Microgreens can be grown at any time of the year with very little in the way of equipment and it is super easy to get started. For many of us home gardeners, the season for salad greens can be short. And I don’t know about you, but I still crave fresh greens in the wintertime. The easiest answer to supplementing our greens is to grow microgreens indoors. So, today on Just Grow Something we’re getting started with growing microgreens; what supplies you need, which are the easiest ones for beginne...
Oct 17, 2023•14 min•Season 3Ep. 169
Right about now is the time that some of us are looking at getting our garlic cloves into the ground for next summer’s harvest. It really is a pretty simple crop to grow but it seems like seed garlic is getting more and more expensive to purchase. I generally save the best specimens from this year’s harvest and plant it in the fall, but our bulbs this year were far from impressive, none of them really worthy of saving (remember, we save the best and eat the rest) and I found myself having to ord...
Oct 10, 2023•13 min•Season 3Ep. 168
It’s been an unusually warm start to fall in many areas of North America, my home in west central Missouri is no exception where we’re still seeing temperatures up into the 90s F the past few days. But I know we’re inching closer to our usual first frost date and I’m most certainly going to be prepared because our weather is notorious for changing practically overnight and then changing again. If you’re somewhere that experiences frost, which is basically anywhere up through USDA Hardiness zone ...
Oct 03, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 167
We talked all about cover crops in the last episode: why we should use them and which crops perform what job. Let's chat today about when each of those crops should go into the ground for best results. Don't forget you can get a garden cover crop mix from True Leaf Market here: Check out True Leaf Market’s Cover Crop Mix
Sep 29, 2023•5 min
As the growing season is winding down in many areas, we may be looking at some bare empty spaces in our gardens and wondering what to do with them. Should you just mulch it over? Add fresh compost and let it sit? How about a cover crop? Using a cover crop gives back a ton of benefits: improving soil structure, preventing erosion, acting as a living mulch, and adding nutrients back into the soil. And, yes, this can be done in both in-ground beds and raised planters. What you plant and what you do...
Sep 26, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 166
Obviously, we grow our vegetable gardens so we can harvest most of the plants to eat. Yes, some of them are pretty flowers and foliage that are a feast for the eyes, but mainly we just want to eat, right? I generally subscribe to the idea that no parts of the plants we grow should be wasted. If it’s not something we’re going to eat, that green matter needs to go into the compost pile so it can go back into the soil and grow more yummy veggies for my plate. Turns out I’ve been doing the eating pa...
Sep 19, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 165
Garlic needs specific conditions to grow and, often times, gardeners in warmer climates have a hard time meeting those conditions. Let's talk about some tips and tricks to making sure the conditions are right for growing garlic in your garden and one way to cheat the system! Reference episode: Ep. 67 - When and How to Plant Your Garlic, Plus Tips for Warmer Climates Say Thank You! Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSometh...
Sep 15, 2023•5 min
This week, let’s take a different approach and talk about things to plant now and through the late fall to get a jump on the spring harvest or even harvest in the summer. The timing of these plantings is going to vary by the region you garden in but the concepts are the same. Plant something now and let it get well-rooted, allow it to go dormant, then as the daylength increases in the spring watch it bounce back up with growth as soon as the conditions are right with no effort on our part in the...
Sep 12, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 164
If you live in an area that sees hard freezes in winter and sometimes extremely low temperatures, then you might think there isn’t anything you can grow for harvest in the winter. Not so! Even if you live in areas where the ground is routinely frozen solid for months on end, you can keep some crops in the ground and, with some effort, harvest some of those during at least the early parts of winter before bringing the final harvest indoors. If you live in an area where you can grow food year-roun...
Sep 05, 2023•22 min•Season 3Ep. 163
We've talked about transplanting fall crops in the late summer heat, but what about sowing those seeds directly into the garden? Soil temperature is a real concern here, so today we'll spend a few minutes reviewing the optimal germination temperature for direct-sown fall garden crops and a few tricks for reducing the soil temperature more quickly. Resources: Taylor Precision Products Standard Grade Thermometer Soil Temperature and Seed Germination (psu.edu) Ep. 142 - Planting by Soil Temperature...
