Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

We've talked about transplanting fall crops in the late summer heat, but what about sowing those seeds directly into the garden? Soil temperature is a real concern here, so today we'll spend a few minutes reviewing the optimal germination temperature for direct-sown fall garden crops and a few tricks for reducing the soil temperature more quickly. Resources: Taylor Precision Products Standard Grad...

Late summer and all through fall are the times many gardeners are harvesting crops they want to keep for the long-term to use throughout the winter. How do we harvest and store these vegetables to be sure they retain their flavor, texture, and nutrient value? Today we'll discuss basic cold storage of the most popular types of fall garden crop: no refrigeration, no freezing, no canning, no dehydrat...

When talking about protecting our summer transplants from excessive heat to get them through to a fall harvest, we can't overlook the possibilities of shade. Temporary shade structures in the late summer garden can help protect our transplants, but it doesn't always require us to purchase or create something! On this Focal Point Friday episode, we spend just five minutes discussing six different o...

If you’re somewhere where Mother Nature is currently trying to cook you, what do you do to prepare and transplant crops that prefer cooler weather than what you've got? Do you wait? Do you forge ahead and just keep your fingers crossed? Today we’ll talk about how to mitigate the heat when trying to transplant fall crops including the reason why I actually didn’t get any of my plants in the ground...

Let's throwback to my first episode on fermenting and talk a little bit more about the basics. What are those bacteria doing? How safe is fermentation? Let's talk pickling versus fermenting, veggies versus fruits, and cold storage. Episode Resources: Ep. 113 – Dehydrating, Cold Storage, and Fermenting: More Ways to Store Your Harvest Just Grow Something with Karin Velez (justgrowsomethingpodcast.c...

Fermenting foods can be a fun and rewarding way to both preserve the harvest and enhance the flavors of our garden bounty. If you're a beginner looking to get started with fermenting your own foods, I’ve discovered it’s not hard, but there are some essential things to know. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll look at the key tenants behind fermenting foods, the basics of getting started, what types...

It's always best to start with saving seeds from your healthiest plants. But what if disease is unavoidable? In this throwback to episode 62, we talk about the two best treatments for saving seeds from plants infected with disease. Episode Resources: Hot Water Treatment for Seeds – Louisiana State University Ep. 62 - Properly Saving Seeds in Your Garden Just Grow Something with Karin Velez (justgr...

If you were gardening in 2020 you likely remember the shortage of seeds that happened when the world shut down and suddenly everybody was growing a garden. Many seed companies were overwhelmed with the influx of orders and that shortage continued into the 2021 season. There’s nothing more disappointing than to peruse a beautiful seed catalog and make out your list of favorites to grow, only to be...

On this Focal Point Friday, we go back to Episode 101 and talk about three important things to consider when starting plants for the fall garden: germination time, days to maturity, and harvest window. Episode Resources: Ep. 101 - How to Prepare and What to Grow in Your Fall Garden Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSomethi...

Succession planting gets a lot of attention in the early part of the season when we’re fresh and the garden is new, and we're not beat down by weather or pests or diseases or the endless pulling of weeds. But we often forget about it toward the hottest part of the year. This is why having a garden plan that goes from spring all the way through to fall and even into winter helps, because it’s laid...

When we're talking about fall gardening, it's important to know what grows well in our area at that time of the season so we can better plan. Let's chat about the factors that go into deciding what to grow in the fall garden and my top five picks for your USDA Hardiness Zone, from Zone 1 to Zone 13. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

If you’ve never grown a fall garden, you are missing out. There seems to be so much less insect and disease pressure with a fall garden. The weather seems to be a bit more predictable, too, even if it is still hot when we get started. This doesn’t mean the fall garden is fool-proof, but it does mean that many of us get a second chance or sort of “redo” of our spring crops. If there were things tha...

If you're in an area that is facing a drought this summer, like I am, you might be thinking of ways to combat it in the garden. Enter the rain barrel! Home gardeners often use rain barrels to collect rainwater from roofs as a supplement to summer irrigation. Rainwater is a natural and unchlorinated water source for plants, but rooftop runoff can be contaminated by chemical and biological pollutant...

Is eating ultra-processed foods associated with depression, anxiety, memory problems, and trouble reasoning? An article I read in early May took me down a research rabbit hole and there are a lot of recent studies that say just that: 60% of the American diet is ultra-processed foods and they are causing mental health issues and cognitive decline. Today we're digging into the data and uncovering wh...

There are few things that taste like summer quite like cantaloupe or watermelon. These hydrating favorites can sometimes be a little mystifying for new gardeners to grow. And what's the difference between a crenshaw and a canary melon? On today’s episode, we’re digging into all things melon. What does it take to grow them, can they cross-pollinate, and what’s the trick to picking a truly ripe wate...

It's hot and your plants look awful! Extreme heat can mean extreme responses from our gardens. Let's spend a few minutes talking about what's normal, what we should and shouldn't be doing, and how we can help when needed to help the summer garden get through a heat wave. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for...

Today we’re talking specific tasks we need to perform in the garden to get our best yield and to keep the harvest going through to fall. Unfortunately, our gardens are not “set and forget it” kind of things. We can’t just put the plants out there and come back in six weeks and expect to harvest. And as the days heat up and summertime events take over it can be tempting to skip some of these things...

The description on just about every seed packet or plant tag usually says something along the lines of, this plant “likes fertile, well-draining soil, with lots of organic matter.” The fertility part we likely understand, and we talk about soil organic matter all the time around here. But what about well-draining soil? What does that mean, how do we know if we have it, and what do we do if we don’...

New research from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health shows that childhood exposure to glyphosate is linked to liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, which could lead to liver cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease later in life. Thousands of people have filed lawsuits against Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, and its parent company, Bayer, claiming that exposure to...

On today’s episode we go over the basics of growing okra, including preferred temperatures and conditions that are key to its success, and discuss ways to work around some of those preferences to get yourself a crop even in a short season or difficult climate. You can most certainly grow this southern favorite in a cooler climate with a shorter season with just a few tricks! Episode Resources: Veg...

If you're in the U.S. Midwest, squash bugs and squash vine borers often keep you from getting your best zucchini harvest. But what if there were a variety of zucchini you could keep covered the whole time you were growing it so the pests couldn't get to it? And it would fruit without pollination? Today we explore the possibility of parthenocarpy in zucchini varieties, where to find them, and how t...

Sometimes it is very difficult to sift through all the information and advice we get as gardeners and to know what exactly we should be doing out there. This source says one thing, that blog says another thing, and the book on our bedside swears those other two are incorrect. What are we supposed to do? Today we’re talking about two specific pieces of advice I was asked about over the weekend that...

Our pets are part of the family and we hate to see anything happen to them. Let's be sure there's nothing we're doing in the garden that might be hazardous to their health. Today's discussion is all about avoiding the dangers from our compost piles, mushroom compost, mulch, fertilizers and amendments. Episode Resources: Mushroom Toxicity | VCA Animal Hospitals (vcahospitals.com) Tremorgenic Mycoto...

The height of the gardening season in the northern hemisphere is on the horizon which means peak time for gardening questions! Today we dig into why rhubarb might not turn red when ready to harvest, what the numbers on fertilizers mean and why the source matters, battling asparagus beetles, and preventing garden damage from animals during drought. If you've got a gardening question, I'd love to he...

Since it's peak tomato growing season in most areas of the northern hemisphere, I thought it would be a good time to revisit an old episode about tomato plant diseases! This is not a comprehensive list, but a discussion of eight of the most prevalent diseases. As always, be sure to check with your local university extension to find out which diseases are most prevalent in your area. This will save...