Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping

We chat with Ryan Cullen, the field supervisor at Durham College, about the newly planted food-forest garden at the college’s Whitby campus. Cullen explains that the idea behind the food forest is to grow a mix of food-producing species, layered in the same way that a forest is. There’s a herbaceous layer at ground level, a shrub layer, and a canopy layer of trees above. With time, the food forest becomes self-maintaining and, with the appropriate mix of plant species, can have self-renewing fertility. The top layer of the food-forest garden is the “canopy” layer. Cullen says that they planted this layer with fruiting tree species including cherries, plums, persimmon—and even a hawthorn.The lower herbaceous and shrub layers, which are still being developed, will be a polyculture—a mix of different plants. Along with edible properties, plants in the lower layers might make available soil nutrients (deep-rooted plants bring up nutrients,) supply nutrients (pea shrubs capture nitrogen from the air,) and attract pollinator species.Lower-layer plants include bee balm, chamomile, rosa rugosa (for rose hips), strawberreis, and blueberries. Cullen says that this list will grow, as there is still a lot of planting to do in this layer. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Steven Peck, president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the Toronto-based industry association that supports the North American green roof and green wall industries. He talks about about what goes into a green roof, what’s new in green roofs, and how home owners can find out more about green roofs.The need for green roofs goes beyond creating more space to garden. Peck talks about the urban heat island effect, which can make urban areas up to 10°C warmer than rural areas. He explains that the effect is the result of the removal of vegetation—which is replaced by surfaces that radiate heat.He says that vegetation is like a natural form of air conditioning—and green roofs keep buildings—and the city—cooler. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Jack Spruill in North Carolina about the community fig orchard on his family farm and about his work developing a conservation project to protect the farm from future development.Spruill explains that the farm grows very good figs. They were an important crop for his grandparents, who bought the farm in 1914. But by the time his father took over the farm, things were starting to change. The figs still grew well…but they were no longer a money-making crop. So his father started to let people come to pick figs for free. Along with fresh eating, there is a local tradition of making fresh figs into fig conserve.The fig orchard was a community fig orchard even before he started to call it such. Spruill says that these days, some people come to pick a few figs for fresh eating—and some still come for figs to make fig conserve. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In a broadcast that originally aired on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, we chat with author Amy Goldman about growing melons, growing tomatoes, her passion for seed-saving, and about her research when writing her books The Melon and The Heirloom Tomato.The Melon: Goldman took nine years to write this tribute to melons that is filled with mouth-watering pictures and information about selecting varieties, growing, seed-saving, and melon recipes. Did you know that charentais melons are the true cantaloupes; and that they’re different from the American muskmelons that we mistakenly call cantaloupes?Heirloom Tomatoes: Was the original Brandywine tomato pink-fleshed and potato leaved or red-fleshed and regular-leaved? “This is something that only a gardening nerd would care about,” says Goldman. Incidentally, it’s the latter. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Paige Lockett, the director of operations for The PACT Urban Peace Program in Toronto about garden-based experiential learning for at-risk you and about a Community Compost Exchange Program.Through its Grow to Learn partnership with the Toronto District School Board, PACT provides experiential garden-based learning at three gardens and one orchard located on school properties. The gardens are used to teach subjects as diverse as English as a second language to carbon sequestration. Lockett says that the vermicomposting program is especially popular. The community compost exchange program provides participants with bags in which they can contribute home kitchen waste for composting. In exchange, they are given “PACT dollars” that can be used to purchase fresh produce at the PACT produce market. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this interview that first broadcast live on the radio show in 2018, we chat with Phil Hunt from the Giant Vegetable Growers of Ontario (GVGO) about growing giant pumpkins and giant tomatoes. Hunt and his wife, Jane, grow giant vegetables near Lindsay, Ontario. We first spoke with them when they shared giant-pumpkin-growing tips for our book Gardening with Emma. After seeing them on the news in 2018—for growing a record-breaking giant pumpkin—we invited them onto the show to share tips. After showing their giant pumpkins at competitions, they collect seeds from them, and then put them on display on their front lawn when neighbours can see them. Hunt says they carve the pumpkins for Halloween—and there are local children who have come years after year to see their carved giant pumpkins. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Nathan Larson, Director of the Cultivate Health Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin.When we visited Madison in summer 2019 to attend the National Children and Youth Gardening Symposium, Larson gave us a tour of a wonderful community garden—the Troy Community Garden.There are currently about 100 families growing food there…although at one point it looked as if the land on which the garden stands would be sold off for a housing development. Larson talks about how people and groups pulled together to find a way to save the space.The plot of land was reimagined to include community garden plots, an urban farm with a CSA, a kids garden, some housing, a tall-grass prairie restoration project, and a food forest.When we visited the Troy Community Garden, we were struck by signs for a “worm city” and the “mud pie kitchen.” Larson is passionate about garden-based education.The garden now includes a pizza oven that is used for weekly nights, along with music. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We check in with Sarah Dobec, the co-ordinator of the Carrot Green Roof, an inspiring rooftop garden that we visited for the first time earlier this year. Dobec explains that this unique community space was originally imagined by architects and landscapers—and also by artists and community members.Of the approximately 8,000 square feet on the rooftop, approximately 2,000 square feet is used to grow food. There is also a meadow garden, bee hives, and a low-growing area with sedums.The community space on the roof, which includes tables, chairs, and a food preparation area, is used to bring people together. Dobec says that the space is rented out for private functions—and is provided for free for those sharing knowledge that fits in with the values of the Carrot Green Roof.The programming in the community space is different every year. Dobec recalls one year when a group performed a play on the roof, using the garden space all around the community space in which to perform.The Carrot Green Roof has partnered with Building Roots, a social venture with a focus on providing access to fresh food. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We get an update from gardener, chef, and author Signe Langford on her hay-bale garden, and then talk about tips for using fresh tomatoes in the kitchen.Langford suggests using fat to soften the acidity of fresh tomatoes. She likes mayonnaise, olive oil, or butter. Some people use sugar to soften the acidity…but she prefers fat—and says her favourite fat to use with tomatoes is with butter.For a quick, easy tomato sauce, Langford suggests mashing fresh tomatoes, adding basil, and butter (a “generous knob” of butter). Add salt and pepper, and then heat and serve. Bread, she says, is part of the “Holy Trinity” of enjoying tomatoes. The other two ingredients are cheese and the tomato itself. Langford’s bruscetta tip: For the best bruschetta, use fresh basil—and fry the bread in olive oil. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Millennial gardener Ross Raddi in Philadelphia. He balances a very intensive approach to food gardening with the need to share the yard with his family—who want grass. Raddi has previously joined us on the Food Garden Life Show to talk about his passion for growing fruit, and about his passion for growing figs. He goes by the nickname “Fig Boss.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We talk with Luay, from Urban Farm and Kitchen in Toronto, about how he started growing food, his gardens, some favourite recipes, failure, and tips for new gardeners.His day job in the engineering industry is hectic and includes lots of travel. Gardening and cooking are his way of unwinding.Luay currently grows in his backyard and at a municipal allotment garden. But he didn’t grow up gardening. His interest in gardening was piqued by unusual vegetables he got through a CSA subscription. Once his interest had been piqued, he started small—with a tomato plant on his balcony.His backyard includes raised beds, fruit trees, and an area to eat and entertain…but he admits that potted edible plants make their way into all parts of the yard.Luay loves to cook with what’s in season. As we talk, it’s fresh tomatoes. The kitchen is his place to unwind. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this episode that originally aired live on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, we talk with urban gardener, author, podcaster, and YouTuber Kevin Espiritu from California. Espiritu, who did not grow up gardening, explains how, after studying business, he discovered gardening. He made the garden—and teaching people to garden—his vocation. Espiritu is the founder of the website Epic Gardening. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In part 2 of a program first broadcast live on the radio show in 2018, we continue our chat about growing fruit in cold climates with Dr. Ieuan Evans, a forensic plant pathologist and a former Provincial Plant Pathologist for Alberta Agriculture.Along with his work in plant pathology, Evans is passionate about growing fruit in cold climates. In this segment, he talks about edible mountain ash, plums, pears, apples, damsons, and apricots. And we talk about how he grows figs in Edmonton.“Growing fruit on the prairies is not a problem at all—you just have to take a new angle.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Toronto urban farmers Jessy Njau and Misha Shodjaee join us to talk about their journey into growing food and using food and farming as a tool for social change. Their farm, Zawadi Farm, began on land provided by a local garden centre. They now farm Njau’s yard, other yards in their neighbourhood, as well as space at Toronto’s Downsview Park, which has land dedicated to urban agriculture.Njau explains that he was deeply inspired by Vancouver urban farmer Michael Abelman, who uses urban farming as a way to build community and effect social change. Success for Shodjaee and Njau is growing an interest in food production—not growing the amount of space they cultivate.“We want to be able to grow farmers.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with garden expert and author Niki Jabbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia to find out what’s new in her garden this summer, how things are growing, and for tips for new gardeners.Her top advice for people who want to start growing food but haven’t started this year: “There’s lots of things you can still plant, even in the coming weeks—so don’t think that you’ve missed the boat!”Greenhouse versus GardenHer greenhouse tomato plants are a good two weeks ahead—and far bigger than those growing in the gardenStraw-Bale UpdateNiki grows in straw bales every year. They are doing well this year…the challenge is keeping them well wateredFun CropsEver heard of ‘Itachi’ cucumber or ‘Black Kat’ pumpkin?Succession PlantingNiki has lots of ideas for succession planting from this point onwards, including carrots, beets, and winter radishes ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this portion of a program first broadcast live on the radio show in 2018, we chat about growing fruit in cold climates with Dr. Ieuan Evans, a forensic plant pathologist and a former Provincial Plant Pathologist for Alberta Agriculture. Along with his work in plant pathology, Evans is passionate about growing fruit in cold climates. He talks about some of his favourite pear and apple varieties for cold climates—varieties that he says taste much better than store-bought apples or the apples from trees sold in local nurseries. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Laura Luciano, a graphic designer from Long Island. She loves to find the stories behind locally produced food and the people who grow it. Her passion for local food grew into her own blog, a column in Edible Long Island, and, eventually her involvement in the Slow Food movement. Then it grew into an interest in growing her own food. So she created a rooftop garden. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In our mid-July garden check-in, we talk about what’s new in our garden. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

School garden educator Shannon Stewart thinks of herself as an emerging seedling amongst old growth forests. Stewart, who teaches in San Diego, California, says that this is her second career—and as a “seedling” in the the field of school gardens. She uses the garden to teach: health and nutrition science critical thinking teamwork and even public speaking ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In a program first broadcast live on the radio show in 2018, we chat with Bill Muzychko of Bill’s Figs in Flemington, New Jersey. Muzychko grows over 180 varieties of figs—all in containers—and all in zone where they would not normally survive without winter protection. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Max Meighen, owner of Avling Kitchen & Brewery, and Danette Steele, the Farm Manager for the rooftop garden.Steele grows a wide variety of crops on the roof., including greens, tomatoes, herbs, flowers for pollinators—and “flavour crops.” She explains that the flavour crops are used in the brewing process. A recent example is pineapple sage, which was infused in a local honey. That infused honey was then used in brewing.Steele, who previously farmed in a rural setting in Nova Scotia, say that she is drawn to urban farming. She explains that there is a strong community connection with the garden.Meighen talks about the Avling Farm box, which includes meat and produce. Half of the produce for the boxes comes from the rooftop garden, half from new and small farms in Ontario. He believes in connecting the community with food producers. Earlier this year he hosted a meet-the-farmer night where customers mingled with farmers supplying Avling Kitchen & Brewery. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In an episode that originally aired live on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, Lee Reich, author of Landscaping with Fruit, joins us to talk about landscaping with fruit. Reich is the author of many books, including Uncommon Fruit for Every Garden, and, most recently, The Ever Curious Gardener: Using a Little Natural Science for a Much Better Garden. Reich is a serious food gardener, with a “farmden” in the Hudson Valley of New York. He explains that his farmden is more than a garden, less than a farm. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Virginie Gysel joins us to talk about transforming the grounds of a neighbourhood church into an orchard and food garden.It started when she approached the church about growing vegetables on the property in exchange for looking after the flower gardens. She didn’t have anywhere sunny to grow tomatoes in her own yard. It led to an orchard on a south-facing hill and lots of community engagement. She gives bags of produce to church members, donates the harvest to those in need, as well as sharing the harvest amongst volunteers.Gysel founded the volunteer-run project TreeMobile that supplies food-bearing trees and shrubs at a low cost to home gardeners. Gysel says that this self-supporting program also gives grants to schools, church groups, and community groups.“I just realized this is the most amazing job in the world.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with Jeff Quattone about his work bringing seed libraries to New Jersey, plant propaganda (not propagation!), and the Jersey tomato. Quattrone is an artist, lifelong gardener, and marketing professional. He founded LIbrary Seed Bank in 2014. He talks about his journey into seed saving and helping to set up seed libraries.“The whole idea that food can go extinct was something that shocked me because I didn’t understand diversity.”He is so passionate about Jersey tomatoes that he has a page devoted to them on his website. “I think I’ve grown just about every one of them and I love them all!” Quattrone explains that the traditional Jersey tomato was bred to be a 10-ounce, round, red tomato because of the canning industry in New Jersey.As a marketing professional, he finds that people often have a negative impression of the word propaganda. He looks at the fine line between propaganda and branding—and talks about why he thinks garden propaganda is important. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We dig into tomato and food gardening questions from members of the Ontario Backyard Plant Growers group on Facebook.The Ontario Backyard Plant Growers Facebook Group is a group that shares information about growing plants in Ontario. It's a passionate group with broad knowledge on propagating, growing and harvesting, and tools and amendments.We tackle tomato and food-gardening questions. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Annalisa Pedraza joins us from Bozeman, Montana, where she manages the Spring Creek Community Garden. “Right now we have 30 members and that feeds about 25 households.”Spring Creek Community Garden was founded by Richard Weaver after he inherited 3 acres of land in the middle of a subdivision. He removed the grass to create an urban farm and a sunken greenhouse.Unlike many community gardens, everything is shared. There are no individual plots; and members divvy up the harvest based on what they feel they have contributed. The gardeners hold a weekly potluck dinner, using garden produce. Pedraza finds that the social interaction is an important part of gardening.While she’d love it if these get-togethers encourage people to become community-garden members, what she would really like is if they inspire people to make more community gardens. “What we really hope is that they replicate that elsewhere.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We’ve been talking a lot about our neighbor Joe over the past couple of days. Joe and his wife, Maria, are amazing neighbours. They always stop to chat. They share their garden harvest. And they send cookies for the kids. But the reason we’ve been talking about Joe these past couple of days is that Joe is an amazing gardener. We learn something new every time we drop by to visit. AND Joe shares with all the neighbourhood gardeners. The yard is surrounded by a wall of pole beans. Joe shared his favourite bean seeds with us for our garden. Steven posted about Joe’s beans the other day on social media as he explored how gardeners share, for an event called Garden Days. The response has been inspiring. Tune in for great sharing ideas. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

