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Segment 1 practical gardening
Segment 2 good mulch bad mulch
Segment 3: Guest Joe Lamp’l of @ggwtv and https://joegardener.com/
Segment 4: Garden questions answered
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the following is an exclusive presentation of wi Garden media the voice of garden talk [Music] [Applause] [Music] radio coming up on the program today we’re going to discuss practical gardening as well as good mulch and bad mulches Our Guest is author and TV host of Growing a Greener World on PBS Joe lample will be with us and we’ll answer your garden questions the hour is full so join us you are listening to the most informationally packed hour of garden focused radio in the country and on the internet with your host husband and wife team jolian Holly beard this is the gardening with Jo and Holly radio show and welcome to another edition of the gardening with Jo and Holly radio show Happy you’ve uh allowed us to be part of your day I am your host Joy Barett beside me is my wife co-host best friend and gardening partner Holly be this this program is for you about you to help grow your garden better to maintain your landscape grow healthier trees make your grass look Greener as well as preserving what you grow happy you’re tuning in whether you’re doing that on one of the 18 FM frequencies broadcasting our program here in 2024 through a radio app through our parent website which is the Wisconsin vegetable gardner.com underneath the season 8 tab at the top of the page podcast replay or in studio video replay thank you so much you want to be part of the program hey you can do that by sending us an email to gardent talkradio gmail.com that’s gardent talkradio gmail.com or you can uh give us a call 247365 anytime at 1 1800 927 show that’s 1 1800 927 7469 leave a message if we can’t get to you and we will get an answer to your question well before we get in the program Holly it is time for this week’s joke of the week all right here’s our joke of the week okay I just saw two birds stuck together in the garden um I think they’re velcrow crows yeah Vel together this week’s joke is brought to you by rescue.com americanmade rescue products keep your family home and yard protected from the pest insects like was Hornets Yellow Jackets fire ants flies ants and more learn more at rescue.com that’s re s c.com there you go practical gardening what is practical gardening Holly it’s it’s really just the Simplicity of gardening pretty much that’s what it is it’s it’s like the Bare Bones down to earth um down to Nature whatever you want to call it gardening because we have over complicated the Simplicity of what gardening should be yeah there is some intertwined things of if this happens then you should do that or maybe you should invest in a high quality fill in the blank in order to get longevity that you’re not replacing it every 6 months or every growing season it’s kind of like your great-grandparents or even your grandparents depending on how old you are gardening so like this well they made good quality Equipment back then a shovel a rake a ho it lasted well I think I think if you invest properly you can still have good equipment true true but the quality of some of the things in which used to be good is not so great anymore because of uh make it cheap make it quick make them buy again the re what you re buying aspect of it so place to Garden basics of gardening right so you got to think about where you want to Garden that’s that’s one of the things is do you want to keep having to replant stuff or regrow stuff in other places no so it’s a good idea to figure out where you want to put this garden now if you do have to move it you have to move it that’s okay but you want to look at sunlight where is the sunlight you want to think about and for people who already have an established Garden this is practical because if you want to expand or change things up raise beds from a ground or addition to let’s say straw bells or uh containers in other places on the property these are information that you need to be aware of that you may already know of but you’re just not you know I want to do it I get it done oh I should think about that before I do that right or is this a is this a practical place to Garden you know you might have um the spot in your yard that seems like it would be perfect for gardening but then it’s too close to your neighbor or something who knows or when it rains it becomes a little duck pond yeah that too yeah it looks great until it rains or you know your dog your dog is partial to the area do you want to make your dog sad whatever or you know that issues with contamination with that yeah yeah yeah so there’s that then soil so you have to think about soil now this means that you might have good soil you might have not so good soil but how do you know yeah so you should get a soil test soil saavy dcom or perhaps you decide not to go that route and you just decide to put in raise beds or you do like a straw Bell gardening or just grow in containers import soil in yeah quality soil not bag soil but bulk soil from your local independent garden center it’s just a search click away to find that wherever you may be in the Milwaukee area Blue Ribbon Organics we would recommend where they can transport many yards of good quality raised bed mix or compost in order to get your plants growing it’s an investment yes it’s going to cost you but it’s much in the long run do you want to put all the effort into working the ground and buying excessive fertilizer and doing all these things to get a very poor dismal disappointing crop when you’ve put so much effort in or invest in quality Equipment being soil where you will have very good plant growth and productive Fruit Harvest or vegetable Harvest off of it and that’s not something you have to do year after year you invest one year and you can get multiple years out of that by continuing healthy soil building in your raised bed absolutely and yeah you can do that um another thing to think about is Weeds now just you you’re not going to know how many weeds you’re possibly going to get when you first start a garden