Beyond the Garden Basics Podcast

Record-breaking heat waves have pummeled the world, especially during the last two years. What’s a gardener to do?

In today’s newsletter podcast (above), Master Gardener Quentyn Young walks us through…

Phosphorus, in the world of plant fertilizers, is considered a macronutrient, an important element used by plants. Phosphorus is used to promote root and tuber growth, as well as the production of fl…

For those of you who did not receive last Friday’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, here it is. My apologies. I will send the gremlins to bed without dinner.

In today’s newsletter podcast (above),…

Trying to decipher the basics on how to sharp garden hand tools can be a bit daunting to understand in an audio format. Here’s Sacramento County Master Gardener Bill Black, with his YouTube video abo…

Today’s newsletter podcast (above) features Master Gardener/Vegetable Expert Gail Pothour, discussing her favorite cucumber varieties, as well as tips and tricks for their success. Originally feature…

Where is the zucchini?

That question is a popular one in the garden e-mail bag lately. Gardeners are fretting over a total lack of summer squash flowers. Other problems include zucchini flowers that …

If you listened to this week’s Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast (Ep. 269: “Growing Your Brain Food Garden”), you heard Dr. Laura Varich of FreshPhysician.com tout the cholesterol-fighting quali…

Recorded last week in front of a live audience at a meeting of the Sun City/Lincoln Hills (CA) garden club. Included a Power Point presentation, which I mistakenly referred to as “slides”. And yes, I…

Thinning Crowded Fruit on Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Vines

A prolifically producing peach tree next to an often-used walkway in our narrow side yard serves as a not so-subtle reminder this time of year: …

(From a 2022 interview with Master Rosarian Debbie Arrington. Originally aired on May 20, 2022, Garden Basics podcast)

Farmer Fred

What is America's favorite flower? Well, of course, it's the rose. Som…

As the weather warms, so do outbreaks of fleas and ticks. Today’s newsletter podcast features an interview with retired veterinarian and Master Gardener Heidi Napier, who talks about these pests, alo…

Interview with Robert Pavlis of GardenMyths.com:

Can Human Food also be Plant Food? (It depends how you apply it.)

(originally aired in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics Podcast)

Farmer Fred: What do you…

For years (decades, really), I’ve been promoting April 28 as Official Tomato Planting Day* for our area here in Northern California (Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin Valleys, low foothill…

The healthiest food you can eat is the food you grow yourself. It doesn’t get any fresher than that. In today’s newsletter podcast, we talk with two Master Gardener/chefs: Kathy Morrison of the daily…

For the best tomato growing season ever, we have tips. Just a few tips.

Today’s newsletter podcast features excerpts from two episodes of the Garden Basics podcast, Episode 93 with America’s Favorite …

If the idea of raising backyard chickens appeals to you, you just might be mulling over the thought, “Well, why not raise backyard bees, too?”

You may have listened to Episode 260 of the Garden Basics…

Jumping worms, and the publicity about them, are spreading. Debbie Flower (America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor) and I talked about this in August of 2021 in Episode 126 of the G…

In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter/podcast, we revisit a chat we had three years ago with Linda Chalker-Scott, Washington State University Horticulture Professor, author of several outs…

One in every three bites of food you take comes courtesy of a bee. Without their pollination efforts, our diet and our gardens would be, to say the least, boring. In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics…

In today’s Newsletter podcast, we revisit some advice given to us by America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, on how to get your pepper seeds to germinate more quickl…