On this week's Good Growing podcast we chat with small farms and local foods educator Nick Frillman about getting our tomatoes and pepper off on the right foot (root?) this growing season. We chat about best practices for getting these very popular garden veggies growing. Plus dealing with the common hurdles of blossom end rot and cracking of the tomato skin. As a bonus, Nick asks us about our favorite tomato and pepper varieties at the end of the show. Time to take some notes for next year! Skip to what you want to know: 00:48 - Weekend plans and woodchips 04:09 - Hello Nick! 05:02 - Do you have the right spot for tomatoes and peppers? Site considerations. 09:50 - Preventing and dealing with leggy tomatoes 14:12 - Do we need to fertilize tomatoes and peppers? 21:12 - What is the best weed control? 28:16 - Indeterminate tomatoes strike back! Dealing with unruly tomato vines 35:02 - The best explanation of blossom end rot and how to stop it! 38:50 - My tomato skin split! Why? 42:58 - Nick asks Good Growing - What is our favorite way to control weeds? 49:15 - Talking pepper varieties. What is our favorite? 57:25 - What are our favorite tomato varieties? Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies. --