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

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 Mandarin orange, but if I can grow it myself, I feel much better. Fruit trees can be intimidating, and they can be temperamental if you don’t have the right soil conditions, berry canes and bushes also require a bit more care and maintenance. Which is why strawberries are the sort of gateway fruit for vegetable gardeners. You can plant them in ground or in containers, you can grow them in many different climates, and even minimal effort in maintenance will improve the yield dramatically. So, today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about growing strawberries. Whether you’ve got an in-ground bed, a raised planter bed, or just a container on your back deck, we’ll talk about the soil and nutrient requirements, planting in the spring or the fall, maintaining the bed, potential problems, and more. Let’s dig in! Question of the month for April: What have you struggled with the most in terms of garden maintenance and did you find a solution? Maintaining soil nutrients, reducing weed pressure, proper mulching, proper watering techniques, whatever your garden needs that you struggle with or that you used to struggle with and have found a solution. Answer the question from within Spotify, reply to this week’s email newsletter on Friday with your, answer in the Facebook group or send me a DM on social media. You have until April 30th to give me your answer and share your struggles and solutions with your fellow gardeners. References and resources: Visit HeirloomRoses.com and take 20% off your order of roses with code JUSTGROW through October 31, 2024 Strawberry | Description, Cultivation, Nutrition, Uses, Species, & Facts | Britannica Strawberry: A Brief History // Missouri Environment and Garden News Article // Integrated Pest Management, University of Missouri Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 cold and wet, or might be that way in the next ten days, your tomatoes, or peppers, or whatever, are not going to be happy sitting in chilled soil, no matter how warm the daytime air temperatures get. But, your sugar snap peas and lettuce might be thrilled. So, today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about optimal soil temperatures for both cool season and warm season crops, for both seed germination and transplant growth, how to properly check your soil temperature, and where to find historic soil temperature data for your area so you can more effectively plan your planting dates and not be lulled into that false sense of security. Let’s dig in. References and Resources: This week's sponsor: Visit HeirloomRoses.com and take 20% off your order of roses with code JUSTGROW through October 31, 2024⁠ Taylor Precision Products Standard Grade Thermometer (Amazon affiliate link) Soil Temparature Maps | GreenCast | Syngenta (greencastonline.com) Soil Temperature and Seed Germination (psu.edu) Microsoft Word - Soil Temp Planting V2docx (wisc.edu) Minera Nutrition of Plants: Principles and Perspectives | SpringerLink facts you didn’t know about soil temperature (farmprogress.com) Soil Temperature and Planting Crops (harvesttotable.com) Just Grow Something Merch Shop Jus Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 shows the amendments you added in the fall just weren’t enough to fix the problem? This time around you’ll need something that works into the soil a little more quickly if you want the garden ready in time to grow a lush crop for spring and summer. And even then you may find the need to add some supplemental plant food to directly feed the plants instead of the soil to be sure you get a good harvest. So, today on Just Grow Something we’ll go over the organic amendments you can be adding to the garden now that will give the soil a quick boost and the possible ways to feed the plants directly while waiting for the soil to improve. Let’s dig in! Question of the month for April: What have you struggled with the most in terms of garden maintenance and did you find a solution? References and Resources: Visit HeirloomRoses.com and take 20% off your order of roses with code JUSTGROW through October 31, 2024 USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service website: HungryPests.com Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 deal with them. And not all of them are insects. So, today on Just Grow Something we are talking all about your biggest pests in the garden. Let’s dig in! April Question of the Month: What have you struggled with the most in terms of garden maintenance and did you find a solution? References and Resources: Visit HeirloomRoses.com and take 20% off your order of roses with code JUSTGROW through October 31, 2024 Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 need to take to harden off our plants prior to putting them out into the garden. This includes whether you’re growing them yourselves or if you’ve just brought them home from the nursery, garden center, or farmers market. Following these steps and displaying some patience will prevent the heartache of putting those plants out and having them fail. We’ll also talk about how to recover if your plants begin display signs of stress after they are already in their permanent home. Let’s dig in. Question of the Month: : “What is