but you want to have perhaps a weed plan if you are you know a busy person and you want to maintain a garden but you don’t want to deal with weeds because you’re like you know I I travel out for work or blah blah blah yeah it’s not worth the time whatever that’s when you might want to consider something like a raised bed straw Bells containers what have you because your your ability to have less weeds is higher a weed barrier we’ll talk about mulch in the second segment but there’s multiple mulches mulches does not equal no weeds right and that’s I think that’s a common misconception um that just because you mulch that it’s going to smother all weeds and you will have no no weeds there are methods of um of gardening where you will have less weeds but there is no no weed uh situation unless you growing like an hydroponic or you’re using a lot of chemicals to that too I mean Nat green product has a allnatural weed killer uh it’s a non- selective but it’s not the glyphosate but it does kill weeds but like anything it’s not not a fix all there has to be a balance it does there does have to be a balance and that’s something to keep in mind is that you can whatever you put into your garden um will have an impact some will have a negative impact more and some will have a positive impact more but either way you are you’re changing the chemistry and the ecosystem of what you’re doing to your garden For Better or For Worse practical gardening basics of gardening Simplicity of gardening can we can GR in free items for gardening on that and this is whatever you think it can work and it’s up to you whether you want it to be eye pleasing or practical or a little bit of both you can have the ugliest trellis in the world but it can grow 55 lbs of cucumbers and who the heck cares what it looks like but if you’re in a situation or you yourself chooses to have a more appealing look to your garden then investment of specific products may be needed in order to get that look that you’re wanting in order to appease yourself or somebody else and like an HOA an HOA but a preacher once said that I was in attendance of we buy things we don’t need we can’t afford to impress people we don’t like so keep that in mind no but like also people will do things for a certain aesthetic because it pleases them for them it’s fine but if you’re doing it for somebody else right to try to get some gratification that oh they’re they’re happy with what I’ve done you need to reevaluate some things this is not a therapy session but it’s just pra you know but that’s the thing especially with the younger Generations they focus on what think no like an athetic okay you know there’s different different names for these Aesthetics whatever I want a pink TR well paint yourself pink have a pink trellis or all pink if you’re doing it for yourself that’s fine that’s what I’m getting that’s what they do they do it for themselves or maybe they set up like a little gnome thing because it appeals to them then they know that when they go out there they feel better are norms the ones that stay on by the bridge and those trolls those are trolls okay anyway let me get back to this explanation especially because I’m sure we have some people who are like I don’t these young people are doing so they they focus on the aesthetic sometimes because it it signals things in their brain like positivity and a positive dop and so then they’re like you know what I don’t know if I like this task but I have this cute little gnome here and a pink trellis and a duck statue and now I’m going to go out into the garden and spend some time with them and then it triggers that positive feeling in their brain and then it Associates it with gardening and pulling weeds and it’s been shown and proven that this is a positive thing so um so if you’re like these young kids are crazy or they’re just too much or whatever it’s actually science okay brain science there you go okay so uh yeah if you’re doing it for yourself fine and dandy have at it uh but you can it’s anything that you want to create uh whether it’s the uh chicken wire wrapped on the railing of a baby crib or a triangle trellis that your a pyramid trellis that you’ve created with some logs that you’ve wrapped Juke rope around and plants are crawling up that have had it just some random mesh metal mesh you I’ve seen where people have taken and burnt and do at your own discretion burnt a box spring and then put fence post and put the box spring vertical and use that didn’t we do something like that we used the bottom of a baby crib frame not the box spring itself we did burn Christmas tree pine tree that thing went up so fast yeah gives you appreciation of why how dangerous it is to have it in your house absolutely and then 100 years ago to put live candles real candles on the tree that’s nuts uhhuh yeah yeah those people yeah not I’m glad we’ve uh We’ve uh grown advaned Advanced yeah yeah for sure well advancing to uh a product or products from Walton in.com it might be a good move as well yeah we were brought to you today by Walton’s Inc we know you care about where your food comes from think about the meat whether it be something where you need equipment seasoning supplies to make sausage um they also have meat gistics decom to help educate people on the house and wise of meat processing as well as a community of over 15,000 users who will help guide give their opinion and guidance on meat processing issues and they have a full line of mixers stuffers sausage stuffers everything but meat everything but the meat um seasonings so Walton in.com and if you use code grow 50 gr50 you can get 10% off your order of $50 or more there you go make jerky or or if you just need seasonings for the bar barbecue grill uh or or in-house cooking they have all of that hey hang out with us when we return we’ll be discussing good mulches and bad mulches we talked a little bit about it how it can help suppress weeds not eliminate them it’s a very good 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selection of seeds and plants online use coupon code 10 tg24 to save temp % off your order at jungseed.com the coupon code is 10 tg24 jungseed.com for 10% off