It's not too late to grow vegetables this year. We chat with Carol Michel and Dee Nash about starting a summer vegetable garden. Michel and Nash are vegetable gardeners Indiana and Oklahoma who joined forces to produce The Gardenangelists podcast and share their love of gardening.“I’m in zone 7, and she’s zone 5.” Michel and Nash talk about how they got into vegetable gardening, and then share their tips for starting a vegetable garden in the summer. It’s not too late!“It is not too late. There are plenty of vegetables that you can sow seeds for right now.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Ever wondered if growing food and and growing native plants are mutually exclusive? Our guest Ryan Godfrey talks about his sixth-floor balcony garden where he weaves together edible and native plants—all in containers.Godfrey’s balcony container garden includes habitat-themed containers: Alvar container garden Riverside container garden Boulder container garden Woodland container garden Edible plants include woodland strawberries, Jerusalem artichoke, sweet grass, and Virginia mountain mint.Godfrey also has an allotment garden plot where he grows both food and native plants. He says that his plot draws a lot of pollinators.In a journey that started with vacuuming acorns as a child, Ryan went on to study biology and evolutionary biology. He says this makes him a “plant nerd,” a gardener who learned about plants outside of a garden context. It colours his approach to gardening. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this episode that originally broadcast live on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, we chat with Susan Antler, the Executive Director of the Compost Council of Canada. Susan talks about using gardening and food to make change, the Plant·Grow·Share a Row program and the Soupalicious festival. “Gardening can change the world,“ she says.In Emma’s Tomato Talk segment, she talks about blue tomato varieties, tomato training methods, and transplanting tips.In the Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven is joined by author Helena Moncrieff, who shares the story of a Toronto gardener whose fig tree became an integral part of the neighbourhood. Moncrieff is the author of the book The Fruitful City. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

The Story of a Fig Tree that Brought Together a Community Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Radio Show, June 2020 In the Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven is joined by author Helena Moncrieff, who shares the story of a Toronto gardener whose fig tree became an integral part of the neighbourhood. Moncrieff is the author of the book The Fruitful City. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Atlanta urban farmer, food system thinker, educator, changemaker, and worm whisperer Maurice Small joins us to talk about growing people, growing community, and growing food.Small talks about what got him into growing food, the urban agriculture scene in Atlanta, using gardening as a way to build community, and youth leadership. “I had the desire to do what my father did with me, which was grow food, share food, propagate plants.“Small also talks about helping customers understand what goes into food production. “They know that something might crawl out because we don’t spray,” he says. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Robin Henderson joins us to talk about foraging. As he was growing up, he heard family stories about the foraging of previous generations. Then, as urban growth engulfed the area where he lived, he discovered the many edible plants growing in his own neighbourhood.Henderson points out that many people think of “subsistence” foraging—foraging to fill the stomach. For him, foraging can be a lot more than subsistence—he’s a big believer in “gastronomic foraging.”Henderson explains that it’s even possible to forage in winter, while there is snow on the ground. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Helena Moncrieff, author of The Fruitful City: The Enduring Power of the Urban Food Forest, talks about the fruit that grows in cities.Fruit plants often reflect the history of an area. Grape vines are common in neighbourhoods where a lot of residents have Mediterranean family roots; cherry trees are common in areas with large Ukrainian populations.Moncrieff became interested in urban fruit and the people and stories behind it when her daughter joined Not Far From The Tree in Toronto, a fruit picking and sharing project. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Emma made Meyer lemon sorbet yesterday. She made it with home-grown Meyer lemons, picked in Toronto in the month of May.Steven has grown lemons since the 1990s—but it was a visit to Bob Duncan at Fruit Trees and More Nursery in British Columbia that inspired him to write his book Grow Lemons Where You Think You Can’t.Victoria has a mild climate, so Bob grows lemons espaliered on the side of his house. Over the winter, he used incandescent light strings and row-cover fabric to protect the lemon trees.Steven and Emma dig into growing lemons in colder climates—and why lemons are an idea container plant.Did you know that in addition to the fruit, you can use lemon leaves in the kitchen?There are many ways to keep lemon trees over the winter, even without a greenhouse or a bright south-facing window. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Emily Murphy finds daily inspiration in her garden in Northern California. She describes her passion for gardening as, “A love affair.”Emily got an early start in gardening. “If you were around in the 70’s, I was the kid down the road whose family was growing potatoes in her front yard instead of a lawn,” she says.Emily is a garden designer, educator, and author who weaves together her studies in botany, ethnobotany, environmental science, and ecology. In her teaching she brings together gardening and living.Emily is the author of the book Grow What You Love, 12 Food Plant Families to Change Your Life, an inspiring guide to planning, making, and growing a garden. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Backyard food gardener Dushan Batrovic tells us about his journey into food gardening.After growing up in a family that gardened, Dushan took a break from gardening. But when he started gardening again, the taste of fresh garden produce made him an advocate for backyard growing.Dushan gardens in two raised beds, along with a garden on his shed roof. As he was making the shed, he thought, “Since I’m creating a roof here I might as well add a bit of real estate to my growing.”Working in the tech industry, and seeing how he and other neighbours could harvest more of their favourite crops than they could use, he wondered about ways to share around excess harvests. Dushan created an app called SeedVoyage, which helps gardeners who have excess produce connect with eaters. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We chat with pepper expert Claus Nader, owner of East York Chile Peppers in Toronto, Ontario.Claus tells us about his urban hot-pepper container garden.He grows specialty peppers, saves seeds, and makes hot sauces, pickled peppers, jams, salsas, and dehydrated peppers. Claus shares his approach to making hot pepper sauce: he thinks hot and sweet go well together.Claus says, “It’s a really nice community, and we inspire each other, which is great.” ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Growing Unusual Fruit in PA Excerpt from The Food Garden Life Radio Show, May 2020 In The Biggs-on-Figs segment, Steven talks with Bill Lauris, a chemistry teacher and nursery operator in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who loves growing figs and other unusual fruit. Bill runs Off the Beaten Path Nursery. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this broadcast that originally aired live on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, author and gardening expert Tara Nolan joins us to talk about front yard gardens and share ideas from her new book, Gardening Your Front Yard: Projects and Ideas for Big and Small Spaces. In the Tomato-Talk Segment, Emma chats with Trish Crapo and Tom Ashely at Dancing Bear Farm in MA. Trish and Tom joined us on the show in April 2019 to talk about figs…but they are tomato-crazy too! In the Biggs-on-Figs Segment, Steven chates with Bill Lauris from Off the Beaten Path Nursery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Bill is a chemistry teacher by day who spends his spare time educating people and challenging them to grow unusual fruit. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Cheyenne Sundance talks about how she started her urban farm, Sundance Harvest, when she didn’t see urban farms representing the diversity she felt they should.A believer that independence is growing food, Cheyenne teaches and mentors youth, sharing her passion for growing food.Liberating LawnsAn initiative that she started in the spring of 2020 is Liberating Lawns, a neighbourhood-centric yard-sharing program she hopes will help people reconnect with land and food. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Mark Stewart and Kassie Miedema join us to tell us about a grassroots program encouraging people to grow food in front yards. The idea is to produce more food locally—and to connect people around food.Participants in the program can also put up a sign in the garden to raise awareness of the idea—and to stir up conversation.What does success look like? A food street, with many neighbours growing up front.Food Up Front is an initiative of Transition Toronto, a chapter of a global movement for change. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Wendy Kiang-Spray, author of The Chinese Kitchen Garden, joins us to talk about about vegetable crops used in Chinese cuisine, Chinese intensive gardening, and her family’s gardening journey.Her book weaves together stories and photos from three generations of her family. While she started gardening as an adult when one of her own daughters asked to grow a garden, Wendy grew up immersed in gardening, in a household where gardening and cooking fresh garden produce was normal. Her father is an avid gardener, and both he and her mother love to cook.The book includes many of her parents’ recipes for traditional Chinese dishes. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

