Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

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Resources:

USDA ARS Online Magazine Recipe for Flavorful Tomatoes

How to Make Your Tomatoes Taste Better Instantly | Glamour

How to Create and Maintain an Indoor Worm Composting Bin | US EPA

Elm Dirt

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Ep. 105 - How to Care for and Maintain Your Fruit Tree Aug 09, 2022

Show notes

The last couple weeks we’ve focused on selecting your fruit tree, preparing the soil and, finally, planting. Now it’s time to talk about maintaining that tree. Just like anything else in the garden, your fruit tree is going to give you a much greater harvest if you give it some attention. I will be the first to admit I am lousy at this. It’s not that I don’t know what to do and how to do it, it’s just that I don’t get around to doing it at the appropriate time. Some of my trees haven’t minded this at all and produced boatloads of fruit with no problem. My most recent trees, however, are suffering for it. It’s something I intend to fix, so not only will we talk about pruning and pest management in this episode, but I’ll share with you what I plan to do in my garden to be sure I’m out there doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done so I can finally get the harvests I want from my trees and maybe it will help you in maintaining your fruit tree.

The DRL: fall planting, hydroponics, and the Two Acre Homestead podcast.

Question of the week: How do I know when my watermelon is ready to pick?

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Ep. 104 - How to Properly Plant a Fruit Tree Aug 03, 2022

Show notes

Last week, we talked all about how to choose the right fruit tree for your garden. We covered things like climate, available space, and the time it takes to maintain a tree. This week, we’ll dig into how to actually plant that tree. This is going to change, of course, based on what you’re planting and where you’re planting it, but the basics of it are pretty similar no matter the tree or the gardening space. Planting your tree the right way and avoiding some common mistakes will put you well on your way to getting years of fruit out of whatever tree you choose. And, trust me, I have made some mistakes when planting our fruit trees. We’ll talk about picking the spot for your tree, the best time of year to plant, and what to do to prepare the space for best results.

Question of the Week: Why didn't I get pumpkins from my plants last year?

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Ep. 103 - How to Choose the Right Fruit Tree for Your Garden Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

If you’ve ever dreamed of walking out into your yard and picking fresh, ripe fruit whenever you wanted, you’re not alone. Many of us are fruit lovers and wish we could have even just one tree that would produce our favorites. But the thought of whether or not a fruit tree would even fit in your yard, the care involved, whether or not you’d need a pollinator, how long it would take to get your first harvest and all those other questions may have stopped you in your tracks in the past.

Let’s demystify the process of deciding on a fruit tree for your garden. Yes, there are a lot of factors to consider but the good news is there are many options for types, sizes, varieties, years to maturity, and level of maintenance that different fruit trees need. There’s bound to be something out there that fits your space and your gardening style, even if that space is a balcony or your gardening style could be defined as less-than-attentive. So, before you give up on the idea of having your own fruit tree or trees in your garden, let’s talk about what you should consider before making your final decision.

The DRL: Talking about summer garden burnout

Question of the Week: Problems with potatoes rotting at the stem.

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Ep. 102 - Perennial Fruits and Vegetables for Your Hardiness Zone Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

What’s better than putting a plant out in the garden, tending to it lovingly, and then reaping the reward of a harvest at the end of the season? Planting that plant one time and reaping the rewards year after year after year, of course! That’s the beauty of a perennial fruit, vegetable, or herb. Plop that puppy into the ground one year and give it a little attention each season and it can continue to provide for years or even decades.

Today we’re going to talk about the difference between an annual that readily self-seeds and a perennial and we’ll go over the most suitable perennials for each hardiness zone. This won’t be a deep dive, instead just a quick overview so you know what to plan for and what to shop for so you can get in on the perennial game in your garden. Let’s dig in.

This week's DRL: planting fall potatoes, "Scratchman" by Tom Baker, Plantrama podcast

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Ep. 101 - How to Prepare and What to Grow in Your Fall Garden Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

It may be blistering hot where you are, I know it is here, but now’s the time to plan that fall garden. The biggest mistake I see with most fall gardens is they get planted too late. I did that many years in a row when I first started gardening. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to be planting cool season crops in the heat of the summer and I would wait until September to get them in the ground. But, our first frost here is mid-October, so an early September planting date only gives me 6 weeks of growth on frost sensitive plants and that’s often not enough time to get a harvest or to really take advantage of the full harvest window of many of the plants you can harvest in the fall.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, you want to get those plants or seeds in the ground early enough for them to actively be growing as the weather starts to cool down AND to be mature well before your first frost date or your Persephone period so you can actually get them harvested. Today we’ll touch a little bit on how to plan out your fall seed starting and planting schedule and then talk about the plants that typically are good for a fall harvest in most areas. Let’s dig in.

This week's DRL: tending tomatoes, harvesting, fall seed starting; "Scratchman" by Tom Baker; the Barnyard Language podcast.

Question of the Week: Scraggly herbs not performing well at this part of the season. What to do and how to manage them.

