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 one of the most well-traveled vegetables — or fruits — that there is and one of the most popular crops in home gardens, but after they were introduced to Europe, centuries went by when they were grown and admired — but not eaten. To dig into the fascinating history of tomatoes, from their […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Saving seeds from tomatoes is simpler than you think. Once you learn how to save tomato seeds, you can continue growing your favorite heirloom varieties for seasons to come. If you love eating and growing a certain variety of tomato and you wish to grow the same tomato next gardening season, check whether your tomato […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
This episode is packed right from the start with interesting information about heirloom tomatoes, past, present and future. Our resident Epic Tomato growing expert, Craig LeHoullier is back for this part II conversation we started with episode 3. It was all about his process of how he grows over a ton of produce […]
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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