will also tell us about the delicious new varieties of grapes and melons that are in season right now. Tune in to hear about the hottest and sweetest fruits and veggies of the season!

The Produce Buzzers Podcast is the “gathering place for lovers of fresh fruits and veggies!” However, we realize that many of you struggle to find the love that we have. So today we are on a stealth mission. This week’s episode is a special treat. We’re joined by Heidi Herman, author of The Hidden Vegetables Cookbook: 90 Tasty Recipes for Veggie-Averse Adults. That’s right—not just kids, but full-grown veggie-dodgers!

In this episode, we’ll chat with Heidi about how growing up in an Icelandic-American household shaped her fearless approach to food, why our childhood vegetable trauma still haunts us in adulthood, and how she manages to turn everything from brownies to mac and cheese into Trojan horses of nutrition.

We’ll also get the lowdown on her top tricks for fooling even the most suspicious eaters (spoiler: grated carrots are sneakier than you think), and how to turn a dinner party into a stealth health intervention—without anyone ever realizing what hit their palate.

If You’ve Ever Pushed Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower to The Edge of Your Plate, Heidi’s Got Your Number—And Your Solution.

This week’s guest may be our hottest guest ever. Nick Masotti is a chef, farmer, and founder of Up All Night Bottling Company, where he crafts all-natural, small-batch sauces with no preservatives. Nick grew up in Winter Park, Florida, where food was the heartbeat of family life, and his love of cooking took root early. He got his start in a Mexican restaurant at just 14, where he kept a good eye on the salsas.

After climbing the culinary ladder in Florida, Nick earned a degree in Culinary and Hospitality from Valencia College, Orlando. Shortly after, Nick packed up and moved to Western North Carolina, where he helped start Trails End Farm—a family-run, organic-practicing cattle farm. Somewhere between wrangling cows and wrangling produce, he had a hot idea: why not bottle his passion for fresh, local ingredients into spicy, flavorful condiments?

So, Nick utilized his culinary skills to become a gourmet sauce maker, and in 2020, he launched Up All Night Bottling Company. He grows most of the ingredients for his sauces, but what he doesn’t grow, he sources from the finest local farms. Some of his creations are hot enough for the fieriest palates, but he also makes milder ones for the most sensitive palates. Tune in to hear about his journey establishing a company at such a young age.

This week’s episode is all about two of the most eye-catching and taste-bud-tingling tropical treats out there: mangoes and dragon fruit. Our guest today grows both and knows exactly what it takes to nurture these colorful, juicy gems from blossom to box.

Our guest today is Dr. Eugene Misquith a doctor turned exotic fruit farmer. He has converted 13 of his 39-acre property in Palm City, FL into orchards producing these delicious fruits. We are going to hear about the challenges he faced in doing that and what and how he learned what he needed to know to do it. He will also tell us everything you need to know about mangos and dragon fruit.

So whether you’re a fruit fanatic, backyard grower, or just someone who’s tried to pick a good mango at the grocery store—this one’s for you.”

Can a humble grower of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers transform lives? One such company makes it their mission. They claim is the secret to their success.

Our guest this week is a leader at a fresh produce company that doesn’t see its primary mission as growing delicious veggies, even though that’s exactly what they do and as good or better than anyone else in the industry. But second to that is this company’s vision to transform lives. Does that sound like an audacious goal? Listen in hear their story and you will become a believer.

Lori Castillo is Vice President of External Relations and Public Relations at NatureSweet, a grower and supplier of tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. There she leads the company’s external voice and ESG partnerships (environmental, social, and governance partnerships) which as the terms imply, are efforts to create sustainability on a wide range of fronts.

Tune in to hear how they believe strongly in the old adage “You reap what you sow.” And they are reaping more than delicious veggies!

This week we are going to have some more game show fun on the podcast and test our Produce Buzzers knowledge of different fruits and veggies. Stick around and play along. I am sure you will find it informative and entertaining.

This week’s trivia game is in the form of a series of multiple-choice questions. Each question is worth 5 points. The Produce Buzzer who answers the question correctly will get five points BUT if they answer it incorrectly, they will lose 5 points. Then at the end we will. have a bonus round where the questions are worth 10 points. Once again 10 points added for correct answers and 10 points deducted for wrong answers.

How will they do? Who will win? Can you match their knowledge and get the right answers. Listen and play along. You are certain to find it entertaining. And you will learn some very interesting facts about fresh fruits and veggies.