If you have an existing garden that has not been managed with an eye towards ongoing soil management, you likely have depleted some (or most) of the essential nutrients. You many also have an overly acidic or basic pH. Plants absorb significant quantities of nutrients from the soil each year, and unless you are actively replacing these nutrients, plant vigor and yield will decrease over time. Fortunately, it’s never too late to begin rebuilding garden soil and significant improvements can be made relatively quickly.
Read MoreEpisode 114: Garden Soil Ecosystems with Jeff Lowenfels
The quality of produce you grow is dependent on the quality of your soil. We are big advocates of doing everything possible to make garden soil the best it can be right from the start, and then working year after year to maintain and improve its quality. In this episode we're joined by award winning author Jeff Lowenfels to discuss the soil food web and garden soil ecosystems.
Read MoreMulching Your Garden For Fall
Garden soil loves to get dressed up. Instead of a tuxedo or gown, spruce up your beds with a stylish layer of compost, cover crops and straw.
Read MoreEpisode 65: October Q+A
The days are getting shorter and cooler, and that Fall crispness is definitely in the air. In this week’s episode, we answer questions that follow up on previous podcast episodes. Tune in for more information on harvesting sunflower seeds, planting garlic, using drip irrigation, and amending soil. Many thanks to our Club Encyclopedia Botanica podcast funders for asking such smart follow-up questions and helping us all get into more detail on these timely topics!
Read MoreEpisode 26: Crop Rotation
Over the past two episodes, we discussed tools you can use to decide where your crops should be planted in a given season, but it's important to plan where to plant them from year to year. This week we are going to go over why you want to rotate and why certain crop families require more frequent rotation.
Read MoreEncyclopedia Botanica Podcast, Episode 22: Sheet Mulching
This episode is for those of you out there who may not have a vegetable garden yet, or who are planning to expand an existing growing space. Or maybe you're thinking about adding some new beds for the next growing season. We're talking about how sheet mulching might be a good technique for you. Mulching your future garden space over the winter can give you a jumpstart on the garden building process for next season.
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