SG559: 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 a REAL gardener.

To me, the number of years spent gardening is not relevant in terms of overall gardening skills; what IS relevant is that you are engaged, curious, and committed to learning - and the sources of inspiration and information are everywhere.

Every gardener starts out knowing very little (unless gardening was a family affair). The truth is that gardening is a skill. Growing that skill definitely requires time in the garden.  However, gardening skills can also be enhanced the way any number of skills grow - through a positive mindset, strategic planning, a critical perspective, and seeking out experts.

Sure, you can improve your gardening skill by just spending time in the garden. However, the value that comes from a strategic approach and meaningful activities?.... that’s what I’m most excited to share with you.

Help a gardener + their garden grow... Please Share this Episode

“Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson.

Amp Up Your Gardening Skills (5 Ways You Can Get Started Today)
Amp Up Your Gardening Skills (5 Ways You Can Get Started Today)

Interview Questions

1. Create a Map

Time Stamp: 27:50

 

2. Be strategic about how you’re spending your time. 

Time Stamp 37:40

3. Get Help

Time Stamp 1:01:40

4. Periphery Reading

Time Stamp 1:22:10

5. Pick a Signature Theme

Time Stamp 1:31:40

Amp Up Your Gardening Skills (5 Ways You Can Get Started Today)

Website: 

6ftmama.com

Facebook: 

Still Growing Facebook Group

 

The Still Growing Facebook Group Welcomes These New Members to the Listener Community:

Laura Ivan

Stephanie Hayward Buffetti

Angelica Casimiro

Jan Bujan

Cyndi Freilinger

Jennifer Elsaesser

Becky Freilinger

Kitty Meeds

Frank N Linda Gacioch

Kathy McKeown

Lisa Haggis

Ruth Foos

Jason Ricketts

Igor Skokin

Christina Woods Ricketts

Carla Shafer

Stepahine Wgscheid

Amy Jacobson Blaisdell

Marsha Olson

Colleen Diederich

Kerri Ann Montgomery

Cathi Janchan

Sara Bedient

Kerry Bellman Ginn

Winner of Joel Karsten’s Straw Bale Gardens:

Anne Wyden

Resources:

Planting an agave is a thorny endeavor

You don’t need a large plot to grow a bounty of vegetables and herbs

Seed Starting Troubles

Infographic: the biggest threats putting the world's plants in peril

The gardener’s little helper

Moving on from Dougsley the failed corpse flower, Volunteer Park Conservatory welcomes jade vine’s bloom

Record drought + record rain = toppled trees. How do you know if your tree is in trouble?

100 Greenest Cities in America: Where Does Your City Rank?

Japan has birthed something called coffee butter and it sounds crazy good

Uncovering Tools That Haven’t Been Touched Since 1941

This Brazilian Brewer Is Making Beer Out of $20,000 Bonsai Trees

Surprising new study shows deadly feedback loop of soil warming

Woman Sets Up Bird Feeder Photo Booth to Capture Close-Ups of Feathered Friends

Silver Stainless Steel Pineapple Peeler

Put Down the Binoculars, This App Can Identify Birds by Song

Song Sleuth: Auto Bird Song ID w/ Sibley Reference

10 Strange, But Also Beautiful, Houseplants You Never Knew Existed

The Top 7 Landscape Design Trends for 2017

How to design an entertainer's yard

How to Make It Look Like You Hired a Landscape Designer (Without the Price Tag)

Verdenskortet - A walkable map of the world, made from soil and stone by one man

Vlog - World Map at Lake Klejtrup - VERDENSKORTET - Viborg Denmark

How one man's basement collection became 'a Canadian treasure'

Here’s How To Be That Friend Who Always Has a Beautiful Centerpiece on Her Table

Scribblemaps.com

My Sketch - Pencil Drawing Sketches

Savor Cookbook - Ilona Oppenheim

The Vegetable Butcher - Cara Mangini

Natural: Wholesome recipes for pure nourishment

Instant Karma

Fine Little Day

Nordic Light: Lighter, Everyday Eating

Listen to the Show

Subscribe to Still Growing

You can always find Still Growing on iTunes or on my favorite app: Stitcher Radio.

Listen to Stitcher

What listeners are saying...

I never write reviews but this is the best gardening podcast out there. Jennifer has interesting topics and guests and is not one bit annoying like some others are. I love that she involves her kids at the end of the podcast - usually with poetry or music. Really good podcast.

- Barbcfc, Mar 23, 2016

Still Growing is one of the reliably informative gardening podcasts from North America. The format consists of an intro (personal gardening status chat, seasonal remarks), an extended interview with a guest, and an outro with funny outtakes, side remarks, and some chatter (poems, readings) from the host's children. The podcast is focused on reliable knowledge - the guests are typically experts like academics, master gardeners, gardening entrepreneurs or public garden leaders. The intro and especially the outro give it a homey feel. Given I live in the high northern region, just a little below the Polar Circle, I'm always looking for more cold-weather oriented gardening information. Jennifer Ebeling is in Minnesota, so that's helpful to me! Vegetable gardening (my main interest) gets a good share, but is not predominant. Most topics transcend your specific gardening interest and are applicable to many styles: landscaping principles, vermicomposting, greenhouses. The episodes are typically an hour long, which is just fine for me.

- cwaigl, May 29, 2014

Best gardening podcast out there. Her preparedness leads to a good interaction with the guests and brings out the best in them. Very informative and yet personable.

- Corn bug, June 15, 2016

This is a great podcast. Really well produced and organized with good sound quality. I love the mix of information and personal touches. Jennifer has great guests and asks the best questions. You can tell she really does her homework. I listen to several gardening podcasts and this is my absolute favorite!

- So Cal Gardengirl, June 19,2016

Jennifer Ebeling
Jennifer Ebeling is a proud Minnesotan and U of MN alumni. Gooooooo Gophers! Each week, Jennifer produces and hosts Still Growing - a gardening podcast dedicated to helping you and your garden grow. The show is an in-depth interview format. Guests featured on the show share a passion for gardening and include authors, bloggers, professional gardeners, etc. Listeners and guests of the show can join the Still Growing community on Facebook. It's a place to ask questions, share garden stories, interact with great guests featured on the show, and continue to grow and learn. Jennifer and her husband Philip have four children, a big golden lab named Sonny, and live in lovely Maple Grove, Minnesota. P.S. When she's not teaching her four kids a new card game - or teaching them how to drive a car - Jennifer loves inspiring individuals and groups to maximize and personalize their home & garden.
Jennifer Ebeling
Join the Still Growing Listener Community on Facebook! Click here

Leave a Comment