Here in the South, tomato season is just about done for the year, so tomato breeder and tomato-growing expert Craig LeHoullier is back as my guest on the podcast so we can discuss what we learned this year and check in on the progress of Craig’s breeding experiments. Craig is one of the kindest, most […]
Growing better tomatoes doesn’t have to mean more work. Horticulturist, designer and author Frank Hyman says many common tomato-growing practices — like heavy pruning, frequent spraying and constant tinkering — may actually be unnecessary. Frank joins me this week to share practical ideas and inventive solutions that make growing healthy, productive tomato plants simpler and […]
It’s time once again for my annual check-in with Craig LeHoullier, also known as NC Tomatoman, an heirloom tomato and straw bale gardening expert as well as a dwarf tomato breeder. I always look forward to catching up with Craig and finding out what new and exciting things he has going on in his garden […]
Tomatoes are thought of as a summer crop, and rightly so, but in my fall garden, I have a few tomato plants that are still going strong. I encourage you to leave a few tomato plants in the ground when you transition to a fall garden because they just might surprise you. […]
Tomatoes enjoy warm weather, but they don’t like it too hot. Extended periods of heat can stress out plants and lead to a number of problems. Joining me on the podcast this week to discuss how to overcome the tomato-growing challenges that arise in high heat is tomato expert Craig LeHoullier. Craig is the author […]
Best-selling author and tomato expert Craig LeHoullier and I are gearing up for our second year co-instructing Growing Epic Tomatoes, our joegardener Online Gardening Academy course. In this episode, we look back on year one and talk about new changes ahead for the current growing season, and we’re excited to tell you about what we […]
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 […]
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. […]
Tomatoes are by far the most popular home garden crop in America, and it’s clear why. You’ll never eat a tomato that tastes better than one you picked from your own garden. If you want to grow tomatoes for the first time or are looking to up your tomato-growing game, here’s what you need to […]
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. Craig literally wrote the book on growing tomatoes successfully — “Epic Tomatoes: How […]
As we approach Thanksgiving, a time for taking stock of all the things we are grateful for, it feels like a good time to reflect on our gardening successes this year. I’ll admit I’m guilty of talking about how challenging this summer was in the garden for many of us while failing to highlight the […]
The most satisfying triumphs in the garden are built on experimentation and, yes, what many call failures, but what I always call learning opportunities. We’re always learning, no matter how long we’ve been gardening. Perhaps no one I know pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in the garden further than veteran gardener, Meg Cowden of […]
Starting a new tomato garden in an unfamiliar location poses a number of challenges and can be intimidating, even for experienced gardeners, but it also provides a clean slate and new opportunities for lessons learned. Tomato growing expert Craig LeHoullier moved in January to Hendersonville, North Carolina, and he has much to share about experimenting […]
Plant diseases pose one of the biggest challenges that gardeners face, and while it can be tempting to reach for a chemical control, managing plant diseases organically is possible. To speak to that fact, I invited Dr. Jeff Gillman on the podcast a couple of years back, and I am revisiting that conversion this week […]
Between my podcast listeners, social media channels, and members of my Online Gardening Academy™, I receive a lot of gardening questions. This week on the podcast, I am answering some of those questions from members of the joegardener® Facebook group. I’ve invited Erin, my Director of Online Media, to return as co-host for this gardening […]
How are the plants in your garden doing so far this season? I don’t know about you, but here in my Atlanta-area GardenFarm™, disease is already rearing its ugly head. I had a conversation with extension plant pathologist, Dr. Janna Beckerman, of Purdue University to explore the world of plant disease, so she could share […]
It’s safe to say that mid-June is sort of the “honeymoon” phase of gardening. The final cold snaps are behind us. The plants in our landscapes are abundant in foliage. Many of us have just begun to harvest the first fruits of warm-season crops or are, at least, watching fruit develop in eager anticipation of […]
For this week’s episode, I invited my Director of Online Media back to join me for another Q&A session. We haven’t done a Q&A episode in awhile. Erin is my co-host when I have one, and when I want to have a conversation with somebody from my team. Our talks are always fun, and it […]
If you’re into organic seeds or growing seeds of varieties that are out of the ordinary, you’ve probably heard of this week’s guest. Ira Wallace of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SESE) is truly an icon and a powerful force in the seed world. I’m fortunate to catch up with Ira at various garden events along […]
With all that is going on in our world during these recent weeks, more folks than ever are feeling drawn to gardening. The confidence that comes with growing your own source of healthy food is appealing, of course, but the garden also provides a refuge through periods of anxiety. Well, this week’s episode focuses on […]
This week, I’m catching up with Epic Tomatoes author Craig LeHoullier. I’m proud to call him a good friend and happy that he’s a frequent guest on this podcast. But a lot has changed in the Tomato Guy’s world during the past few months, and many of you have wondered what Craig has been up […]
If you are a market or small-scale farmer, this episode is for you, but there’s plenty of inspiration for you home gardeners too. This week’s guest is Conor Crickmore. About 12 years ago, Conor exchanged a lucrative career in technology for a successful journey to the life of a market farmer. Here’s the real kicker […]
It doesn’t matter how big or how small your growing space is, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or have decades of experience under your belt. Every year brings new lessons, challenges, disappointments, and wins in the garden. With the end of another year just around the corner, I wanted to share with […]
