Episodes
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In this episode . . .
A frost narrowly avoided. Changing leaves, and beautiful Boston ivy. The local woodchip and leaf economy. Some cutting back (but mostly not). Surprise radishes. Cold frames and improvised low tunnels. Native seed sitting. Bulb planting tips. And a goodbye, or maybe a see you later.
Otherwise this week, I’m . . .
Savouring: The colours of the leaves and their crunch underfoot.
Tending: Cutting back diseased plants, planting spring bulbs, digging up and dividing dahlias.
Harvesting: Parsley, sage, kale, chard, green onions.
I said it in the podcast, but I’ll say it again: if you have feedback on this experiment, this season, I’d love to hear it. I’m not sure if Gardening Out Loud has a future, but feedback from devoted listeners will help determine that. And the episodes will nevertheless remain online if you need a dose of the growing season during the winter.
Thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for your attention this season.
xoJen
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Return of the juncos. Winter’s call to rest. Harvesting bean seeds. Late season harvests. The beauty of stolen yard waste. My compost cycle. Starting new beds.
Specific plant varieties mentioned: Coyote tomato, Gem marigold series, Silver Years dahlia, Lakeview Peach Fuzz dahlia,
Be a part of Gardening Out Loud!
It’s as easy as recording a voice memo on your phone. Record your name, where you live, and then describe a moment in the garden or in nature that mattered to you this year. Send them to [email protected].
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
Missing episodes?
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Welcome back to another guest episode. This time I headed northwest on my bike up to the home of Mikael Walter-Campbell, the owner and maker at Sage & Thistle Handmade Goods, where she makes all kinds of wonderful soaps, infused oils, masks, soaks, and more.
I wanted to see the garden that provides many of the botanicals for her products and learn more about what she grows for skincare and how it makes the transition from plant to finished product. Along the way we also talk about the importance of having something to nurture, gardening with kids, gardening in community, making mistakes, and cultivating an aesthetic that’s just a little bit wild.
If you’d like to learn more about Mikael and Sage & Thistle, check out her website and her Instagram, or drop by her shop at 2A Rogers Rd. in Toronto.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Retreat recovery. The beauty (and practicality) of asters and goldenrod. Time to label dahlias and move or divide perennials.
Specific plant varieties mentioned: White snakeroot, large-leaved aster, wood aster, cardinal flower, boneset
Be a part of Gardening Out Loud!
It’s as easy as recording a voice memo on your phone. Record your name, where you live, and then describe a moment in the garden or in nature that mattered to you this year. Send them to [email protected].
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Shift in the seasons. Time to top tomatoes. A minor squash victory. Focus on ripening he fruits you have. Compost bin fungi and other surprises. Gardening as act of faith.
Specific plant varieties mentioned: Blue Kuri squash, Cosmos Apricot Lemonade
Be a part of Gardening Out Loud!
It’s as easy as recording a voice memo on your phone. Record your name, where you live, and then describe a moment in the garden or in nature that mattered to you this year. Send them to [email protected].
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
A tree full of birds. Tuning in by slowing down. The delights (and practicality) of the New England aster. Guest appearance by a marauding squirrel.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
In praise of Canada goldenrod. Strategies for savouring summer. A magical harvest dinner. Saving cosmos, nasturtium, and calendula seeds. My squirrels love honeynut squash. A taste of the tropics with ground cherries.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
Most of Gardening Out Loud focuses on gardeners, but in Toronto there are a few ingenious folks farming in people’s gardens. Sylvia Cheng of Growing Tkaronto Floristry is one of those people growing gorgeous blooms on borrowed land, creating little pockets of abundance beside busy city streets.
I came to Sylvia for her perspective on farming in gardens, working with landowners, and, of course, growing beautiful dahlias. On a beautiful late summer day, we checked out her home plot, one growing in the neighbour’s backyard, and hopped our bikes to visit a front yard dahlia plot just exploding with colour.
Tune in to learn a bit about some challenges of urban floristry, tips for healthy dahlias, and why growing local flowers matters.
If you’d like to learn more about Sylvia and Growing Tkaronto, check out her website and her Instagram. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into urban flower farming and have a new understanding of why some of why local bouquets have higher price tags.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
On embracing creativity as an adult and finding flow state. A tour of all the plants and flowers I use in arrangements. Basic tips for bouquets and arrangements. The benefits of growing your own cut flowers.
The book that taught me so much about arranging seasonal flowers: A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein.
I get my spring bulbs from Flowerbulbsrus. (Not sponsored.)
Specific plant varieties mentioned: Black Knight scabiosa, Costa Silver snapdragons, Black Prince snapdragons, Little Lime hydrangea, cosmos Apricot Lemonade, cosmos Snow Puff, ninebark Diablo, geranium Rose of Attar.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
A passionfruit-scented rose. Tomatoes, beans, cukes. The squash plants persevere. Sprouting broccoli lessons. Planters are not litterboxes (and yet . . .) Surprise cucamelons continue. Attack of the 11-foot tomato plant. Some container successes.