welcome back to the garden with joy and Holly radio show Happy you’ve taken time out of your day to allow us to be part of it we’re going to get into good and bad mulches but first a word from our good friends from honey be healthy since 2000 Honey Bee Healthy Inc has helped beekeepers maintain healthy and thriving hives attracting pollinators to your garden this year is as simple as hanging a hummingbird feeder with a mixture of sugar water and honey be healthy original don’t be alarmed if you see birds bees and butterflies dining together yes pollinators coexist peacefully Honey Bee Healthy ink is offering a 10% discount of an 8 oz bottle of Honey Bee Healthy original to the show’s listeners enter discount code B Garden at checkout for more information mixing instructions and more visit honeyb healthy.com besides the word free for gardeners I think mulch is a secondary word that is used about as much as free mulch is important for a variety of different reasons would it like seeds be one work with me here okay fine work with me uh mulch has a multiple of advantages to your garden there is good mulches and there are bad mulches mulches let’s go over for some of the good reasons they suppress the weeds they don’t eliminate them what what suppression means is they reduce some of the weeds that would come up if the soil was Bare when you put mulch over top of it it reduces the plants don’t have the sunlight and the photosynthesis that’s required it does smother out some of those weeds in addition it holds moisture in less watering plants have more water less diseases or problems such as blossom in rot or Hollow heart on potatoes because water water is available to the plant to uptake and not the plant is stressed to find moisture uh it can cool the soil by up to 5° on super hot days which means a cooler root system is a happier plant and holds more moisture which is the uptake and the plant’s happier so that’s just some of many good benefits that mulch has let’s go over the first Holly the good mulches in or mulch in which you can I want talk about bad let’s go bad okay we’re going to go bad first so the first one is not necessarily bad for if you’re going to put on like flower beds or whatever um but it’s bad if you have dogs so which is is called cocoa mulch and dogs obviously I mean cats too can’t have chocolate so it can make them very sick if you have um you know dogs it can be fatal yeah fatal and then also with that cocoa mulch if it gets wet or whatever it can mold and cause problems there as well it can mold so I I wouldn’t recommend the cocoa mulch personally it does smell good um certain situations for certain applications it’s okay but know what you’re getting into and spreading it you just get all the mulch dust stuck to you so that’s that’s fun too um so then the next one is like TI like tires or rubber mulch where the material you have on playgrounds now yeah yeah not when we were kids we just cold cement um so made you a better person it did it it did burning my legs on a slide you know toughen me up so um tell us about your playground stories at Gard talkradio gmail.com uh TI Tire because it’s it’s not biodegradable it it’s not good it can release toxins into your soil uh and it’s okay if you like grow things in colorful tires that are not edible but we don’t recommend growing things in tires that are edible and the same application applies or reasons apply if you’re you wanting to use it as mulch and it can get very hot too number one yeah it’s not it’s not good for that either now uh dyed mulches yeah died mulches um if you’re going to use that around edible food a lot of that stuff can seep into your soil and that’s that’s basically the problem uh another one that’s not necessarily a bad mulch but not necessarily a good mulch but it’s a specific to a situation is gravel or PE PE Stone um really good around decorative areas rose bushes that type of thing but if you’re going to you need to if you’re going to utilize it in a edible landscape you need to have something that will break down so you’re not mixing it into the soil if you have a raised bed now if you have like asparagus Bush you know berry bushes you could use that you could yes um I I probably wouldn’t recommend it but it is an option if that let’s say if it’s free and it’s available and you want you know can apply it in precise areas that you’re not going to uh inhibit the growth of the asparagus or the the the raspberry or blueberry or whatever then that’s a way to go so uh good or well also bad mulch is it’s any mulch that you don’t know the source of there are municipalities in which you can get wood chips or you can get free mulch fill in the blank it’s a pile you don’t know what’s in it you go and pick it up and the wood chips are just ground up everything you know black walnut to pine trees to just shrubs to to junk and it could be you you don’t know and it could be have some level of toxicity that can damage or eradicate or toxify your soil right absolutely so some good mulch is straw um and so there’s a difference between straw and hay and you could use hay hay might have a lot of seeds yeah grass seeds so we would recommend using straw versus hay now there is the whole conversation of is the straw organic has it been sprayed with something again know the source ask the questions because every situation is Extreme is very different to whether or not it will work right um and then leaves leaves are important because they can add nutrients they will add nutrients back to your soil obviously they’re pretty free um they are free if you stockpile them and you have you may not have any now yeah yeah you can stockpile them but that is an option um especially in the fall you can you know really layer up your garden bed and they can just a giant Pile in the back corner absolutely absolutely and use them through as you need them uh chemical free seed-free grass clippings what does that mean Holly it means that if you or your or you if you yourself or you hire somebody to come to your house and spray something onto your grass that’s a chemical like we yeah something like that and then the Grass Grows and you’re like I’m going to use these