Good Growing

This week for the Good Growing podcast we have a gardenbite episode that dives into the basics of how to water your landscape and garden plants. While some may have built-in irrigation systems, many gardeners must reach for the hose to hand-water when times get dry, and right now times are VERY dry in central Illinois. Chris shows how to water and gives some great tips to know if you are irrigatin...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we discuss the dry, hot weather we’ve been having recently. We discuss Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford’s recent blog post on the Increased Risk of Drought Conditions in Illinois, providing water to our plants, how you can help monitor drought conditions in your area, and more! Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RI4_daRf1O0 Skip to what you want to kn...

This week on the Good Growing podcast we sit down with Illinois Extension communications specialist and first-time homeowner Emily Steele and walk through some of the basic To-Dos for a new yard/first-time yard owner. We dive into various topics from what to look for at house showings in the landscape to how to avoid termites and much more! Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/9Q-WiIYGjeM Skip to...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we talk with horticulture educator Ryan Pankau about the new University of Illinois Extension pollinator website, Illinois Pollinators. Learn about how this website came together, the information it covers, including different pollinators we find in Illinois, the importance of pollinators, plants pollinators use, pollinator habitat design, community science and...

This week Ken and Chris have compiled several homeowner questions all about soil testing. We share lots of resources to help the gardener and landscaper determine the status of their soils and eliminate the guessing game of soil management. Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EztIDdWY6Qw Illinois Extension's one-stop website for soils including a list of soil testing labs: https://extension.illi...

On this week's Good Growing Podcast, Ken Johnson talks about what we can do for our spring blooming bulbs to ensure a colorful display again next year. Check out the Good Growing Blog: go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these p...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast we talk with Illinois Extension local foods educator Nick Frillman about growing gourmet shiitake mushrooms in your own backyard. Nick shows us the tools and methods used to turn fresh cut logs of white oak and sugar maple into inoculated “bolts” that will yield delicious shiitake mushrooms. Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/MuP9exnHmaQ Skip to what you want...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast, we have a discussion about garden tools and gadgets. Learn about what we should be doing to get our tools ready for use this spring, some of our favorite garden tools, and more! Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GXD12sUiI8w Skip to what you want to know: 00:25 – Welcome, Ken, and what have we been up to in the garden? 02:15 – Don’t put your tomatoes out yet...

This week on the Good Growing podcast we dive into the world of soil and compost. Ken and Chris answer your questions asked by actual home gardeners. Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/KR9CLt2izW4 Skip to what you want to know: Hey Ken! Spring, weather, and our new intro music Amending Soil Questions -3:09 Can you recommend a user-friendly home soil test for me to buy that will guide me through...

Do certain plants grow better together? While the research may be out for many claims of companion planting, some tried and true methods of vegetable garden plant combinations have worked for generations. Listen as local foods educator Nick Frillman gives some background on companion planting. Contact us! Nick Frillman: frillma2@illinois.edu Chris Enroth: cenroth@illinois.edu Ken Johnson: kjohnso@...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast, Chris and Ken sit down to go through some more spring gardening questions about seed starting, planting outdoors, planting in pots, and more! Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iWCVq7QALCE Skip to what you want to know: 00:30 – Welcome Ken, and be on the lookout for Callery pear and honeysuckle 02:05 – Why is Chris sad? 04:09 – How many seeds per cell do you...

Never be without a vase full of flowers after listening to this episode of the Good Growing podcast. This week Ken and Chris chat with Chris Lueking, Illinois Extension horticulture educator, and owner of her own successful cut flower farm. Chris describes how she got started, things to consider when growing cut flowers, her top five go-to cut flowers, and more! Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.b...

On this week’s Good Growing podcast Chris and Ken sit down to go through our piles of early spring gardening questions about frost dates, seed starting, and more. Plus, we warn our listeners and viewers to be careful when getting out into the garden too soon! Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/kDjPF-UYDKQ Skip to what you want to know: 00:36 – Hey Ken, what’s going on in our gardens? 1:56 - We m...

On this week's Good Growing Podcast, Ken Johnson talks about growing asparagus, including what type you should grow, how to plant, weed control, and fertilizing and harvesting. Check out the Good Growing Blog: go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion...

This week Nick Frillman takes us on a journey of our local foods system through his very own kitchen and a single loaf of bread. Listen in to learn how you can support a local food system with your food dollars.

On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome back horticulture educator Emily Swihart to finally talk about sunflowers! We discuss the history of sunflowers, some of their benefits to the environment and bees, what sunflowers we’ll be growing this year, and more. Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YLlwBnHp4qA Skip to what you want to know: 00:40 – Welcome Ken, and why isn’t Chris in Macomb?...

On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome horticulture educator Emily Swihart to share the new and strange seed we have ordered for our flower gardens for the 2023 growing season. We tease talking about sunflowers for the yard, but we don't get to them this week. So, look for that episode next week (we promise!). Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q_HGNwhTvqE Skip to what you want to know...

On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome horticulture educator Emily Swihart to share the new and strange seed we have ordered for our vegetable gardens for the 2023 growing season. Plus, Chris has a monumental task of narrowing down his list of shade trees to only one for his front yard. We tease talking about sunflowers and ornamentals for the yard, but we don't get to them this week. So...

This week on the Good Growing podcast, we finish our conversation on growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal. Last week we got through pre-sprouting indoors, this episode we dive into getting your sprouted rhizomes planted, growing, and then harvested. We take you through a growing season with these tropical spices in Illinois. Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/mGrZgSxOXJk Skip to what you want...

On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we have the long-awaited, often teased episode on growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal in Illinois! We discuss what they are, why you may want to grow them, where to grow them, presprouting, and more. Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1V121FzkJus Skip to what you want to know: 00:40 – Welcome Ken and Nick 02:05 – Why would I want to grow ginger, turmeric,...

On this week's Good Growing podcast, we look back at 2022 to review what went well in our vegetable gardens, and also some lessons learned from the struggles of growing food in Illinois. From annoying critters to the beauty provided by some of our edible crops we cover it all. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/cmDVlZ00ecU Skip to what you want to know: 0:37 Hey Ken! 1:21 Our year in review of the...

On this week's Good Growing podcast Chris Enroth talks about amaryllis care and how to get it to rebloom for next year's holiday season. Check out the original text by Ken Johnson https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2021-12-03-how-take-care-amaryllis-and-get-them-rebloom Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: h...

Garden and seed catalogs have been arriving for a while now. When flipping through catalogs, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have room (or time) to grow everything you see, no matter how amazing it seems. So how should you go about choosing what to grow this year?

Did you put off gift-buying this year? You’re in luck! On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we’re talking about last-minute gifts for gardeners. Get some ideas for gifts for the gardener in your life. We also take a look back on 2022’s podcasts and look forward to what the new year is bringing. Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wO41vGCKKnw Skip to what you want to know: 00:40 – What’s the plan...

This week on the Good Growing podcast local foods educator Nick Frillman examines the impacts of tilling the soil and alternatives to lessen the damage tilling can have. Check out The Vegetable Beet podcast on reducing tillage when growing vegetables https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reducing-tillage-in-vegetable-production-an/id1511218540?i=1000583310715 Low and No-Till Gardening UNH document...