Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

This Garden Talk Tuesday we’re going to talk about another great fall crop: spinach. Spinach is another fairly easy crop to grow that's only slightly fussy about its growing conditions. It’s no diva, like carrots, but it can be a little finicky when it comes to temperatures and water. So, it really is best grown in the cooler shoulder seasons of spring and fall. And, what makes it a great fall cro...

Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed by your summer garden? The overwhelm you may be feeling in the garden is a good indication that you’ve pushed yourself pretty far in terms of your commitment to your garden, the hard work you’ve put in, and you may be having difficulty managing the stress that hits in the middle of the heaviest part of the harvest when it seems like everything needs to be done at...

We covered ways to help you continue to work in your garden during the heat of the summer in episode 41, but what about your garden? Many of you have already been facing extreme heat this year, so let’s talk about what to do to help care for your garden when you experience extreme summer heat conditions. Episode 41: 6 Ways to Beat the Heat in the Garden Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebo...

We’ve been talking about fall gardening over the past few weeks and some of the techniques I’m going to talk about fall right in line with planting for fall, so now’s a good time to cover some of the terminology and the differences between and benefits of each. These are all techniques we’ve used a lot on our farm and in our gardens and they work well no matter how much garden space you have. In f...

Carrots are divas! Carrots can either be a complete failure or a rousing success and 90% of that depends on your soil composition. One little bump in the road and your carrot will do a quick swerve and you end up with wonky roots. No worries! On today's episode we'll cover how to amend your soil to perfect diva status, how to grow carrots in containers, what diseases and pests to watch out for, ha...

Working in the garden in the heat can not only be dangerous if you’re not careful, but it can also make it difficult to stay on track with what you’re doing. It can be a bit of a distraction, we don’t work nearly as efficiently, it can be an actual health risk. So, here are 6 ways you can beat the heat in your garden this summer. Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how y...

Are you having harvest envy over all the photos of gardeners and their beautiful garlic? Have no fear! This Garden Talk Tuesday we're talking all things garlic - hardneck vs. softneck, how to prep the bed, when to harvest, how to store, and more. Let's take the mystery out of planting this wonderful, universally loved crop and Just Grow Garlic! Check out the Facebook group of fellow gardeners and...

This episode is totally unscripted. No notes, no ads, just a conversation between me and you, my gardening friends. And this episode we are talking a little about gardening as therapy. It's been a rough week or so around here and the roller coaster isn't over yet, so we're talking all the ways gardening is good for your mental health. From pulling weeds, to quiet observation, to feeling the ground...

This Garden Talk Tuesday we’re talking about planning for your fall garden. Now, I know many of you are just now getting your first real harvests of the season and for those of you in much cooler climates your fall garden may mostly be a continuation of whatever you have in the ground right now. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can interplant within those summer items that can survive...

This Can You Dig It? episode features articles on Arkansas Black apples versus Black Diamond apples, a TikTok video featuring a no-tears way to dice onions, and questions about cabbage, cauliflower, and tomatoes. Did you know this is the start of Plastic Free July? Karin has taken the pledge for the month (and for life, really) to reduce her plastic use and invites you to do the same. Check out th...

Whether you call it a garden planner, journal, notebook, or whatever, a garden journal can be as little or as much as you want it to be. There are some key items, though, that I would recommend every gardener keep in their journal to help them be successful in the garden and to reduce some of the frustration that sometimes comes with gardening. Your journal can be anything you want it to be! It ca...

One of my goals with this podcast is for us all to grow a deeper connection with where our food comes from, and that includes me. In an effort to shed light on some of the most common misconceptions we have about our food systems, I wanted to dig into the subject of agricultural subsidies. This is NOT an easy subject to tackle, even at a high level, because of the myriad of complexities and the di...

