Growing the Good Life

With concerns about food supply and rising prices due to potential tariffs, now is the perfect time to develop your food growing skills. By adopting three essential mindsets—curiosity, embracing imperfection, and persistence—anyone can successfully grow their own food regardless of whether they have a "green thumb." • Curiosity is the number one trait needed for successful food growing—a...

Discover the joys and economic advantages of cultivating your very own garden as I, Michelle Roberts, with over twenty years of green-thumbed experience, guide you through the cost-effective and fulfilling practice of home gardening. This isn't just about sprouting seeds; it's about nurturing a new way of life that's kinder to your wallet and your well-being. In our latest episode,...

Ready to debunk onion-growing myths and learn the tips and tricks to grow your own sweet Candy onions successfully and long-storing Cabernet red onions?  As a seasoned gardener based in western North Carolina, I promise to guide you on a year-long journey of growing onions, from sowing seeds to reaping not one, but TWO bountiful harvests.  The second part of our onion adventure will have us delve...

It's Michelle Roberts here, and on this episode I'll I take you through our farm's recent achievement of being certified naturally grown - a label that is more than just the buzzword for us. In this candid conversation, I'll shed light on why we took this route, the real costs of organic certification, and why it's often a far-fetched dream for many small-scale farmers lik...

Is the scorching summer heat making your green thumb wilt? Fret not, dear gardener, because I, Michelle Roberts, am here to bring a cool, refreshing breeze to your gardening routine. The heat may be draining, but the glorious season of fall is right around the corner - a time that is not only easier on you but also brings forth a harvest of delicious and even profitable crops! As a seasoned garden...

• Selling extra seedlings for a profit is easier than ever, and can be done on various scales. • Benefits include providing access to naturally grown seedlings and offsetting growing costs. • Consider growing what you already are, varieties that do well in your climate, and plants deemed difficult to grow from seed. • Pre-selling is a great way to control cash flow and get customers invested. • In...

• In today's Growing the Good Life podcast, Michelle Roberts discussed the importance of quality potting soil/seed starting mix, which has become an issue in the gardening space. • Potting soil/seed starting mix typically consists of compost, peat moss, perlite or vermiculite, and coco coir (spent coconut fibers). • With more people entering the gardening space in 2020 due to high demand, pro...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the Growing in the Good Life podcast, explains how to determine when to fertilize onion plants. • Depending on the latitude, long day onions require 14 hours of sunlight, while short day onions require 10-12 hours. • Onions need a boost of nitrogen during their growing process. This can be done by adding a general-purpose fertilizer with potassium and phosphorus at plan...

• It is essential to select healthy seedlings from big box retailers, ensuring they have no yellow leaves or wilting and the soil is adequately moist. • Paying more than 50 to 75 cents up to a maximum of $1 for single-head crops (such as cabbage) is the most economical approach. • Shopping at local garden centers, privately owned garden centers, or on Facebook Marketplace can often result in findi...

• Michelle Roberts from The Growing the Good Life Podcast discussed how to save money while vegetable gardening. • This includes maximizing yield and minimizing cost through crop rotation and companion planting, using homemade compost instead of fertilizers, and preserving the excess harvest. • Crop rotation involves yearly moving vegetables around the garden to reduce disease pressure and insect...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the Growing the Good Life podcast, recently ran out of seed starting mix and was astounded at the inflated price. • She created her DIY seed starting mix recipe consisting of two parts peat moss, one part composted leaf mulch, one part perlite, and a quarter part Biotone Starter Plus fertilizer. • The ingredients are easy to source from stores such as Lowe's, Home...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the "Growing in the Good Life" podcast, discussed how gardening is vital to affording nutritious food in 2023 and beyond due to disruptions in the food supply chain and rising costs. • She argued that growing one's food changes eating habits and allows people to dictate their food sources, leading to cost savings. • Michelle presented her own numbers from...

• Michelle Roberts hosts the Growing the Good Life podcast, discussing planting onion plants purchased from Dixondale Farms. •Michelle grew her onions from seed in July and planted them in September. • Michelle also bought four bunches of onion plants from Dixondale, which included Candy (intermediate sweet), Candy Apple Red (sweet red onions), Cipollini (small, flat sweet onions for caramelizing)...

• Michelle Roberts hosts the Growing the Good Life podcast, discussing potatoes and their planting. • Grand Teton Organics offers five pounds of seed potatoes of the purple majesty variety. • Chitting or shooting potatoes allows for early green growth formation, helping to protect against rot in wetter soil conditions. • Smaller seed potatoes can be planted whole, while larger ones should be cut i...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the "Grow on the Good Life" podcast, discussed seven vegetables that can go from seed to harvest in 30 days: lettuce, radishes, kale, spinach, green onions, Swiss chard, and turnips. • Lettuce is a cost-effective vegetable planted directly in the ground or started early indoors and harvested as baby leaves through a cut-and-come-again style. • Radishes grow qu...

• Michelle Roberts is the host of the Growing the Good Life podcast and is discussing potatoes in this episode. • She will be growing 3 varieties of potatoes in western North Carolina, 2 she has grown before and 1 new variety. • The first potato, French Fingerling, is a determinate potato which sets potatoes in one layer and has a reddish smooth skin with yellow-golden flesh. She saves some potato...

• Michelle Roberts has been using a Palram four-by-six-foot hobby greenhouse for three years, starting seedlings for her 1/10 acre garden. • The current price of the greenhouse is around $600, and discounts are possible with some research. • Michelle believes the greenhouse is worth it due to its strength, lightweight, and ability to protect plants from wind before they can be hardened off. • She...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the Growing the Good Life podcast, discussed three organic fertilizers that she found plants love: Espoma Garden Tone, AgroThrive and Alfalfa Meal. • Garden Tone contains quick release fertilizer components for immediate growth as well as slow release nitrogen for up to 6 weeks. It also contains beneficial microbes. • Agro Thrive is a liquid organic fertilizer which can...

• Michelle Roberts, host of the Growing the Good Life Podcast, discussed grafted tomato plants - a process of combining two tomato plants to create one with high disease resistance and better flavor. • Benefits of using grafted plants include improved disease resistance, higher yields, potentially less pesticide use, and faster growth in high temperature/humidity conditions. • Creating one's...

• Michelle Roberts talks about seed starting space management and the "Goldilocks" approach. • She discusses the various cell tray sizes to use for different vegetables and flowers, such as 32 cells for tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants; 72/128 cells for lettuce; 128 cells for beets; and direct sowing in a 1020 tray for onions. • Michelle shares her experiences with trial-and-error and pr...

• Plant transplants are becoming more widely available in retail stores and nurseries as we get closer to spring planting season. • It is possible to have a profitable garden while buying some transplants. • However, some crops should be avoided when buying transplants to maximize profit versus investment. • This podcast details the vegetable transplants I would skip, the ones I would buy, and the...

• Growing lettuce and onions at home can save money and provide fresher, tastier food. • The necessary supplies to get started are inexpensive and easily accessible: containers, soil, vegetable seeds, sun, and water. • Depending on the latitude of your garden, there are three recommended onion varieties: Savannah Sweet for southern gardeners, Candy for mid-latitude gardeners, Walla Walla for north...