Plants Always Win

Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
  • 5.0 (8)
  • HOME & GARDEN
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit-holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. We care about ecologically sound gardening, strong human communities, and up-to-date science.

  1. 2D AGO

    Rosemary vs. Lavender

    In this versus episode, we bring you two of the nicest-smelling and slowest-growing plants in the garden. Sean gets us started with rosemary, which is known to science as Salvia rosemarinus (though some botanists may be surprised to hear that!). We learn how to grow this Mediterranean plant and how to help it handle a northern winter, even if that means bringing it indoors. One option, of course, is to take softwood or hardwood cuttings and root them for next year, and Sean gives us a crash course in doing that before moving on to the fascinating research being done on rosemary and cognition. In the second half, Erin narrows down the many species and cultivars of lavender to just two: Lavandula angustifolia, often called English Lavender or “true lavender,” and Lavandula X Intermedia, a hybrid you may see marketed as “lavandin.” One is good to eat, and the other is great for toiletries. How do you know which is which? Erin has the intel. Just don’t ask her to talk about French lavender. You might be in for a plant rant.  You’re also in for some fun facts about growing lavender at home, becoming a commercial lavender grower in Ontario, and what historical humans and modern scientists think it’s good for. We wrap up with a busted myth: what does lavender have to do with King Tut? It’s not what you think! Who won the plant face-off? You decide! Email us, tag us on social media, or pipe up in our friendly Discord server to let us know who you thought made their plant the most interesting.  Will YOU be growing lavender or rosemary this year? The Ontario Garden Events Calendar It’s live! Check it out at https://plantsalwayswin.com/events/  Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Citations Rosemary Plant Profile Rosmarinus officinalis L. (n.d.). USDA Plants Database. https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/ROOF Rosemary. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.britannica.com/plant/rosemary Rosemary and cognition Kamdar, D. (2025). Rosemary has been linked to better memory, lower anxiety and even protection from Alzheimer’s. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/ab.fu4jyy3mx Banerjee, P., Wang, Y., Carnevale, L. N., Patel, P., Raspur, C. K., Tran, N., Zhang, X., Natarajan, R., Roberts, A. J., Baran, P. S., & Lipton, S. A. (2025). DIACCA, a Pro-Drug for carnosic acid that activates the NRF2 transcriptional pathway, shows efficacy in the 5xFAD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Antioxidants, 14(3), 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14030293  Herbs that can boost your mood and memory. (2026, June 2). Northumbria University. https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/2016/04/herbs-that-can-boost-your-mood-and-memory/  Studying Hinoki cypress oil and relaxation Ikei, H., Song, C., & Miyazaki, Y. (2015). Physiological effect of olfactory stimulation by Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) leaf oil. Journal of PHYSIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, 34(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-015-0082-2  Etymology of lavender Lavender – Etymology, Origin & Meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/lavender Growing lavender in Ontario Growing lavender in Ontario: an introduction for prospective growers. (2023, February 22). ontario.ca. https://www.ontario.ca/page/growing-lavender-ontario-introduction-prospective-growers  What people historically thought lavender was good for, and what scientists think today Civilyte, A., Karanikola, K., & Kramer, A. (2025). From antiquity to modern hygiene: the archaeological and medicinal legacy of lavender as a promising antimicrobial agent. PubMed, 20, Doc21. https://doi.org/10.3205/dgkh000550 Medicinal uses and side effects of lavender Lavender: Overview, uses, side effects, precautions, interactions, dosing and reviews. (n.d.). https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-838/lavender#dosing Lavender: Usefulness and safety. (n.d.). National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/lavender The Ontario Lavender Association Ontario Lavender Association. (n.d.). Lavender Ontario. Lavender Ontario. https://lavenderontario.org/ History, taxonomy, and production of lavender McCoy, J.-A., PhD. (2022). Lavender: History, Taxonomy, and Production (J. Davis, Ed.). NC State Extension. https://newcropsorganics.ces.ncsu.edu/herb/lavender-history-taxonomy-and-production/  Timestamps 00:17 Introduction 01:00 What’s Growing On? Erin at the Landscape Ontario Conference 02:09 What’s Growing On? Sean on the Modern Landscaping Industry 05:09 Sean’s Ask a Master Gardener events in Huntsville, Ontario 06:23 Water Break: Seedy Saturdays 07:17 The Plant Face-off: Rosemary 07:20 Keeping Rosemary in a Zone 4 Winter 09:28 Rosemary’s Changing Taxonomy 12:14 Surprise! The Name Rosemary is about the Sea 13:46 How Rosemary Grows 15:16 Caring for Rosemary 16:24 Sean’s Big Mistake Prepping Rosemary for Winter 17:40 Starting Rosemary from Seed…EARLY 19:05 Sean’s Daughter’s Lavender Plants 20:24 Propagating Rosemary by Softwood and Hardwood Cuttings 21:14 Rosemary as Specimen or Bonsai 22:49 What does “Specimen” Mean in Horticulture? 25:10 Pests and Diseases Don’t Bother Rosemary Much 26:00 Plant Rant: Deer Resistance 27:43 Culinary Uses for Rosemary 28:00 Cultural History of Rosemary 28:27 Rosemary for Memory and Concentration, According to Science 34:18 Water Break: Libraries and Seed Libraries 35:33 The Plant Face-Off: Lavender 36:18 “English Lavender” vs. “French Lavender” is Not Helpful! 37:30 Lavandula Angustifolia, aka English Lavender 39:20 Lavandula X Intermedia, aka Lavandin 41:50 Etymology of Lavender: It’s All About Washing 42:44 What Lavender Looks Like 44:11 Range and Growing Conditions for Lavender 45:36 The Ontario Lavender Association: Growing Lavender Commercially in Ontario 47:17 Soil Conditions for Growing Lavender 49:28 Growing Lavender from Seed 50:20 Propagating Lavender by Cutting and Layering 52:53 Pruning Lavender for Rounded Mounds 57:13 Harvesting Lavender: Timing Matters 58:14 Food and Medicinal Uses of Lavender 1:00:21 Cautions about Lavender: No Lavender Oil for Prepubescent Boys 1:02:55 Cultural History of Lavender 1:06:17 Myth Busting: King Tut’s Tomb Did NOT Smell of Lavender 1:09:13 Outro and Contact Us

