Dirty Data

The garden is finally producing—and now I need recipe ideas. In this episode of Dirty Data, I share my latest harvest totals, including 18 yellow squash, 2 cucumbers, multiple harvests of green onions and cilantro, and an update on what’s coming next in the garden. I also talk about: Cilantro bolting as Mississippi temperatures rise Baby tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash developing A bell pepper tha...

In this episode of Dirty Data, the garden officially moves from setup mode to production mode. I share my first meaningful harvest of the season, including seven yellow straightneck squash, fresh cilantro, dill, and green onions. The Better Boy and Celebrity tomatoes are now setting baby fruit, and the cucumbers are producing heavily—while also trying to climb onto the tomato plants. I also talk a...

It’s finally happening… 👀 Baby squash and cucumbers are showing up, tomatoes are flowering, and now we get to see what actually produces. In this episode, I’m breaking down the real experiment behind my garden: * Testing 5-5-5 vs Tomato-tone vs fish emulsion * Already going through 4 lbs of fertilizer (and what that means for cost) * Filling empty space with radishes to maximize production * Comp...

Everything in my garden looked fine… …but I was still doing (at least) one thing wrong. I’ve been watering every 36 hours, just trying to stay ahead of it—but once I actually checked the soil, I realized that approach wasn’t working the way I thought it was. In this episode of Dirty Data, I break down what changed, what I’m seeing across different parts of the garden, and why I’m moving away from...

🎧 Dirty Data -episode 3 In this episode of Dirty Data, I break down exactly what happened during my seed starting process—and what the data is already telling me. I started 97 pods using a Jiffy greenhouse and heat mat, tracked my germination rate (74%), and quickly realized that not all plants performed the same. Some categories thrived—like squash and tomatoes—while others, especially peppers,...

🎧 Dirty Data – Episode 2 In this episode, I break down how I built my garden setup—from raised beds to grow bags to in-ground planting—and what it actually cost before growing anything. I also walk through what I didn’t fully understand going into it… and what I’d do differently. ⸻ 🔗 Links from this episode Raised Beds (what I used): Sacia Metal Raised Garden Bed https://www.wayfair.com/outdoor/...

I planted about 35 purple hull peas today… and realized I have no idea if any of my gardening is actually worth it. I’ve been gardening in my backyard for a while now — building beds, buying soil, planting different crops — and I enjoy it. But I’ve never tracked it well enough to know what I’m really getting out of it. As someone who works in IT, has a doctorate in computer science, and teaches da...