One of the inevitabilities of gardening is the presence of weeds. There are lots of poor weed management approaches out there, many of which have been used for decades. So, I thought it was high time to explore the not-so-wonderful world of weeds, and I invited Dr. Andrew Smith to share his expertise on the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Have you ever thought about living exclusively off the land for an entire year? Likely not considering how much of our daily lives revolve around food. For those of us who garden, our passion can also provide food freedom through foraging and harvesting up a healthy bounty for our table. Even so, most of the […]
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 […]
Of all the ingredients I could add to my garden to make it grow and thrive, without a doubt the single most important input is compost. It’s the key to the health of my vegetable garden, landscape plants, thriving lawn, and anything growing under my watch. And the benefits of keeping backyard chickens to your […]
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 […]
Last week was the first in this two-part conversation with British gardening legend, Charles Dowding. If you missed it, I recommend you start there. That episode focused on Charles’ background and the no-dig garden method for which he is so renowned. Today’s discussion focuses on how Charles is using compost for more than just a […]
Last week, we “dug” in to the subject of the soil food web with guest Dr. Elaine Ingham. I have long followed and admired Elaine’s work in soil science study, and hearing her describe that it’s actually our plants which are in control of the complex cycle of life beneath the soil surface was fascinating. […]
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 […]
Water – When it comes to the garden, water can be a blessing and a curse. One year brings heavy rain, while the next might bring severe drought challenges. Mother Nature can definitely wreak havoc on our garden success, but there are steps we can and should take to offset those wild swings in moisture […]
As often as I mention the benefits of mulch, I’ve never devoted an entire episode to the topic – until now. Mulch tends to be an unsung hero in the garden. Yet, mulch and compost are the two most powerful tools that an organic gardener has at his or her disposal. I can’t imagine any […]
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, I continue my conversation with Jack Algiere and we shift our focus to cover crops. If you missed last week’s episode on crop rotation, be sure to check that out too. Jack is the Farm Director of Stone Barns Center, a highly-regarded expert on sustainable and regenerative farming, and a wealth of information […]
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 polled the joe gardener Facebook Group to ask what garden questions they would like answered. This is a great community of engaged and supportive gardeners. There is never a shortage of questions. Here, I selected the most commonly-asked topics (some of which I’m asked frequently through my other social media […]
At the time of this release, I’m in Phoenix, Arizona as a keynote speaker at the annual conference of the U.S. Composting Council. Not only is this a great event, but it’s made even better since the focus is one of my favorite subjects – compost, of course. In honor of the event, I felt […]
This week’s guest is a legend in the world of organic gardening and farming – Eliot Coleman. Eliot has been a market gardener for over 50 years, yet he remains as excited about his work every day as when he first began. He claims the secret of life is to love what you’re doing – […]
My guest this week is Barbara Damrosh. An icon in the world of gardening, Barbara began her horticultural career in the mid-1970’s and has always been driven by the desire to help others get into gardening. To that end, she published her first of many books, The Garden Primer, in 1988; and she’s spent time […]
Fall is a favorite time of year for many. It certainly is for me. The softer light and cooler temperatures, football games, the approach of Thanksgiving – these are just a few of the reasons fall is what I consider the best season. Yet, it’s the falling leaves that I’m most thankful for right about […]
Composting at home leads to many questions from eager gardeners regarding techniques and best practices. Well this week, I wanted to answer some of those very specific – and common – questions posed by members of the joe gardener community. If you’ve been a follower of The joe gardener Show podcast for long, you’ve heard […]
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 […]
Would you say you had a resilient garden? Did it stand up to the challenges of this past growing season? This year has been especially difficult for many of us, and while we’re in the middle of my favorite garden time – fall – I’m also already in planning mode for next year. Each season, […]
Garden mistakes challenge us, push us to do better and teach us lessons we utilize for years to come. I ought to know – I’ve made my fair share of them over the years. When you think about it, gardening is as much about making mistakes as it is about celebrating the wins. That said, […]
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 […]
For most of us, having access to water means simply turning the faucet handle. Voila! Water in abundance, right? Well, this convenience is incredibly deceiving. Although 75% of our planet is covered with water, only a minuscule 1% is available as pure, clean water for use by the entire world population. That’s right – 1% […]
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 […]
This week, I take a look back at a conversation on conservation – with Nan Sterman, co-author of Water-wise Plants for the Southwest and expert on waterwise gardening. Although she spent some years away, Nan grew up in and returned to southern California and has become known as a water-wise guru. Nan speaks frequently on water […]
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: […]
In this week’s episode, I revisit a conversation with one of my hero’s – Maria Rodale, on why organic matters. Maria is a lifelong advocate of organic farming and gardening and is third generation in a legacy of commitment to organic agricultural practices. Although her family is now iconic in the world of health and […]
Just about everyone loves blueberries, but this week’s guest – Dr. Lee Reich – might just be blueberry-obsessed. Lee knows how to grow bountiful blueberries and has been perfecting best practice techniques for over 30 years on his small farm in New York state. Beyond bearing delicious fruit, blueberries are also an attractive addition to […]
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 […]
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 […]
For everything there is a season, and when it comes to lawn renovation, spring and fall are it for cool season grasses. Organic lawn care steps taken early in the year can save you water, money and time all through the summer and into fall, while attention in fall will give your lawn a jump […]
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 […]
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 […]
I consider leaves to be Mother Nature’s greatest gift to gardeners. Beyond their unparalleled beauty when they peak in a kaleidoscope of fall color we all enjoy; real gardeners know the greatest gift is still to come when we use those leaves as mulch or in compost. While there is no dispute over the spectacular […]
I am a year-round vegetable gardener. I take pride in that. But it’s no big deal really. I live in Atlanta. Winters rarely get cold enough for snow to even stick around (on those rare times we even get any). And then there’s Niki Jabbour. She’s the real year-round vegetable gardener. She easily earned that […]
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, […]
If I were only able to give one piece of gardening advice, it would be to feed the soil (and let the soil feed the plants). The essence of any garden’s success begins and ends with the soil. And the best way to build the health of any soil is with compost – the greatest organic […]
When it comes to maintaining a healthy garden, organic disease control comes down to a few main options. In this podcast episode, we close out our 3-part series with Dr. Jeff Gilman. This time, we’re discussing the most common steps anyone can take towards organic disease control for creating and keeping a healthier […]
In this podcast, we talk organic weed control with Dr. Jeff Gillman. While currently the Director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens in Charlotte North Carolina, he’s spent his career getting to the truth behind the rhetoric in matters involving both the garden and the environment. Jeff holds a master’s degree in entomology […]
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