Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

Latest Episodes:

Timing Fall Garden Starts - Focal Point Friday Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

On this Focal Point Friday, we go back to Episode 101 and talk about three important things to consider when starting plants for the fall garden: germination time, days to maturity, and harvest window.

Episode Resources:

Ep. 101 - How to Prepare and What to Grow in Your Fall Garden

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Late Summer Succession Planting - Ep. 158 Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Succession planting gets a lot of attention in the early part of the season when we’re fresh and the garden is new, and we're not beat down by weather or pests or diseases or the endless pulling of weeds. But we often forget about it toward the hottest part of the year. This is why having a garden plan that goes from spring all the way through to fall and even into winter helps, because it’s laid out for us and it doesn’t require thought, just effort.

Succession planting is a really valuable technique for us to ensure a continuous harvest throughout the summer and into the fall. By staggering plantings of certain crops, we can extend the growing season and maximize our yields. Today we talk about some important things we need to know specifically about summer succession planting, what crops are most suitable to a late succession, timing, techniques, and how to use intercropping with your succession planting to make the most of the space you have. Let’s dig in!

Episode Links:

Just Grow Something Fall Garden Challenge Registration

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Five Best Veggies to Grow in the Fall Garden by Region - Focal Point Friday Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

When we're talking about fall gardening, it's important to know what grows well in our area at that time of the season so we can better plan. Let's chat about the factors that go into deciding what to grow in the fall garden and my top five picks for your USDA Hardiness Zone, from Zone 1 to Zone 13.

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Your Fall Garden Planning Checklist - Ep. 157 Jul 18, 2023

Show notes

If you’ve never grown a fall garden, you are missing out. There seems to be so much less insect and disease pressure with a fall garden. The weather seems to be a bit more predictable, too, even if it is still hot when we get started.

This doesn’t mean the fall garden is fool-proof, but it does mean that many of us get a second chance or sort of “redo” of our spring crops. If there were things that didn’t grow well for us that we’d like to try again, fall is often a great time to do that. If there were things that grew fantastically well and we want more, fall is a great time for that, too. It’s also a time to get things going that will overwinter in the garden if our climate is mild enough or if we can employ some extra protection measures.

On today’s episode of Just Grow Something we’re going to run down the things we should be considering in the garden as we move into fall. The time to do these is now; many colder areas get shorted when it comes to summer gardening and the earlier we can plan and prepare the better off we are. And stick with me until the end and I’ll tell you all about my Fall Garden Planning Challenge. Let’s dig in!

Episode Resources:

Fall Garden Planning Challenge - Sign Up Here!

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Safe Rainwater Collection: Beating Drought in Your Garden - Ep. 156 Jul 11, 2023

Show notes

If you're in an area that is facing a drought this summer, like I am, you might be thinking of ways to combat it in the garden. Enter the rain barrel!

Home gardeners often use rain barrels to collect rainwater from roofs as a supplement to summer irrigation. Rainwater is a natural and unchlorinated water source for plants, but rooftop runoff can be contaminated by chemical and biological pollutants.

Today we talk about the practicality of rain barrels, possible contaminants and where they come from, and how to safely use rain barrel water in the garden. Let's dig in!

Resources and Citations:

Chang, M., M.W. McBroom, and R.S. Beasley. 2004. Roofing as a Source of Nonpoint Water Pollution. Journal of Environmental Management 73: 307–315.

Chen, J.J., R.C. Beeson, Jr., T.H. Yeager, R.H. Stamps, and L.A. Felter. 2003. Evaluation of Captured Rainwater and Irrigation Runoff for Greenhouse Foliage and Bedding Plant Production. HortScience 38(2): 228–233

de Kwaadsteniet, M., P.H. Dobrowsky, A. van Deventer, W. Khan, and T.E. Cloete. 2013. Domestic Rainwater Harvesting: Microbial and Chemical Water Quality and Point-Of-Use Treatment Systems. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 224(7).

Lim, K.Y., and S.C. Jiang. 2013. Reevaluation of Health Risk Benchmark for Sustainable Water Practice through Risk Analysis of Rooftop-Harvested Rainwater. Water Research 47(20): 7273–7286.

Shuster, W.D., D. Lye, A. de la Cruz, L.K. Rhea, K. O’Connell, and A. Kelty. 2013. Assessment of Residential Rain Barrel Quality and Use in Cincinnati, Ohio. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 49(4): 753–765.

POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS IN RESIDENTIAL RAIN BARREL WATER (HOME GARDEN SERIES), Washington State University Extension

100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

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The Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health - Focal Point Friday Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

Is eating ultra-processed foods associated with depression, anxiety, memory problems, and trouble reasoning? An article I read in early May took me down a research rabbit hole and there are a lot of recent studies that say just that: 60% of the American diet is ultra-processed foods and they are causing mental health issues and cognitive decline.
Today we're digging into the data and uncovering what defines ultra-processed foods, how much it affects our mental health, and to what extent.
Resources and Citations:

How Eating Ultraprocessed Foods Can Affect Your Mental Health - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Characterizing Ultra-Processed Foods by Energy Density, Nutrient Density, and Cost - PubMed (nih.gov)

Nutrients | Free Full-Text | The Healthfulness of the US Packaged Food and Beverage Supply: A Cross-Sectional Study (mdpi.com)

Current Intake of Ultra-Processed Foods in the U.S. Adult Population According to Education-Level and Income | Current Developments in Nutrition | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

Cross-sectional examination of ultra-processed food consumption and adverse mental health symptoms - PubMed (nih.gov)

Association Between Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods and Cognitive Decline | Dementia and Cognitive Impairment | JAMA Neurology | JAMA Network

Diet and depression: exploring the biological mechanisms of action | Molecular Psychiatry (nature.com)

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Growing Melons: Watermelon, Cantaloupe and More - Ep. 155 Jul 04, 2023

Show notes

There are few things that taste like summer quite like cantaloupe or watermelon. These hydrating favorites can sometimes be a little mystifying for new gardeners to grow. And what's the difference between a crenshaw and a canary melon?

