Beyond the Garden Basics

In today’s newsletter podcast, retired college horticulture professor Debbie Flower and Master Gardener Gail Pothour offer tips for growing potatoes. We also talk about the best months of the year to plant potatoes. That answer? It depends where you are. Give it a listen (above). More Potato Planting Tips From the garden e-mail bag, Alan asks: “What varieties of potatoes are best to grow here in C...

I’ve often heard from dietitians and health food aficionados that consuming microgreens and baby greens provide more nutrition than their full grown counterparts. Is that true? In a 2021 published study of two greens - spinach and roselle - researchers discovered that these plants - when harvested within 20 days of sowing - have some critical nutritional benefits greater than the full grown plant,...

One of the best soil amendments to add for happy plants are worm castings, also known as worm poop. However, the price of a bag of worm castings approaches twenty dollars, so you may want to tack on a new “to-do” item for the soil in your garden: vermicomposting, which is raising worms, usually in a worm bin. Those worms will feast on many of your kitchen scraps, giving you back a soil amendment t...

If I was to ask you, “What is organic gardening?” You might squint a little, and say something along the lines of, “Well, organic gardeners don’t use chemicals in the garden”. That wouldn't be correct. After all, water is a chemical, and all gardeners probably use water. And, there are chemicals used in organic gardening, including manufactured fertilizers that are OMRI certified as organic. OMRI...

A dogwood tree is easy to love: flowers in the spring, beautiful orange/pink/red fall leaf color; a small to medium height tree, perfect for a patio area. The University of Florida lists the dogwood tree’s strengths and weaknesses: “The state tree of Virginia, the flowering dogwood grows 20 to 30 feet tall and spreads 25 to 30 feet. It can be trained with one central trunk or as a picturesque mult...

Back in July, we discussed “Six Common Tomato Problems.” Among those maladies were abiotic disorders (problems that are caused by factors such as weather, soils, chemicals, mechanical injuries, or cultural practices; and, not caused by insects or disease). Tomato abiotic disorders include blossom end rot, fruit cracking, leaf rolling, solar yellowing, sunburn, and tomato flower drop…all related to...

If you own a Japanese maple tree, or pass by one on your daily strolls, check the leaves. Are they getting a little brown around the edges? Are the leaves beginning to fall off? Welcome to late August and early September, where the quadruple whammy of triple digit temperatures, hot dry winds, reflected heat from a nearby wall/concrete surface, or irregular watering can make many Japanese maples st...

In today’s Beyond the Garden Basics Newsletter podcast (above), Debbie Flower and I tackle a question from Liz, who asks: “I just purchased from the local nursery, a lavender plant and also a sage. I'm sorry, I don't know the exact name. But they're common. The plants were in pots. Each plant is about one foot tall. I already planted them in the yard early yesterday morning. They were fine all day...

In today’s newsletter podcast (above), Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis explains why now is the best time to be planting your vegetables for autumn and winter (in milder areas of the country). For those of you who live in the West, the South, parts of the Midwest and mid-Atlantic states, (USDA Zones 7, 8, and 9) we get down to specifics in this audio episode on the best varieties of veget...

In today’s newsletter podcast, Debbie Arrington of the publication, “Sacramento Digs Gardening”, discusses why jalapeño pepper as well as other pepper seeds and plants may have been mismarked this year. Read her original story on the topic here. Did you ever grow a plant that wasn’t what you thought it would be, due to a mismarked tag or a seed packet that was incorrectly packed? It happens every...

Record-breaking heat waves have pummeled the world, especially during the last two years. What’s a gardener to do? In today’s newsletter podcast (above), Master Gardener Quentyn Young walks us through the fruit tree orchard at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, discussing how a record heat wave adversely effected the trees and the fruit. Plus, he has tips for dealing with extended heat waves in th...

Phosphorus, in the world of plant fertilizers, is considered a macronutrient, an important element used by plants. Phosphorus is used to promote root and tuber growth, as well as the production of flowers and seeds. But, do you really need to add it every time you fertilize? And why have 13 states - as well as several municipalities - placed restrictions on the use of phosphorus? Phosphorus is the...

