The joe gardener Show - Organic Gardening - Vegetable Gardening - Expert Garden Advice From Joe Lamp'l

Gardeners trying to do right by the ecosystem often run into antiquated bylaws, covenants and restrictions that prohibit natural yards. This frustration led to the creation of Bylaws for Biodiversity, an initiative to encourage lawmakers and homeowners associations to adopt rules that protect and promote biodiversity on private and public lands. Joining me on the podcast this week to discuss the m...

Yard maintenance rules and laws created decades ago, before people and governments were attuned to the ecological damage wrought by climate change and habitat loss, continue to be blindly enforced in suburban and urban neighborhoods. My guest this week, Ontario gardener Wolf Ruck, has fought hard to defend his right to use his yard to sequester carbon and reduce biodiversity loss, a battle that is...

Rewilding a home landscape to support wildlife and increase biodiversity is a noble and worthwhile effort and should be every property owner's right. However, ill-advised local ordinances that favor tidiness over ecology can make a native garden a target for fines and prosecution. On this week's podcast, native gardener Craig Sinclair explains how he went to bat for his garden and overcame the for...

Preparing for seed starting season well ahead of time and becoming better organized will save you headaches and money in the months to come. This week, I'm sharing how I prepare and the new efficient seed organization system that I have adopted. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever  - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garde...

Farmer and author Ben Hartman proves it doesn't take a ton of space to grow enough food to sustain a business. Ben joins me on the podcast to explain how he maximized efficiency on his lean micro farm to grow enough crops to satisfy his most loyal customers while reducing the effort and resources required to be successful. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best G...

Margaret Roach, the New York Times gardening columnist and host of the podcast "A Way to Garden," is back with me again to discuss what's new in her garden and what she's planning for in 2025. Margaret is a repeat guest many times over and a listener favorite who always has interesting observations to share. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever  - t...

The end of the year is always a good time to reflect and take stock of the lessons we've learned. On this week's podcast, we look back on 2024 in the garden to make note of the experiences and knowledge we will take with us going forward on our gardening journeys. Joining me in recapping 2024 is my right-hand person — and left-hand too — Amy Prentice, the Director of Marketing and Communications h...

Starting a native, organic garden is a big step on the ecological gardening journey, and once you've made it that far, you'll have even more questions than you did before. Garden designer Kelly Norris joins me to shed light on what comes next and discuss his new book, "Your Natural Garden." Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever  - the 5 most importan...

Germinating native flower seeds is more involved than the seed starting you may be used to, but it's not hard and it will scratch your gardening itch in winter. Wild Seed Project founder Heather McCargo joins me to explain how to start native flower seeds and the biodiversity benefits that it provides. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever  - the 5 m...

In the soil under our feet, amazing things go on that we don't get to see. The more we learn about the hidden life of roots, the greater our understanding of how plants obtain the water and nutrients they need to grow. Landscape designer and author Robert Kourik joins me on the podcast to explain what roots and other organisms are up to beneath the soil's surface. Podcast Links for Show notes Down...

Eye injuries in the garden may not be top of mind when weeding and harvesting, but gardeners should be in the habit of taking precautions. To identify the risks to our eyes that gardening poses and ways to prevent injuries, joining me on the podcast this week is retinal surgeon Dr. C. Kiersten Pollard. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 mo...

Spring's flower garden starts with fall bulb planting. To share everything you need to know to plant and grow flowering bulbs successfully, Brent Heath of Brent and Becky's Bulbs, the celebrated mail-order bulb company, joins me on the podcast.  Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free guide - Fall Bulbs 101: Selecting, Planting, and Caring for Bulbs Subscribe to the joegardener® email list t...

Even in an urban environment, nature is all around, if you know where to look. This week, writer Joanna Brichetto joins me to discuss her essay collection, "This Is How a Robin Drinks : Essays on Urban Nature," and the benefits of becoming attuned to wildlife. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a...

Poisonous plants like poison ivy and giant hogweed can cause irritation, pain and scarring, but there are other plants — wicked plants — that are downright deadly. Joining me this week to discuss the stories behind the world's most dangerous plants is New York Times bestselling author Amy Stewart. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most im...

A naturalized bulb lawn provides beautiful blooms each spring continuously with no need for additional plantings. In this week's encore, I'm joined by horticulturist Peggy Anne Montgomery to discuss the history and techniques behind bulb lawns and to share how to start your own. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyon...

"Leave the leaves" is a slogan you must have heard by now. Each fall, conservationists encourage homeowners to keep leaves on their property rather than sending them off to landfills. There are a number of reasons to do so, chiefly to support wildlife and reduce contributions to climate change. For a deep dive into why leaving the leaves is such a game-changer, returning to the podcast this week i...

When we pause to observe the natural world more closely and record those observations and the way they make us feel, we gain a greater understanding of nature and ourselves. Writer Margaret Renkl, who has a new prompt journal out now as a companion to her best-selling book "The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year," joins me this week to discuss the benefits of a nature journal. Podcast Links for Sho...

There are around 4,000 species of wild, native bees in North America, though imported, domesticated honeybees seem to be the bees that get all the attention when it comes to conservation. To help us learn about native bees and their value, joining me on the podcast this week is entomologist and wild bee expert Dr. Jessica Forrest. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to You...

Citizen scientists are key to tracking bird populations in North America and identifying which birds are growing in numbers and range — and which are on the decline. To explain the value of bird counts, what can be learned from the data and how anyone can get involved, joining me on the podcast this week is Project FeederWatch project leader Dr. Emma Greig. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my...

Gardening burnout happens when a garden becomes so much more work than you can keep up with and a source of disappointment — one disaster after another — rather than a source of joy. It's the feeling of not just being overwhelmed but wanting to give up gardening altogether (at least for now). This week, I identify the sources of gardening burnout and the adjustments gardeners can make so they neve...

Tree collectors come in many different fashions, as author Amy Stewart explores in her new book, "The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession." Amy joins me on the podcast this week to discuss tree collecting, what inspired her to write this book, and 10 of the 50 tree collectors she featured in the book. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever -...

Margaret Roach is one of those heroes in horticulture and gardening media who I really admire. She excels at communicating her fundamental understanding of the natural world and reminds her readers and listeners to keep on digging, in more ways than one. She has been a guest on this podcast many times, and this week I am revisiting her first appearance, from back in 2017, where Margaret joined me...

The annual monarch butterfly migration south starts this month, so I thought it would be a good time to revisit my conversation with ecologist and evolutionary scientist Dr. Anurag Agrawal, an expert on monarch butterflies and milkweed — the only type of plant that monarchs lay their eggs on. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most importa...

Periodically, rather than recording a podcast from my studio, I like to get out into my garden and record an audio journal on-site, so I can talk in real time about what I'm seeing, the wins and challenges of the season, what's worked, what hasn't and what I plan to change. In this edition, I touch on many things you may have noticed in your own garden this year, and I share how I make the transit...

Soil bacteria perform many essential tasks to enable plant growth, including cycling nutrients and fixing nitrogen. To explain the fascinating things that researchers have discovered about soil bacteria in recent years, my guest on this encore presentation is gardening columnist and author Jeff Lowenfels. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever  - the...