Just Grow Something | Evidence-Based Home Gardening

Karin Velez
  • 4.8 (71)
  • HOME & GARDEN
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Grow a better vegetable garden, whether you're a seasoned gardener or have never grown a thing in your life. Karin helps home gardeners learn to grow their own food using evidence-based techniques and research. She talks all about specific plants, pests, diseases, soil and plant health, mulch, garden planning, and more. It's not just the "how" but also the "why" that makes us better. The goal? For everyone to know how to grow their own food no matter what sized space they have or their experience level. Tune in each week to plan, learn, and grow with your friend in the garden, Karin Velez.

  1. Five Spring Crops to Plant Earlier Than You Think - Ep. 286

    6D AGO

    Five Spring Crops to Plant Earlier Than You Think - Ep. 286

    If you’ve ever planted a big patch of arugula at the same time you planted the rest of the spring garden, only to watch it shoot up a flower stalk a few weeks later, you’ve already met this week’s topic: heat-sensitive crops. Heat-sensitive doesn’t always mean a plant can’t survive warm weather. It usually means warm temperatures and lengthening days change the plant’s priorities. Instead of producing the leaves, heads, or tubers we want to harvest, the plant pivots toward flowering and seed production or it keeps growing, but quality drops. So, today on Just Grow Something we’re talking about the five crops you should plant earlier than you think to avoid this change. And I’m also including an herb that can bolt as fast as you blink. Let’s dig in. References and Resources: Ep. 133 - Growing Onions: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/ep-133-growing-onions Soil Temperature Maps: https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature Plan Like a Pro Garden Planning Course: https://justgrowsomething.thinkific.com/courses/plan-like-a-pro Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

    36 min
  2. Creating Your Garden Calendar - Ep. 285

    JAN 27

    Creating Your Garden Calendar - Ep. 285

    My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠⁠ If you’ve ever gone into a Facebook gardening group and asked, “When am I supposed to plant this?” and then gotten ten different answers, you are not alone. And if you’ve ever started seeds too early, ended up with giant leggy plants taking over your house, and then still got hit with a late cold snap? Also not alone. Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to make garden timing feel simple, flexible, and predictable. I’m going to show you how to build a planting calendar using frost dates as your starting point, then layering in: • cool-season versus warm-season timing, • how many weeks to start seeds indoors, • a buffer for weather variability, • and how to plan your fall garden by counting backward from your first frost. This is one of those “once you understand it, you can reuse it forever” skills. Let's dig in.

    26 min
  3. The Low Maintenance Garden Plan - Ep. 284

    JAN 20

    The Low Maintenance Garden Plan - Ep. 284

    If you’ve ever planned a garden that looked amazing on paper and then halfway through summer you thought, “I do not have the time for this,” this episode is for you. Because a garden can be beautiful, productive, and fun and still be too much if the plan doesn’t match your real life. Today on Just Grow Something we’re building a low-maintenance garden plan. Not by choosing “easy plants,” but by designing your garden around the things that actually determine how much work it takes: location, layout, watering, weed control, and disease pressure and how that fits into the rest of your actual life. Low-maintenance does not mean low-yield. It means fewer chores that pile up, fewer “emergency problems,” and a garden that still functions when your life gets busy. As we go, I’ll give you simple action steps you can do in January to set this up. Because the easiest gardening season is the one you design on purpose. Let's dig in. References and Resources: My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠ University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension. “Beginning Vegetable Garden Basics: Site Selection and Soil Preparation.” https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/beginning-vegetable-garden-basics-site-selection-and-soil-preparation Colorado State University Extension. “Drip Irrigation for Home Gardens.” https://extension.colostate.edu/resource/drip-irrigation-for-home-gardens/ University of Minnesota Extension. “Mulching 101: the secret to a healthy and happy garden.” https://extension.umn.edu/news/mulching-101-secret-healthy-and-happy-garden Oregon State University Extension Service. “Sheet mulching and lasagna composting with cardboard.” https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/em-9559-sheet-mulching-lasagna-composting-cardboard

    25 min
  4. How to Keep the Garden Producing All Season - Ep. 283

    JAN 13

    How to Keep the Garden Producing All Season - Ep. 283

    If you’ve ever had that one magical week where the garden is giving you exactly what you want - some lettuce, a few carrots, a handful of beans, a couple tomatoes - and then two weeks later you’re drowning in zucchini while everything else is kind of between harvests ... Today we’re fixing that. Because the goal for a lot of home gardeners isn’t “the biggest harvest possible on one weekend.” The goal is steady, usable harvests week after week so you’re actually eating from the garden regularly, without a sudden produce avalanche. So today on Just Grow Something, I’m going to teach you a planning method that revolves around harvest windows. Instead of only asking, “When do I plant this?” we’re going to ask: “When do I want to be harvesting this, and do I want it over and over again?” I’ll walk you through a simple framework and give you a few practical “rules of thumb” for how often certain crops can be re-planted or staggered to keep the harvest going. Let's dig in! References and Resources: My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠ University of Missouri Extension — “Harvest all season long with succession sowing” : https://extension.missouri.edu/news/harvest-all-season-long-with-succession-sowing University of Minnesota Extension — “Climate resilience resources for vegetable growers in Minnesota” (includes a “when to plant for continuous harvest” interval table): https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/climate-resilience-resources-vegetable-growers-minnesota#strategy-3%3A-reduce-risks-from-warmer-and-drier-conditions-3571512 NC State Extension — Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter 16 “Vegetable Gardening” (Succession planting: varieties with different maturity, repeat plantings, and filling in after harvest): https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening

