Episodes
SG565: Cultivate Happier Plants Using Organic Soil with Mark Highland
Are you an organic gardener? Do you use organic potting soil? Back in 2006, the idea of organic potting soil would have been an emerging area in the world of horticulture – but it was a question and a concept that Mark Highland had been thinking about for a while. Mark Highland is known as…
Read MoreSG564: Grow Your Own Apothecary with Herbalist Jodi McKee
Jodi is the creator of Inspired Living Home Body Spirit. She started her study of herbs over 15 years ago. Jodi is the soulful mother of three boys. Her specialties include: herbal consultations, hand-crafted herbal remedies, energy healing, herbal instructional classes and inspiration. Herbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. In fact, I…
Read MoreSG563: 10 Ways to Engage Kids in the Garden
How do you get kids interested in gardening? That’s a question I get asked often. It’s a big question, because kids are pretty sophisticated these days. Their lives are fast-paced and they process information just as quickly. Indeed, they are growing up in the age of acceleration. So when it comes to fostering a love…
Read MoreSG562: Resident Farmer Trevor Johnson Discusses Organic and Hydroponic Greenhouse Gardening
Trevor Johnson is the Resident Farmer at the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital in Michigan. In 2012, the hospital launched an organic greenhouse with the main goal of feeding the sick patients. Little did Trevor know, the hospital’s greenhouse has become a community center where Michigan residents can take cooking classes right inside the hospital.…
Read MoreSG561: Bringing Farms to Schools in Oregon with Rick Sherman
Rick Sherman was hired by the Oregon Department of Education in 2012 as the Farm to School/School Garden coordinator after working for 32 years for a food service management company. The last 20 of those years have been spent as a Director of Nutrition Services in Eugene, Albany and Dallas (Oregon). Rick is a Master…
Read MoreSG560: Turn Compact Spaces into Successful Market Farms with Josh Volk
Josh Volk is a farmer turned inventor and author. In his book, Compact Farms: 15 Proven Plans for Market Farms on 5 Acres or Less, Josh profiles the winning strategies and systems that transform these unique compact spaces into successful growing operations. During our chat, Josh personally guides us through every single farm – all…
Read MoreSG559: Amp Up Your Gardening Skills (5 Ways You Can Get Started Today)
I was having a chat with a woman a few weeks ago who asked me about becoming a better gardener. I asked her how long she had been gardening, and she said five years. Looking embarrassed, she sort of looked down at the ground; as if this was not enough time to qualify her as…
Read MoreSG558: Finding Joy in The Garden with Nell Foster
Nell Foster’s garden blog, Joy Us Garden, celebrates all things garden as she shares her passion for plants, pruning, and the great outdoors! Nell recently packed her bags and moved to Tucson, Arizona after living in Santa Barbara, California for over 30 years. I love Nell’s perspective after working almost two decades in design and landscaping. Nell also has a fun YouTube channel which is filled with lovely DIY tutorials.
Read MoreSG557: Gardening Challenge: Grow and Preserve a Year’s Worth of Food with Megan Cain
Megan Cain never touched a vegetable plant until the summer she turned 26. Today, Megan shows people how to successfully grow their own food and get the most from their vegetable gardens. Megan trains gardeners through her business, The Creative Vegetable Gardener, and is the author of several books including the book we dive into today: Super Easy Food Preserving.
Read MoreSG556: Joel Karsten Helps Farmers in Cambodia and How Straw Bale Gardens Solves the Toughest Growing Challenges
Joel pioneered his now popular method of Straw Bale Gardening almost 25 years ago. The author of Straw Bale Gardens, Joel receives letters from grateful gardeners from around the globe. Cambodia’s agricultural challenges are many including yearly flooding and drought with temperatures in the summer well over 100 degrees. In April of last year, Joel was invited by the Korean Trade Partners (KOTRA) to Cambodia to teach Straw Bale Gardening using plentiful Rice Straw. By mitigating challenges and leveraging the ingenuity of the agricultural community, Joel’s method is increasing self reliance and improving food security for Cambodians.
Read MoreSG555: How to Grow a Gorgeous Garden Using Less Water with Pam Penick
Pam Penick is the author of two books, The Water-Saving Garden and Lawn Gone! She is also one of the founders of the Garden Blogger’s Fling. Pam has been blogging about her garden since 2006, which means she’s definitely blogging royalty by this point. Today, we do a deep dive into her book, The Water-Saving Garden, and how everyday gardeners can create a more efficient and water-savvy garden.
Read MoreSG554: Tools and Tactics to use Craigslist for your Garden
Over the years, I’ve found surprising, wonderful items for my garden by strategically using Craigslist. So, I wanted to share some of my tips and tricks with you – things you can do right now (in the off season – or in the peak time in your garden) – to score some great finds without breaking the bank. Plus, I’ll walk you through the 25 search terms in my account right now that help me filter out the junk and find the perfect pieces for my garden.
Read MoreSG553: How Native Plants Bring Nature Home with Peggy Anne Montgomery
Peggy Anne is a passionate plantswoman with more than 30 years of experience. Peggy Anne went from studying and practicing landscape design in the Netherlands to working for reputable garden powerhouses like Bailey Nurseries and the Mount Cuba Center where she cultivated her passion for native plants. Today, Peggy Anne is the Brand Manager at American Beauties Native Plants and she’s leading the charge for bringing nature home in gardens across America by encouraging the use of native plants. A fellow Minnesotan, Peggy Anne gave a fantastic talk about native plants at the evening reception on Day 2 of the Garden Bloggers Fling and I knew within the first five minutes that I had to get her on the show for a repeat performance.
Read MoreSG552: Experimental Gardening with Megan Phelps
Megan Phelps approaches gardening with curiosity and a guilelessness that makes her experiences and experiments utterly fascinating and even shocking. Defying tradition, Megan (who often uses the image of a single dandelion as her profile picture on social media) grows plants that mainstream gardeners have long ago turned their backs on – burdock, dandelion, and amaranth, to name a few. Megan blogs at Seeds, Mulch and Weeds where she shares her tales and photos of her Northeast Kansas garden.
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