The Best Gardening Podcasts

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Best podcasts for Gardeners

I don’t know about you, but by about January 20th, my green fingers are itching to get into some soil!  And by about Valentine’s Day, I cannot wait any longer—full seed sowing mode ensues! What’s funny about this, is that we reside in USDA Hardiness Zone 4 actually Zone 5, as of Fall 2019, and our average frost dates are as follows:

Average Last Frost: May 22

Average First Frost: September 19

Most seeds really only require 8-12 weeks before being transplanted, so as you can imagine, we get a tremendously early start!  It works for us, quite well, and it keeps the cabin fever at bay.  Many a cold winter’s night has been occupied by sowing seeds in my basement, watering seedlings, bumping them up to larger containers, and rotating flats of plants to optimize light usage. 

ALL WHILE LISTENING TO GARDEN PODCASTS. 

Yup, I am a Garden Podcast junkie! Nothing makes for a better night of indoor gardening, and garden dreaming and scheming, than listening to garden podcasts. 

If you don’t know what a podcast is, it is essentially a pre-recorded internet radio program about a niche topic.  In this case, I am going to be talking about my favorite gardening podcasts.  Podcasts vary in duration, with some being really short and others being longer than an hour. I like the slightly longer format podcasts that can occupy me for a half an hour or longer. Sometimes the podcast host will talk throughout the whole episode, and other times they will interview a guest.  You can access podcasts online or through a number of apps on your smart phone. I have lousy network coverage on my cell phone because we live so rural, so a lot of the time, when I am connected to our wifi, I will download podcast episodes, and then listen to them as I have time in the car, when I’m walking, when I’m outside in the garden—no streaming/data usage necessary. 

With that said, these are my current garden podcast faves.  Check them out, to get great gardening advice and endless garden inspiration! I’ve linked directly to each podcast. And if you have a garden podcast that you love, that is not on this list, please tell me about it by leaving a comment below.

Top Podcasts for Gardeners (2020)

The Joe Gardener Show…with Joe Lamp’l

Hands down, this is one of the most comprehensive, well-produced, and wonderful gardening podcasts there is, especially if you are interested in growing food, gardening for wildlife, and organic gardening practices.  Joe has had some fascinating guests on his show.  Most episodes are around an hour long, and he releases a new episode each week  I’ve linked through to some of my favorite episodes below:

088-The New Organic Grower: 50-Years in the Making, with Eliot Coleman

045-Succession Planting: Practical Tips For Growing More Food [with Meg Cowden from Seed to Fork]

003-Growing Epic Tomatoes with Craig LeHoullier

The Gardenangelists…with Dee Nash and Carol Michel

Dee & Carol are a hoot! I constantly find myself smiling or laughing, when listening to these two ladies, “chatting over the garden gate”.  In each episode, which is just under 30 minutes, they talk about a flower, a vegetable, and then some other current topic related to gardening.  They give great garden book recommendations and definitely preach the wonders of gardening.  Thus, the name—they are the evangelists of gardening! Oh, and if you’re a sucker for a good quote, they’ve got plenty! New episodes released every Wednesday.

A Way to Garden…with Margaret Roach

Margaret Roach worked, first as the garden editor, and then as the editorial director for Martha Stewart Living for several years.  When she retired from the magazine, she moved to a 2.3 acre “fixer upper” property in upstate New York, where she began transforming the property into a sanctuary, for herself and all the little critters. She also wrote some books, created AWayToGarden.com, and started recording this podcast.  Each episode is about 25 minutes and jam-packed with outstanding garden ideas, interviews with interesting guests, and special reverence for the natural world. There’s a new episode each week. Here are some of my favorites:

when ornamental and edible merge: foodscaping, with brie arthur

‘saving jemima: life and love with a hard-luck jay,’ with julie zickefoose

best tomatoes: craig lehoullier’s heirloom picks, plus the dwarf tomato project

The Beginner’s Garden Podcast…with Jill McSheehy

Even if you are not a beginning gardener, check out Jill’s podcast.  She explores many topics related to growing your own food, starting with the basics.  Many of her episodes discuss valuable resources you can be utilizing in your garden and what you can do to troubleshoot specific issues you may be having. Plus, she started this podcast as a way to help “Beginners” so she is constantly providing very good definitions and explanations.   And, if you like interviews, she has several! She releases a new episode each week, normally running from 30-60 minutes.