    1h 11m

  2. JAN 20

    Ep. 42 Landscape Design Fails

    As the 2026 growing season waves tantalizingly on the far horizon, we’d like to help you prepare for a disaster-free garden. To do that, we’re sharing a few key landscape design principles…along with a whole heap of stories about landscape design fails. No garden is truly no-maintenance, but while ordinary weeding and pruning is one thing, fighting endlessly against the effects of a bad design decision is something else entirely. We’re talking about hardscaping installed in the wrong spot, poorly selected plants, ever-spreading invasive species…The list goes on. Sean shares some zingers from his history of managing client landscapes, and Erin gets vulnerable with some stories of her own past mistakes. Tune in to find out what not to do…and to journey with our hosts through the steps you should take when designing a garden or landscape of your own. Check out our new website!  Check out our web designer’s portfolio!   Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Timestamps 00:15 Introduction 00:55 What’s Growing On? The End of Erin’s Winter Garden 04:27 What’s Growing On? Sean’s Winter Observations 07:56 Water Break 09:05 Myth Busting: The Low-Maintenance Garden 12:34 Landscape Design Step 1: Dream and Observe 15:44 Landscape Pre-Design: Know Your Needs 17:21 Designing for Accessibility and Maintenance 19:07 Considering Microclimates 20:16 Landscape Design Step 2: Hardscaping 22:25 Artificial Turf Legislation Fail 27:14 Decisions about Paths 28:00 Myth Busting: Permanence in Landscapes 29:36 Landscape Design Step 3: Plant Selection 31:00 Sean’s False Sorbaria sorbifolia Stories 34:36 Erin’s Invasive-Plants-in-Woodland-Garden Story 40:04 Landscape Design Step 4: Plan for Changes over Seasons and Years 46:32 Retaining Wall Fail 50:00 Maintenance Nightmare: Nothing But Stairs 54:30 Compromise and Education are Important 57:09 Staghorn Sumacs Always Win 58:55 Outro and Contact Us

