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How to Save Time While Fertilizing

| Prepare, Video

Mixing liquid fertilizer can be time-consuming, so I’d like to share with you a way that I have found to get more done in less time. In this video, I’ll show you how to use liquid fertilizer more efficiently.      As an organic gardener, I don’t have to fertilize much because I use […]

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160-Gardening Pet Peeves – My Top 10 from Joe Lamp’l

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Fair warning: This week, you’re in for a bit of a rant. I’m sharing with you my top 10 gardening pet peeves. No, I don’t mean those things like finding some pest has taken a bite out of an almost perfectly ripe fruit (although, that drives us all crazy too). I mean the human behavior […]

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153-The Science Behind Great Soil

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I don’t know if you know this about me, but soil is my favorite topic. I love all things gardening, and I’ve even hurled myself into a large heap of finished compost. Still, soil is king in my book, and the more we learn about the science behind great soil, soil health, and all of […]

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145-Fundamentals of Gardening: Confidence Through Key Principles

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It never hurts to go back to the basics from time to time, and that’s what today’s episode is all about – the importance of the fundamentals of gardening. My guest, Daryl Beyers, is author of the just-released book on gardening basics – The New Gardener’s Handbook. Daryl earned a degree in landscape design, and […]

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143-Gardening Products You Don’t Need, and Why

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This week, garden myth-busting expert Robert Pavlis joined me to talk about gardening products. Robert has a background in chemistry and biochemistry and is an avid gardener as well. He owns and runs a 6-acre botanical garden packed with over 3,000 different species of plants, trees and shrubs. So, he offers some valuable insights when […]

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139-Houseplant Myths: The Facts Behind Caring for Indoor Plants

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I’m betting that you have a little green in your home right now. No, I’m not talking about seedlings. I’m talking about houseplants. Nearly all of us have at least a few these days. Houseplants have been a hugely popular trend the past few years, with some plant-a-holics spending big money on a single showstopper. […]

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116-Understanding the Soil Food Web, with Dr. Elaine Ingham

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Are you ready to get your garden geek on? In today’s episode we’re diving into the deep end on the subject of soil – specifically, understanding the soil food web. If you’ve ever told anyone that you “like to play in the dirt” to describe your love of gardening, I’m willing to bet that this […]

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105-Gardening Questions Answered: Expert Advice from Joe Lamp’l

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Between my podcast listeners and members of my e-newsletter and social media channels, I receive a lot of gardening questions. This week, I’m highlighting questions asked by students of my new Beginning Gardener Fundamentals course. I introduced the course at the beginning of this year to teach the fundamental garden basics I’m asked all the […]

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097-Spring Tips for Vegetable Garden Success

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As winter slowly yields to spring, the call to get our hands into the soil becomes irresistible. These spring tips for vegetable garden success are a valuable guide to the essential steps everyone can and should take for a bountiful and productive garden. Pick the best location You may have heard the phrase, pick the […]

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074-How to Have and Care for a Healthy Lawn: Top 7 Non-negotiables

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Now that I’ve shared my recommendations for creating an eco-friendly garden and a resilient garden during the past couple of weeks, I want to talk about how to have and care for a healthy lawn. I know, to many organic gardeners, “lawn” is a dirty word. Incorporating lawn space is often viewed as environmentally irresponsible, but […]

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072-Creating an Eco-friendly Garden & Landscape: 7 Key Tenets

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Having seen many gardens over the years, I’ve been on a mission to inspire people to think more towards eco-friendly gardening. My experiences led me to write a book, The Green Gardener’s Guide: Simple, Significant Actions to Protect & Preserve Our Planet focusing on creating an eco-friendly garden and landscape.     In the book, I […]

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How to Create a Drought Tolerant Landscape: Pro Tips – Pt. 5 of 5

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If you live in an area which experiences periods of drought, you’re probably subject to watering restrictions. Fortunately, your landscape can be surprisingly resilient and drought tolerant using the measures I covered in Part 2 of this series which ensure your plants establish well and sink their roots more deeply into the ground. Under extreme conditions, […]

