Soil microbes are the microscopic life in soil that work in concert with roots to feed plants. To help us better understand the symbiotic relationship between microbes and healthy plants, my guest on the podcast this week is David Stark, an expert in molecular biology. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most c...
Aug 26, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we talk about pest control in gardens, we think about the insects that want to eat our vegetables and ornamentals, but there is a major pest that wants to feed on gardeners themselves — the mosquito. For a better understanding of mosquitoes and effective mosquito control, my guest this week, Raven Forrest Fruscalzo of the podcast “Tiny Vampires,” is here to share the vetted facts and dispel misconceptions. Download my free guide- 10 Common & Destructive Garden Pests: Prevention and Control ...
Aug 19, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Late summer is both a challenging and rewarding time in the garden as we deal with pest and disease pressure but also enjoy harvesting tomatoes, peppers and summer squash on a nearly daily basis. For this week’s podcast, I’m addressing some of the biggest (and most common) summer garden challenges and answering your burning questions that have been bugging you most at this time of the season. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to ha...
Aug 12, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our fall gardens really can get started as early as spring when we sow seeds that take many months to mature (hello Brussels sprouts), but July and August present even more opportunities to plant crops that will be ready to harvest come September, October and even later. To share her best tips for succession planning and planting for fall, my returning guest this week is Meg Cowden of the Seed to Fork blog. Download my free checklist- Fall Edibles Checklist - Here are all the edible crops perfec...
Aug 05, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sometimes it's the tiniest garden pests that cause the biggest problems. As responsible gardeners, we want to manage these pest issues while having as little negative impact as possible on the good bugs that visit the land that we steward. To share expert advice on responsible, effective pest control, my returning guest this week is Suzanne Wainwright-Evans of Buglady Consulting. Download my free guide- 10 Common & Destructive Garden Pests: Prevention and Control . This will help you prevent and...
Jul 29, 2021•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Squash bugs are a hassle for growers of zucchini, pumpkins and other cucurbits, but there are steps that can be taken to manage and control this challenging pest. My guest this week is entomologist and pest management expert Diane Alston, and she’s here to share strategies to reduce squash bug issues.
Jul 22, 2021•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite all of our best efforts, unexpected and extreme weather can throw tomato growers for a loop. To discuss tomato growing advice for challenging weather and every day, along with the best practices to follow to overcome them, my guest this week is Craig LeHoullier, a tomato expert and the co-instructor of my Online Gardening Academy course Growing Epic Tomatoes . Download my free guide- Tomato Care Checklist. The key steps every gardener should take to minimize common tomato issues Subscrib...
Jul 15, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast We vegetable gardeners are dealing with plenty of disease challenges this time of year, and tomato diseases are at the top of that list. Fortunately for us, my guest this week is vegetable pathologist Inga Meadows, who joined me to discuss the best and newest ways to prevent, identify, and control diseases that affect tomatoes. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, wit...
Jul 08, 2021•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most people know that roots are how plants take up nutrients and water, but there are so many other amazing, unseen things that roots do that are exciting to learn about. To share his enthusiasm for roots and the other organisms beneath the soil’s surface, my guest this week is landscape designer and author Robert Kourik to demystify roots and the amazing unseen things roots do. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving ...
Jul 01, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Each year since 1973, the Texas-based National Gardening Association works with professional pollsters to conduct the National Gardening Survey, which offers valuable insights into the mindset of gardeners across the United States. To help break the data down to better understand what gardeners think, my guest this week is National Gardening Association Executive Director Dave Whitinger. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a ...
Jun 24, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hügelkultur is a centuries-old gardening technique using rotting wood as the base layer in raised beds. The concept has had a resurgence in popularity in recent years, but many gardeners still have questions about how and why to practice hügelkultur. Fortunately, my guest on this week's podcast, hügelkultur expert Paul Wheaton, is here to share what there is to know about hügelkultur to get off to a great start. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps...
Jun 17, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Every week across all of the joegardener and Growing a Greener World social media channels and the Online Gardening Academy courses, I receive scores of questions and requests for advice, and I try to answer as many as possible. For this week’s podcast, I’ve rounded up some of your most frequently asked gardening questions for June to bring you answers that you may be looking for too at this time of year. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone...
Jun 10, 2021•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast The invasive and destructive Asian jumping worm has been identified and recorded in 37 U.S. states plus Ontario and continues to spread, but it is still a species that many gardeners know little about. To explain what jumping worms are and why they pose such a big problem, my guest this week is ecologist Brad Herrick, an expert on all things jumping worm. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’...
Jun 03, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast With all of the responsibilities we have in our daily lives, the time that we can dedicate to tending to and enjoying our garden is often all too short. On this week’s podcast, I share my tips for making precious gardening time more productive and more pleasurable — and for ensuring summer success. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredib...
May 27, 2021•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast I am a firm believer that understanding the “why do” behind the “how to” drives us to become better, more confident gardeners. One of the best people I know to explain the science behind great gardening is Dr. Lee Reich, and on this week’s encore episode I am revisiting an insightful conversation we had a few years back on how expanding our scientific knowledge a little can help our gardens a whole lot. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone c...