    31 min
  5. Building Your 2026 Garden Plan - Ep. 282

    JAN 6

    Building Your 2026 Garden Plan - Ep. 282

    If you’ve ever stared at a seed catalog in January and thought, “I want all of it,” and then somehow ended up with a garden that felt chaotic by mid-summer, today’s episode is for you. Because most “garden planning” advice starts with the fun part—varieties, colors, wish lists—and then we wonder why the plan falls apart when real life shows up. So today on Just Grow Something, we’re going to flip the order. I’m going to give you four questions that can lead you to an actual usable plan. These questions help you decide what to grow, where it goes, when it happens, and how to keep the plan realistic for the space and time you actually have. And the best part is you can use these four questions whether you garden in a single planter, a few raised beds, or a bigger in-ground plot. Let's dig in! References and Resources: My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro How to Plan Your Raised Bed Garden, Ep. 269: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/how-to-plan-a-raised-bed-garden-ep-269 Seven Steps to Planning Your Entire Garden Year - Ep. 234: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/7-steps-to-planning-your-entire-garden-year-ep-234 Virginia Cooperative Extension (2025). “Planning the Vegetable Garden.” VCE Publications: https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-312/426-312.html Washington State University Extension (2015). “Crop Rotation in Home Gardens” (PDF): https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2070/2015/08/Crop-Rotation-in-Home-Gardens.pdf Penn State Extension (2023). “Keeping a Garden Journal.”: https://extension.psu.edu/keeping-a-garden-journal/ Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

    33 min
  6. Garden Goal Setting for the New Year – Ep. 281

    12/23/2025

    Garden Goal Setting for the New Year – Ep. 281

    We’ve reached the end of another gardening year. Maybe your garden was spectacular. Maybe it was just so-so. Maybe it was an absolute disaster in certain beds and you’re still a little salty about the squash vine borers. However it went, this is a powerful moment in the gardening calendar. Today we’re going to slow down and talk about taking time to reflect on the past season, reset your expectations, and reimagine what you want from your garden next year. Extension programs and planning guides consistently recommend end-of-season evaluation, note-taking, and mapping as key pieces of long-term garden success. Research on goal-setting shows that specific, challenging, and meaningful goals help people follow through and actually change their behavior. So, in this final episode of the year, we’re going to weave those two ideas together: 1. Why the end of the year is the best time to reflect on your garden 2. What goal-setting research can teach us about making better garden goals 3. Turning reflection into 3–5 clear, realistic goals for next year 4. A healthier mindset for handling “failures” and unexpected seasons By the end, you’ll have a framework to close the book on this year’s garden and open a new one with intention. Let’s dig in. References and Resources: Iowa State University Extension – Yard and Garden. “Garden Journaling.”: https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/garden-journaling Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation.” American Psychologist, 2002: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12237980/ Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch andDownloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

    26 min
  7. Seed Catalog Season - Ep. 280

    12/16/2025

    Seed Catalog Season - Ep. 280

    Seed catalog season is fun, but it can also be overwhelming. If you’ve ever ordered way more seed than you can possibly plant, chosen a variety that just did not perform in your climate, or gotten confused by all the codes, abbreviations, and marketing language this episode is for you. Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to talk about how to read a seed catalog. We’ll cover: 1. Why seed catalogs are tools, not just wish books 2. The key pieces of information in a catalog listing (and what they actually mean) 3. Days to maturity, and why that number is not as simple as it looks ... and more By the end, you’ll be able to flip through a catalog and quickly decide, “Yes, this variety makes sense for my garden” or “Nope, that’s just clever marketing” and make a wish list that can actually be fulfilled. Let’s dig in. Resources: 1. Washington State University Extension. Tips to Making Strategic Vegetable Seed Selections (EM057E), 2025: https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-extension/uploads/sites/2073/2025/01/Vegetable-Seed-Selection.pdf 2. Oregon State University Extension. “How to Read Seed Packets Before You Buy.”: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/how-read-seed-packets-you-buy Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

    29 min
  8. Winter Sowing 101 - Ep. 279

    12/09/2025

    Winter Sowing 101 - Ep. 279

    Winter sowing is a seed-starting method that sounds a little bit wild the first time you hear it but makes sense if you think about it from a horticultural standpoint. Basically you are sowing seeds in recycled containers like milk jugs and placing them outside in the winter as a very hands-off way of starting your spring garden. If you’ve ever: • Run out of space under grow lights • Been frustrated by leggy indoor seedlings • Or just felt like you don’t have the time or money or inclination for a full seed-starting setup …winter sowing might be your new favorite technique. Let's dig in! References and Resources: University of Missouri Extension. Winter Sowing Seeds (YM105), 2021. https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ym105 Rutgers NJAES Cooperative Extension. “Winter Seed Sowing Handout.” 2023. https://ocean.njaes.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Winter-Seed-Sowing-Handout-Final.pdf Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

    32 min
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4.8
out of 5
71 Ratings

About

Grow a better vegetable garden, whether you're a seasoned gardener or have never grown a thing in your life. Karin helps home gardeners learn to grow their own food using evidence-based techniques and research. She talks all about specific plants, pests, diseases, soil and plant health, mulch, garden planning, and more. It's not just the "how" but also the "why" that makes us better. The goal? For everyone to know how to grow their own food no matter what sized space they have or their experience level. Tune in each week to plan, learn, and grow with your friend in the garden, Karin Velez.

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