grass clippings as mulch that’s a problem and you don’t have to do this people’s been conditioned to go oh it’s spring we got to go buy that Turf Builder that has all that stuff in it to make the grass really green that Turf Builder has in most cases a persistent herbicide which is 24d which is a broadleaf uh chemical that will kill anything broadleaf your Danny Lions your lamb’s quarter and in the garden you have all kinds of broad leafes you got beans you got eggplants you got all I think I think we should talk about this how it’s almost May or soon um there’s no mo no M yeah where you don’t mow your grass because of the pollinators and dandelions and other um what you might consider weeds feeds those pollinators so a lot of people will not mow their glass grass and may now if you think that’s crazy you couldn’t stand it a lot of times people will not mow like a large patch and that’s an option as well so um just something to think about shredded paper may not be eye appealing but it does work quite well and you can get rid of all those bills and junk that you have now some people will advise don’t use the glossy paper uh or the envelopes that have the clear plastic others will say everything goes in the shredder everything goes in the garden the level of toxification that we come encounter with every day is uh not in comparison to what a little bit might be in the garden soil because of a couple pieces of fine plastic or the gloss all the ink is soy based now it’s not a chemical base so uh you can get rid of a lot of stuff or you can just mix in your compost pile too uh and it will dissipate or your compost bin your arrow bin you can throw it all in there at at correct ratios and turn it into compost pine needles also is a form of great mulch it is not going to again not going to make your soil acidic true on the pH scale it is acidic on the tree but by the time it breaks down in your garden it has neutralized and you don’t have to worry about in the time frame of the breaking down process it’s not going to acidify your garden you can also include that into your compost bin about 10% of the volume for pine needles there you go um so pine needles definitely is something that you can use use and we would recommend it one that we didn’t touch on is sand some people will try to use sand as mulch in a in a container it has it can work but again you don’t want to do this in a large application because you’re going to mix it in the soil and if you get too much sand in your compost your or in your raised beds it’s going to become too porous and you’re not going to be able to retain moisture for your plants to grow if you’re in a container and I we’ve we’ve got a couple of videos on this on the website uh that we put about an inch of sand around the top of the container I don’t have a clue what we were growing at that point but the benefit is when you go to the beach the top of the sand is dry but you scoot back about 2 or 3 in what’s there moist wet sand so it can hold moisture is it practical probably not is it fun to experiment with the kids or the grandkids absolutely uh but if you are going to get sand from a local Beach do at your own risk probably at night and you can take it home and play with the experiment of growing it in or using it as a mulch in a container or you know during the middle of the weekday yeah yeah 7 o’ on a Monday morning not too many people’s at the beach not that I have ever done that um so wood wood bark yeah you this was your suggestion the thinly shredded wood bark yeah thinly shredded wood bark natural can be good in the application of a permanent or perennial bed tulips Ras uh raspberries asparagus fill-in the blank uh flower bed this will work very well when you get into the app when you get the wood mulch that is big chunks almost like kinlin or splits when you’re trying to start a fire that would be ideal but not to utilize in the garden because you do want some porous you want the wood chips not to be a solid mat and you do want them to overtime break down and you need to reapply the wood ships two every two or three years as it breaks down and feeds the soil you get big chunks they’re never going to break down no one thing we didn’t talk about was weed berri or weed cloth the plastic whatever you want to call it yeah which we will be uh experimenting with this year it is a uh synthetic material is not biodegradable they do make biodegradable weed berrier but ours is not and you lay it out on top of the bed preferably on top of your irrigation system and then you cut strategic holes in order to plant and the irrigation beneath it from dripworks decom will water the plant and the barrier of the synthetic plastic essentially is what it is uh tightly woven will pres pres prevent much of the weeds from coming up the probably the only weeds you’re going to come up is around the areas in which you’ve cut in order to transplant or plant your seeds in on top of that synthetic uh weed Bearer you can put straw or chemical-free grass clippings or whatever in order try to try to immediate some of that heat that is going to be absorbed it’s not rec it’s not uh you know not frowned upon it’s not recommended but it can be something in which you can help uh dissipate some of that heat that would be absorbed into the soil absolutely well with Summer soon to be here it is warming up in many parts of the country and you are going to start uh dealing with those beetles and grubs in your garden yeah with uh just around the corner it’s time to start thinking about controlling these beetles and grubs there’s always you know talk about the Japanese beetles in the midwest especially in other are now it’s everywhere it’s not even just Midwest that’s true so grub gon grub gon can be applied directly to the turf of your or Garden or around ornamentals to control the grubs and lessen the impact those beetles will have on your yard this summer easy to apply with any chemical uh spray a spreader or irrigate it right into the soil specifically targeted to attack the grubs and Beetle Invaders without harming the beneficial insects such as bees butterflies and ladybugs yeah and it’s the only non-chemical that