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

Promoting native insects via gardening is a worthwhile endeavor that is growing in popularity, but just because native insects are good to have in the garden, that doesn't also mean all non-native insects are bad to have around. My guest this week, environmental studies professor Kaitlin Stack Whitney, Ph. D., encourages gardeners to examine the reasons why some insects are favored while others wi...

Modern homesteading has surged in popularity since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, which triggered in many people a desire to become more self-sufficient and closer to the land that sustains us. To discuss this phenomenon, the benefits of homesteading and how to get started, joining me on the podcast this week is Jill Winger, creator of The Prairie Homestead, a go-to source for homesteading inf...

Time spent outdoors in the fresh air tending to gardens has a rejuvenating effect, which gardener, author and video maker Liz Zorab of Byther Farm can attest to better than anyone. Liz joins me on the podcast this week to share how gardening contributed to restoring her health and to talk about the economical, efficient ways that she raises food for her household. Podcast Links for Show notes Down...

Mushrooms can do some pretty amazing things, and as research continues, we are gaining an even better understanding of the potential of fungi to help us overcome an array of environmental challenges. Mycologist Tradd Cotter joins me on the podcast to share the emerging uses of mushrooms beyond food. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most...

A fall vegetable garden is a treasure too many gardeners miss out on. In fact, fall is my favorite growing season, a time when I can grow an array of cool-season vegetables with relief from the pest and disease pressure that comes with summer. In this week's podcast, I share the best crops to grow for fall and the knowledge and techniques for a successful season. Podcast Links for Show notes Downl...

Even as more and more gardeners adopt the practices of organic, sustainable and regenerative horticulture, retailers still treat organic gardening products as a niche thing. My guests this week, Back to the Roots co-founders and co-CEOs Nikhil Arora and Alejandro "Alex" Vélez, are working to change that by making organic gardening easy and affordable. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free...

This week you may notice the podcast sounds a bit different than it normally does. That's because instead of recording indoors, I recorded from my home garden, the GardenFarm™. You can follow me as I walk along and share my observations from the summer so far and my plans for the weeks ahead. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most importa...

The plants that we choose to include in our landscapes can be life-sustaining, invaluable resources for our native wildlife or they can just be plants that just look pretty while contributing little to nothing to the ecosystem. My guest this week, entomologist, speaker and author Doug Tallamy, explains how we can make better plant choices for the sake of nature and, in turn, ourselves. Podcast Lin...

This spring was not a great one for hydrangeas all around the United States, and according to my guest this week, Lorraine Ballato, the problem can be traced back to the wild weather that occurred over the winter. Lorraine shares the reasons your hydrangeas may be struggling, the various degrees of hydrangea cold tolerance, and what options gardeners have to achieve better outcomes. Podcast Links...

Though the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, is a probable carcinogen, it remains the most widely used herbicide in the United States. My guest this week, Dr. Chadi Nabhan is here to tell the story behind three court cases that concluded with Roundup maker Monsanto owing large sums to glyphosate users who developed non-Hodgkin ly...

Native gardening is quickly moving from niche to the mainstream, and unfortunately but perhaps expectedly, homeowners associations are the last to catch on. My guest this week, Melinda Soltys, shares what she experienced tussling with her neighborhood's HOA over her pollinator garden. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps...

Pollinator Week kicks off on June 19th, so I welcomed Kelly Bills, the executive director of Pollinator Partnership, to the podcast to talk about all the great work the organization does and how gardeners can get involved during Pollinator Week and year-round. 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...

Whether you want to grow a cut flower garden for your own enjoyment or to start a business, you will find Lisa Mason Ziegler's advice on succession planting with flowers very useful. Lisa, a cut flower growing expert and author, returns to the podcast this week to share her tips. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyo...

Living under the strictures of a homeowners association can be incredibly stifling for gardeners who want to work outside of the turf lawn and irrigation dynamic, but sometimes gardeners successfully stand up to their HOAs — and lawmakers in some states are making it easier to do so. Native gardener Janet Crouch joins me on the podcast this week to explain how she helped gardeners across Maryland...

Cucumber-melons aren't hybrids of cucumbers and melons but rather immature melons that are intended to be enjoyed just as you would eat a cucumber. To explain the origin of cucumber-melons and what sets them apart from standard cucumbers, my guest this week is Jay Tracy, a cucumber-melon expert and seed seller. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever -...

The Cherokee discovered long ago that many native plants in the Southeastern United States hold remedies for a range of ailments, from burns and bug bites to migraines. My guest this week, naturalist, survivalist and author Mark Warren, has studied and experienced firsthand the effectiveness of Cherokee healing practices and shares them in his books and workshops. Podcast Links for Show notes Down...

Among gardeners, there is a lot of advice out there that sounds clever and wise, but when you begin to look into it, you learn there is no concrete evidence to back it up. My guest this week, Dr. Stuart Farrimond, has authored a book on gardening science to explain what the research says about what we do in the garden — both the things that work and the things that just aren't effective. Podcast L...

Keeping up with weeding is one of the chief complaints that gardeners have, but it's no reason to throw in the towel. My guest Margaret Roach, the New York Times garden writer and founder of A Way to Garden , shares her advice for managing weed overwhelm using organic control methods. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps...

Carex is a grass alternative that is a problem-solving native perennial for any home landscape. But with so many Carex species and cultivars to choose from, it's hard to know what the best fit will be for your garden. To determine the most adaptable, resilient, attractive and ecologically valuable Carex species, Mt. Cuba Center spent several years trialing Carex plants, and this week on the podcas...

Out our back doors, animals and plants are doing amazing things and communicating and interacting via means we are only beginning to understand, as Nancy Lawson, the founder of The Humane Gardener, explains in her new book. Nancy returns to the podcast this week to discuss this "Wildscape" and how research is uncovering the surprising ways that human activity interrupts the natural world. Podcast...

Breeding dahlias can result in surprising, desirable and unique dahlia varieties, and it's an activity any home gardener can do. To explain the basics of raising dahlias and her advanced techniques for hybridizing dahlias, joining me on the podcast is Kristine Albrecht, a dahlia expert and the founder of Santa Cruz Dahlias. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best G...

Plant breeding may appear on the surface to be too complicated for the average home gardener to do, but anyone can breed hybrid and open-pollinated vegetables and flowers if they have the knowledge and patience for it and put in the effort. Joseph Tychonievich, a garden writer and plant breeder, joins me on the podcast to discuss the steps aspiring plant breeders need to know. Podcast Links for Sh...

Gardeners know compost is the best thing for their soil, but the science behind the benefits of compost is generally not well understood. To shed light on how composting works and why compost enriches soil, my guest this week is chemist, author, and Master Gardener Robert Pavlis. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook  5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyo...

It can be difficult to find the time and energy to garden as much as we'd like to — and some gardening challenges stop us from ever getting started. This week, I'm sharing my tips for overcoming frequently encountered gardening challenges. 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 garden or la...

Those of us who control a patch of land can't count on there being someplace else for wildlife to find a home. There are too few wild spaces left, so it's up to each of us to steward our properties in a way that fosters biodiversity. That's the message shared by my guest this week, gardener, landscape designer and activist Mary Reynolds, the founder of We Are the ARK ( A cts of R estorative K indn...