    1 hr

  3. 2025-12-19

    Thoughtful Foraging with Gabrielle Cerberville

    If you’re looking to build a relationship with the land that feeds you, you can start by embracing the wisdom of the Internet’s Mushroom Auntie. Gabrielle Cerberville, a.k.a. your new Mushroom Auntie, a.k.a. The Chaotic Forager, has spent her academic life collecting degrees in music. If you catch her in the forest, however, she’s more likely to be collecting mushrooms and plants for cooking and preservation. She’s known online as a mycologist and foraging educator, and—more recently—as the author of the book Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life – An Illustrated Adventure in Wild Food, Self-Discovery, and Honoring Earth. Part memoir, part field guide, part cook book, and part guided nature meditation, Gathered is 100% an invitation to connect more deeply and authentically with the earth. This week, Gabrielle joins Erin and Sean to discuss its writing, the deeply collaborative process of its editing and fact-checking, and the interconnectedness of nature, food, politics, and community. Find Gabrielle online at: ChaoticForager.com  Instagram: www.instagram.com/chaoticforager TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@chaoticforager  YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0LqNI92KujRLCj-247ve3w Facebook: www.facebook.com/chaoticforager Purchase a copy of Gathered: www.harpercollins.com/products/gathered-gabrielle-cerberville?variant=43429934661666 Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Citations Can you forage on Crown land in Canada? Using wood from Crown land for personal use. (2025, May 26). ontario.ca. https://www.ontario.ca/page/using-wood-crown-land-personal-use Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Timestamps 00:14 Introduction 01:10 Gabrielle Cerberville, Your Internet Mushroom Auntie 03:20 The Chaotic Forager and ADHD 05:16 The Myth of Being a Self-Taught Forager 08:29 Community Sufficiency, Not Self-Sufficiency 11:55 Gabrielle’s Music Education 14:35 Marrying Music and Foraging: The Deep Ecology Project 19:01 How Gabrielle Develops Recipes with Foraged Foods 21:40 Foraging and Seasonality 23:30 The Honourable Harvest 26:37 Building a Relationship with the Land 31:04 Foraging on Public Land (Food Is Political) 40:48 The Process Behind Gathered 48:51 Gabrielle’s Shout-Outs 53:45 Outro and Contact Us

    56 min

  4. 2025-12-02

    Ep. 40 Nut Trees and Connection with Elspeth Hay

    Feeding humanity doesn’t need to come at the Earth’s expense. Elspeth Hay is here to talk nut trees, ecosystems, and humans as keystone species.  In 2019, Elspeth was a local food writer who felt despondent about humans’ need to tear up nature in order to feed ourselves. When she discovered that acorns are edible—that they had, in fact, once been a central pillar of an abundant North American food system—she was electrified. This week she joins Erin to talk about the book that resulted from her all-consuming research into that subject, Feed Us with Trees: Nut Trees and the Future of Food. If you have ever felt like human beings are rootless and adrift without our own habitat or wild food that can sustain us, this conversation will open your eyes and seize your heart. Erin and Elspeth discuss the oak savannas and chestnut trees that, managed by Indigenous peoples’ understanding of succession ecology, once fed the human and more-than-human life of a continent. They look at the still-living food culture of chestnuts in Switzerland, grieve over the politics that deliberately erased abundance at home, and embrace hope at the re-emergence of traditional land management practices in agroforestry and restoration agriculture.  Join us in re-discovering our habitat and home. Who knows—maybe acorns will change your life, too.  Find Elspeth Hay Online Website: https://elspethhay.com/ Instagram: @elspethhay The Local Food Report: https://www.capeandislands.org/podcast/the-local-food-report Feed Us with Trees: https://newsociety.com/book/feed-us-with-trees/?aff=65  Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Timestamps 00:14 Introduction 01:00 Feed Us with Trees: Nut Trees and The Future of Food  01:48 Elspeth’s Career in Food and the Environment 02:41 The Lightbulb Moment: Humans Can Eat Acorns 03:27 It Never Made Sense to Me That We Didn’t Have a Habitat 07:39 The Chestnut Huts of Switzerland: A Living Food Culture 09:46 Our Grief and Homesickness for Connection to Place and Species 10:43 The Land of Opportunity Myth 13:07 Oak Savannas and Chestnut Groves: Pillars of an Indigenous Food System 14:39 Food is Politics: The Deliberate Dismantling of Abundance in North America 19:40 Trespass Laws Were Created to Control Formerly Enslaved Foragers 22:00 How Capitalism Makes Food Political 23:47 The Movement to Revive Perennial Food Ecosystems 26:50 Ecological Succession and Embracing Traditional Land Management 30:41 Oaks as the Tree of Life, Biodiversity Champions 32:00 Nature Preserves Are the Wrong Approach. The Land Needs Us. 34:17 Hazelnut Basketry and Kuruk Culture to Elspeth and Erin’s Willow Basketry 37:42 The New Forest in England: An Unenclosed English Farm 40:20 Elspeth’s Recommended Resources 41:50 Elspeth’s Shout-Outs 44:26 Parting Words of Wisdom 45:12 Outro and Contact Us