For those of you who did not receive last Friday’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, here it is. My apologies. I will send the gremlins to bed without dinner. In today’s newsletter podcast (above), we chat with Don Shor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA. Don is a big fan of growing tomatoes, and it helps that his nursery is located in a county that just so happens to be one of the top tomato...

Trying to decipher the basics on how to sharp garden hand tools can be a bit daunting to understand in an audio format. Here’s Sacramento County Master Gardener Bill Black, with his YouTube video about garden tool sharpening. Every picture tells a story, don’t it? How to Care and Store Your Garden Hand Tools As the weather heats up, don’t ignore your garden tools after a hard day in the yard. A go...

Today’s newsletter podcast (above) features Master Gardener/Vegetable Expert Gail Pothour, discussing her favorite cucumber varieties, as well as tips and tricks for their success. Originally featured in Episode 263 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, in which we talked about the Top 5 favorite homegrown vegetables, according to the National Gardening Association. According to the NGA,...

Where is the zucchini? That question is a popular one in the garden e-mail bag lately. Gardeners are fretting over a total lack of summer squash flowers. Other problems include zucchini flowers that drop off, or young fruit that dies back. A lot of it has to do with timing. Many gardeners tend to plant zucchini seeds at the same time as tomato and pepper plants, usually in April. That’s a bit too...

If you listened to this week’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast (Ep. 269: “Growing Your Brain Food Garden”), you heard Dr. Laura Varich of FreshPhysician.com tout the cholesterol-fighting qualities of many home grown vegetables. Lowering cholesterol levels is widely known as a key factor in reducing heart disease. According to Varich, you’re not only doing your heart a favor, but also your b...

Recorded last week in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Sun City/Lincoln Hills (CA) garden club. Included a Power Point presentation, which I mistakenly referred to as “slides”. And yes, I still have a slide projector in a closet somewhere, along with a box of slides of my cross-country bicycle trip in 1988. It’s probably next to the Betamax VCR and the Sony 630-D reel-to-reel stereo re...

Thinning Crowded Fruit on Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Vines A prolifically producing peach tree next to an often-used walkway in our narrow side yard serves as a not so-subtle reminder this time of year: thin the fruit before trouble begins. And if a glance up into the canopy of your peach, pear, nectarine, apple, kiwifruit, persimmon, apricot, or other deciduous fruit trees and vines (including table...

(From a 2022 interview with Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington. Originally aired on May 20, 2022, Garden Basics podcast ) Farmer Fred What is America's favorite flower? Well, of course, it's the rose. Something like 85% of all Americans say their favorite flower is the rose. How do you grow them? Well, we've talked about that on this show. You can go back and look for various episodes of the Garden...

As the weather warms, so do outbreaks of fleas and ticks. Today’s newsletter podcast features an interview with retired veterinarian and Master Gardener Heidi Napier, who talks about these pests, along with a scenic bypass about controlling slugs and snails using less toxic products that won’t harm your kids or dogs. Flea Control Tips This pest can live indoors and out, as well as on your pets. Ho...

Interview with Robert Pavlis of GardenMyths.com : Can Human Food also be Plant Food? (It depends how you apply it.) (originally aired in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics Podcast) Farmer Fred: What do you give plants to drink besides water and plant food? This question actually has been asked on many social media outlets, and in many gardening groups. And you might be surprised at the number of hou...

For years (decades, really), I’ve been promoting April 28 as Official Tomato Planting Day* for our area here in Northern California (Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys, low foothills, and East Bay). And this time around in 2023, the weather has been very cooperative to make this year’s April 28th celebration an excellent time to start planting tomatoes. Wherever you are in the co...

The healthiest food you can eat is the food you grow yourself. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. In today’s newsletter podcast, we talk with two Master Gardener/chefs: Kathy Morrison of the daily “ Sacramento Digs Gardening ” newsletter, and Master Gardener and Chef/instructor Andi MacDonald . Kathy has several recipes using ingredients that just might be maturing in your garden right now. And...

For the best tomato growing season ever, we have tips. Just a few tips. Today’s newsletter podcast features excerpts from two episodes of the Garden Basics podcast, Episode 93 with America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, and Episode 259 with Don Shor, proprietor of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, CA. two tomato chats with these scenic bypasses for tomato success. A...