May 20, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tomato expert Craig LeHoullier and I have been working all year toward this week’s launch of the newest joegardener Online Gardening Academy™ course, Growing Epic Tomatoes , and Craig now joins me on the podcast to share our excitement for what’s in store. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging co...
May 13, 2021•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fertilizers give food crops and ornamental plants the nutrients they need to thrive, but when used unnecessarily or incorrectly, they can do more harm than good. In this week’s encore episode, I share the basics you need to know for the most efficient and effective use of fertilizer. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, eve...
May 06, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s always a pleasure speaking with Dr. Doug Tallamy, a renowned entomologist and advocate for native gardening. Based on the feedback his past appearances on the podcast have received, I know listeners will be just as excited as I am that he is back this week discussing North America’s most important native tree: the oak. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Blueberry bushes add year-round visual appeal to a landscape and provide a bounty of tasty fruits each summer. Getting started is easy — if you have a sunny location and well-drained soil, you can grow blueberries — but there are a few things to know first. For the best advice on how to grow blueberries, I turned to Dr. Lee Reich, an Upstate New York gardener and horticulturist with more than three decades of blueberry-growing experience. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever -...
Apr 22, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re all anxious to get our plants in the ground, but if we’re not careful and we rush it, we can really set our plants’ progress back significantly. It’s an exciting time in the garden, but also a time to exercise restraint and self-discipline. On this week’s podcast, I share tips for setting plants up for success in spring, starting off with the art and science of hardening off. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thrivi...
Apr 15, 2021•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Composting is one of my favorite gardening topics to discuss, and I found a kindred spirit in our shared love of composting, with Dr. Lee Reich. He has been perfecting the art and science of composting for more than 40 years. This week’s podcast is an encore of our conversation from a few years back on why composting is a fulfilling activity and how composting challenges can be overcome. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a ...
Apr 08, 2021•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast The growing season is quickly approaching, and there are a number of things to take care of now to get the best results during the rest of the year. This week, I present a timely encore of my list of the Top 10 Things to Do Now to Prepare the Garden for Spring. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challengi...
Apr 01, 2021•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Regenerative agriculture, permaculture and soil health have come to the forefront of gardening conversations in recent years, but for the layperson, useful definitions for these terms can be elusive. Fortunately, to explain this soil and agriculture terminology in an approachable way, my guest this week is Dr. Jake Mowrer, an expert on all things soil. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It’s w...
Mar 25, 2021•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Monty Don is the biggest name in gardening in the United Kingdom, and this week he’s my guest for the very special 200th episode of “The joe gardener Show.” In our conversation, he shares his behind-the-scenes experience as Lead Presenter of the No. 1 British gardening show, Gardeners' World during a pandemic and discusses the takeaways from his tour of the United States to film “Monty Don’s American Gardens.” Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps a...
Mar 18, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast For the very first episode of The joe gardener Show that’s dedicated solely to growing potatoes, I couldn’t have asked for a better guest than Jim Gerritsen, the founder of Wood Prairie Family Farm in Bridgewater, Maine, where he has grown potatoes organically for 45 years. Jim generously shares everything to know about growing epic potatoes, from before you plant to storing the harvest. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a ...
Mar 11, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Hydrangeas are beautiful flowering plants with dramatic blooms that provide color and drama in the summer garden, but they can be fussy if they don’t get the proper care and attention. Proper hydrangea care for late winter is key. Improper pruning and other common mistakes, compounded with difficult weather, can lead to disappointment. Luckily, my podcast guest this week, Lorraine Ballato, is a hydrangea expert who will help you overcome the biggest hydrangea challenges. Download my free eBook 5...
Mar 04, 2021•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast When planting a naturalistic garden, is having more plants always better? If you ask Kelly Norris, my podcast guest this week and the author of “ New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden ,” the answer is, unequivocally, “yes.” He is an advocate for biodiverse, abundant landscapes that use every square foot to its maximum potential. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving gard...
Feb 25, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast The science behind the relationship between plants and light is complicated, but my guest on this week’s encore episode explains it in an accessible, easy-to-understand way. Her name is Leslie Halleck, and she is an expert on lighting for indoor growing. In our conversation, Leslie explains what gardeners need to know about light to raise houseplants as well as herbs and vegetables indoors. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have...
Feb 18, 2021•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Before attempting a pest control method that may prove to be unnecessary, ineffective or complete overkill, the first step a gardener should take is to correctly identify the problem. Positive identification of garden pests paired with the appropriate intervention will yield the best results while minimizing or eliminating negative impacts. My guest this week, Susan Mulvihill, has penned a new book on solving common pest problems that will arm you with all the information you need to make the ri...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast No-dig gardening is a simple gardening method that many gardeners — who were taught for years that they had to till or turn their gardens annually — still have many questions about. To demystify no-dig gardening and explain its benefits, my guest this week is my longtime friend Charlie Nardozzi, a nationally recognized garden writer, speaker, and radio and television personality. Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 
