Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping
Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden. We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard. There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation. Host Steven Biggs was recognized by Garden Making maga...
What to Plant After Garlic and Peas: Succession Crops for Summer and Fall
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Once garlic comes out of the garden, you’re left with a useful patch of open soil and one big question: what goes there next?
In this episode, we talk through summer succession planting using garlic harvest as the seasonal peg. He explains how timing, climate, heat, dry soil, and first frost dates all affect what you can plant after garlic or after any early crop that frees up garden space.
You’ll learn which...
An Olive Tree in a Suitcase
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I once flew home with an olive tree in a suitcase. Maybe not what the average traveller would do, but I was visiting a nursery that had a variety I wanted…which says something about my priorities.
Even where olive trees aren’t winter hardy, they make superb potted plants. Their silvery foliage shimmers in a breeze, they look beautiful on a patio, and they make a cold-climate garden feel just a little more civilized.
Oli...
Common Quince: The Fragrant Fruit Too Few Gardeners Grow
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Common quince is beautiful, fragrant, useful in the kitchen—and still surprisingly uncommon in Canadian gardens. In this episode, I talk with Matt Soltys, The Urban Orchardist, about why this old fruit deserves another look.
Matt shares what he’s seeing as he visits urban fruit trees across southern Ontario: backyard quince trees, older pawpaws, locally adapted genetics, and overlooked trees that could become the foundation of future breeding work. We talk about common quince as a sma...
How to Grow Tomatoes in Cool & Coastal Climates (Without a Greenhouse)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Growing tomatoes in a cool or maritime climate can feel like an uphill battle. It doesn’t have to be.
In this episode, I’m joined by tomato expert Holly Farrell, author of The Tomato Grower’s Handbook, to talk about how to get reliable, flavourful harvests even when summers are mild, damp, or unpredictable.
We dig into practical strategies for gardeners in places like coastal Canada, the UK, and the U.S. Paci...
Growing Hardy Pears in Cold Climates: What Actually Works
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Pears deserve more respect in cold-climate gardens. While apples dominate the conversation, there are pear varieties that are just as hardy. The problem is, most growers don’t know about them. Varieties like Krazulya, Vekovaya, and Ure aren’t widely planted, but they probably should be.
In this episode, I chat with Elisabeth Racine from Hardy Fruit Tree Nursery, where they’re testing about 200 pear varieties. We talk about what it takes to grow pears successfully in cold...
Designing a Vegetable Garden That Actually Works (Rows, Beds & Smart Layouts)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Designing a vegetable garden can feel simple—until you try to make everything fit. Rows or raised beds? What goes where? And how do you plan it so it still makes sense in July?
In this episode, I sit down with Natalie Bogwalker and Chloe Lieberman, authors of The New Natural Food Garden, to talk through practical, thoughtful ways to design a productive vegetable garden.
We cover the decisions that matter most—layout, crop choic...
Perennial Vegetables: Edible Crops That Come Back Every Year (with Michalina Hunter)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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In this episode, I chat with Michalina Hunter, founder of Cicada Seeds, about edible perennial crops.
We explore:
Ways to use perennial vegetables in a home-garden settingWhy perennial vegetables are a game-changer for sustainable gardening Top crops for home gardenersMichalina’s top recommendations for home gardenersAnd we also take a tangent to discuss an interesting tomato that Michalina introduced, the ‘Venus of Willendorf’ tomatoWhether you’re curious about food forests, edible perennials, or just want...
Grow More Food, Rethink Your Landscape, and Garden Smarter
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Rising food costs have you looking at your food bill? This is a good year to grow more food at home. And in this episode, I have tips to help you hit the ground running this year.
Find out about simple ways to add edible plants to the landscape, top crops for home gardens, how to grow more food in a small space, and edible hedges.
In this episode, I share some of the i...
Favourite Vegetable Varieties with Donna Balzer: Tried-and-True and Something New
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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In this episode, I continue my cross-Canada tour to hear about top veggie varieties.
I’m joined by my former co-host, horticulturist, author, and longtime gardening educator Donna Balzer to talk all about her favourite vegetable varieties.
Donna shares her long-time favourite varieties—the ones she grows year after year—as well as varieties that have recently impressed her.
Donna and I wrote No Guff Vegetable Gardening together in 2011, and I’m a big fan o...
Introducing: Fig Culture – How to Grow Figs in Cold Climates
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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This is a preview of a new show from Food Garden Life Media.
Hosted by Steven Biggs, Fig Culture explores the world of growing figs in places where they’re not supposed to thrive.