Down The Garden Path Podcast…with Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing

This is actually a radio show in Ontario, Canada that is converted to podcast after it airs.  The hosts are landscape designers and they discuss a number of topics specific to gardening & landscaping.  They have many guests on their show, who offer great tips and insights about everything from designing a cohesive landscape, to growing food, to caring for your perennials, to planting trees, and so forth.  Episodes are an hour long and released weekly.

Living Homegrown Podcast…with Theresa Loe (*host is currently on hiatus)

While the host of this podcast is currently on hiatus, there are tons of incredible episodes archived.  This podcast is one of my favorites, and it’ll be perfect for you, too, if you love all that homegrown and homemade. Not only does the Theresa explore gardening, but she also talks about chicken keeping, sustainable living, canning, and other crafts such as making your own bread or soap.  And she has interviews with several fascinating guests.  Episodes are 30-40 minutes.  Linking through to some of my personal favorites below: 

LH 141: Companion Planting Veggies & Flowers [with Lisa Ziegler]

LH 133: Growing Fun & Unusual Vegetables [with Niki Jabbour]

LH 42 – Creating A Bold & Beautiful Edible Garden


EPIC Gardening Podcast…with Kevin Espiritu

This is a shorter format gardening podcast, with each daily episode being less than 10 minutes. Kevin talks about every gardening topic under the sun! If there is something you are interested in, from grow lights to vermicomposting to growing XYZ, check it out. The short and sweet episodes are interesting and engaging, packed with tips and advice, and Kevin is always a great host.


Plantrama…with Ellen Zachos & C.L. Fornari

This is a weekly podcast about plants—all plants—hosted by two true plant aficionados. Each episode is about 30 minutes and focuses on growing plants, troubleshooting plant problems, and creative ways of using plants. Ellen is a big time forager, so she is often sharing ways to utilize common “weeds” and wild plants in recipes. They also answer listener questions at the conclusion of each episode.

The Garden Path Podcast…with Misti Little (no longer being produced)

Misti has decided to stop producing The Garden Path Podcast for now, but she has years worth of awesome episodes archived.  She explored many topics pertaining to gardening and being out in nature, in general.  I really appreciated the authenticity depicted by Misti in her podcast episodes and her reverence for our planet.  Two of my favorite episodes were:

Ep. 4-12: Edible Abundance in the North Country | Meg Cowden

Ep. 5-7: Phoebes Birding – Birds, Nature, and Native Plants | Eliana Ardila Ardila

Cultivating Place…with Jennifer Jewell

Each Thursday, Jennifer releases a new episode of Cultivating Place. It is a longer format podcast, with each episode being just under an hour—perfect for listening to on your lunch hour. She conducts meaningful interviews with many gardeners. She explores the human component of gardening, rather than just plants and how to care for plants. Here are a couple of the interviews I particularly enjoyed:

THE HUMMINGBIRD MONITORING NETWORK, with DR. SUSAN WETHINGTON

LAURA INGALLS WILDER & THE LANDSCAPES THAT INSPIRED HER, with MARTA MCDOWELL

SEED LIFE, with JERE GETTLE, BAKER CREEK SEEDS

The Still Growing Gardening Podcast…with Jennifer Ebeling (No longer being produced)

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This is the podcast that got me hooked on gardening podcasts. The host produced an episode every week or two for a few years. The episodes were longer format, each being about 2 hours, and had such awesome gardening-related news stories, ideas, and interviews. I was really sad when it abruptly ended in early 2018. I kept thinking she might eventually pick back up, until I found that she started a newer, shorter format, daily podcast called The Daily Gardener. I’m still getting a feel for The Daily Gardener, but I don’t like it nearly as much as I liked Still Growing. While Still Growing is no longer being produced, there are hours of archived episodes for your listening pleasure. Here a a few episodes I loved:

How to Make Your NEW Garden Feel OLDER

How to Save the Monarch with Kylee Baumle

Twenty Reasons NOT to Garden and WHY I IGNORE THEM ALL with Garden Humorist Luke Ruggenberg


Free the Seed! Podcast (O.S.S.I.)…with Rachel Hultengren

This is a fascinating, relatively newer, podcast released by the Open Source Seed Initiative. In each episode, the host, Rachel Hultengren, interviews a plant breeder to learn the story behind the varieties they are breeding. All of the seeds discussed are Open Source. In other words, the breeders have not placed any restrictions on seed use. There are no patents preventing the user from saving seed, using seed to breed hybrids, etc. One episode I really liked was Rachel’s interview with Craig LeHoullier and Petrina Nuske Small of The Dwarf Tomato Project.