works you can find out more phm bioproducts dcom that’s p y l LOM bioproducts dcom hang out with us when we return host of PBS’s Growing a Greener World and author our good friend Joe lamp will be with us you’re tuned in the guardian with Joe and Holly radio show have a garden question give Joey and Holly a call now or anytime 24/7 just dial800 927 show if you can’t get through leave a message and they will call you back call now 1800 927 show dig planting holes from a comfortable standing position step twist pull and plant visit proplugger doc have insects such as aphids or fungal Nats invaded your plants fight back with Summit year round spray oil and Summit mosquito bits organic Summit year round spray oil kills insect pest on indoor and outdoor plants all natural mosquito bits kill fungal Nets larvae in container plants both products are harmless to people plants and Wildlife Summit year round spray oil and Summit mosquito bit are available at Garden Centers hardware stores and at Summit responsi solutions.com Garden like a pro in three easy steps and receive customized fertilizer recommendations for your garden or lawn soil Savvy helps you determine what nutrients your plants need to thrive never again over apply nutrients they don’t need a patented process that makes you a Smart Gardener to get your soil test kit go to my soil saavy decom if you 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odors are added to your water supply visit eaten brothers.com for more information and to buy Strobel gardening is all the rage get your baell started easily with the Bell Buster straw Bell conditioning formula this is the only product that has been specifically formulated for use in straw Bell gardening each unit contains 250 million Colony forming units of tricoderma fungi and bacillus bacteria in addition to the fertilizer itself produces fantastic results with a bountiful production of vegetable crops start with the best to get the best traditional or organic formula take the guest work out of conditioning your straw Bell go to bb.com to find out more welcome back to the garden with join Holly radio show thank you for being with us today Holly let’s go to the hotline and bring in our guest as one of the country’s most recognized and trusted Personalities in gardening and green living that passion for living a Greener life is evident to a Nationwide audience who watches Joe lample in his current role as Creator executive producer and host of the multiple award-winning PBS series Growing a Greener World which now has a new future exclusively online he is also an author blogger and more welcome to the program Joe hey Holly hey Joey nice to be here well thank you for making a return to the program we’re always happy when you’re able to etch out a little time for us on our show and uh I’ll just I’ll start with this many people have trees on their property and can tree trimming still be done now as we get into the warmer portions of the year or have uh have we missed that window and we’re going to do more damage if we say I really want that limb and I cut it yeah you can do it now the the the worst time to prune a tree is when it’s um we’re coming into fall and things are starting to go dormant but if you were to make a cut then and then you had some warm weather come into play it might trick the tree into thinking that it’s time to you know put on new growth as it happens as we come into spring but in the fall it really is the weather coming is colder and so that new growth can be nipped back and that can cause open wounds and opportunities for uh improper healing or Pest and disease issues that may work their way in so there’s far greater risk to a tree if you were to prune late in the season then at this time of year when everything is really gearing up for New Growth uh it is it’s fine to make a cut now whether you’re making a uh healing cut or you’re taking out a disease limb or you’re trying to reduce the size now just keep in mind when you make a cut oftentimes that does stimulate New Growth so uh if that’s what you want this would be a great time to make that cut so just be mindful of uh what the purpose behind why you’re making that cut as you think about the timing of it what what is a common mistake or one of the most frequent mistakes you see people make when trimming trees I don’t have to think about this one for a second before I answer it it’s tree topping it’s it’s it’s um it’s butchering the tree basically now done properly I mean it’s it’s been an ancient practice in in Europe forever with poing and and and other ways to cut a tree but here we don’t do it the right way if not that there really is a right way we just do it the wrong way we just we just take a beautiful hardwood tree and we give it a haircut right across straight across and then what happens is that tree just realizes it lost a massive amount of its biomass which produces the photosynthesis to provide the energy from the Sun to feed itself and now it’s gone so the first things that it does it sends out these suckers or these water sprouts that um are weakly joined to the main part of the tree but they have to they have to grow rapidly and produce new leaves and branches in order to send out new opportunities to photosynthesize and the funny thing the irony is that people often times cut their or I’m sorry top their trees because they think it’s a way to improve the safety of a potential branch that may someday fall on their house because Johnny chainsaw came around in his pickup truck and said Mrs Jones you need to cut the you need to it’s time to top your trees because you don’t want those falling on your house do you so there’s that fear but what happens is when Johnny chainsaw makes that cut and those water sprouts come up those are so weakly attached to the main part of the branch they’re nowhere near as strong as the original branches and now they are more likely to fall off in a windstorm or something like that and potentially land on the house so you’ve got a recurring problem that probably causes the tree to get topped every year to remove those suckers and then within about three years the tree is typically dead because trees