your biggest pest in the garden and how do you manage it (if at all)?” Leave a voice message from the link in the show notes, respond to the question in Spotify if that’s where you’re listening, send me an email, drop it in the Facebook group or in a DM to me on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. We’ve already had some good discussions around this in the Facebook group and I will read all the answers on next week’s episode. You have until March 31st to get me your answer. References and Resources: Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct   Effects of hardening off on Growth, Yield and Quality of some Pepper (Capsicum annuum) Cultivars | Ghana Journal of Science, Technology and Development (gjstd.org) Influence of Different Methods of Hardening-Off Of Tomato Seedlings on ReEstablishment and Subsequent Growth A COMPARISON OF CHEMICAL CHANGES IN PLANTS DURING COLD-HARDENING IN CONTROLLED AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS (cdnsciencepub.com)   Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 of the coop, watered the down really well for about a week, and planted a bunch of plants into them. This was my first introduction to straw bale gardening and it worked wonderfully! The nitrogen from the chicken manure had kickstarted the decomposition process of the straw, providing essential nutrients for the microbes that do that work, and the decomp of the straw inside the bale created a fertile growing medium. I expanded the gardens quite a bit after that, as you all know, and haven’t worked with straw bales as a growing medium since. But this year, that changes. I’ve got a new spot I’m putting together behind my greenhouse with eight planter boxes already in place, but there’s also a fence at the back of that space I want to both cover and use as a trellis. I don’t want something permanent against that fence so I’m jumping back into straw bale gardening. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about how to use straw bales as a growing container and medium. I don’t have naturally conditioned bales this year, so we’ll talk about the process I’ll need to go through to get those bales ready. I’ll also cover the benefits of gardening in bales, what to watch out for, what plants do well with this method, and how to maintain them. By the end of the episode I think you’ll be convinced that straw bales are an effective way to increase the growing space in your garden without needing a permanent solution. Let’s dig in! Question of the month for March: “What is your biggest pest in the garden and how do you manage it (if at all)?” References and Resources: Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Order from True Leaf Market and support the show! Taylor Standard Grade Thermometer 11 Tips for Starting a Strawbale Garden (epicgardening.com) Straw Bale Gardening for Beginners | Almanac.com Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 conversation with a fellow gardener that you'll love to listen in to. By the end you'll have commiserated and maybe have an inkling to add a few new things to the garden. Let's dig in! Resources: Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Just Grow Something Merch Shop 👩‍🌾 Meg (@ourwiscohomestead) • Instagram photos and videos Skidger – Garden smarter! – Innovative garden products Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 on those trees should be done before the soil begins to really warm up and the plants come out of dormancy. This is usual sometime between late fall and early spring, which means most of the northern hemisphere is primed for these tasks right now. Today on Just Grow Something, we’re going to talk about those tasks and how to tackle them: pruning, fertilizing, and moving your established plants if it’s necessary to do so. This is one of those tasks that can scratch the itch for getting out into the garden when maybe it’s still too early to really be planting much and they’re tasks that are important for us to get the best yield possible from those plants. Let’s dig in! March Question of the Month: “What is your biggest pest in the garden and how do you manage it (if at all)?” Resources: Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Order from True Leaf Market and support the show! Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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, long in-ground rows. If you have minimal space or you can only garden in grow bags or buckets, you can still grow potatoes. Today on Just Grow Something we’re talking about just that – what are all the different ways and places we can grow potatoes? They are such a versatile crop it makes sense to tuck some into your garden area no matter what size it is. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Get my FREE eBook on successful seed starting Ep. 135 - Growing Potatoes Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Solanum tuberosum (Irish Potato, Irish Potatoes, Pomme de Terre, Potato, Potatoes, White Potato, White Potatoes) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (ncsu.edu) Soil Temparature Maps | GreenCast | Syngenta (greencastonline.com) Growing potatoes in home gardens | UMN Extension ORGANIC POTATO GROWING GUIDE (woodprairie.com) Just Grow Something Merch Shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