2020 Color of the Year

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The Color of the Year for 2020 is a good one—one of my favorite colors in the garden—Blue Indigo.  Each year, Garden Media Group predicts garden trends for the following year, including a trending color.  In 2019, they predicted the 2020 Color of the Year to be Indigo.  I’d say they were pretty spot-on in this prediction because shortly after they announced Indigo as the go-to color for 2020, the Pantone Color Institute, which is the leading authority on color forecasting, came out and announced that it’s Color of the Year for 2020 would be Classic Blue.   

“A timeless and enduring blue hue, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity. Suggestive of the sky at dusk....Non-aggressive and easily relatable, the trusted PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue lends itself to relaxed interaction. Associated with the return of another day, this universal favorite is comfortably embraced.”
— https://www.pantone.com/color-intelligence/color-of-the-year/color-of-the-year-2020

What Color is Indigo?

Indigo can most easily be defined in terms of the visible light spectrum. Do you remember that acronym you learned in 7th grade—ROY G BIV—the colors of the rainbow? Well, Indigo falls right between Blue & Violet.  In a more everyday sense, indigo is the color of dark denim. In fact, the dye used for denim jeans used to be derived from a plant in the Indigofera genus, before scientists were able to make a synthetic version. Nowadays, lots of people associate Indigo with being a dark blue color, the color of a midnight sky, and Blue being the characteristic light blue color of a clear blue sky.

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I, personally, associate indigo with Indigo Buntings. I’ve only ever had the privilege of meeting one in my backyard, but these beautiful blue birds are the same color as the night skies in which they migrate, twice a year, using the stars for navigation.

indigo bunting.png

All of this to say, the 2020 Color of the Year is BLUE!

I really couldn’t care less about trends, especially living in such a remote area, where I truly garden for my own viewing pleasure. (Oh, and for the birds!)  But I do love that Blue is the color of the year for 2020 because I’m a sucker for blue blooms, and I have an inkling that there will be plenty available in garden centers come spring, when I am planting my new garden.  

In a gardening sense, it is quite difficult to find true blue flowers.  I have sought out many throughout the years, and most end up having a slight violet or purple cast to them, or being more of a baby blue tone when they bloom.  There are a few, however, that end up being that eye-catching shade of true blue.  That’s why I think the color of this year, in the garden, will encompass shades all along the spectrum, from Blue to Indigo to Violet.

I made this handy list to help inspire you to embrace this year’s color of the year.  Each item is linked to photos, more detailed descriptions, and where you can buy them. I find blue fits in gorgeously in the garden.  It’s practically a neutral! 

Just like blue jeans look good with most anything, blue flowers look good with most anything!

 Blue-tiful flowers for 2020

Blue Salvias

  • One of my favorites, available in a wide variety of choices, some grown best from nursery starts, and some easy enough to grow from seed. Here are just a few:

    • ‘Black & Bloom’ 0r ‘Black & Blue’ are very similar cultivars have beautiful blue flowers and nearly black calyxes that contrast gorgeously with green foliage. They are perennials in USDA Zones 8-10. I used to live in Zone 9, and they overwintered like a charm for at least 3 years—in fact, I am sure they are still alive where I planted them! If grown as a perennial, they benefit from being cutback in late winter/before spring. They are herbaceous salvias, so you can cut them back almost all the way. I normally don’t leave more than a couple inches of stem. You need to cut them back so new growth can get sunlight and proper air circulation. (TIP: You can also prune your pineapple sage this same way!) Proven Winners has a release similar to these two varieties called ‘Rockin’ Blue Suede Shoes’

    • ‘Blue Marvel’ is a cultivar of Salvia nemorosa that was available seemingly everywhere last year. It has grey-green, deer-resistant foliage, and more-violet-than-blue flowers that are all the rage amongst the bumble bees. There is also a ‘Rose Marvel’ cultivar with pink flowers. I planted a combination of these two in 2018 and had no problems overwintering them in Zone 4. They are also an herbaceous salvia, so you’ll need to prune them down, almost completely, before they put on new growth in the spring. Many other blue cultivars of Salvia nemorosa are available, as well. Here are a few: Color Spires ‘Crystal Blue’, Salvia ‘Bumbleblue’, Color Spires ‘Azure Snow’

    • ‘Rockin’ Playin’ the Blues’ is a release from Proven Winners, so it’s probably a winner! I haven’t grown it, personally, but it features violet-blue flowers on indigo calyxes. Apparently, even after the flowers drop, it remains looking good because of the remaining indigo calyxes.

