As the year winds up, I like to pause and reflect on the valuable lessons that I learned over the past gardening season. These are my top gardening takeaways of 2023. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 conditions. Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive...
Dec 14, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Growing microgreens is easier than you think. Nutrient-dense microgreens can be raised at home for your family’s enjoyment, and it’s easy to scale up into a microgreens business, according to my guest this week, Jonah Krochmalnek, the owner and founder of Microgreens Consulting. Podcast Links for Show notes 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...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Slowing down, removing distractions and paying attention allows us to absorb the wildlife that’s all around us, even when we otherwise feel that we are far removed from nature. Writer Margaret Renkl documents what she observed in her own suburban yard and how it made her feel in her series of 52 short essays collected in “The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year.” Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have ...
Nov 30, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast With holiday gift shopping season upon us, I am sharing my top gardening gear picks for the gardeners in your life — the tools, accessories and books that you may also want to pick up for yourself. In a nutshell, these are the items that I consider to be the must-have gardening gear — just to make your gardening life easier and more enjoyable. I’ve narrowed down the list to 12 to call extra attention to, but if you are looking for even more ideas, you can download my comprehensive gift guide, Th...
Nov 23, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you have been practicing organic gardening for a while, you probably observe the mantra “feed the soil and let the soil feed the plants,” though to get even more precise, my returning guest this week, chemist and gardening author Robert Pavlis, explains that what gardeners are actually doing is feeding the microbes in soil, and it’s the microbes that are feeding the plants. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ecological landscape design is the practice of making meadows and gardens that are both pleasing to the eye and functional parts of the ecosystem, providing resources and habitat for essential wildlife. To share the principles of ecological landscape design and why it is so needed, returning to the podcast this week is landscape designer and author Owen Wormser. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have...
Nov 09, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast How much do you know about the houseplant sitting on your windowsill? My returning guest this week, garden writer and houseplants podcaster Jane Perrone, is here to reveal the little-known histories of plants that have shared homes with us for generations. Podcast Links for Show notes 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, ev...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seeds hold the keys to sustaining life on this planet, and they draw cultural connections between ancestors and their descendants. To discuss her latest book, What We Sow, and the significance of seeds ecologically, culturally and personally, joining me on the podcast this week is Jennifer Jewell of “Cultivating Place.” Podcast Links for Show notes 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 ...
Oct 26, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Regenerative agriculture is an alternative to conventional agriculture that focuses on improving soil health for better fertility and moisture retention. The benefit to farmers is increased crop yields at less cost, and the benefit to all of us is more carbon being sequestered in soil to mitigate climate change. To discuss how he discovered regenerative agriculture and how it changed his ranch, joining me on the podcast this week is rancher, regenerative agriculture advocate, and Kiss the Ground...
Oct 19, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Once you’ve experienced the joy of raising fruits and vegetables to feed your family, it becomes much easier to imagine what it would be like to become a market farmer who grows enough to maintain a successful business. My guest this week, Conor Crickmore, left his tech career in New York City in 2009 to become a homesteader in upstate New York, and soon after he and his wife, Kate, founded Neversink Farm , a 1.3-acre certified organic farm that is one of the most productive farms per square foo...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Oaks are what are known as keystone plants due to the pivotal role they play in the food chain. Because so many species rely on oaks for their survival, my guest this week, entomologist Doug Tallamy, Ph.D., calls them “our most essential native trees.” Podcast Links for Show notes 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 i...
Oct 05, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fall may be here, but the gardening season is far from over. Cool season flowers can be planted now or early next spring to give your garden a pop of color and aroma before most gardens are in bloom. In this week’s podcast, flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler shares her tips for what to grow, when and how. Podcast Links for Show notes 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,...
Sep 28, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast As gardeners, there are many opportunities for us to become better stewards of the environment. On this week’s podcast, I share my ecological garden blueprint: 10 steps for you to take to partner with nature and support the ecosystem. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 challen...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Natural garden design is growing in popularity, and many more gardeners would like to get on board if only they had a better idea of how to get started. If you’re curious about starting a natural garden with native plants, then you’re in luck, because my guest this week is author and garden designer Benjamin Vogt of Monarch Gardens. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 landscap...
Sep 14, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Part of what makes gardening so magical is that every garden is unique. To share how gardeners can identify their personal garden style and achieve their garden goals, joining me this week is garden author, designer and teacher Rochelle Greayer of Pith + Vigor. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 result...