You’ll hear from fig experts in cold climates about the best varieties, learn how growers protect their trees through winter, meet passionate fig enthusiasts, and discover creative ways to use figs in the kitchen.
In this first episo...
The Wild & Free Garden: Rethinking Gardening, Community, and Creativity with Stephanie Rose
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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In this episode, I sit down with gardening expert and author Stephanie Rose to explore her new book, The Wild & Free Garden.
Need inspiration for your next gardening task or project? Need to reconnect with nature? Have a listen. Yes, this chat is rooted in gardening. But it’s also a thoughtful look at human nature, current culture, and psychology.
Stephanie shares a refreshing approach to gardening—one rooted in creativity, sustainability, and community connec...
Growing Fruit in Cold Climates: Hardy Trees, Fruiting Hedges & Home Orchards with Véronique Alexandre
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Growing fruit in cold climates might seem daunting, especially if you have a small home garden. But with the right trees and a creative mindset, it’s surprisingly achievable.
In this episode, we chat with Véronique Alexandre from Hardy Fruit Tree Nursery, a Canadian nursery specializing in fruit trees adapted to harsh northern winters.
Want a hedge on your property? Forget the cedar hedge, Veronique will tell you about a flowering, fruiting hedge. She...
Creating a Perpetual Food Garden That Sows & Grows Itself
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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What if some of your vegetable garden crops came back year after year — with less digging, less fuss, and a continuous harvest?
In this episode, I’m joined by gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi, author of The Continuous Vegetable Garden, to explore how to design a self-sustaining food garden that produces continuously through the seasons.
Charlie shares practical strategies for succession planting, perennial crops, fruit, gardening in shade, and no-dig gardening. We also talk about verti...
Growing Tomatoes Like a Pro with Frank Hyman (Insights from Ripe Tomato Revolution)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Ever get to the end of the growing season and realize your tomato patch didn’t live up to the expectations you had when you planted it in the spring?
In this episode we chat with tomato expert Frank Hyman, author of the brand-new book Ripe Tomato Revolution. He shares his top tips to get lots of healthy, homegrown tomatoes—with less work. Frank has over four decades of hands-on experience, as both a farmer and a gar...
Prairie Plot & Lots of Tomatoes: A Manitoba Gardener’s Top Varieties and Growing Tips
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Today we continue our cross-Canada tour, chatting with food gardeners, and sharing crop and variety ideas to help you as you plan your 2026 garden.
We head to Manitoba, just outside of Winnipeg, to chat with Brent Poole, an avid backyard veggie gardener who has been at it for over 45 years. Along with his own big suburban yard, Brent has a big garden across the street. He loves to experiment with new techniques and new varieties, something h...
Lawns into Lunch: Growing in Front Yards with City Street Farms (and top crops!)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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We continue our cross-Canada tour, chatting with inspiring gardeners to hear about favourite varieties and top crops. Today we head to Regina, Saskatchewan, to chat with Candace Benson, who runs City Street Farms. Candace tells us about how she turns grass into gardens in a city that has a lot of single-family homes—and a lot of front lawns. She shares the story of her business, talks about her process to transform a lawn into a garden, and then...
A Journal, a Garden, and a Mother’s Love
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Today we’re joined by Helen Battersby, who talks about a gardening book that began as a coping tool. Helen tells us about Margaret Bennet-Alder, who turned to gardening during a difficult family chapter. Inspired by the homemade booklets her son used to manage appointments and medication while rebuilding his life, Margaret began tracking her garden the same way—seasonal tasks, plant sources, and hard-earned gardening lessons. The book, the Toronto Gardener’s Journal, was a shared project with he...
Can’t Choose What to Grow? Favourite Veg Varieties with Niki Jabbour
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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We continue our cross-Canada tour, chatting with inspiring gardeners to find out favourite varieties and top crops.
Today we chat with Niki Jabbour, a CBC radio gardening expert, one of the creators behind the gardening website savvygardening.com, and the award-winning author of The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, Groundbreaking Food Gardens: 73 Plans That Will Change the Way You Grow Your Garden, Veggie Garden Remix: 224 New Plants to Shake Up Your Garden and Add Variety, Fl...
Lavender got Smoked by Cold? Plant Choices for the Prairies with Dave Hanson
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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We continue our cross-Canada tour of inspiring gardeners to find out favourite varieties and top crops.
Today we chat with Dave Hanson, co-host of The Grow Guide podcast, and owner of Sage Garden Greenhouses in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Dave shares some of his favourite veg varieties. He also talks about top herbs, one of his specialties.
Lavender get smoked in a harsh winter? Dave has a suggestion. And if you just can’t get...