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Gardening with kiddos w/ Karin Velez - Barnyard Language (captivate.fm)

Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew Concentrate

Captain Jack’s Copper Fungicide

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Ep. 100 - What's the One Thing You Wish You'd Known When You Started Gardening? Celebrating 100 Episodes! Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

This is it. 100 episodes! When I first started this podcast back in February of 2021, I did it because I wanted to share the knowledge I had gained while studying for my horticulture degree. Other than helping our farm business, I didn’t really have any plans for utilizing my degree after graduation. And, honestly, using it to help the farm would absolutely have been enough. There were things I learned in school that I hadn’t learned through experience in my own gardens yet, so gaining that knowledge and then getting to put it into practice has absolutely been invaluable. And I think that’s why I wanted to do something more with it, share it in some way.

I am so excited to be sharing this journey with you and sharing our collective knowledge as we work toward our most productive dream gardens. This episode we are celebrating with some input from you telling me all about what you wish you knew when you started gardening, and I’ll share some of my hard-learned lessons, too.

Spoiler alert, I’m still learning. And every time I learn something new, I’m sharing it with you. Let’s dig in to our 100th episode!

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Ep. 99 - Eight Common Tomato Diseases: Identification, Prevention, and Treatment Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

If you grow tomatoes, it’s very likely you’ve had some sort of disease attack your plants. In our area of west Central Missouri, it’s usually some early blight followed by Septoria leaf spot with maybe some powdery mildew thrown in just for fun. We may even experience tomato leaf curl if it’s a bad year for whiteflies. Every area has their own tomato diseases to contend with. On today’s episode we talk about the eight most prevalent tomato plant diseases, how to prevent them, how to spot them, and how you can treat for them, prevent the spread and, hopefully, save your harvest. And even If you’ve never experienced a disease problem in your tomatoes, count yourself lucky, but you should also know what to look for because there’s always a first time for everything.

This week's DRL: Japanese Beetles, the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers, and The Epic Gardening Podcast (joined by our friend, Marion Whitehead!).

Question of the Week: How to time planting for fall harvest.

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Positively Farming Media Podcast Playlist on Spotify

Resources

Ep. 93 - The Stories Behind Plants with Marion Whitehead | Just Grow Something

The Epic Gardening Podcast - Epic Gardening

Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew Concentrate

Captain Jack’s Copper Fungicide

Eliot Coleman Four Season Harvest Books

Sunset and Sunrise Times

Tomato Diseases & Disorders | Home & Garden Information Center (clemson.edu)

10 Common Tomato Plant Diseases (and How to Heal Them) - Garden and Happy

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Ep. 98 - Becoming A Little More Self Reliant with Ashley Constance Jun 24, 2022

Show notes

Just because you live in town or don’t actually want to do all the things doesn’t mean you can’t learn to do just a little bit more for yourself and your family in this modern globally connected world. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you are in life, you can be a little more reliant on yourself and your local community to make yourself a bit more secure in a very uncertain world.

My guest today is the perfect example of that. Ashley Constance is a first-generation homesteader who moved from the big city to a little acreage in March of 2020. I mean, talk about timing, right? Along with her husband, dog, cat, and a gaggle of other critters, Ashley raises as much of her own food as possible while working to empower others to do the same.

Join me for a fantastic conversation about homesteading where you are, with what you have, and maybe making the leap to something bigger.

In January of 2022, Ashley launched her podcast and her website, A Little Self Reliant, which is aimed at inspiring others to embrace a bit more self-reliance no matter where they're at. Ashley discusses things like gardening, raising animals, preserving, DIY, supporting local growers, embracing sustainability, and more.

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A Little Self Reliant: 90 Homesteading Skills to Build in the City on Apple Podcasts

90 Homesteading Skills to Build in the City - A Little Self Reliant | Podcast on Spotify

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Ep. 97 - Modern Homesteading: It's Not What You Think Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

When you think of homesteading, what comes to mind? Ma and Pa Ingles out on the prairie trying to build a home and raise a family with their own resources on a large plot of dusty land? Maybe you think of the early pictures of covered wagons crossing dangerous territories on their way to stake a claim out west. Yeah, me too! But, in reality, modern homesteading is nothing like that.

Today, homesteading can happen just about anywhere. Because modern homesteading isn’t about relying only on yourself. It’s also about having a community and relying on resources close to home for the things you can’t produce yourself. And that home can be anywhere – in the city or in the country. It’s just a matter of taking the steps to figure out what you can reasonably provide for yourself and what you can glean locally to make yourself a bit more self-sufficient. Just because you live in a suburban neighborhood doesn’t mean you can’t hone many homesteading skills and become a homesteader.

Homesteading in our modern, globally connected world doesn’t mean all or nothing. So, if you’ve ever had the idea that you’d like to rely a little less on the outside world and a little more on your own backyard, today’s episode is for you. Let’s dig in.

What am I listening to? "Into the Garden with Leslie". Find it here: Into the Garden Podcast (lhgardens.com)

Question of the Week: How do I tell the difference between Tomato Leaf Curl Virus and plant stress?

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This podcast is a proud member of the Positively Farming Media Podcast Network