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153-The Science Behind Great Soil

| Care, Podcast

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

| Care, Podcast

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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136-Top Garden Takeaways From 2019: Lessons Learned

| Care, Podcast

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 […]

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The Benefits of Backyard Chickens to Your Compost

| Compost

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 […]

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125-Saving Seeds: The Basics, the Benefits and Beyond

| Grow, Podcast

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 […]

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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

| Care, Podcast

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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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086-Timeless Gardening Principles, with Barbara Damrosch

| Care, Podcast

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 […]

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How to Use Fall Leaves in the Garden – and Why You Should

| Compost

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 […]

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

| Care, Podcast

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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073-How to Create a Resilient Garden: 10 Key Principles

| Podcast, Prepare

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, […]

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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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How to Water Your Garden and Landscape: Pro Tips – Part 1 of 5

| Care

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% […]

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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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053-Waterwise Gardening With Nan Sterman

| Care, Podcast

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 […]

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Top 5 Reasons to Garden in a Raised Bed

| Prepare

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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052-Why Organic Matters – with Maria Rodale

| Grow, Podcast

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 […]

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051-How to Grow Bountiful Blueberries – Key Steps with Lee Reich

| Grow, Podcast

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 […]

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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

| Prepare

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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

| Podcast, Prepare

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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022-The Year-round Vegetable Gardener with Niki Jabbour

| Grow, Podcast

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 […]

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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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009-Organic Disease Control with Jeff Gillman

| Care, Podcast

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 […]

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007-Organic Weed Control with Jeff Gillman

| Care, Podcast

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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