Growing winter squash can be such fun because there are so many sizes, types, and varieties to choose from! No matter which you choose, Karin talks about how to plant and cultivate them, whether in the ground or in containers, the pests and diseases you might face and how to avoid them, and how to harvest, cure, and store your winter squashes when all is said and done. This episode will inspire yo...

Have you heard the story? The one where the farmer destroys her own crop, just to get a check from some agency? Or the one where the dairy farm dumps all their milk when they should have donated it all? People make a lot of assumptions about what happens with our food and its production and a lot of it is just plain wrong. On this episode, Karin talks a little about what ticked her off with one of...

Today we’re going to talk about common gardening myths. In some cases we know how these myths got started but, in others, there’s just no telling. In reality, most myths go back to the concept of causation versus correlation we touched on briefly way back in episode seven, “Why Gardening is Good for Your Health.” A correlation means there may be some relationship between two things but does not au...

We've talked about freezing and water-bath canning, now let's cover cold storage, pressure canning, and dehydrating! There are so many ways to preserve the bounty that's coming from your garden, so let's dig in to some more ways to allow you to enjoy that bounty throughout the off-season. Resources in this episode: Support this podcast at https://patreon.com/justgrowsomething https://nchfp.uga.edu...

Deciding what method to use to trellis your tomatoes and knowing how to prune them can be confusing! Let's demystify some of this a little bit, shall we? Let's figure out which trellis type you should use and how to trellis those tomatoes once they're growing strong. Or, maybe, we won't trellis them at all! Post a picture of your tomato set up on Instagram and tag @justgrowsomethingpodcast so we c...

Beef shortages, sunflower oil factory invaders, pebbles in pots, and growing green onions ... this episode has it all! This Can You Dig It? episode we dig into the latest in food news, answer listener questions (and dispel a gardening myth perpetuated by Karin's mom and many others) and give some guidance on green onions. Resources in this episode: Support this podcast: https://www. Patreon.com/ju...

This week we're totally talking tomatoes! Learn the basics of growing tomatoes, pests and diseases to watch out for, harvesting tips, storage methods, and ideas on how to preserve a bountiful harvest. Have you checked out our Patreon page yet? It's the way to support this podcast monetarily each month while getting some cool features in return. Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomet...

Depending on where you are, you may not even be harvesting anything from your garden or containers yet. But, it's never too early to plan for preserving! This episode, Karin digs into the two easiest methods for preserving most produce: freezing and water-bath canning. We'll cover the basic methods for each, equipment requirements, special considerations, and resources for specific instructions an...

This Garden Talk Tuesday we talk a little bit about what happens in the garden when it just won’t stop raining and what to do when your soil is just too wet and the weather just won't dry up. Lots of folks are in a super wet, rainy weather cycle right now. Over saturated soils can cause all kinds of problems for your plants, whether it's from too much rain or from overwatering. This episode we'll...

This Focal Point Friday we’re going to take a high level look at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Food Price Index. What is it, what does it mean, and how does it affect us as consumers and people across the globe in general? I think it’s important for us when we see prices going up for food and goods that we use on a daily basis, to have an understanding of why that’s h...

Karin digs deep into one particular garden pest this week – aphids. We've already seen tons of posts on social media about aphids in the garden this season, cries for help in getting rid of them or help in identifying these garden pests. This episode will help you identify aphids, determine what damage they can do to your plants, whether you need to worry about removing them and, if so, how to go...

Keeping it light on this Focal Point Friday. Karin chit-chats about what's going on in her gardens and would love to hear about yours! What's the weather like? What insect pressures are you facing? Are your weeds growing like, well, weeds? Check in by using the link in the notes below to leave a voice message or jump over to our website and use the contact page to let us know how things are going....

We talked about the macro, secondary, and micronutrients in a previous episode. But, how do you tell if your plant is deficient or has too much of any one nutrient? Different nutrient deficiencies or toxicities are expressed in the plant in different ways. And it’s important to rule out other possible reasons for your plants symptoms before you start adding additional nutrients because you may do...