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063-Garden Fertilizer Basics: What to Know Before You Grow

| Care, Podcast

Plants need nutrients, but how and when you provide those nutrients can make more difference than you might realize. Let’s explore some facts on garden fertilizer which, when put to use in your landscape, can make a significant difference in the color, production and vigor of all your plants. Fertilizer provides nutrients which are key […]

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058-Biochar Basics and More: Digging Deeper Into the Science of Soil

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This week, I spoke with Mark Highland of Organic Mechanics. Mark is passionate about soil and has quite the pedigree, having graduated from the Masters Program at Longwood Gardens. Well-versed in the basics of biochar, he’s also recently written Practical Organic Gardening – The no-nonsense guide to growing naturally. It’s a book packed with insight on […]

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056-Tomato Care Checklist with Craig LeHoullier

| Care, Podcast

I have a love/hate relationship with tomatoes. This year, I have 32 tomato plants in spite of knowing that tomatoes are notorious for being a lot of work in the garden. Still, in these early days of summer, everything is growing strong, looking great and setting fruit; so it’s easy to start feeling a little […]

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Top 5 Reasons to Garden in a Raised Bed

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Do you garden in raised beds? If not, why not? Given the options, I can’t imagine not gardening in raised beds. Raised beds are versatile in shape and structure, and they provide the ideal starting point for gardening success and bountiful crops. Let’s dive in to the Top Five benefits offered by a raised bed garden: […]

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050-Organic Pest Control: Beneficial Insects And Beyond

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This week, I continue my conversation with the Bug Lady, Suzanne Wainwright-Evans. Suzanne is an entomologist and industry leader in the movement to utilize biocontrols – putting beneficial insects to work before reaching for pesticides. This is Part Two of our biocontrols discussion, so if you missed Part One, start there. The information in Part […]

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048-The Simple Science Behind Great Gardening, with Lee Reich

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In today’s podcast, I’m joined by Lee Reich, and we explore some of the subjects in his new book, The Ever Curious Gardener – Using a Little Natural Science for a Much Better Garden. As curious gardeners, Lee and I are always pursuing the “why” behind the workings of the garden. I believe this drives […]

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Preparing the Garden In Spring

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There’s nothing like the approach of spring to get you itching to spend time in the garden. If the snow still lies menacingly on the ground where you live, you may feel like there’s not much you can do – yet. But those weeks after winter (or a long, cold spring) wanes and before the […]

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The Numbers on Fertilizer Labels, What They Mean

| Care

A hallmark of good gardening is providing your plants with fertilizer, right? Well, not necessarily. Let’s take a look at some fertilizer facts and review not just the do’s and don’t of fertilization but, more importantly, the “why’s” behind it all. Fertilizer is sometimes seen as a gardening “bandage.” Many gardeners are under the false impression […]

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044-Raised Bed Gardening, Pt. 3: Animal Control & More

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Welcome to the last in our series on raised bed gardening. As you probably know by now, we received so many responses from my email group that this raised bed podcast turned into a three-part series. If you would like to join the conversation and contribute to future topics, I invite you to click the red […]

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043-Raised Bed Gardening, Pt. 2: Perfect Soil Recipe

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In this podcast, we continue our discussion on raised bed gardening. In case you missed it: I had invited my email group to send me any questions they hoped I would answer on the topic of raised bed gardening. I received a huge response, many from folks who plan to start raised bed gardening for […]

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028-The Role of Minerals in Making Great Soil

| Care, Podcast

Now that the Thanksgiving week is behind us, I typically start to reflect on all the things that happened during the year that went well, and those things that, well, have room for improvement. In the garden, it was a good year overall. But the wet, humid weather this summer wreaked havoc on my organic […]

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017-The Five Biggest Mistakes Gardeners Make

| Care, Podcast

Over my many years of traveling the country touring gardens both great and small, I’ve managed to summarize what I believe are the five biggest garden mistakes made by gardeners in their home landscapes and gardens. They also happen to be some of the most common. In speaking with horticulturists and gardeners at every level, […]

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