Sep 01, 2023•9 min
Late summer and all through fall are the times many gardeners are harvesting crops they want to keep for the long-term to use throughout the winter. How do we harvest and store these vegetables to be sure they retain their flavor, texture, and nutrient value? Today we'll discuss basic cold storage of the most popular types of fall garden crop: no refrigeration, no freezing, no canning, no dehydrating. Just what you can rig up in your basement, a closet, a garage or, if you’re lucky, a root cella...
Aug 29, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 162
When talking about protecting our summer transplants from excessive heat to get them through to a fall harvest, we can't overlook the possibilities of shade. Temporary shade structures in the late summer garden can help protect our transplants, but it doesn't always require us to purchase or create something! On this Focal Point Friday episode, we spend just five minutes discussing six different options for protecting our fall transplants from too much sun. Resources: Fall Garden Transplants: Ti...
Aug 25, 2023•5 min
If you’re somewhere where Mother Nature is currently trying to cook you, what do you do to prepare and transplant crops that prefer cooler weather than what you've got? Do you wait? Do you forge ahead and just keep your fingers crossed? Today we’ll talk about how to mitigate the heat when trying to transplant fall crops including the reason why I actually didn’t get any of my plants in the ground last week and, instead, am transplanting now when it’s even hotter. Our heat index yesterday was 125...
Aug 22, 2023•21 min•Season 3Ep. 161
Let's throwback to my first episode on fermenting and talk a little bit more about the basics. What are those bacteria doing? How safe is fermentation? Let's talk pickling versus fermenting, veggies versus fruits, and cold storage. Episode Resources: Ep. 113 – Dehydrating, Cold Storage, and Fermenting: More Ways to Store Your Harvest Just Grow Something with Karin Velez (justgrowsomethingpodcast.com)...
Aug 11, 2023•7 min
Fermenting foods can be a fun and rewarding way to both preserve the harvest and enhance the flavors of our garden bounty. If you're a beginner looking to get started with fermenting your own foods, I’ve discovered it’s not hard, but there are some essential things to know. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll look at the key tenants behind fermenting foods, the basics of getting started, what types of equipment are necessary and what are just nice-to-haves. Ready to start fermenting? Let’s dig in...
Aug 08, 2023•39 min•Season 3Ep. 160
It's always best to start with saving seeds from your healthiest plants. But what if disease is unavoidable? In this throwback to episode 62, we talk about the two best treatments for saving seeds from plants infected with disease. Episode Resources: Hot Water Treatment for Seeds – Louisiana State University Ep. 62 - Properly Saving Seeds in Your Garden Just Grow Something with Karin Velez (justgrowsomethingpodcast.com)...
Aug 04, 2023•7 min
If you were gardening in 2020 you likely remember the shortage of seeds that happened when the world shut down and suddenly everybody was growing a garden. Many seed companies were overwhelmed with the influx of orders and that shortage continued into the 2021 season. There’s nothing more disappointing than to peruse a beautiful seed catalog and make out your list of favorites to grow, only to be told the company is sold out. Enter seed saving. If you grow heirloom or open-pollinated varieties, ...
Aug 01, 2023•27 min•Season 3Ep. 159
On this Focal Point Friday, we go back to Episode 101 and talk about three important things to consider when starting plants for the fall garden: germination time, days to maturity, and harvest window. Episode Resources: Ep. 101 - How to Prepare and What to Grow in Your Fall Garden Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com Positively Farming Media Podcast Playlist on Spotify...
Jul 28, 2023•5 min
Succession planting gets a lot of attention in the early part of the season when we’re fresh and the garden is new, and we're not beat down by weather or pests or diseases or the endless pulling of weeds. But we often forget about it toward the hottest part of the year. This is why having a garden plan that goes from spring all the way through to fall and even into winter helps, because it’s laid out for us and it doesn’t require thought, just effort. Succession planting is a really valuable tec...
Jul 25, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 158
When we're talking about fall gardening, it's important to know what grows well in our area at that time of the season so we can better plan. Let's chat about the factors that go into deciding what to grow in the fall garden and my top five picks for your USDA Hardiness Zone, from Zone 1 to Zone 13.
