Just Grow Something | The "Why" Behind the "How" of Gardening

Apr 22 2024 21

Just Grow Something | The

Grow a better vegetable garden, whether you're a seasoned gardener or have never grown a thing in your life. Karin helps home gardeners learn to grow their own food using evidence-based techniques and research. She talks all about specific plants, pests, diseases, soil and plant health, mulch, garden planning, and more. It's not just the "how" but also the "why" that makes us better. The goal? For everyone to know how to grow their own food no matter what sized space they have or their experience level. Tune in each week to plan, learn, and grow with your friend in the garden, Karin Velez.

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Growing Strawberries - Ep. 194

Apr 22 2024 34 mins

We talk a lot about growing vegetables on this show but, in truth, I am a huge fruit eater. I love fruit, either on it’s own or on a salad, in smoothies, in desserts, love it. Being someone who is a proponent of sustainable agriculture I also prefer to get my fruits locally if I can. That’s not to say I don’t always have bananas in this house and that I don’t love a good Ma

Proper Soil Temperatures for Transplanting - Ep. 193

Apr 15 2024 24 mins

Using the last frost date in spring or our average air temperatures might be a good guideline to start with when figuring out when to plant the garden, but a better method for knowing when it’s actually time to sow those seeds or transplant those plants is the soil temperature. Even though the air temperatures may be warmer than usual, the soil knows the truth. If that soil is co

Amendments to Add in Spring for the Summer Garden - Ep. 192

Apr 08 2024 30 mins

Back in November I talked to you about doing a soil test, using slow-release amendments in the garden to do their work gradually over the winter, and then doing another soil test in the spring to see how well it worked. Now’s the time in most areas to be doing that spring soil test before you start planting your spring or summer gardens. But, what do you do if that spring test sh

Your Biggest Pests in the Garden - Ep. 191

Apr 01 2024 28 mins

I had such a fantastic response to the March Question of the Month and we had such great conversations on Facebook and Instagram that I made this week’s entire episode all about! You came in clutch with problems and solutions and there was plenty of community discussion, which is what I love. Gardeners helping gardeners. We all have a lot of pests and some very clever ways to dea

Hardening Off Seedlings Before Transplant - Ep. 190

Mar 25 2024 23 mins

Hardening off is a process that helps plants adjust to the outdoor environment, preventing shock and ensuring they thrive once planted in the garden. Gradual exposure helps the plants acclimate to the conditions they will experience out in the garden or in their containers on your porch before you put them out there. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll go over the exact steps we n

Straw Bale Gardening - Ep. 189

Mar 18 2024 26 mins

Years ago I had some straw bales I’d used initially as fall décor that ended up in my chicken coop. The bales were used partially as a wind break all winter and partially as a roost. Well, chickens do what chickens do when they roost and by the spring of the following year those straw bales were full of nitrogen-rich chicken poop and starting to fall apart. So, I moved the out o

Donations and Dollar Stands with Meg Lea - Ep. 188

Mar 12 2024 48 mins

Today's episode is a special interview with Meg Lea of the Fox and Hound Garden in Wisconsin. Meg harvested an unbelievable amount of food from her Zone 4b gardens last year and donated over two thirds of it. We chat about all things gardening, from planning to production, donations and dollar roadside stands, overambitious plantings and failing forward. It's a great conver

Maintaining Fruit Trees, Bushes, and Canes

Mar 05 2024 28 mins

If you’re planning to put in new fruit trees, bushes, or canes in your garden the best time of year, generally, is spring. We want the soil to warm up enough that the roots of the plants will begin to seek out water and nutrients as soon as placed in the ground with as little transplant shock as possible. But, if we have existing fruit trees, bushes, or canes then any maintenance

Different Ways to Grow Potatoes - Ep. 186

Feb 26 2024 25 mins

Potatoes are a cool season crop, and most varieties need between 60 and 120 days to mature, so that means getting them in the ground as soon as the soil can be worked and giving them the time they need to grow. The great thing about potatoes is they can be harvested at any size, so it’s a crop that can do well in a short-season area and can also be grown in places other than big,

Heat Mats and Grow Lights - Ep. 185

Feb 19 2024 20 mins

This month we’re talking a lot about seed starting and we can’t talk about starting seeds without talking about heat and light. Seeds sprout more quickly and efficiently when they’ve got the correct soil temperatures and the easiest way to do this is with a seedling heat mat. It’s not a requirement, though, so we’ll also talk about some ways you can up the ante on the soi