Sep 07, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maintaining my five-acre GardenFarm™ and keeping up with documenting the garden’s progress through the growing season is far from a one-person job. This week, Tobi McDaniel, the GardenFarm manager, joins me on the podcast for the first time to offer a peek behind the curtain and share what her days here are like. Podcast Links for Show notes 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...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Promoting native insects via gardening is a worthwhile endeavor that is growing in popularity, but just because native insects are good to have in the garden, that doesn’t also mean all non-native insects are bad to have around. My guest this week, environmental studies professor Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Ph.D., encourages gardeners to examine the reasons why some insects are favored while others with similar behaviors are given a bad rap. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps...
Aug 24, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Modern homesteading has surged in popularity since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, which triggered in many people a desire to become more self-sufficient and closer to the land that sustains us. To discuss this phenomenon, the benefits of homesteading and how to get started, joining me on the podcast this week is Jill Winger, creator of The Prairie Homestead, a go-to source for homesteading information. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the...
Aug 17, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Time spent outdoors in the fresh air tending to gardens has a rejuvenating effect, which gardener, author and video maker Liz Zorab of Byther Farm can attest to better than anyone. Liz joins me on the podcast this week to share how gardening contributed to restoring her health and to talk about the economical, efficient ways that she raises food for her household. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to ha...
Aug 10, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mushrooms can do some pretty amazing things, and as research continues, we are gaining an even better understanding of the potential of fungi to help us overcome an array of environmental challenges. Mycologist Tradd Cotter joins me on the podcast to share the emerging uses of mushrooms beyond food. Podcast Links for Show notes 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...
Aug 03, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast A fall vegetable garden is a treasure too many gardeners miss out on. In fact, fall is my favorite growing season, a time when I can grow an array of cool-season vegetables with relief from the pest and disease pressure that comes with summer. In this week’s podcast, I share the best crops to grow for fall and the knowledge and techniques for a successful season. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to hav...
Jul 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Even as more and more gardeners adopt the practices of organic, sustainable and regenerative horticulture, retailers still treat organic gardening products as a niche thing. My guests this week, Back to the Roots co-founders and co-CEOs Nikhil Arora and Alejandro “Alex” Vélez, are working to change that by making organic gardening easy and affordable. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week you may notice the podcast sounds a bit different than it normally does. That’s because instead of recording indoors, I recorded from my home garden, the GardenFarm™. You can follow me as I walk along and share my observations from the summer so far and my plans for the weeks ahead. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 ex...
Jul 13, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast The plants that we choose to include in our landscapes can be life-sustaining, invaluable resources for our native wildlife or they can just be plants that just look pretty while contributing little to nothing to the ecosystem. My guest this week, entomologist, speaker and author Doug Tallamy, explains how we can make better plant choices for the sake of nature and, in turn, ourselves. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important ste...
Jul 06, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast This spring was not a great one for hydrangeas all around the United States, and according to my guest this week, Lorraine Ballato, the problem can be traced back to the wild weather that occurred over the winter. Lorraine shares the reasons your hydrangeas may be struggling, the various degrees of hydrangea cold tolerance, and what options gardeners have to achieve better outcomes. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps ...
Jun 29, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast Though the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, is a probable carcinogen, it remains the most widely used herbicide in the United States. My guest this week, Dr. Chadi Nabhan is here to tell the story behind three court cases that concluded with Roundup maker Monsanto owing large sums to glyphosate users who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma . Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the ...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Native gardening is quickly moving from niche to the mainstream, and unfortunately but perhaps expectedly, homeowners associations are the last to catch on. My guest this week, Melinda Soltys, shares what she experienced tussling with her neighborhood’s HOA over her pollinator garden. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 ...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Pollinator Week kicks off on June 19th, so I welcomed Kelly Bills, the executive director of Pollinator Partnership, to the podcast to talk about all the great work the organization does and how gardeners can get involved during Pollinator Week and year-round. Podcast Links for Show notes 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...
Jun 08, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Whether you want to grow a cut flower garden for your own enjoyment or to start a business, you will find Lisa Mason Ziegler’s advice on succession planting with flowers very useful. Lisa, a cut flower growing expert and author, returns to the podcast this week to share her tips. Podcast Links for Show notes 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 ge...
Jun 01, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Living under the strictures of a homeowners association can be incredibly stifling for gardeners who want to work outside of the turf lawn and irrigation dynamic, but sometimes gardeners successfully stand up to their HOAs — and lawmakers in some states are making it easier to do so. Native gardener Janet Crouch joins me on the podcast this week to explain how she helped gardeners across Maryland earn the right to plant native. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your ...
May 25, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