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 soil temperatures during seed starting without a heat mat. Once those seeds do sprout and you're nurturing those little seedlings the correct light can make all the difference, and usually even the sunniest window in your house just isn’t going to cut it. That means we need do a little investing in some lights to help our seedlings along. Today on Just Grow Something we'll explore soil heating options and various types of grow lights, including the most economical and even tabletop solutions. Let’s dig in! *Question of the Month: “What is your most successful crop and why?” This could be a specific variety of something that outproduces all the others, the plant that you love the most, or the crop that grows fantastically well for you without fail every single year. Whatever you consider your most successful crop in whatever way you consider it successful. Send me an email, post it in the Facebook group or send me a DM on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok… you have until February 29th to get me your answer! References and Resources: Full Spectrum LED mini grow light 4 Pack 4FT LED Shop Light 48" x 20" (four tray) Waterproof Durable Seedling Heat Mat 10” x 20.75” (single tray) Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat Best Grow Lights for Growing Vegetables Indoors. Guide to Choosing a Grow Light - Johnny's Selected Seeds. 5 Different Fluorescent Tube Sizes and How to Choose One (thespruce.com) Just Grow Something Merch Shop Order from True Leaf Market and support the show! Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

Seed starting does not need to be intimidating but it does come with a special set of requirements for true success. Two components to that success are the soils we use and the containers we choose. Not all soils and containers are created equal. Today we dig into the different types of seed starting mediums and containers available on the market and ones we can dig up in our own home. (Pun intended.) Ssurprise surprise, the potting soil you choose to use may not actually be soil at all. And the containers may be something you already have sitting in your recycling bin. Let’s dig in! *February Question of the Month: What is your most successful crop and why? Episode References and Resources Harvesting peat moss contributes to climate change, Oregon State scientist says | OSU Extension Service Just Grow Something Merch Shop Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

If you’re planning to grow flowers alongside your vegetables this year, there may be some additional steps you’ll need to take when getting those started. Most annual flowers are started in ways very similar to our annual vegetable plants. But some flowers are trickier to start, especially perennials. And some can’t easily be started from seed and need to be propagated using other methods. Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to talk about the easiest flowers to start from seed and those “special” flower seeds, the ones that need a little more time and attention than our standard annuals. Let’s dig in! February Question of the Month: What’s your most successful garden crop and why? References and Resources: Planter | Garden Planner The Girly Homesteader Planner Vegetable Garden Planner | Garden Planning Apps (almanac.com) Free Garden Journal Printables - Green in Real Life Free Garden Flower Download   Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Order from True Leaf Market and support the show! Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

Soil blocking is a seed starting technique that uses small blocks of soil or seed starting mix. There are no containers, no small plastic cells, just the soil itself. The benefit of soil blocking is, of course, you’re not keeping a bunch of plastic containers around to start your seeds in, but also there is no chance for the roots of the seedlings to become bound by a container. The plants roots will reach the edge of the soil block and simply stop growing until the block is planted, the roots come into contact with more soil, and can take off growing again. This reduces the transplant shock. Today on Just Grow Something I brought back our flower farmer friend, Kathy Gormandy, to talk about how she uses soil blocking on her farm. We also talk about her new retail space, the importance of locally grown florals, and more. It’s a conversation that has me taking a second look at trying soil blocking again this year. Let’s dig in. References and Resources: Ep. 117 - Growing Cut Flowers in the Home Garden with Kathy Gormandy Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Order from True Leaf Market and support the show!   https://education.teamflower.org/learn/growing/ssl/what-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself-from-pesticides-in-the-floral-industry What Do Florists Spray on Flowers to Keep Them Fresh? - Floral Fantasy Land Soil-Block Making | A Better Way to Start Seedlings, by Eliot Coleman (johnnyseeds.com) Kathy Gormandy (@pkfarmflowers) • Instagram photos and videos https://www.facebook.com/PKFarmlife Artisanal Blume P&K Farms (pkfarmlife.com)  Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