are not made to be topped like that and they can’t sustain themselves with that kind of abuse year after year and within a few years they just they give up the goat and they just they they’re done and it’s it’s a it’s a pitiful sight to see a a top tree that within a few years goes from this beautiful massive oak tree for example to to a dead stump in the yard and Joey if I had a nickel for every time I saw that I’ve seen that I’d be a wealthy wealthy man right now but you know the international ass Association of arbic culture will tell you you do not top a tree it’s it’s wrong in every way now this is not to be confused with removing a branch that is risk in risk of falling or is is dead or diseased or dying or crossing or whatever I mean there are times where you do that but that’s appropriate topping just because you’re afraid that someday a branch may fall or you want to reduce the size of mature tree because it’s too big well it’s a shame that you planted a tree that was too big for that area anyway um so you would do proper thinning Cuts or you hire or consult with an arborist pay him a hundred bucks for their time for an hour to give you good information and then follow the advice of the arborist rather than you know Johnny chainsaw who’s showing up and just giving you this recommendation because they get paid when they make cuts on your tree that’s that’s not the same thing who may not be insured or licensed and just has a magnet on the side of their truck there you go exactly true so we talk about killer compost every time you come on the show but I feel it’s always worth repeating what is killer compost and you had to deal with it personally what happened yeah so as gardeners you know we we have this love affair as we should with with good aged rotted manure because it’s so rich in nutrients and nitrogen and it’s great for the garden and it’s always been a wonderful input into our soil but when when um these chemical companies came along and developed these molecules that are so persistent in in their chemical applications that farmers put down on their fields to kill weeds and they’re selective the the the product that these farmers are using on their like hay fields for example um kill the broadleaf weed so that when they’re harvesting their hay it’s nice and clean because the broadleaf weeds are dead but the grass is alive it doesn’t kill the grass so understandably as a farmer this could be a good thing for your your product you know you’re you’re able to deliver a clean product that has been sprayed with an herbicide that actually is okay when horses eat something that’s been sprayed with a herbicide because the molecule will not and does not break down inside the H’s digestive system so there’s no harm to the horse but that is the problem because that molecule that kills the broadleaf weeds is still completely intact it has 100% efficacy which is the term applied to how effective it is years or many many months after it’s been consumed by the horse made it out the back end the the manure has been rotted and aged and sitting in a compost pile for a few years and then a gardener comes along and gets it puts it in their Garden only to find that because that molecule that was from that herbicide that was put on the field is still viable as an herbicide it’s now in the soil of the gardener and it kills it can kill many of the plants that a a vegetable Gardener especially would be having in their Garden it doesn’t kill everything but it’s very very destructive to many common edible plants that we put in our garden so the scary thing about it is it can do damage to your plants in the single digit parts per billion and so it doesn’t take much of that stuff to really mess up your soil for a few years as it did mine and how did you revert back to or how did you fix the problem once you saw what was going on yeah there’s really no fixing to that problem you go on a company’s website like um oh I can’t remember the manufacturers right now so I’m not going to name a name but um most of them but you go on their websites and you look up this stuff uh and you find out that the only the only way to neutralize it or make it non lethal is time exposing it to UV light air and water so in my case the way I maybe accelerated it by about a year from what it would have been had I not done these things was I continued to turn my soil over and over and over through the year wasn’t planting anything into it because there was no point in that and then um the exposure to the air and light and UV um I think probably allowed me to rectify the soil about a year year faster than what on average it takes which is about five years understand what is the biggest garden myth you see people do regardless and regardless even they they may know it’s not really working and why is it so wrong that they’re doing it you know there’s a lot of myths out there and I was thinking about what’s what’s one that I can like I can share that’s not so offensive or controversial but is science-based and so just going to go as we’re coming into the summer we’re coming into planting our holes for our tomato plants you know a lot of us get blossom in rot and that is that nasty blackish brownish rotting area at the at the um flow the but end of our the bottom end of our Tomatoes is they’re coming off the coming out of the um stem of the flour and you look at that and you go what is that and that’s blossom in rot and it’s it’s a Calcium deficiency in the soil sort of the the reason why you get this blossom in Rod is because the calcium isn’t making it up into the plant sufficiently and that’s usually because of uh inconsistent watering but uh forever the anecdotal recommendation has been ju well just you know take your eggshells and throw them into the hole before you plant your tomato and that’ll cure blossom in rot and in about five years time those eggshells that you threw in there five years prior are now breaking down enough to actually be taken up in the soil you know attached to water into the roots and and that helps with some calcium but there’s there’s generally enough calcium in the soil anyway with or without eggshells that as long as we are