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

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



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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)


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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

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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

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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

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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



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Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group


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