    47 min

  5. 2025-11-25

    Plant Evolution: Kid Q&A

    Kids ask the best nature questions! For this episode, a class of elementary-school students prepared a list of questions about plants for Sean and Erin to answer. The best part, of course, is that these are questions few adults would think to ask, and they let our hosts explore all sorts of fascinating topics. How did plants come to be the way they are? Why did they evolve to have roots (or no roots!) and leaves and fruit? What makes one tree grow big leaves while another one has narrow needles? We talk evolutionary niches, the tree of life, food chains, and even how plants move water and sugar through their cells.  Step into our plant-life classroom and see what you can learn from the curiosity of children! Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Citations Bryophytes and Tracheophytes? Categories of Plants With and Without Roots Plant diversity. (n.d.). NatureWorks. https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/nwep14b.htm  The Parts of a Leaf Libretexts. (2022, May 4). 13.1: Leaf parts and arrangement. Biology LibreTexts. https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Botany/A_Photographic_Atlas_for_Botany_(Morrow)/13%3A_Leaves/13.01%3A_Leaf_Parts_and_Arrangement  Making Paper from Plants at Home Quillen, K. (2023, October 3). How to make paper from plants – Mother Earth news. Mother Earth News – the Original Guide to Living Wisely. https://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/making-paper-from-plants-zm0z17jjzqui/ Lipman, B. (2024, October 16). Paper from Iris and Daylily. https://www.handpapermaking.org/post/paper-from-iris-and-daylily  Timestamps 00:13 Introduction 01:13 What’s Growing On: Sean’s Seed Saving 02:56 What’s Growing On: Erin’s Season Extension 05:53 Do All Plants Have Roots? Let’s Talk Bryophytes 06:08 Plants’ Vascular Systems: Xylem and Phloem 08:40 Why Do Plants Need Roots? 11:15 Many Types of Roots 12:29 What is the Blade on a Leaf? 14:40 Why do Oak Leaves Get So Big? 20:22 How Fast Can Some Flowers Grow? 26:17 Why Do Plants Grow Food? 32:51 How Do Plants Survive the Winter? 41:38 Erin’s New Picture Book: If You Go Walking 42:58 How Do You Make Paper with Plants? 46:10 Paper Recycling Tangent 47:06 Making Paper from Daylilies and Iris 54:33 Outro and Contact Us

    56 min
  6. Ep. 38 Little Shop of Horrors

    2025-10-31

    Ep. 38 Little Shop of Horrors

    This episode is what happens when two people’s loves for venus flytraps, spooky season, and movie musicals collide.  Yes, we’re doing nerdy Halloween horticulture by analyzing the representation of carnivorous plants in the classic musical Little Shop of Horrors—specifically the 1986 movie version. If you  haven’t seen the show, don’t worry; we set the stage for you and save any late-story spoilers for the very end. For the most part, we’re interested in one question: based on our knowledge of real-world carnivorous plants, how reasonable were Seymore’s guesses when he first tried to care for Audrey II? This requires, of course, an exploration of Venus flytraps’ habitat and habits, how they reproduce, and of the care they need to thrive in our homes.  The movie does raise one more hypothetical, and I’ll put this in code for our listeners who still need to watch it: that ending. Would it really have worked? We get a buzz out of exploring the idea. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Citations Little Shop of Horrors Oz, F. (Director). (1986). Little shop of horrors. The Geffen Company. Venus flytrap Overview Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). (n.d.). iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52666-Dionaea-muscipula Venus flytraps benefit from fires Venus Flytrap. (n.d.). National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Venus-Flytrap A chemical signal from the flytrap’s prey stimulates the secretion of enzymes. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – the University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=dimu4 Overwintering your venus flytrap Little Shop of Horrors. (2025, January 12). Overwintering Venus flytraps. Littleshopofhorrors.co.uk. https://www.littleshopofhorrors.co.uk/over-wintering-venus-flytraps/  Timestamps 00:39 Introduction 01:35 What’s Growing On: Sean’s Winter Prep 02:20 What’s Growing On: Erin’s Tomatoes and Greenhouse Build 03:10 Sean’s Pumpkin-Deer Showdown 05:48 Water Break 06:00 Setting the Scene: Little Shop of Horrors 07:44 How Carnivorous Plants Eat 11:26 Can a Carnivorous Plant Survive on Human Blood? 12:46 Venus Fly Trap Etymology 15:50 How the Venus Fly Trap Grows 18:35 Audrey II’s Structure vs. Venus Fly Trap Structure 21:39 Taking Care of Audrey II vs. a Venus Fly Trap 32:24 Overwintering Your Venus Fly Trap 34:51 SPOILER WATER BREAK 35:20 Propagating a Venus Fly Trap vs. Audrey II 41:28 Ethical Purchasing of Venus Fly Traps 42:49 Buying Cool Cultivated Varieties 43:33 Can You Kill a Plant with Electrocution? 47:29 Conclusion and Contact Us

