Good Growing

Dec 06 2024 247 ep. 34 mins 11

Good Growing Podcast artwork

Talking all things horticulture, ecology, and design.

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Ep. 193 Our Favorite Gardening Books for Winter Reading, Gifts, or Anytime of Year | #GoodGrowing

Dec 06 2024 80 mins

This week on the Good Growing Podcast, Emily Swihart joins Ken and Chris to discuss our favorite gardening and landscaping books. We discuss reference books, fiction and nonfiction, and even children's books. Beyond our favorites, we also interviewed our fellow horticulture educators to get their recommendations. This is a longer episode, so be sure to use the timestamps in the epi

Gardenbite: Tips for selecting and transporting holiday plants| #GoodGrowing

Nov 29 2024 10 mins

The holiday season is here, which means evergreens, poinsettias, amaryllis, and other holiday plants have arrived in stores. Plants are often at the center of our holiday decorations and traditions and are frequently given as gifts. Whether you’re buying them as gifts or for yourself, learn about what to look for when selecting your holiday plants and how to transport them to avo

Gardenbite: Voles in the landscape & mice in the house | #GoodGrowing

Nov 22 2024 15 mins

This week, we have a Gardenbite excerpt from our webinar, in which we discussed wildlife damage in the home landscape. In this clip, Chris details two common rodents in Illinois that tend to pop up in the winter months around the outside and inside of our homes: the vole and the mouse. While the vole is an active pest outside during the winter, many Illinoisians also deal with mice

Ep. 192 Season extension: Ways we can expand the growing season | #GoodGrowing

Nov 15 2024 44 mins

When cold weather arrives, it brings the end of the vegetable gardening season for many of us. That doesn’t have to be the case though. On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we discuss how we can expand our growing season beyond what's normal by using season extension. Learn about what season extension is, why we would want to use it, the different techniques you can use, and mo

Ep. 191 Late Season Garden Updates & Fall Horticultural Questions Answered | #GoodGrowing

Nov 08 2024 33 mins

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris marvel at all the stuff they are still harvesting in their gardens. A touch of frost hasn't seemed to stop the tomatoes and peppers. When will the gardening season end!? Plus we look at the NOAA predictions for the coming month and answer your horticultural questions on black cherry aphid, lawn grub explosions across northern Illi

Gardenbite: Windbreaks - the history, function, and benefits of diminished wind speeds

Nov 01 2024 6 mins

Windbreaks, also known as shelter belts, play a crucial role in protecting the land from powerful Midwestern winds. Traditionally used on rural lands, windbreaks are living barriers that intercept wind, thereby reducing velocity and impact. During this week’s Gardenbite, Horticulture Educator Emily Swihart looks back at the history of Roosevelt’s ‘tree army’ and planting ef

Ep. 190 Halloween spooktacular: Creepy crawlies | #GoodGrowing

Oct 25 2024 47 mins

It’s time for another Good Growing Halloween Spooktacular! We’re all dressed up again this year to talk about some creepy crawlies that have had or are still having an impact on humans or have a lot of lore behind them, including black widow and brown recluse spiders, stinging caterpillars, oriental rat fleas, lice, and more! Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DGbFkgEs2ZE S

Ep. 189 Getting garden tools ready for winter | #GoodGrowing

Oct 18 2024 47 mins

Now that the garden season is starting to wind down, it’s a good time to start thinking about getting our tools ready for winter. This week on the Good Growing Podcast, we discuss some things we do to get our garden tools ready for winter, including cleaning, sharpening, winterizing, organizing, and more! Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o5VuG7Au7ng Skip to what you want t

Ep. 188 Fall Cleanup in the Yard and Garden | #GoodGrowing

Oct 11 2024 36 mins

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris discuss why we clean up our gardens in the fall. Cutting down perennials, raking leaves, and pulling out spent vegetable plants is a common job for the gardener in the fall. As the autumn days get shorter our time is precious outdoors. What needs to be done now and what can wait until next year?Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be

Good Growing Grow Along final check-in for 2024 | #GoodGrowing

Oct 07 2024 24 mins

It’s time for our last Grow Along check-in for 2024. Each year we at Good Growing decide to try growing some new (to us) vegetables. This year we invited you to grow along with us. This video is for those who signed up to receive seed for our Grow Along. In this video, we are trying the fruits of our labor. We share some of the different ways we have prepared the produce we grew