A Tomato that Sets Fruit When its Cold? Vegetable Varieties for a Cool Climate, with Linda Gilkeson
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Leafy greens always seem to bolt too quickly? Can’t figure out why your broccoli isn’t forming heads? Choosing vegetable varieties suited to your climate helps avoid these sorts of frustrations.
In this episode, we get variety recommendations from gardening expert and entomologist Linda Gilkeson. Having spent much of her career on programs to reduce pesticide use, Linda is also an avid organic gardener who can garden year-round in her coastal climate.
Her books...
Long, Skinny Garden? Hear How We Tweak This Space
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Not sure what to do with a long, skinny, straight-edged garden beside a driveway, patio, or building?
In this episode, we take a long, slender ornamental garden and reimagine the space with edible plants.
The garden we’re thinking about is actually a little sliver of the Joan of Arc Garden in Quebec City. But these same ideas work well in in many home-garden situations.
We talk about:
Crop ide...Want to Switch Out Your Annuals? Try These Herbs Instead
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Do you have a garden where you use traditional annuals, but you want to switch it up for something edible?
Herbs are one option.
In this episode, we look at a space that has a tidy, slightly formal feel.
We replace the tightly clipped shrubs with edible alternatives.
And then we change out the annuals for herbs.
If you’re looking for more on using edible plants instead of...
Hear How We Tweak a Public Space to Keep the Aesthetic but Add Edibles
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Wondering about adding edible plants to an existing gardening without spoiling the aesthetic?
With the right plant choice, along with an understanding of how the space is used, you can add edible plants without spoiling the looks.
In this episode, we take a public space and reimagine it with edibles.
It’s a big space, with lots of lawn. We talk about plant choice for this shady spot, and about pla...
From Geranium Glut to Playful Herb Planter Box! A Container Garden Makeover
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Thinking of veggies for your container garden? Or planter boxes with herbs?
In this episode, we look at a patio surrounded by planter boxes that are filled with red geraniums...nothing but red geraniums.
Our goal? Transform this linear container garden from a continuous line of red into something varied, colourful—playful—and edible.
Hear two different approaches to reimagining the planter boxes so that they’re a low-maintenance edible container garden.
If...
Bare Ground, Hard Clay, and not Much Sun: Hear How to Transform this Space
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Got a spot you’d like to use to grow food but not sure where to start?
In this episode, we tackle a bare space with hard clay, in zone 3.
Let’s not forget the deer and rabbits. Oh, and there’s a narrow “hell strip” that’s needs to be planted too.
The good news is that there are lots of ways to add edibles to a garden. The way to start...
Too Cold for Tender Fruit? Hear What this Prairie Grower Does
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Think your climate is too cold to grow tender fruit?
Find out how this grower harvests peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, and more…despite winter temperatures that can dip to -38°C (-36°F) and a short summer.
In this episode, Donna and Steven chat with Saskatchewan fruit grower Dean Kreutzer.
We talk about:
Fruit adapted to cold climatesUsing unheated greenhouses to grow tender fruit, grapes…and figsHeat sinks and insulated tarpsCapturing heat fro...Not Enough Space? Fit in More Crops With These Ideas
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Do you have more seeds and plants than you can fit into your garden?
It’s a common problem for the enthusiastic food gardener!
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about finding more growing space so that you can fit more crops into the same space.
Get ideas for:
Growing in ungardenable spaces…like the root-infested space next to hedgesReducing space used by pathwaysTiering crops in a gardenUsing paved areas, decks...Tips for Growing Great Tomatoes
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Want to grow great tomatoes?
With the right transplanting and care, your tomatoes will be off to a great start.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about:
Transplanting tomato seedlingsProtecting transplants from cold spring weatherHow to stake, train, and support tomato plantsPruning tomato suckersWatering and feedingTomato challenges, including pests, diseases, and blossom end rot.If you’re looking for more on how to support tomato pla...
It’s the May 24…Wondering What Veg to Plant?
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Wondering when to plant vegetables? Not sure what to plant first?
You don’t need to plant everything at once.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about when to plant vegetables, and the Canadian tradition of planting the garden over the Victoria Day (May 24) weekend.
(Sometimes it makes sense…though not for all crops in all zones.)
If you’re looking for more on planting vegetables, check out this article...
How to Harden Off Seedlings: Simple Steps So Your Seedlings Survive Transplanting
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Your vegetable seedlings can look great indoors. Then fall like dominoes in the garden.
If they’re not hardened off.