    • ‘Blue Angel’ is a variety of Gentian Sage that can be grown from seed—no stratification required. And this one happens to bloom in true cobalt blue.

Blue Bachelor Button

  • Also known as blue cornflower, these self-sowing annuals are very easy to grow from seed, have silvery foliage, and bloom in a lovely shade of cobalt blue. Goldfinches love the seed of bachelor’s buttons and you can also make a detoxifying herbal tea from the flowers.

Blue Hydrangea

Blue Love-In-A-Mist

  • Also known as Nigella, these old-fashioned annuals are easy to grow from seeds, have lovely, feathery foliage, and bloom in charming shades of white, pink, and true blue.

Victoria Blue Forget-Me-Not

  • These dainty biennials are easy to grow from seed, perform well in the shade, and bloom in their second year. They form star-shaped, sky blue flowers with yellow eyes, before going to seed. They are enthusiastic self-sowers. They do not flourish well in full sun, especially once the heat of summer hits.

  • There is also another flower, Chinese Forget-Me-Nots, that can be grown more like an annual. These flower the first year, on long stems, in shades of clear blue. You can plant a combination of Chinese Forget-Me-Nots (Summer Bloom) and Victoria Blue Forget-Me-Nots (Spring Bloom)for an extended season of sky blue! Botanical Interests sells a combination seed pack.

Blue Lobelia

  • One of my favorite understory plants! Edging or Trailing Blue Lobelia is super simple to grow from seed and readily available in inexpensive 6-packs when spring rolls around. It grows in petite 6-8” mounds, covered in lobed flowers of various shades, depending on the variety. You can get any shade of lobelia from light blue (Cambridge Blue) to electric blue (Crystal Palace) to white flecked in true blue (Riviera ‘Blue Splash’).

Blue Delphinium

  • There are many wonderful cultivars of this pretty perennial available today, in various shades of blue, among other colors. They boast tall, showy spikes of flowers, that emerge from truly deer-resistant, open mounds of lobed leaves. I have had good success with the ‘Magic Fountain’ Series, which features slightly shorter, sturdier flower spikes. The blooms are almost ultraviolet and a showstopper, for sure! Some other varieties that I love, but have not grown myself, are ‘Million Dollar Blue’ and ‘Million Dollar Sky’—both from Proven Winners.

  • I would recommend planting delphiniums from starts, rather than seed. And please, plan on staking them for best performance. The bloom stalks get very heavy and are prone to flopping, especially in windy conditions.

  • If you prefer to grow from seed, you can try Blue Larkspur, which is the annual counterpart to delphinium. It’s in the same family (Ranunculaceae) but can be grown as an annual, from seed, and flowers in the first year.

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

  • This vining annual is one of the first flowers I ever grew. They are easy to grow from seed, especially if you soak the seeds for ~24 hours. They bloom in the morning and the flowers are literally as glorious as the blue morning sky! Be careful though, as these self-sow like gangbusters!

‘Blue My Mind’ Dwarf Morning Glory

  • This is a plant I am going to be incorporating into some of my container plantings for this year. It loves heat, and has perfectly petite, five-petaled flowers in a gorgeous shade of indigo.

Bluestar Amsonia

  • These long lived, herbaceous, native perennials produce dense clusters of perfectly-periwinkle, star-shaped flowers each spring. Beautiful plants, all around, from the time their steely-blue shoots emerge each spring, to the time their foliage turns gold each fall. A really gorgeous cultivar is ‘Storm Cloud’.

