The Messed Up Gardener

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener. New Zealand lately has been experiencing some ridiculously hot days and as such of course the gardens are suffering. Water in New Zealand especially if you're in town can be quite expensive as well and although we have not yet been slammed with water restrictions we know that they're coming. So in this episode I have covered a...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener. Todays episode is a bit of a general overview in growing garden plants that are ideal for arts and crafts. This is especially handy if you have young children or grand babies who love to create home made gifts. Why not teach them that the garden not only provides food but also resources for home made crafts such as dried flower arrangeme...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener. Todays episode is a bit of a general overview in growing climbers in the garden. Most gardeners approach growing climbers with caution as if left to grow unaided they can get seriously out of control but if you manage them right from the beginning they can be a worth while addition to any landscape.    Don’t forget to grab one of my gard...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  This year has been a bit of a hot mess and that includes my garden. In this episode I cover tips that can help a gardener avoid garden burnout, overwhelm and stress.   Don’t forget to grab one of my gardening freebees.    As always Gardening can be done in any space, in any place and on any budget.   Freebies DM me for: Nasturtium Pesto...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  In most gardens you will find a citrus tree and if you are not necessarily green thumbed then that can potentially be slightly problematic to grow. This episode covers a few growing tips that can help get you a most abundant crop of fruit regardless if it is being grown in a pot or in open soil. Don’t forget to grab one of my gardening...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  While planning my next few planting crop rotations I was looking at what vegetables I grew all year round that feeds my daughter and I. I cover a number of vegetables that are root and leaf crops all of which are highly nutritious and that mostly store well for food preservation.  Don’t forget to grab one of my gardening freebees.    As...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  The episode is a very generalised conversation about some of the different methodologies that are used to grow acid loving plants including hydrangeas. It’s truly surprising the different growing methods needed to help your acid loving plants thrive including camellias and super fruits such as the yummy blueberry.   Don’t forget to grab...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  There are so many different ways that nature reproducers and how as humans we have adapted to replicate those forms of reproduction. So much of our horticultural industry is based on asexual plant propagation that if those skills were lost it could be detrimental to the survival of the human population. Some of these methods are also ut...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd keep recording them. Please keep sending me any g...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  This episode is a bit of a special one it is my 52nd episode so celebrating the messed up Gardner podcasts first year anniversary. And what better way to celebrate then discussing a versatile root crop that is a must for all sustainable gardens. This episode covers several must know’s to grow a bumper crop of potatoes then in this case...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd keep recording them. Please keep sending me any g...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  With a nasty but injury I am having to reevaluate how I manage my garden and all I can say it hasn’t been fun. In this episode I have gone through a number of items that help keep your gardening low maintenance while still being able to achieve self-sufficiency. But one of the biggest lessons I have learned is to practice patience and a...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd keep recording them. Please keep sending me any g...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  Todays episode covers 2 vegetables well technically they are fruits that are fairly expensive to buy even when in season mostly because they do not have a very extensive shelf life but they're such versatile vegetables for everyday cooking. In this episode I cover the best way to grow cucumbers and courgettes and how to preserve th...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd keep recording them. Please keep sending me any g...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  Todays episode covers 2 vegetables that are fairly expensive to buy even when in season. In this episode I cover the best way to grow them and how to preserve the excess harvests for future use so your not wasting a single bit of produce. I have also included an old fashioned tomato sauce recipe and a natural recipe to treat sap sucking...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd repeat it. Please keep sending me any gardening q...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  If you have a garden then you have come across this Beastie before and that is the spring winds or wind in general regardless of the season. In this particular episode I cover some methodologies on how to establish your gardens with wind protection and also what some of the symptoms of wind damage on plants can look like and ways to ass...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd repeat it. Please keep sending me any gardening q...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  How many of us buy fruit and vegetables from the supermarket when in fact we could be growing our own. Is it because we are lazy? short on space? don't have the technical know how as to how to grow our own? This episode goes into depth on a number of these issues and if you're a beginner I do cover some of the basic tools and...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd repeat it. Please keep sending me any gardening q...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  An exciting style of gardening would have to be permaculture. Now if you've never heard of it before you're going to enjoy this episode. It ties in a number of general gardening practices that can make a big difference in creating a sustainable productive way to garden regardless if you live in an urban or rural environment. ...

Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden chats have been so successful I figured I'd keep recording them. Please keep sending me any g...

Hi and Welcome to another episode of The Messed Up Gardener.  The winter season seemed to have flown by this year and Ill be honest I wasn’t really as prepared as I hoped I would be. As a result I sat down and wrote out my task list for Spring and I hope it is helpful for you as well. I have also included a few recipes for tool cleaning solutions that may be helpful as well as a few natural soil s...

Quick & Messy 10 min or less Garden Chat: Easy To Grow & Hard to Kill Indoor Plants.    Hi and welcome back to The Messed Up Gardener  My name is Esther Aitken and I am your host for todays 10 min or less quick & messy garden chat. I keep getting questions from my amazing listeners that do not fill my traditional weekly podcast, and as the last 10min or less quick & messy garden ch...