    50 min

  7. 2025-10-08

    Ep. 37 Sunflower vs. Sunchoke

    It’s the versus episode they said couldn’t be done. Well, okay, not sure who “they” are, but something has certainly been conspiring against it. We first attempted an episode on sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes, in the fall of 2024, before Plants Always Win was launched. It got left on the cutting room floor. Then in September of this year we recorded a proper Sunchokes vs. Sunflowers face-off, spending two hours in the recording studio.  We later found out that Sean’s audio had quit after six minutes. But if you’re reading these words, we have finally succeeded! With the last of the warm autumn sunshine, we are bringing you sunflowers vs. sunchokes. Or, to put it another way, annual sunflowers vs. one of their many perennial sunflower cousins. Both are native to North America, and both are prolific food crops. The first, though, has been bred for its seed while the second is used for its tubers. And only one of them was at the centre of a $25 million scam that threw parts of the United States and Canada into an uproar in the 1980s.  Find out which one that is one by listening…and then reach out by email or social media to tell us which sunflower YOU feel won this week’s plant face-off. The Horti Awards Vote for Wait Like a Seed at bit.ly/hortiawards. Scroll to the very bottom and select it from the Books drop-down menu. You don’t have to vote in every category. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.  Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com  Credits Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH Citations Sunflower etymology Sunflower – Etymology, Origin & Meaning. (n.d.). Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/sunflower Sunflowers as composite flowers Common sunflower. (n.d.). https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/helianthus_annuus.shtml  Sunflowers in Ontario top Native Sunflowers for Ontario Gardens — In Our Nature. (n.d.). In Our Nature. https://www.inournature.ca/sunflowers-of-ontario The too-many-to-read-out traditional uses of the annual sunflower USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center. (n.d.). ANNUAL SUNFLOWER. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_hean3.pdf  Sunflower oil chemistry and uses Sunflower oil. (n.d.). Science Direct. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemical-engineering/sunflower-oil  Growing sunflowers Spengler, T. (2023, February 10). Sunflower planting pros and cons. Gardening Know How. https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/sunflower-planting-pros-and-cons  Allelopathy Allelopathy. (n.d.). Science Direct. Retrieved September 30, 2025, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/allelopathy   The world’s tallest sunflower Associated Press. (2025, September 15). World’s tallest sunflower blooms in an Indiana backyard as a tribute to Ukraine. Spectrum News 1. https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2025/09/15/world-s-tallest-sunflower-indiana Anishinaabe use of sunchokes, a.k.a. Giisisoojiibik Geniusz, M. S. (2015). Plants have so much to give us, all we have to do is ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings. U of Minnesota Press.  The Jerusalem artichoke multi-level marketing scam 1980s Farm Crisis: Origins, myths and realities: Jerusalem artichoke miracle crop was a sign – Agweek | #1 source for agriculture news, farming, markets. (2023, June 12). Agweek. https://www.agweek.com/business/1980s-farm-crisis-origins-myths-and-realities-jerusalem-artichoke-miracle-crop-was-a-sign  The Great Jerusalem Artichoke Circus: The Buying and Selling of the Rural American Dream, by Joseph A. Amato, 1993, University of Minnesota Press, 280 p.  Identify your turfgrass Different types of grass: Identifying your lawn’s grass type. (n.d.). Scotts. https://scotts.com/en-us/learn/different-types-of-grass-identify-your-grass.html  Timestamps 00:40 The Sunchoke Curse 02:29 What’s Growing On: Erin’s Garden-Fresh Meals and Horti Awards 04:20 What’s Growing On: Sean’s 1,001 Projects and Propagations 06:00 Water Break 06:15 The Plant Face-Off: Sunflowers 07:51 About the Name Sunflower 08:13 How Sunflowers Grow 08:55 Perennial Sunflowers of Ontario 10:25 Uses of the Annual Sunflower 12:00 Sunflowers are Composite Flowers 12:45 Heliotropism and Phototropism 14:35 The Benefits of Heliotropism 15:50 Sunflowers and Allelopathy 18:06 A Sunflower Guild 19:40 Garden-Nerd D&D Tangent 24:12 The Plant Face-Off: Sunchokes 24:45 The Only Tuberous Sunflowers 25:14 Eating Sunchoke Tubers…Without the Gas 26:25 Harvesting and Managing the Tubers 29:20 Anishinaabe Communities and Giisisoojiibik 30:30 Sunchokes’ Invasiveness in Central Europe 31:00 Get Familiar with New Foods You Can Grow 33:45 Jerusalem Artichoke Height and Appearance 35:49 The Jerusalem Artichoke Pyramid Scheme 42:00 Musings About Fuel from Sunflowers 45:59 Listener Question: How Do I Know What Kind of Grass I Have? 51:55 Conclusion and Contact Us