Jul 21, 2023•9 min
If you’ve never grown a fall garden, you are missing out. There seems to be so much less insect and disease pressure with a fall garden. The weather seems to be a bit more predictable, too, even if it is still hot when we get started. This doesn’t mean the fall garden is fool-proof, but it does mean that many of us get a second chance or sort of “redo” of our spring crops. If there were things that didn’t grow well for us that we’d like to try again, fall is often a great time to do that. If the...
Jul 18, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 157
If you're in an area that is facing a drought this summer, like I am, you might be thinking of ways to combat it in the garden. Enter the rain barrel! Home gardeners often use rain barrels to collect rainwater from roofs as a supplement to summer irrigation. Rainwater is a natural and unchlorinated water source for plants, but rooftop runoff can be contaminated by chemical and biological pollutants. Today we talk about the practicality of rain barrels, possible contaminants and where they come f...
Jul 11, 2023•20 min•Season 3Ep. 156
Is eating ultra-processed foods associated with depression, anxiety, memory problems, and trouble reasoning? An article I read in early May took me down a research rabbit hole and there are a lot of recent studies that say just that: 60% of the American diet is ultra-processed foods and they are causing mental health issues and cognitive decline. Today we're digging into the data and uncovering what defines ultra-processed foods, how much it affects our mental health, and to what extent. Resourc...
Jul 07, 2023•15 min
There are few things that taste like summer quite like cantaloupe or watermelon. These hydrating favorites can sometimes be a little mystifying for new gardeners to grow. And what's the difference between a crenshaw and a canary melon? On today’s episode, we’re digging into all things melon. What does it take to grow them, can they cross-pollinate, and what’s the trick to picking a truly ripe watermelon? Let's Dig in! Episode References and Citations: Wasylikowa, Krystyna; van der Veen, Marijke ...
Jul 04, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 155
It's hot and your plants look awful! Extreme heat can mean extreme responses from our gardens. Let's spend a few minutes talking about what's normal, what we should and shouldn't be doing, and how we can help when needed to help the summer garden get through a heat wave.
Jun 30, 2023•8 min
Today we’re talking specific tasks we need to perform in the garden to get our best yield and to keep the harvest going through to fall. Unfortunately, our gardens are not “set and forget it” kind of things. We can’t just put the plants out there and come back in six weeks and expect to harvest. And as the days heat up and summertime events take over it can be tempting to skip some of these things in favor of other more fun activities. We’re going to run down the list of eight things we need to ...
Jun 27, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 154
The description on just about every seed packet or plant tag usually says something along the lines of, this plant “likes fertile, well-draining soil, with lots of organic matter.” The fertility part we likely understand, and we talk about soil organic matter all the time around here. But what about well-draining soil? What does that mean, how do we know if we have it, and what do we do if we don’t? If our soil isn’t well-draining are we destined to only garden in planters where we can completel...
Jun 20, 2023•19 min•Season 3Ep. 153
New research from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health shows that childhood exposure to glyphosate is linked to liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, which could lead to liver cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life. Thousands of people have filed lawsuits against Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, and its parent company, Bayer, claiming that exposure to glyphosate caused them to develop cancer. Levels of glyphosate found in our foods have always been w...
Jun 16, 2023•7 min
On today’s episode we go over the basics of growing okra, including preferred temperatures and conditions that are key to its success, and discuss ways to work around some of those preferences to get yourself a crop even in a short season or difficult climate. You can most certainly grow this southern favorite in a cooler climate with a shorter season with just a few tricks! Episode Resources: Vegetables. Wageningen, Netherlands: Backhuys. 2004. p. 21. ISBN 9057821478 . "Okra, or 'Gumbo,' from A...
Jun 13, 2023•23 min•Season 3Ep. 152
If you're in the U.S. Midwest, squash bugs and squash vine borers often keep you from getting your best zucchini harvest. But what if there were a variety of zucchini you could keep covered the whole time you were growing it so the pests couldn't get to it? And it would fruit without pollination? Today we explore the possibility of parthenocarpy in zucchini varieties, where to find them, and how they can thwart our biggest zucchini pests. EPISODE RESOURCES: Burpee 'Sure Thing' zucchini Dunja - O...
Jun 09, 2023•11 min