more consistent with how we water that’s how we manage to avoid blossom in rot it’s not throwing eggshells that don’t break down or even become available to the plant for five years that’s solving that problem in year one two three or four but if you’ve been doing this for five years or so and you’re not getting blossom in rot now that’s probably because of the eggshells you threw in there five years ago but they literally they literally don’t break down you could dig you could dig back into that hole a few years after you put them in there and those egg eggshells would be about exactly like they looked when you put them in there right um yeah so that’s one that’s one it cons I I just hear it continue to be recommended with with no clarification that this is not a fix in the first year and I’m not saying it doesn’t work I’m just saying it doesn’t work as it’s purported to work that quickly it takes years for it to be available to the plant it’s not a it’s not it’s not a same year thing definitely so what is one thing that you would redo in your garden you know regardless of of time or anything and why would you redo that uh um you know what I would do is I would plant more flowers in my garden sooner and the reason I say that is we finally got around last year to putting in dedicated beds in our in our raised bed vegetable garden inside the the fence line we had room to put in more raised beds and we did that for flower exclusively for flowers because you know we too want to attract more beneficial insects and predatory insects and have more diversity biodiversity in our garden to help make everything health and have a better ecosystem and um you know I’ve got a lot of native flowers around the property but not right in the garden until last year and I got to tell you guys it it was like a different world in there after we made a conscientious effort to get those beds built and fill it with flowers Not only was it beautiful for us to watch every day but to see the life the difference from the prior year to last year in the amount of life that was in the garden and the the very minimal amount of pest pressure that we even had in the garden last year I gotta say my Garden’s been pretty good overall for pest I you know just best practices for organic management does that but last year was the best year ever for that and um it it’s just a joy and it just it was a different feeling a different look a more relaxed look but just to see the noticeable difference of all the activity from the insects and the wildlife that was coming into the garden along with the red uction in pest pressure was absolutely noticeable so it felt really good and I was like why why did it take me so long but I’m you know I’m so food focused and thinking about the crops that I’m growing that I just never stopped long enough and to with to the to to the credit of my Horticulture manager and farm manager Toby she’s really good with flowers and and we just decided now that you’re here I want a lot of your time be to be spent really building up our the presence of the flowers in the garden so I am so thankful we finally got around to doing that and I just I just never imagine going back and not giving the flowers they’re due to share that space Not only in the perimeter but also in the raise beds right there with some of the food crops that was really cool to do that too I understand in the last five years what would you say has been your best crop in the garden and do you have an explanation of why it was so good I’m gonna I’m going to put myself in the same camp with anybody else that can do the same thing I did and that is the the cool season crops to me are um they’re just automatically easier because they uh they’re they’re not as sensitive to you know they we do them in the cooler weather and the cooler weather is is more conducive to plant growth for many of the plants that we put in our fall G and the Edibles that is so I’m going to say spinach and kale because they’re leafy crops we’re not we’re not dep depending on them to put on a big you know cauliflower head or broccoli head or Russel Sprouts up the stock you know hopefully by Thanksgiving which never down here happens but but I have watched my spinach and my kale go through now granted I live in Atlanta not you know where you guys are in Wisconsin but um it just it overwinds so beautifully that you don’t have to worry about it dying because it’s cold outside and it gets better when it’s cold it gets sweeter and it’s not susceptible to pre pest pressure until the following year when you’re coming into late spring and the aphids decide that they want to eat some of your kale until then it’s the most Carefree hands-off plants I grow in my garden and it’s not really anything that special that I do it’s something anybody could do but we need we need some of those rewards you know we work so hard in our Gardens and fight those fights every day we have to give credit and appreciation to those plants that really cut us a break and they’re delicious too and so I will always grow kale and spinach in my garden um because of their forgiveness under all kinds of pressure they’re just amazing and they’re delicious and healthy so that’s my answer fantastic well we really enjoyed having you on the program and all of your great information how can people find out more about you and your um your program yeah well Joe gardner.com would be the hub for the links out to everything else that’s the website and lots of lots of you know podcast links and articles to everything we’ve posted and then YouTube you know as as you mentioned in the teas the uh Growing a Greener World television series which has 12 series over 12 years and over 200 episodes it is now going to be available in its entirety all 12 Seasons all episodes we’ve ever done our entire library on our YouTube channel ggw TV and that started today with season one we rolled out the entire season one which is 26 episodes today wow and we’ll continue to do that each week until we get all all 12 Seasons rolled out well Joe we greatly appreciate the time and your information and not only educating Holly myself but all of our listeners we thank you for