As we start to get our garden plans in order for this year, succession planting is something that absolutely should be included in our calendars and our garden maps. It’s really the best way to ensure not only to do you have more to harvest throughout the season but that you take advantage of open spaces in the garden when one crop ends or the season changes. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about what succession planting is, how it relates to interplanting and relay planting, and how to successfully schedule your successions to reach your gardening goals, whether that’s to feed your family for the entire year or just be sure you’ve got enough salad ingredients to get you through the summer. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Just Grow Something | creating a podcast and gardening videos | Patreon Plan Like a Pro Garden Planning Course Save 10% and get Free Shipping with code JUSTGROW10 at Planter Box Direct Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

There is a fine line in gardening between overcrowding the plants and making efficient use of space. If we do it right, the plants benefit from each other and we can get way more out of our garden than we ever dreamed. But if we step over that line, we end up with plants competing with each other for space, water, sunlight, and nutrients and our yield is dramatically reduced. As we start planning our gardens for the year it’s time to take a look at the space we have to work with and plan out our gardens to effectively use that space to our advantage. Today on Just Grow Something we’re talking interplanting or intercropping. This technique not only allows for you to grow more in the exact same space, but can also reduce weeds and conserve water. Let’s dig in. References and Resources: Courses | Just Grow Something Companion Planting Chart | Just Grow Something Tomato N Uptake (ucdavis.edu) CDFA - FREP - CA Fertilization Guidelines - Lettuce Nitrogen Uptake and Partitioning Nitrogen fixation in peas (Pisum sativum) (lincoln.ac.nz) Some vegetables require less water than others | OSU Extension Service (oregonstate.edu) Cornell Guide to Companion Planting.pdf (unl.edu) Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

You may have an idea of what you want to grow in terms of vegetables in your garden – say zucchini and tomatoes, for example. If you open the seed catalog or website to the page for zucchini you may find as many 18 to 25 different varieties to choose from, each with their own unique set of attributes in terms of shape, size, color, growing conditions, disease resistance, pollination type, and more. Move on to tomatoes, well now you’re talking hundreds of varieties in different classes from cherry to beefsteak to sauce types. And that’s just one supplier. It can be overwhelming, and we can fall victim to the dreaded analysis paralysis – spending so much time gathering information while trying to decide that we fail to decide. Let’s take a little bit of the overwhelm out of the equation by defining what exactly it is we are looking for in each of the types of vegetable or fruits we want to grow before we even dive into the catalogs or walk into the garden center. If you’ve got a list of attributes you’re looking for ahead of time it makes it easier to make a decision about what will do well in your garden, meet your goals, and eliminate some of the distractions. Let's dig in. Don't forget to answer the question of the month for January: How do you plan your garden each season? Resources and References: Plan Like a Pro Information Sign Up F1 hybrid - Wikipedia Home | The Buffalo Seed Company All-America Selections | AAS Winners | Best New Plants Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

It used to be easy to just choose a catalog and order seeds because there were only a handful of choices and, generally speaking, unless you were going to the nursery or garden center to buy seed packets from a kiosk, you were ordering from a physical catalog that you actually got in the mail. But, nowadays, a simple internet search will yield thousands of results from companies all over the world and it’s a little bit more difficult to weed out the bad guys. So, today we are going to talk about ways to find a legitimate, established, verified seed company whether it’s online, through a catalog, or local to you. And what to do if you encounter a new small business that seems legit and you’d love to support them, but you also want to make sure you don’t get burned. I will also give you a list and links to my favorite suppliers over the years, including my very first catalog purchase. Let’s dig in! Question of the month: How do you plan your garden each season? Tell me by leaving a voice message, sending an email, responding below (in Spotify), or from the Facebook group! References and Resources: True Leaf Market Gurney's - America's Most Complete Seed and Nursery (gurneys.com) Bring Your Garden to Life with Rare and Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com) Home - SeedSavers Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Saving the Past for the Future Urban Farmer | Seeds, Plants and Garden Supplies (ufseeds.com) Johnny’s Selected Seeds | Supporting Farms & Gardens Since 1973 (johnnyseeds.com) Harris Seeds: Vegetable Seeds, Flower Seeds, Plants & Growing Supplies Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

