Welcome to Season 4 of the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast

I thought you might like to hear my recent article in the TV News:August 2022 It’s hot, is it not?! But that’s summer, and at least our nights drop down to cool things off. Besides you can always go jump in a lake, we certainly have lots of them around the Tobacco Valley. For me, getting to run through the sprinkler while I water the lawn is still pretty exciting as we didn’t have running water for a long time. And watering the garden is the word of the day! WATER, WATER, WATER. I don’t feel like we can keep our garden/lawn hydrated. We are finally starting to harvest more and more each day even though it seems late in the season. We had a delicious dinner the other night of fresh potatoes, string beans and cherry tomatoes! Our beets are getting bigger and the beet greens we thin between rows are delicious to sauté with some mini beets mixed in. I also like to blanch the greens to freeze for winter when I’m jonesing for some deep leafy vegetables and I can’t bring myself to buy them in the produce aisle. One of the most common questions I get about the garden is what to do about pests?This year it seems like there is an overwhelming amount of earwigs AKA pincher bugs everywhere, which used to really creep me out but I have since learned are some of the best insects to have in your garden as they eat a lot of the bad bugs that destroy your plants. Contrary to popular folk tales they do not crawl in your ears and lay eggs in your brain. They do like cool moist places to hang out and are generally only active at night. They are attracted to bright lights so even though they are nocturnal they are often found underneath pots on porches that are lit up in the evenings. Earwigs tend to hang by themselves, not belonging to a colony so infestations are usually not a problem. If you find them indoors, they’ll appreciate being moved back outside where they can act like a sanitation engineer clearing your garden of pests and disease. Earwigs are not a threat to humans and won’t bite or sting you. Their pincers are for eating prey and repelling predators. Although they have small wings, they don’t really fly as much as glide from a high spot.Another benefit is they attract birds, lizards and frogs to your garden who enjoy eating these power predators. Besides gobbling the pests in your garden earwigs also enjoy feasting on dead and decaying leaves helping your plants look and feel healthier.Another important garden tip I have learned over the years is to spend a lot of time observing your plots. When you see something like bug bites on your leaves turn them over in the early morning and see if there’s a caterpillar there that needs removing. If you do get an aphid infestation, see if you don’t get a beneficial insect that will eat the aphids and then move on. Many people post photos of tiny black wasps eating the tasty white bugs and want to kill them instead of letting them do their job. Often if you just wait a few days the whole problem will take care of itself. You might find ladybugs or lacewings lured in by the aphids who also disappear when their food supply is gone. Beware, ladybug babies look like weird black bugs you might be afraid are eating your plants but they actually are really good for your garden. Here’s to the beneficial bugs of summer!True Leaf Market is wanting to sponsor the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast and is giving a discount code for listeners to get 15% off cover crop seeds: <a href="https://www.trueleafmarket.com/"...

5 Sep 20226min

Garden Variety: A Novel Win a copy of Garden Variety by tagging a friend and also Christy @gardenerd1 and Jackie @GREENorgaincGardenPodcast with #gardenvarietybook and you will be entered to win a copy of Garden Variety on the Fall equinox Thursday • September 22, 2022!March 11, 2022Back to tell us about her new book Garden Variety. Things I love that there's not just one main character, there is but there's great characters and Christy does such a great job of building community and the language and sentences are fantastic the way she describes garden events. You willI garden here in Zone 10b, we used to be zone 9b but with climate change. I belonged to this community garden for 22 years and I was on the board for 20 of those years. I knew from my first season I needed to write a story about a community garden, there's so many things that go on, so I began tucking little stories away over the years.3 books and a NOVELOriginally I didn't want to write a garden book, and as you know I have 3 garden books, but Garden Variety is the way I wanted to write which is telling garden lessons through story. Took a long time, because it was my first novel, it started out in a different way. I love that you say it's my first because I can't wait to read the sequel and find out what happens to the other characters.Lost Angelos has more than 120 community gardens and needs more of them. 60% or maybe more live in an apartment and community gardens are the solace that provides the space for those people.I am an advocate for more gardens in any empty space.Jackie asks where did you come up with the size because the beds are a really nice size in the story. They must be a composite of people you've met over the years.The main character is Lizzy. She's a section rep. She brings people in, writes citations,At first I was like citations? But then I realized how important they are.Usually rules come about because of something that has caused a lot of damage. Lizzy brings in this new guy named Jared, who's sort of a surfer, handyman, a really nice guy but doesn't really know how to commit to anything, and is used to just sliding from one thing to the next wherever the wind sends him.Mary who is the president.Bernice who is her foe, who is also on the board who wants to be president.Ned who is the garden master.And some ancillary characters. An eclectic group of people. My goal was to make the characters as diverse as I could, it's called Garden Variety because gardens usually are.I could see me being just like Jared in the beginning, and not even realizing there were rules or things I should or shouldn't do. I love how in the back you have all the garden tips, because in the beginning I was like I should be taking notes and