We check in with vegetable gardening expert Niki Jabbour in Nova Scotia to find out what’s new in her garden for 2020, and to see what favourites she is growing.Niki is the author of Veggie Garden Remix, Groundbreaking Food Gardens, and The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, and the host of The Weekend Gardener radio show.We find out more about some of the crops in Veggie Garden Remix—and find out some of her other garden favourites.Ever heard of hodge-podge? It’s an East Coast specialty that sounds delicious! ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Stephanie Rose has a passion for inspiring other people to grow and use plants. It’s a passion that began with her own journey of healing herself by taking up gardening. Stephanie is a Vancouver-based award-winning author, speaker, and master gardener who teaches people how to grow and use plants. She weaves her knowledge of herbalism and permaculture into her work. Stephanie talks about her own journey of recovery as she began to garden. A parent, she has a lot of ideas for parents who want kids to garden. In her own yard, she opted for a play garden instead of a plastic swing set. Her 6-year-old son says that he wants to be a master gardener: When she runs kids gardening events, he likes to lead groups of kids on scavenger hunts.Stephanie discusses ideas from her new book, Garden Alchemy, which is a guide for gardeners who want to make and do things themselves. The book covers a wide range of topics including fertilizers, soil amendments, sprays, and ideas to beautify the garden. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Rob and Chris Croley at Sentimental Farm in Niagara, Ontario, Canada grow about 70 per cent of the food they need on their 1/2 acre urban homestead.An interest in self-sufficiency that started with growing vegetables has grown to include chickens, bees, mushrooms, goats, preserving, and making soaps and cosmetics. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Ben Cohen, the author of Saving Our Seeds, joins us to talk about seed-saving, seed libraries, and the importance of community seed-sharing programs.An author, herbalist, gardener, and educator, Ben farms with his family in Michigan.They started Small House Farm when they realized that they wanted to to slow down and live a more simple life.Ben is the founder of the Michigan Seed Library, a seed sharing initiative that has helped set up 70 seed library programs. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Linda Borghi from Farm-A-Yard joins us to talk about how she got into growing food, her first farm, her move into SPIN-Farming (small-plot-intensive), and her current work in communications with her Farm-A-Yard project. Her mission is to teach others how to grow so that they can turn lawns into food gardens. To achieve this, she connects people with skills and information to help them succeed growing. Coming from a business background outside of agriculture, Borhi has a strong interest in the business side of growing—and is keen to challenge accepted practices. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

Horticulturist Joel Karsten, a pioneer of the straw-bale gardening technique, talks about the concept of straw-bale gardening. He explains how it works, where it can be used, and how to make it work well.Karsten, who grows vegetables in a 24-bale garden on his small residential property in Minnesota, grew up on a farm seeing healthy weeds growing in old, broken straw bales. When he bought his first house and decided to make a vegetable garden, he couldn’t—there was too little soil. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]

In this broadcast that originally aired live on The Food Garden Life Radio Show, we chat with farmer, author, and food system activist Micheal Abelman. Michael is a visionary of the urban farming movement. In addition to his family farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, he’s the co-founder and director of Sole Food Street Farms in Vancouver, an urban agriculture business that provides employment to people managing poverty and addiction. The farm covers 4 acres of land, producing 25 tons of food annually. The author of many books, his most recent book is Farm The City: A Toolkit for Setting up a Successful Urban Farm.In the second half of the show, we chat with horticulturist and foodscaping expert Brie Arthur about her new book, Gardening with Grains. Brie is an advocate of including food plants in the landscape, and a proponent of planting edibles within traditional ornamental landscapes.Brie gives advice for growing grains from planting to harvest. Ever thought of growing barley? It gives a whole new meaning to the term “beer garden!”Brie previously joined us on the show to talk about her book The Foodscape Revolution. The Tomato-Talk segment and Biggs-On-Figs segments are included in the chat with Michael Abelman. ---Join 6,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang and get practical weekly tips to grow more food at home—free. It’s the best way to get started. [Join the newsletter]