Let's revisit the most downloaded episode of this podcast the past three season: growing peppers! Peppers are one of those plants that I get asked about all the time; it’s also one of those vegetables that is a mainstay in many people’s kitchens, and they can be expensive at the grocery store, so knowing how to grow your own is high up on the gardening wish list for a lot of people. So, today we talk all about peppers, both sweet and hot, how to get them to germinate, their feeding requirements, planting, spacing, harvesting and all the usual basics. By the end of this episode, I hope you can fill in the gaps of what’s been going on with your peppers to get you some success or give you the confidence to give them a try if you’re new to the capsicum scene. Let's dig in! References and Resources: Capsicum annuum - Wikipedia Pharmacological importance of an ethnobotanical plant: Capsicum annuum L - PubMed (nih.gov) Bell Peppers 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Benefits (healthline.com) Chili Peppers 101: Nutrition Facts and Health Effects (healthline.com) 6 Ways to Use Epsom Salt in the Garden | Epsom Salt Council Capsicum annuum (Grossum Group) (Bell Pepper, Green Pepper, Red Pepper, Sweet Pepper) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (ncsu.edu) Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers. Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening, 1978 Damrosch, Barbara; The Garden Primer. Workman Publishing, New York. 1988 Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

Potatoes are a staple in many households. The wonderful thing about Irish potatoes is that they can be grown just about anywhere, in ground or in planters or buckets. They can be a quick shoulder-season crop or they can spend 120 days in the ground, making way for fall-planted crops when they’re done. You can pick them early for baby potatoes, leave them late for storage potatoes, or anything in between, and they are one of the easiest crops for beginners because they are pretty hands off. Which may be why this episode was so popular. So, let’s revisit your second favorite episode of all time. Ready to grow potatoes? Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Hijmans, RJ; Spooner, DM (2001). "Geographic distribution of wild potato species". American Journal of Botany. 88 (11): 2101–12. doi:10.2307/3558435. JSTOR 3558435. PMID 21669641. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Finding rewrites the evolutionary history of the origin of potatoes (2005) Potato Production and Consumption Solanum tuberosum (Irish Potato, Irish Potatoes, Pomme de Terre, Potato, Potatoes, White Potato, White Potatoes) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox (ncsu.edu) Potato: Nutrition facts, recipes, benefits, side effects, and more (msn.com) Soil Temparature Maps | GreenCast | Syngenta (greencastonline.com) Growing potatoes in home gardens | UMN Extension ORGANIC POTATO GROWING GUIDE (woodprairie.com) Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Follow me on Instagram JustGrowSomethingPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message

Welcome back, my gardening friends, to another episode of Just Grow Something as we count down the top four episodes of all time throughout the month of December. This week we revisit the #3 most listened to episode of this show: Growing Onions. Onions are such a staple in most kitchens, it's no surprise many gardeners want to grow their own. The problem is they can be a bit tricky if you don't understand the difference in daylength requirements for growing those giant bulbs. Nutrient needs, soil type, water and storage are covered in this episode, all the things I wish I'd known when I made my own feeble attempts at growing onions years ago! Let's dig in. References and Resources: Free Download: Onion Growing Fact Sheet Ep. 114 - Planting Onions to Overwinter (PDF) Traditional and modern uses of onion bulb (Allium cepa L.): A systematic review (researchgate.net) Onion History - National Onion Association (onions-usa.org) Nutrition Information for Raw Vegetables | FDA Explore Cornell - Home Gardening - Vegetable Growing Guides - Growing Guide Growing Onions: Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Onions | The Old Farmer's Almanac Onion Planting Guide - Dixondale Farms Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message