Gardening goes deeper than growing your own food and enhancing the beauty of your surroundings — it can support your local ecosystem and contribute to the healing of our planet. This is the ethos shared by the gardeners, educators such as Dr. Doug Tallamy and ecology experts who will join me on May 8th for the inaugural Ecological Gardening Summit. 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...

You’ve heard me say many times that what I love about gardening is there is always more to learn. Gardening keeps us on our toes and constantly presents opportunities to refine our methods. I decided to check in with gardeners in my Online Gardening Academy™ about their top takeaways from this past gardening season and what changes they will make in 2024. 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...

New York Times gardening columnist and “A Way to Garden” podcast host Margaret Roach — who is a repeat guest on “The joegardener Show” and a fan favorite — is back again, on the heels of being presented with the prestigious Scott Medal from the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She shares how she came to be the renowned garden writer and podcaster she is today and her reflections on how gardening can benefit us as well as wildlife. Podcast Links for Show notes Download...

To attract a greater diversity of pollinators to a garden, there’s nothing better than native plants. In this encore episode, pollinator conservationist Heather Holm joins me to discuss the benefits of fostering the mutually beneficial relationship between native plants and the pollinators they coevolved with. 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 landscape. It’s what I...

Life has thrown Steve Kaufer some curveballs, but with some smart pivoting and serendipity, he’s become a successful seed breeder and seed farmer, earning the moniker “Sunflower Steve.” He joins me on the podcast this week to share his story and explain how a volunteer sunflower that grew in his field in 2007 set him on a new path years later. 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...

It’s time once again for my annual check-in with Craig LeHoullier, also known as NC Tomatoman, an heirloom tomato and straw bale gardening expert as well as a dwarf tomato breeder. I always look forward to catching up with Craig and finding out what new and exciting things he has going on in his garden and beyond. 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 landscape. It’s what I...

Mastering succession planting takes knowledge and practice, but it’s not that tall of a task. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll enjoy the benefits of an extended growing season and a greater harvest. To help you make the most of your garden space, this week I am reprising my conversation with Meg Cowden, the founder of Seed to Fork, an expert in succession planting. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can...

For success as a flower farmer as well as a seed breeder and seller, it helps to possess both a creative spirit and business acumen. My guest this week, Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm and the Magnolia Network series “Growing Floret,” has both in spades, and we discuss how she maintains her creativity and furthers her mission to get more flowers out into the world. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone...

Pesticide regulations are designed to reduce the harm that pesticide use has on humans and wildlife, but they are not intended to eliminate all risks and ecological damage. To explain how gaps in pesticide regulations fail pollinators and other beneficial insects, pollinator conservation specialist Emily May of the Xerces Society joins me on the podcast this week. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do...

No-till gardening improves soil health and reduces the gardener’s workload, all while supporting more vigorous plants with better resilience to pests and diseases and greater crop yields. My guest on this week’s encore presentation, organic market gardener and writer Jesse Frost, shares the many ways that ditching the tiller has benefited his farm and how living soil gets the best results. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most...

I just passed the one-year mark of being a greenhouse owner in January. It has been an eye-opener, and I have learned so much. I want to share with you the greenhouse hacks and tips and the lessons learned in my first year and the main “aha” moments. 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 landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results,...

I just passed the one-year mark of being a greenhouse owner in January. It has been an eye-opener, and I have learned so much. I want to share with you the greenhouse hacks and tips and the lessons learned in my first year and the main “aha” moments. 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 landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results,...

A cut flower garden, when planted in succession and harvested frequently, provides a continuous source of joy to hobby gardeners — and great revenue source for commercial growers. To share her advice on how to start and maintain a cut flower garden, returning to the podcast this week is flower farmer Lisa Mason Ziegler. 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 landscape. It’s...

A hobby greenhouse is an addition to the garden that most gardeners dream about, but having no prior experience with greenhouses, they often don’t know where to start. My guest on this week’s encore episode, Master Gardener Sheri George, shares her many years of experience growing in greenhouses and her tips for selecting and operating a greenhouse. 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...

To get the hang of seed starting, it takes practice. There is a lot to know and a lot to get right, including watering, lighting and timing. So in this week’s podcast, I am answering seed starting questions that listeners have submitted to help you have a successful seed starting experience and get over any hurdles you’ve confronted. 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...

Seed starting is a fun winter and early spring activity that gives us an opportunity to exercise our green thumbs during an often dreary time of year, but missteps can lead to disappointment. To help you have a successful and delightful experience, this week I am sharing the top five seed starting mistakes and how to fix them or avoid them altogether.  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...

The gardening culture in the United Kingdom is strong and ingrained in society, much more so than it is in the United States. To talk about what it’s like to be a gardener across the pond, joining me on the podcast this week is Bunny Guinness, a regular panelist on the long-running BBC Radio 4 program “Gardeners’ Question Time.” 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...

The plants that live indoors with you need special care to get through the coldest, darkest months of the year. To share her expert tips on winter houseplant care, joining me on the podcast this week is Maria Failla of Growing Joy. 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 landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most...

Whether you have a small space that you want to make more productive or you have a sprawling garden that you struggle to maintain, you’ll want to hear what this week’s guest has to say. Ben Hartman is a farmer and author who applies the super-efficient “lean” system to gardening and micro farming and teaches others how they can do the same. 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...

Gardeners who wish to grow fruit trees will have much better results if they learn the ropes before they ever purchase a tree and dig a planting hole. Early decisions such as what cultivars to grow and where to plant them are pivotal to a successful orchard. To share how to get started growing fruit trees and how to do it successfully, joining me on the podcast this week is community orchardist and author Susan Poizner. Podcast Links for Show notes Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your...

As the year winds up, I like to pause and reflect on the valuable lessons that I learned over the past gardening season. These are my top gardening takeaways of 2023. 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 landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions. Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to...

Growing microgreens is easier than you think. Nutrient-dense microgreens can be raised at home for your family’s enjoyment, and it’s easy to scale up into a microgreens business, according to my guest this week, Jonah Krochmalnek, the owner and founder of Microgreens Consulting. 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 landscape. It’s what I still do today, without exception...

Slowing down, removing distractions and paying attention allows us to absorb the wildlife that’s all around us, even when we otherwise feel that we are far removed from nature. Writer Margaret Renkl documents what she observed in her own suburban yard and how it made her feel in her series of 52 short essays collected in “The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year.” 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...

With holiday gift shopping season upon us, I am sharing my top gardening gear picks for the gardeners in your life — the tools, accessories and books that you may also want to pick up for yourself. In a nutshell, these are the items that I consider to be the must-have gardening gear — just to make your gardening life easier and more enjoyable. I’ve narrowed down the list to 12 to call extra attention to, but if you are looking for even more ideas, you can download my comprehensive gift...