5 Sep 202230min

JackieMarie and Aileen share what's growing well, what's their biggest challenge this summer and what they're cooking from their garden in 2022. Aileen is in NJ And JackieMarie is in NW Montana.Aileen has started Artichoke sprouts after doing a stratification process where she froze the seeds.Both have peppers taking off. Jackie mentions that the weather is dropping, they had a fire in the wood stove it was so cool this morning. Aileen is still in the 80s and 90s.Jackie mentions this Wild Mediterranean Detox Diet she has been doing for 6 days and they talk about artichokes are some of the best pre-biotics for reseting your gut you can eat and there was a good recipe for artichoke chips kind of like potato chips.Wild Mediterranean: The Age-old, Science-new Plan For a Healthy Gut, With Food You Can TrustThey discussed strawberries and ever-bearing during regular berries that only produce in June.Aileen referred to Jackie's interview with Mark Risdall Smith who wrote theThe Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening: How to Grow an Abundance of Herbs, Vegetables and Fruit in Small SpacesAileen talked about Jackie's advice to deadhead her zinnias, and Jackie was saying her's haven't hardly bloomed at all. Her calendula and echinacea are blooming like crazy but she's only had one zinnia bloom and they could get a frost any day. They also talked about what they are eating. Jackie is eating golden beets and Swiss chard, cherry tomatoes.Aileen talks about her success letting cilantro go to seed and then making a wreath from the stalks and seeds and putting in a pot and watering it that is coming up.Jackie mention's her interview with Shanti Nagel she did from Design Wild who's best advice was don't be afraid to move something 3 times to find a place where it is happy and thriving.Aileen talked about adding Dr. Earth's fertilizer and Jackie mentioned that Mike puts alfalfa meal under the tomatoes.Aileen is also eating Swiss chard with fresh herbs and her husband Robbie made them into a vegetable herb stew. Jackie mentioned True Leaf Market is wanting to sponsor the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast and they gave her a discount code for her listeners to get 15% off cover crop seeds: GOG15.Aileen talked about the seedlings she has growing in her greenhouse for the winter. Jackie mentioned Aileen's Instagram @where_the_seedlings_are. Aileen talked about how she gets mental health relief from being in the greenhouse and playing in the dirt.True Leaf Market is wanting to sponsor the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast and is giving a discount code for listeners to get 15% off cover crop...

28 Aug 202223min

True Leaf Market is offering a discount code for listeners to get 15% off cover crop seeds: GOG15.Parker Garlitz shares valuable information about growing cover crops in the backyard garden. Jackie asked if the cover crops that Parker sent her can be planted now as they will be getting a frost any day. Parker said they are usually pretty hearty and it's probably not too late to put them in the ground.Parker is a cofounder of True Leaf Market who sell seeds wholesale to seed companies around the world as well as direct to people around the globe. Garden seeds including vegetable herb and flowers, specialty seeds like Asian greens, cotton and tobacco seeds as well as the indoor market like vertical farms and micro green and sprout growers.A cover crop is basically an off season crop you grow after your primary agricultural crop or garden crop to provide a whole bunch of potential benefits not the least of which is soil rehabilitation and adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil and really making for healthy soil. It will help increase your yields and production over the years.What healthy soil is: ground rock and sand, decaying organic matter that supports bacteria and earth worms and other living things and soil and the crops that grow in it. Soil has important nutrients. Everyone knows NPK the big three, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, but really true nutrient soil that provides nutrients to human health are the micro nutrients that get leached out of soil and are never replenished especially with big agro-business.Things like selenium, sulfur, or copper or zinc or the other trace minerals that soil takes up. So adding those micro nutrients is important for soil health. Soil also has a texture, that is not too sandy or like clay. Cover crops help by adding many or most of those things back into the soil.Most people think of them for large farming but they are great for backyard gardeners and dollar for dollar the biggest bang for your buck as they are super affordable.Cover crops are almost sort of like self composting adding to your soil. Especially finding enough compost for your garden is a challenge and can be expensive. Jackie talks about her failure with covering quack grass with cardboard and compost that has overgrown and how her husband and her argue over who gets the compost and how this is a great solution for creating healthy soil.Jackie also talks about how cover cropping can be intimidating and how this will make it easier for people.Anna Hess’ Homegrown Humus is a great primer for learning about cover crops. Parker explains the two methods for terminating cover crops and the pros and cons of both. No till and tilling it into the beds. Parker explains how they provide an easy to plant Garden Cover Crop Mix for home gardeners. It's already pre-inoculated which will help your soil absorb nitrogen from the root nodules that grow on the cover crop roots. Jackie talks about how this is a great solution for her listeners because they have made a mix so we don't have to worry about all the different options etc as many guests have talked about the...