that happy to do it thank you absolutely and when we come back it’s your garden questions our garden answers you’re tuned in the gardening with Jo and Holly radio show got a question for Joe and Holly send it via email anytime to Garden talkradio gmail.com deer defeat is an allnatural based animal repellent to keep deer and rabbits away from your valuable plants that is odorless after 30 minutes and dries clear it creates a continuous invisible shield to protect your plants works for 30 days days through rain snow and freeze will not clog your sprayer apply to your property without environmental damage you can spray directly onto your plants up to flowering then apply around your plants to continue 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provides quality drip irrigation supplies and equipment to gardeners just like you for all your growing needs across the US in Canada purchase online at dripworks tocom Wind River ches will always be the inspiring harmony with a large selection and customization options you will find the sound that soothes you visit windr chimes.com to shop and find out more welcome back to the garden with join Holly radio show time for your garden questions are garden answers you got a question send it on over to gardent talkradio gmail.com that’s gardent talkradio gmail.com or give us a call anytime tollfree Coast to Coast at 1 1800 927 show that’s 1 1800 927 7469 so how is the best way to store rud vas do you store them like you would a potato or do you store them in moist sand well we’ve never done the sand aspect of it what we have found is uh keep it in the crisper of the fridge and it will keep for a much longer time than what you might think obviously the larger the root OFA the better it is the the longer it’s going to keep now when you go to the store you’ll see that they are coated with a wax and that’s helped to hold the moisture in we don’t necessarily as home gardeners want to or need to wax it but keeping it in the crisp r a fridge is the the better way also we’ve done we’ve also you can also uh blanch and freeze them yeah just don’t microwave them don’t microwave them yeah okay can I use seeds shown as a sale date that is passed or expired you can so unlike packaged food seeds don’t have an expiration date it’s just like a a federal seed act requires the seed packets to have a packed for year and typically what happens is just so that shows how old the seeds are and they have to be sold that calendar by the end of that calendar year because of the government Phil blah blah blah add your you know whatever to that so anyway um seeds lose about one 10% VI viability germination rate every year so if if you bought seeds this year the next year if you planted 10 seeds one might not Sprout and then next year after that if he planted 10 seeds two might not Sprout ex ex we had celery seeds from 2013 it’s 2024 now none of them came up right well and also the larger the seed the more likely it is to germinate because it has more Earth meat I don’t know whatever to it material inside material inside of it yeah and all seeds have a seed coat and then they have the inner part so even if it’s super super tiny they still have a seed coat and the inner part so that could be way all right question here about hardening off my question is when they come back back in after you’ve taken them out do they go back under the grow lights as scheduled that I’ve set up or that they turn on at 7:30 a.m. and turn off at 10:30 p.m. or do I place them in a south facing window thanks um yeah so either or either or I would continue to put them underneath the grow light until you are able to adapt them or acclimate them that’s the process of hardening a plant off from bringing it inside to outside over the course of a period of mostly 7 days and by that seventh day it has worked its way from shade to partial shade to full sun to stay out overnight and then you plant it in the garden the next day when you bring it in on those early days day one day two day three uh you can put it back under the grow light to make sure it gets adequate sunlight or adequate light uh you would only need you know 10 to 12 hours I don’t think you need to go from 7:30 to 11:30 giving that plant too much light can also change its uh thinking process of overexposure of light and then it grows not the way you want it to uh it doesn’t grow the way it’s scheduled to grow if it was naturally outside with the progression of the daylight getting slightly longer each day so but also putting in a south facing window or a bright window that’s fine as well but you have to harden your plants off that is the key to getting them to properly uh grow and if you don’t do it you’re going to kill your plant now if you buy plants if you buy it from a garden center or wherever you buy wherever you buy your local plants um you don’t have to harden them off they’re ready to go yeah well with that being said Holly it’s time for what did you learn today you have to go first I learned I knew eggshells took I thought about 18 to 24 months Joe lample informed us and taught us that it takes about 5 years for an egg show to break down for usable calcium the Tomato when all you really need to do is water yes I also I learned that you shouldn’t top trees I knew that but I guess I relearned it and also the severity of what it was the severity yeah that’s basically what it was the absolute severity of that well what we learned today is brought to you by honeyb healthy.com whether you’re a gardener a bee hobbyist or a professional beekeeper honey behealthy ink has the products to help you maintain a healthy Hive and thriving Garden for more information on how to use honey be healthy in your garden visit honeyb healthy.com that’s honey the letter be healthy.com tune in next week to the program where will be discussing Garden protection predominantly from bees or from bad bugs and animals possibly possibly humans as well and fruit trees Our Guest is author Christina Chung will be with us and we’ll answer your garden questions that’s next week on the program so until next week for Holly beard I’m Joy beard and we will see you you in the [Music] [Applause] garden