But if you harden off seedlings, they stand a much better chance once you plant them in the garden.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about:
What hardening off meansWhy harden off seedlingsHow to harden off seedlingsWhen to harden off seedlingsHarden off seedlings in a greenhouseIf you’re looki...
Saskatoon Berries: Tough as Nails (as this Zone 2 Grower Explains)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Wondering about fruit to grow in a cold climate?
Today we head to Alberta, to find out how to grow saskatoon bushes. Arden Delidais grows in Zone 2—and doesn’t get any winter dieback on her saskatoon berries.
Delidais’ orchard and winery, DNA Gardens, has a number of cold hardy crops including saskatoon berries, apples, plums, rhubarb, currants, and haskaps.
Saskatoon bushes (Amelanchier alnifolia) are native to North America. (South of the border...
Skip the Transplants? How to Direct Sow Seeds
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Have you tried direct sowing but didn’t get good results? Wondering how to direct sow seeds?
Direct sowing—a.k.a. direct seeding or direct planting—is when we sow seeds straight into the garden. We skip starting transplants indoors.
It gives better results for some crops—because there’s no transplanting shock. And that’s great, because it saves you the hassle of growing transplants.
But some crops need extra growing time…...
Vegetables in Pots: How to Ace Your Container Garden
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Want to harvest more veg from the same amount of space? You can get lots more from a small space by growing in containers. (If you get it right…but that’s not difficult!)
If you get these 4 things right, you’re on the road to container gardening success:
In this episode, Donna and Steven share top tips for container gardening success, includin...
Figs not Winter Hardy? Here are Creative Ways to Grow Figs in Cold Climates
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Don’t miss out on fresh figs just because you’re gardening in a cold climate.
There are many cold-climate fig growers who defy zone boundaries with creative overwintering techniques.
Figs can take quite a bit of cold. Not the extreme cold. A creative gardener gets figs through the winter by moderating the extremes.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about fig-growing tactics for cold climates so that you can harvest figs—...
People go Bananas for This Fruit! How to Grow a Pawpaw Tree
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Can’t get enough pawpaw fruit? Want to grow a pawpaw tree?
If you haven’t tried pawpaw fruit, many people describe the flavour of its silky, yellow flesh as tropical.
While it’s the largest fruit native to North America, it’s difficult to find the fruit for sale.
Yet it’s easy to grow.
That’s why many gardeners and small farmers plant pawpaw trees.
In this episode...
Is Your Soil in Overdraft? Find Out How to Amend Soil
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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When you make only withdrawals—no deposits—you eventually end up in overdraft. It works that way at the bank, with friendships—and with soil.
And growing crop after crop in a garden is like making withdrawal after withdrawal. The crops use nutrients. Working the soil affects its structure.
Amending soil is like putting money back into the bank. Soil amendments can improve soil structure, soil chemistry, and return nutrients to the soil.
In th...
Where to Grow Herbs: Herb Garden Layout and Design Ideas
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Looking for herb garden layout ideas?
If you’re planning a herb garden, there are many ways to add herbs to the landscape. You can have a stand-alone herb garden, a herb lawn, herbs mixed with paving, use herbs as bedding plants, weave them into a perennial border, or make a herb container garden on a patio, deck, or paved space.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about ideas for using herbs in hom...
Planting Greens for a Continuous Harvest: Crops + Tips for Growing Greens
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Leafy greens fizzle out in the summer? Does your lettuce bolt too soon?
Find out how to grow more leafy greens in your garden and how to extend your harvest so you can pick fresh salad greens as long as possible.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about crops ideas for leafy greens, how to plant leafy greens in a home garden or edible landscape, choosing greens crops for ongoing harvest, how to h...
Grow an Indoor Lemon Tree + MORE Exotic Potted Citrus Trees
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Tried growing a potted lemon tree but it didn’t thrive?
Citrus expert Byron Martin has the solution. And it’s not difficult.
AND he also has recommendations for other unusual potted citrus trees.
We talk about finger limes, blood limes, pomelo, sweet lemon, sunquat, kumquat, citron, and more.
For all of these citrus trees in pots, proper watering is the key to success. We hear how to water—and what to...
Hands-Off Crop: Growing Raspberries (they do FINE without your help!)
Online classes happening soon: Grow a Potted Yuzu Citrus, Grow Angel's Trumpet (brugmansia) on Your Patio.
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Don’t have time to spend on fussy fruit crops? Then growing raspberries is something to think about.
You can prune raspberries and manage the crop to maximize production. But this is one of those bulletproof crops that can do quite nicely without your help.
In this episode, Donna and Steven talk about planting raspberries, how raspberries grow, how to prune raspberries, and how to care for them.
If you’re looking for mo...