28 Aug 202247min

What Bees Want: Beekeeping as Nature IntendedListen to my original interview with Jacqueline here Full show notes coming soon.Let’s take a minute to thank our sponsors and affiliate linksWanna donate to the show! You can "buy me a cup of coffee" where your donation goes directly to support the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast to help pay for things like hosting the mp3 files or maintaining the website Now Let’s Get to the Root of Things! We’d love if you’d join Organic Gardener Podcast Facebook Community!Get Your Copy of the The Organic Oasis Guidebook!Twelve Lessons designed to help you create an earth friendly landscape, some deep garden beds full of nutrient rich healthy food or perhaps even develop a natural market farm.Get a copy on today printed in the USA from AmazonThe Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.comIf you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.and don’t forget if you need help getting started check out our new Free Garden Course.com Free Organic Garden Course This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

15 Aug 202250min

JackieMarie and Aileen share what's growing well, what's their biggest challenge this summer and what they're cooking from their garden in 2022. Aileen is in NJ And JackieMarie is in NW Montana.Paris Island Romaine is growing well for Aileen. She is growing in containers this year at her new home. Nasturtiums and basil grew really well for Aileen this year as well which are both edible and fantastic companion plants that the beneficial insects enjoy and the bugs tend to stay away from.They are eating lots of pesto! Mike and JackieMarie are having success with tomatoes, Swiss chard, raspberry bushes, peppers and sunflowers. Last year we got raspberries from Peaceful Valley in California. Everything needs water, is Jackie's biggest challenge for sure.Jackie said she is eating the last tomato sauce she made last summer. Some beet greens.Aileen referred to Jackie's interview with Mark Risdall Smith who wrote theThe Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening: How to Grow an Abundance of Herbs, Vegetables and Fruit in Small SpacesLet’s take a minute to thank our sponsors and affiliate linksWanna donate to the show! You can "buy me a cup of coffee" where your donation goes directly to support the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast to help pay for things like hosting the mp3 files or maintaining the website Now Let’s Get to the Root of Things! We’d love if you’d join Organic Gardener Podcast Facebook Community!Get Your Copy of the The Organic Oasis Guidebook!Twelve Lessons designed to help you create an earth friendly landscape, some deep garden beds full of nutrient rich healthy food or perhaps even develop a natural market farm.Get a copy on today printed in the USA from AmazonThe Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by...

15 Aug 202223min

Vertical Veg WebsiteThe Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening: How to Grow an Abundance of Herbs, Vegetables and Fruit in Small SpacesFull show notes to come The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/

4 Juli 202252min

Design Wildon Instagram @designwildnywww.designwildny.com One of my favorite parts of this conversation is Shanti's best piece of advice to move a plant 3 times before it finds it's permanent home. If a plant isn't happy in the spot you first plant it don't be afraid to move it, we're just gaining information and it's a way to help it thrive. When you hit the right place and the plant is happy you can tell and you say oh! Look how happy it is. Spring and fall are the best times to move plants and let them find their happy spot.Floral spade Let’s take a minute to thank our sponsors and affiliate linksWanna donate to the show! You can "buy me a cup of coffee" where your donation goes directly to support the GREEN Organic Garden Podcast to help pay for things like hosting the mp3 files or maintaining the website.[gallery ids="137595,137597,137596" type="rectangular"]Growers & CoAsk Your questions herehttps://youtu.be/2S9tbLIIhy4The Good Seed CompanyNow Let’s Get to the Root of Things!Get Your Copy of the The Organic Oasis Guidebook!Twelve Lessons designed to help you create an earth friendly landscape, some deep garden beds full of nutrient rich healthy food or perhaps even develop a natural market farm.Get a copy on today printed in the USA from AmazonThe Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.comIf you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.and don’t forget if you need help getting started check out our...

4 Juli 202239min