    53 min

  8. 2025-09-30

    Ep. 36 Community Gardens with Jessica Letteer

    This episode is for anyone who has ever daydreamed about starting a community garden and for anyone who needs the boost of a good-news gardening story.   Our guest is Jessica Letteer, who founded the Wilkes-Barre Area Community Gardens five years ago and kicked off a local movement of soil building and community gardening in an area marked by poverty, blighted soil, and food deserts. Jess’ home in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley bears the contamination left behind by abandoned coal mines, and services and infrastructure are chronically under-resourced. But she and a small group of other volunteers reached out to their city council, solicited donations, and started a program that now grows and distributes food, teaches regenerative agriculture skills, and puts on community events—all for free.  Longtime listeners will know that our co-host Erin Alladin also founded a community garden: Garden@Kimbourne Community Permaculture Project in Toronto, Ontario. In this episode, she and Jess compare notes on the steps they each took to start their projects and how they and their fellow volunteers kept them going. Jess also tells us about the process of establishing a nonprofit, about the other community organizations her group has partnered with, the ways they’re funding the garden, and—of course—all the incredible projects they have lined up for the future. Learn More: The Wilkes-Barre Area Community Gardens Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wilkesbarreacg/ Organizations Named in this Episode Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation: https://epcamr.org/home/  Food Dignity: https://fooddignitymovement.org/  Rising Tide Wellness: https://risingtide-wellness.org/  WIC: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic  The Horti Awards Vote for Wait Like a Seed here! Scroll to the very bottom and select it from the Books drop-down menu. You don’t have to vote in every category. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?  Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon. Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast YouTube: @PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com Discord: https://discord.gg/K6wF9dY4Ja Timestamps 00:14 Introduction to Jessica Letteer 02:12 Introduction to Wilkes-Barre Area Community Gardens 03:35 How Wilkes-Barre Area Community Gardens Got Their Start 08:19 How Garden@Kimbourne Got its Start 09:58 Water Break: Wait Like a Seed and the Horti Awards 10:33 Concerns about Crime and Community Gardens 12:67 Healing the Community through Gardening 13:55 Becoming a Nonprofit 15:01 Partnering with Other Organizations 17:50 Food Dignity: Paying Farmers, Feeding People for Free 19:55 More Energy and Infrastructure Projects in the Gardens 21:55 Why Is Running All This With You??? 25:36 Funding! 26:44 Gardening in a Former Coal Town 32:27 Creating an Accessible Garden for People with Disabilities 35:15 What’s Next for Wilkes-Barre Community Gardens 36:18 Find The Garden Community Online 37:00 Shout-Outs 38:58 Outro and Contact Us

    41 min
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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

A podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit-holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. We care about ecologically sound gardening, strong human communities, and up-to-date science.

Information

  • Creator
    Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Plants Always Win
  • Show Website
    Plants Always Win

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