The joe gardener Show - Organic Gardening - Vegetable Gardening - Expert Garden Advice From Joe Lamp'l

There are dozens of tasks that can be done in November to make our gardens more productive and ecologically friendly, but I have drilled down on 10 that will reap the greatest rewards for your efforts. This week, I'm sharing these garden priorities and explaining why they are worth your time.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download the Fall Cover Crop by Zone chart (zones3-10) I mention in this episode.

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Raking, blowing and removing fallen leaves is a familiar ritual for many homeowners, but the practice is more harmful than many realize. This week, I'm joined by Dr. Max Ferlauto, a state entomologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, to explore the science behind the "Leave the Leaves" movement. His research reveals how leaf removal reduces the number of insects that survive the winter — with consequences that ripple through the food web.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Peat moss is a staple in many gardeners' potting mixes, but harvesting it comes at a cost to the ecosystems where it forms. This week, I sit down with Dr. Merritt Turetsky, an ecosystem ecologist known as the "Queen of Peat," to explore the remarkable world of bogs, their vital role in storing carbon, and the surprising connection between peatlands and increasingly severe wildfires. Merritt explains why these often-overlooked ecosystems matter, how gardeners can reduce their reliance on peat moss, and what we stand to gain by protecting these ancient landscapes.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Leaves are so familiar that it's easy to overlook just how remarkable they are. But beneath their simple appearance is an extraordinary array of adaptations that help plants capture sunlight, move water, regulate temperature, defend themselves and build healthy soil. This week, I'm joined by evolutionary biologist Jonathan Silvertown, the author of "Nature's Magicians: How Leaves Conjure Up Our World," to explore the ingenious ways leaves shape the ecosystem — and why there's far more to a leaf than meets the eye.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

October is the time to prepare your garden for winter while taking advantage of the cool weather and warm soil to plant, divide and protect. This week, I'm sharing 10 essential gardening tasks to tackle this month, from shielding young trees from deer and preparing frost blankets to planting garlic, spring-flowering bulbs and perennials.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Someone who is growing food at a scale larger than a home garden, but not as large as an industrial or commercialized food farm, is often called a market farmer or a market gardener. For home gardeners looking to make their vegetable garden something more, my guest this week, market gardener, educator and author Jean-Martin Fortier, is the perfect person to listen to.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Whether you have acres of farmland to work with, like my guest this week, Jane Breckinridge of Euchee Butterfly Farm, or just a balcony garden, you can do your part to reverse butterfly decline. Jane joins me to share the amazing things the farm and its related nonprofit are accomplishing and to inspire listeners to spray less and plant more.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Whether you are a seasoned gardener looking to stretch the shelf-stability of your harvest into the winter or a beginner taking your first steps toward self-sufficiency, food preservation can feel both empowering and a bit intimidating, but my guest this week, fifth-generation homesteader and "Pioneering Today" host Melissa K. Norris, makes modern home canning and other preservation methods approachable.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Greenhouses are having a moment. They have gone in and out of style for home gardeners, but right now, they are decidedly in, which is why my returning guest this week, Leslie Halleck, wrote her new book, "Home Greenhouse Revival: Growing Year-Round Foliage, Flowers & Food."

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Here in the South, tomato season is just about done for the year, so tomato breeder and tomato-growing expert Craig LeHoullier is back as my guest on the podcast so we can discuss what we learned this year and check in on the progress of Craig's breeding experiments.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Food gardening doesn't have to stop when summer's over. In fact, the biggest missed opportunity for most food growers is the fall garden. To help you take advantage of the cooler months, this week I'm sharing my top 10 fall greens.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

We spend a lot of time on this show talking about what we plant — the natives, the pollinator favorites, the plants that do the heavy lifting in a healthy garden. But today, I want to flip that around and talk about who's actually using all that habitat that we work so hard to create. So joining me this week is award-winning science and nature writer and photographer Margie Patlak, the author of "Insect Safari: Exploring the Wondrous World of Everyday Bugs."

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Flowers have the power to transform both our gardens and our homes, but creating a steady supply of beautiful blooms throughout the year takes more than simply planting whatever catches your eye. Few people understand that better than Sarah Raven, whose decades of growing, trialing and arranging flowers have inspired gardeners around the world to think differently about the cutting garden. Sarah joins me to share the practical techniques behind growing abundant, long-lasting cut flowers, along with the simple habits that can help gardeners of any skill level enjoy fresh bouquets from their own gardens for much of the year.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Adding fruit trees to your landscape opens up new gardening possibilities. But to set your fruit tree garden up for success, you need to have a solid plan. Urban orchardist Susan Poizner returns to the podcast this week to explain the planning process, step-by-step, and the pitfalls to avoid.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Wildlife gardening doesn't require a sprawling landscape to work with. As my returning guest Kate Bradbury explains, anyone can support wildlife through gardening, even if they only have the space for a pot of herbs.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

There's a lot of information out there on planting native and practicing ecological gardening, but drilling down to what's best for your own yard and its unique potential is challenging — until now, at least. Wildr Places CEO Joanna Hall and VP of partnerships and programs Zoe Evans join me to discuss how their Wildr Places app is putting the power in gardeners' hands.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Weed overwhelm can befall even the most experienced gardeners. In this week's encore presentation, New York Times gardening columnist and "A Way to Garden" podcast host Margaret Roach joins me to explore how to keep weeds from taking over with a practical, organic approach that delivers real results. By combining a little good old-fashioned research with a touch of mindfulness, Margaret demonstrates how gardeners can tackle this age-old challenge more effectively — and maybe even achieve Zen Weed Master status along the way.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

Nuisance wildlife — from deer and rabbits to raccoons, moles and voles — pose major headaches for gardeners. In this week's encore presentation, I am revisiting my conversation with wildlife damage management specialist Marne Titchenell on effective solutions for deterring wildlife.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception, to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

A continuous vegetable garden is about more than succession planting for a longer growing season and a greater harvest. As my returning guest Charlie Nardozzi explains, when a gardener applies certain techniques, a vegetable garden can resow itself continuously for a truly perpetual food garden.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.

In many parts of the United States, ticks and tick-borne diseases are a growing concern for gardeners and others who enjoy spending time outdoors. To explain what's important to understand about these blood-sucking arachnids and the threat they pose, tick expert Dr. Thomas Mather (a.k.a "The TickGuy") joins me on the podcast this week.

Podcast Links for Show Notes

Download my free eBook 5 Steps to Your Best Garden Ever - the 5 most important steps anyone can do to have a thriving garden or landscape. It's what I still do today, without exception to get incredible results, even in the most challenging conditions.

Subscribe to the joegardener® email list to receive weekly updates about new podcast episodes, seasonal gardening tips, and online gardening course announcements.

Check out The joegardener® Online Gardening Academy for our growing library of organic gardening courses.

Follow joegardener® on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, and subscribe to The joegardenerTV YouTube channel.