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

If you’ve ever had shrunken ends on your zucchini or curled ends on your cucumbers, then you have seen the results of a lack of pollination. This doesn’t always mean we don’t have enough pollinators, sometimes it means the pollinators couldn’t do their job for some other reason, like heat, humidity or the density of our plants. But, it is becoming more and more common for us to see a lack of pollinators in our vegetable gardens. Neighboring pesticide users, invasive species, widespread habitat loss, or disease can all affect the diversity of insects we want in our gardens and these aren’t often things we can control. But we can control what happens in our own yards and garden spaces and use that control to help out the pollinator insect population. If we understand some of the strategies to help pollinators, we can also positively affect the number of predatory insects we draw to our gardens which falls right in line with the Integrated Pest Management strategies we talked about last week. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about why we might have a lack of pollinators in our garden and strategies to correct that, five annual and five perennial plants that attract pollinators to a vegetable garden, along with their benefits, the pollinators they attract, and growing tips. We’ll also cover which of those attracts predatory insects to the garden to help with some of that pest pressure many of us seem to face. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: The Great Marigold Debate - Ep. 147 Marigolds as Companion Plants: Know How to Use Them Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch: https:/justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/508637300354140/ 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

Save up to 48% on your Magic Mind subscription! https://magicmind.com/GROWSOMETHING20 with code GROWSOMETHING20 What is your biggest problem in the garden? If you’re like most gardeners, this can be any number of things … weeds, deer and rabbits, diseases. But the number one thing I hear from gardeners that they feel is so out of their control is insect pests. Once we think we have one pest figured out another moves in to wreck as much havoc as the first, sometimes more, and it feels like a losing battle. There are a lot of things we can do in the garden to mitigate these pests right from the beginning and it all starts with our garden plan, before we even plant a single seed or buy our first transplant for the season. The way in which we plant our crops, in terms of companion planting and intercropping, is just the start and I’ve talked a lot about that on this podcast. But, if we look at this from an even more detailed perspective, home gardeners should be using a multi-layered approach to battle pests. In sustainable agriculture we refer to this as Integrated Pest Management and you may very well be practicing some of the principles already in your garden but you may be missing some components, too. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll break down the core principles of Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, and how we as home gardeners can easily apply those principles to manage pests effectively while still protecting beneficial insects, the environment, and our plants. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething Companion Planting episodes, videos, blog posts: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/search/companion Companion Planting chart: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/chart Grow and Flourish Planner (use code JUSTGROW to save 10%): https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/planner Just Grow Something Merch: https:/justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/508637300354140/ 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

I didn’t grow up learning how to cook. When I say I had no idea how to season my food as a young adult, I mean NO idea. I didn’t even use salt and pepper. It took me years to not just learn how to cook from a practical application standpoint, but also how to use herbs and spice blends. When I started gardening, growing herbs wasn’t at the top of my list. I didn’t really think there could be much difference between the dried stuff I bought in the store and using it fresh out of the garden. I started to grow them to include in our CSA boxes and on our market stands. When I had leftovers that maybe didn’t sell at the market that day, I brought them into my own kitchen and began to learn how fresh use differed from dried use. Today on Just Grow Something, we cover the top 10 most versatile herbs to grow at home that are good for fresh and dried use, how to change how you use herbs depending on if they’re fresh or dried, how to dry them without a dehydrator, and how to use them in spice blends to kick that flavor up in the kitchen throughout the entire year. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Just Grow Something Merch: https:/justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/508637300354140/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast! (buymeacoffee.com): https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething Nutrichef Countertop Dehydrator (aff): https://amzn.to/3ZAwExa Chefman 9-Drawer Dehydrator (aff): https://amzn.to/49gcsnD

Save 20% on your Magic Mind subscription! https://magicmind.com/GROWSOMETHING20 with code GROWSOMETHING20 We all want things to be just a little bit easier in the garden, right? It’s part of why I try to plant things in the fall to overwinter that will start growing on their own in the spring. It means less effort on my part during a very busy time in the garden when it seems like everything has to go in all at once. The best low-effort thing I can think of in the garden is a perennial and the easiest of these is herbs! The idea of planting something once and doing nothing but harvesting it each season and occasionally splitting up clumps to make more plants sounds like the easiest thing in the garden to accomplish. Herbs can add so much flavor to the other garden goodness we’re bringing into the kitchen, and they can be expensive to buy in the grocery! Today on Just Grow Something we’ll cover the top five perennial herbs to grow by USDA Hardiness Zone. We’ll highlight each herb, the planting and growing requirements, and talk about any special conditions that make them more hardy for your area. Because it's very frustrating to be told something is perennial, only to find out it’s not perennial in your area. Let’s dig in! References and Resources: Just Grow Something 2024 Gardener's Gift Guide: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/gift24 Elm Dirt's Shield: https://www.elmdirt.com/?rfsn=6809035.8aa23a5 Get 10% and FREE shipping on my favorite raised planters at Planter Box Direct: https://planterboxdirect.com/?ref=593 Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com Just Grow Something Merch: https:/justgrowsomething.com/shop Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/508637300354140/ Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast! (buymeacoffee.com): https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething