Pests and disease can very often be a roadblock to bountiful vegetable and fruit production. In this workshop, Dr. Aaron Cato will teach an integrated approach to managing pests in the backyard urban environment that will help to ensure that both organic and conventionally minded growers are successful in their efforts to grow produce. He will teach participants how to use cultural controls to help turn their garden into an ideal environment to avoid pests, how to identify pests and diseases in gardens, and actions that should be taken once these pests and diseases are found. The class will include classroom instruction plus hands-on experience scouting for pests in vegetables and fruit at the UALR gardens. Dr. Aaron Cato is an Extension Specialist in Horticulture Integrated Pest Management for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture – Cooperative Extension Service. He is an Entomologist whose work focuses on sustainable management of pests (insects, pathogens, and weeds) in fruit and vegetable crops by employing systems approaches that rely on pest prevention and cultural controls, scouting, economic thresholds, and use of targeted and specific pesticide applications.