Specific seed varieties mentioned: Purple Peacock pole beans, Blue Lake pole beans, dahlia Hollyhill Black Beauty, dahlia Lakeview Peach Fuzz, dahlia Karras 150, cosmos Apricot Lemonade, ninebark Diablo, Aspabroc sprouting broccoli, Mesclun mix, Duke blueberry, geranium Attar of Roses, Coyote tomato, Fall Gold raspberries. The ruffled tomato in the container I couldn’t remember is called Costoluto Fiorentino.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Cultivating awe. Visits from cardinals and teen robins. Updates from the zinnia and the dahlia patch. Garden time moves differently.
Specific seed varieties from this episode: dahlia Hollyhill Black Beauty. Queen Lime zinnia series.
If you want to learn more about awe, check out the interviews I mentioned with Dacher Kaltner: On Being and How We Live Now. You can also read Keltner’s new book, Awe: The New Science of Everyday. And let me know what brings little doses of awe to your life.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
A calla lily experiment. The resilience of mouse melons. All hail the 2023 garlic harvest. First tomato. Dahlias and tomatoes are here. Plus: zinnias! Beans! Cucumbers!
Specific seed varieties from this episode: dragon’s tongue bush beans, Cosmonaut Volkov tomatoes, Piccolo cucumbers, Eleonora basil, tulsi (holy basil), dahlia Lakeview Peach Fuzz, snowpuff cosmos.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
Another guest episode! Last year, as part of Urban Agriculture Week in Toronto, I visited Maria Solakofski’s garden in East York, and I found myself signing up for a workshop just so I could return days later. Listen in and I think you’ll get a sense of why.
Maria is an herbalist and educator growing a wildly abundant garden according to permaculture principles. She sells tisanes, skincare, and other herbal products, and runs workshops and a mentorship program out of her East York yard.
You’ll find this episode runs a bit longer than the other guest episodes, because we covered three gardens — and if you like listening as much as I liked being there, I don’t want to cut it short.
Tune in to learn a bit about permaculture, but also unique berries, growing in containers, soil amendment, and cooperating with wildlife. The episode also feature’s the pod’s first-ever groundhog guest.
If you’d like to learn more about Maria and her garden, check out her website, Wild by Nature, to learn more about her offerings. I hope you enjoyed soaking in her knowledge and enthusiasm, and you too always remember her prompt to enjoy something you don’t strictly need: “But wouldn’t it be nice?”
Lastly, I can’t seem to record a guest podcast without an audio problem (🤦♀️) and you’ll find the last three minutes with Maria are a bit of a shambles because it seems my new mic didn’t connect and you were getting raw phone audio. I encourage you to keep listening though — those are some of the most vital minutes of the conversation. One day I’ll crack this audio thing, I swear. Listening to my intro this morning, I thought maybe it’s making me sound like a robot, so my mic search may continue. Thank you for your grace as I stumble my way through. At a certain point, you’ll also hear some rambunctious play from a nearby yard, because that’s just life in the city.
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In this episode . . .
After the rain (cue Jim Cuddy). Why I’m done with comfrey tea even if it’s not done with me. Milkweed multiplies. Collecting kale seed. Surprise mouse melons. More edible “weeds” and surprise appearances. A special guest monarch. First zinnia (Queen Lime Blush). Leaf thievery and its many uses.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
The great fence drama of 2023, and why a chain-link fence can be a wonderful thing. First strawflowers and blueberries. Borage abounds. Pinching dahlias. A return to broccoli.
Gardens I visited last weekend: Artemesia Daylilies and Fiddlehead Nursery — they’re just down the road from each other.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Snapdragons and poppies in their prime. Serviceberry mystery solved? Revelling in raspberries. On growing friendship. Mulberries as economy of abundance.
If you’re in Toronto and have a fruit tree you’d like harvested, or would like to help harvest other people’s trees, sign up for Not Far from the Tree. Similar groups also exist in cities all over the world.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
It’s time for another guest episode, this time with Butterfly Ranger and passionate front yard food grower Sarah Joy Bennett. SJ tends a farm in the front and a forest in the back (the horticultural mullet?). The lovely front yard features two raised beds and a nifty terraced side pollinator patch. (If you’d like to see the transformation of her eroding slope with the Dirt Locker, you can see some photos from installation, year one, and year two on her Instagram. It’s pretty cool, and I’m not just saying that because I helped.) While we recorded, the whole space was just humming with pollinators.
This is an especially useful episode if you’re a renter with access to potential growing space, but we also discuss growing with kids, the wonder of berries (including the new-to-me annual huckleberry), gardening as a gateway to community, and focusing on growing what you love, which is less obvious that it sounds.
If you’re now invested in Sarah Joy’s garden, you can follow it through the seasons through her Instagram, @sarahjoybennett.
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In this episode . . .
Garden, farm, or . . . ? Savouring scape season. Elegant cerinthe. The gift of a peony. The carrots’ loss is the beans’ gain. Pinching tomato suckers. Lavender haze. Strawberries are for sharing. What happened to my serviceberry?
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
Climate retreat and grounding in the grass. Tomatoes love heat. A moment for scented geranium leaves. (And too many streetcars — words hardly ever uttered in Toronto. Sorry about the sonic intrusion!)
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com -
In this episode . . .
A brief history of the garden’s roses (Boscobel, Desdemona, Munstead Wood, and James Galway — all David Austin Roses). Obsessed with my clematis. Dahlias emerging.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gardeningoutloud.substack.com - Show more