Nearly two years after my initial conversation in podcast episode 022, my Growing a Greener World® TV crew and I were finally standing in the year-round vegetable garden of Niki Jabbour to film an entire episode around her four-season growing success while defying extremely challenging conditions of USDA zone 5b in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In […]
Do you save seeds? These days, more and more gardeners are interested in keeping seeds from the plants in their garden, but it’s a process that can be intimidating. For this week’s episode, I invited Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and master seed saver, Bill McDorman, to share his expertise for anyone […]
Tomatoes. They just might be the hands-down most popular plant for home gardeners, but they sure aren’t easy. Last year, my friend and tomato-growing expert, Craig LeHoullier, joined me for a podcast about his recommended steps for healthy tomatoes. He called it his tomato-care checklist, and it is so packed with good information, that I […]
If you’re a gardener of any level looking for something to make gardening easier and save time – while also keeping things looking sharp – this episode is for you. You won’t find today’s featured items at any garden center, but I use them more than any other accessory in the garden – hands down. […]
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 […]
This week’s guest is Kevin Espiritu, author of the new book – Field Guide to Urban Gardening. Kevin is a self-taught garden guy. Like many of you, he’s figuring things out as he goes along and letting his curiosity be his guide. Kevin doesn’t have a background in horticulture. His introduction to the garden world […]
When it comes to growing tomatoes, there’s no shortage of advice, and some of it has been handed down for generations. Fortunately for us, there are researchers who put these time-honored tips to the test. So, which recommendations have been proven as nothing more than garden myth? Let’s take a look at the most common […]
If you live in or ever travel to the New York City area, one place worth visiting is Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. This 85-acre farm is just 30 minutes from the heart of the city, which is hard to believe when you tour its spectacular setting and innovative farming practices. In all […]
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 […]
For this week’s podcast, I’m catching up with a good friend and frequent guest, Craig LeHoullier. Craig is responsible for the revival and development of many favorite heirloom tomato varieties, and he is a pioneer in a dense-planting technique for seed starting. Craig is always experimenting. One of his recent projects involves testing germination rates […]
In this week’s podcast, I’m talking hobby greenhouses with Sheri George. A lifetime master gardener, Sheri has been greenhouse gardening for over 20 years. Her experience has put her in a unique position on what to know before you buy (and after you do) when it comes to setup and growing conditions within the space […]
Last year, I shared a podcast series devoted to starting seeds indoors. It has been incredibly popular as more and more gardeners develop an excitement for this aspect of gardening. In fact this year, I’ve been hearing from even more of you who are starting seeds for the first time or who missed this series […]
Do you grow plants indoors? Have you tried starting plants from seed or are you thinking of trying this year? In either case, light may be on your mind lately. It’s been on mine, so I invited Leslie Halleck, author of the new book Gardening Under Lights, to join me for this week’s podcast to […]
Recently, my podcast featured some of my favorite garden books. In this episode, I talk with the author of one of those books. Barry Estabrook is a multi-James Beard Award-winning author, and one of his most renowned titles, Tomatoland, is a favorite among my extensive library. When I first read Tomatoland, I couldn’t put it […]
Here in the southeast, our warm temperatures mean that tomato season is coming to a close. If you find yourself in the same boat, this podcast is right up your alley. I invited my honorary co-host, Tomato Guy Craig LeHoullier to join me for a discussion about the highs and lows of this particularly odd tomato […]
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 […]
Craig LeHoullier has been a frequent guest of this podcast series. He joins us again today to follow up on our early 2018 series on seed starting. If you missed that series, I recommend you start there, so you have context for this discussion on tomato seedling. In this podcast, we check in on how […]
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 […]
In this podcast, I explore succession planting techniques with my guest, Meg Cowden. Meg and her husband are well-versed in the art of succession planting. Living in southern Minnesota, on the outskirts of Minneapolis, they garden in USDA Hardiness Zone 4B. While many gardeners in a Zone 4 environment see their season as Memorial Day through […]
Are you building a raised bed garden, or are you looking to improve your raised bed crops? You have come to the right place. Earlier this year, I invited my email group to send me any questions they would like me to answer on the topic of raised bed gardening. Little did I expect the […]
As we close out 2017, it’s time to talk about what’s ahead for the new year. With 52 new weekly episodes, we have a lot of great content planned for you. And it’s not only the podcasts. Some other enhancements are in the works as we plan for the best user experience yet for joe […]
Now that your tomatoes are settled into their beds (or pots), you can breathe a sigh of relief as you dream about the vine-ripe bounty that’s sure to come. Or is it? There may be tomato problems lurking in your future. Don’t get too comfortable patting yourself on the back for a job well done […]
Growing epic tomatoes likely makes it on to every vegetable gardeners wish list sooner or later. Fortunately, we now have someone who wrote the book on it, literally. Our featured guest for this episode, Craig LeHoullier wrote my new favorite book – a tomato growing guide: Epic Tomatoes; How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties […]
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