Blue Butterfly Pea

  • I have not grown these, personally, but many of my friends on Instagram grow these bright cobalt blue pea flowers, native to Southeast Asia. The vigorous vines thrive in high heat and humidity and produce a plethora of flowers, that are perfect for brewing into bright blue teas. Blue Butterfly Peas would be fun to grow with kids because they are so vivid & colorful, and you can teach kids a lesson in the science of pH. If you brew a cup of blue butterfly tea, and then drop lemon juice in it, it will transform to the color pink!

Other ‘Blues’ to consider: Blue Flax, Blue Dropmore, Blue Borage, Great Blue Lobelia, Blue Ageratum, Virginia Bluebells, California Bluebells, Kirigami Blue & White Columbine, Early Bird Blue & White Columbine, Rocky Mountain Blue Penstemon, Heavenly Blue Pansies, Blue Russian Sage, Blue Muscari.

Zick Dough, A Delicious Winter Bird Feeding Supplement

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The wind has been howling relentlessly, here—some gusts up to 60 miles per hour.  This, combined with a couple of unseasonably warm days and whitetail deer eating their fill in every nearby field, can only mean one thing—A storm is a’coming! We are on winter weather watch, with snow in the forecast, and so it is officially time for me to break out the Zick Dough, or as we jokingly refer to it around here, Bird Crack.  This is essentially a suet recipe containing cereal grains, chick food, and fat.  It is very rich and so I only offer it to my birds in the winter when it is very cold and windy out, or on those unseasonably cold spring days, when natural food sources have dwindled after being eaten by birds all winter.  This is not a year-round food supplement, but it will make your winter birds love you!

I found this very easy-to-make suet recipe from Julie Zickefoose, Ohio wildlife artist, writer, and naturalist. She has an incredible background in raising baby birds of many species, including a Blue Jay by the name of Jemima.  She wrote a fabulous book about Jemima called Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay, which I wholeheartedly recommend you read! I got this recipe from her website.  I had been purchasing Birdacious Bark Butter from Wild Birds Unlimited.  It seemed like something I could somehow recreate in my own kitchen, mostly because we do not have a Wild Birds Unlimited store near where we live. In researching bark butter, I found Julie’s recipe for Zick Dough, Improved.  If this recipe is blended up (made in the blender or food processor), it is very similar to Bark Butter.  I find it not quite as sticky Bark Butter, though.  I like leaving it as crumbles for winter feeding—plus, it is one less step, leaving it crumbly.

So far, the birds who have partaken Zick Dough include: Blue Jays, Juncos, a few different Sparrows, House Finches, Magpies, Northern Flickers, Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, etc.  Give this recipe a try and see what beautiful winter birds you can attract to your backyard! 

As always, I have made a PRINTABLE VERSION for you.  Let me know how your birds like Zick Dough, below, and which bird finds it first!  My blue jays sniffed out the peanutty essence of this recipe, from a mile away, and were here within less than a half hour!

How to make Zick Dough for Wild Birds

From the kitchen of Julie Zickefoose

Ingredients

  • 1 cup lard*

  • 1 cup peanut butter, creamy OR crunchy

  • 2 cups unmedicated** Chick Starter crumbles

  • 2 cups quick oats

  • 1 cup cornmeal

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • OPTIONAL: 1-2 cups sunflower chips or shelled sunflower seeds

Preparation

  1. Melt Fats: In a microwave-safe dish, melt together lard and peanut butter.

  2. Combine Ingredients: In a separate bowl, measure out dry ingredients. Stir until combined, then slowly mix in melted lard & peanut butter.  When fully combined, mixture will be somewhat crumbly. 

  3. To Serve: Crumble mixture and serve however you’d like.  I have a dinner bell bird feeder that I like to put zick dough in, to keep it from getting soggy.  Some days, when it’s below freezing, I just toss it out on the deck or along the deck railing. The birds will crowd in to gobble it up &  leave no trace. This food is very rich in fat and should only be served as a winter supplement, when temperatures are very cold and storms imminent. 

  4. Store at Room Temperature or in a fridge.  All ingredients are shelf-stable, but I find it less messy to serve if stored in the fridge.

*I buy Snow Cap Lard from the grocery store. It is in the same aisle as the oils/vegetable shortening & baking ingredients.

**Chick Starter Crumbles can be found in the chicken feed section of your feed store or local ag co-op.  Be sure to buy Non-Medicated crumbles. A 5 lb. bag costs me around $6-$8 and makes several batches.