On today’s episode, we’re digging into all things melon. What does it take to grow them, can they cross-pollinate, and what’s the trick to picking a truly ripe watermelon? Let's Dig in!

Episode References and Citations:

Wasylikowa, Krystyna; van der Veen, Marijke (2004). "An archaeobotanical contribution to the history of watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai (syn. C. vulgaris Schrad.)". Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 13 (4): 213–217. doi:10.1007/s00334-004-0039-6. ISSN 0939-6314. JSTOR 23419585. S2CID 129058509.

Paris, Harry S. (August 2015). "Origin and emergence of the sweet dessert watermelon, Citrullus lanatus". Annals of Botany. 116 (2): 133–148. doi:10.1093/aob/mcv077. PMC 4512189. PMID 26141130.

Strauss, Mark (21 August 2015). "The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon". National Geographic News.

"Cantaloupe". Oxford English Dictionary. 2016.

Marion Eugene Ensminger; Audrey H. Ensminger (1993). "Cantaloupe". Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia (2nd Edition, Volume 1 ed.). CRC Press. pp. 329–331. ISBN 084938981X.

Melons: Cantaloupe, Muskmelon, Honeydew, Crenshaw, Casaba, etc. | College of Agricultural Sciences (oregonstate.edu)

Watermelon | College of Agricultural Sciences (oregonstate.edu)

Explore Cornell - Home Gardening - Vegetable Growing Guides – Watermelon Growing Guide

Explore Cornell - Home Gardening - Vegetable Growing Guides – Melon Growing Guide

Episode Links:

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Excessive Heat in the Garden: Helping Our Tomatoes, Peppers and Other Summer Plants - Focal Point Friday Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

It's hot and your plants look awful! Extreme heat can mean extreme responses from our gardens. Let's spend a few minutes talking about what's normal, what we should and shouldn't be doing, and how we can help when needed to help the summer garden get through a heat wave.

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Summer Garden Checklist: Eight Tasks to Keep the Harvest Going - Ep. 154 Jun 27, 2023

Show notes

Today we’re talking specific tasks we need to perform in the garden to get our best yield and to keep the harvest going through to fall. Unfortunately, our gardens are not “set and forget it” kind of things. We can’t just put the plants out there and come back in six weeks and expect to harvest. And as the days heat up and summertime events take over it can be tempting to skip some of these things in favor of other more fun activities.

We’re going to run down the list of eight things we need to be paying attention to as the gardening season moves on in order to keep things running smoothly. Any one of these by themselves can be critical to our garden success but I would say the first three are the most vital in my experience. And I’ll be upfront about how difficult this can be when it’s hot and sweaty and dusty and dry and the pool is calling your name which is why having a checklist in front of you of weekly tasks can help get you in the garden and done so you can enjoy the rest of your summer activities knowing your garden is well-tended. Let’s dig in!

Episode Links:

Four Ways to Use Less Water in the Garden

Ep. 134 - Soil Texture and Composition: How it affects water and nutrients in the garden and how to know what type you have

Types of Mulch for the Garden

Benefits of using compost as mulch in your garden.

Ep. 55 - Identifying Insects in the Garden

Companion Planting and Trap Crops for Insect Control

Ep. 99 - Eight Common Tomato Diseases: Identification, Prevention, and Treatment

Ep. 18 - Garden Talk Tuesday: Plant Nutrients and Why You Need to Know Them

Ep. 22 - Garden Talk Tuesday: Plant Nutrient Deficiencies and Toxicity

Identifying Nutrient Deficiencies in Your Garden Plants

Indicators of Nutrient Toxicity in Garden Plants

What To Do If Your Plants Show Signs of Nutrient Deficiency (Or Toxicity) Buy One Get One Free from Elm Dirt: Use Code WOLFCREEK

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What is Well-Draining Soil? - Ep. 153 Jun 20, 2023

Show notes

The description on just about every seed packet or plant tag usually says something along the lines of, this plant “likes fertile, well-draining soil, with lots of organic matter.” The fertility part we likely understand, and we talk about soil organic matter all the time around here. But what about well-draining soil? What does that mean, how do we know if we have it, and what do we do if we don’t? If our soil isn’t well-draining are we destined to only garden in planters where we can completely control the soil? Can we create well-draining soil in our containers or can we modify our existing soil to make it well draining?

We know the soil we are gardening in is one of the biggest building blocks for a healthy plant and, therefore, a healthy harvest. What are the possible consequences for not having well-draining soil? How does it affect the plants? We are getting into all of that today including, step by step, how to test any soil in any location to see exactly how well it drains. Let’s dig in!

Episode Resources:

Ep. 136 - Filling New Raised Beds

Ep. 134 - Soil Texture and Composition: How it affects water and nutrients in the garden and how to know what type you have

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