Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

Clipping off the flower heads on your basil plants to send the energy back to the plant to produce more green leaves? Good idea! Are you tossing out those cut flower heads of the basil? Bad idea. How about serving them as a garnish in a salad or soup? For that matter, why not start serving many of the flowers you might have in your garden on the dinner table? Today, vegetable expert and Master Gardener Gail Pothour talks about all the edible flowers that you may not have thought about munching on: borage, calendulas, citrus flowers, lavender, nasturtium, apple flowers, rose petals, and even using zucchini or daylily flowers for stuffing! And we tell you the flowers to avoid, as well.

College horticulture professor Debbie Flower explains how to thwart bringing home any soil diseases that you might have in that pile of mulch or compost. It’s Episode 34 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred, and we will do it all in under 30 minutes.

Links:
Growing Edible Flowers in Your Garden (GN 155) Sacramento Co. Coopertive Extension
Colorado State University Extension “Edible Flowers”
"The Edible Flower Garden", by Rosalind Creasy.

More episodes and info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available at the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

We do read the comments you post at the various podcast services. And we respond. Recently, at the Apple Podcast site, Sage posted: “Will you please address the mystery seeds being mailed to Americans? This is super scary and I believe you can help prevent something awful since you have the audience. Thanks in advance!”

You’re welcome, in advance, Sage.

Yes, here’s one mystery in which there are still a lot of question marks. What’s the deal with all the unsolicited seed packets being mailed not only to gardeners in the United States, but all over the world? The seed shipments have fooled inspectors, because the packages are labeled as containing something else, such as jewelry or toys. The packages originate usually from China, and Kyrgyzstan.

Is it just a marketing gimmick, known as "brushing", a way to increase the notoriety and page placement on online selling sites…or, is their something nefarious about those seeds? Are they seeds of invasive or poisonous plants? Do the seeds contain plant viruses or bacteria? College horticulture professor (retired) Debbie Flower explains how a seed can carry a virus or bacteria, including the biggest threat to the country's citrus industry, the bacteria, Citrus Greening Disease (HLB).

Whatever you do, don’t plant those seeds. And don’t throw them away, either. We’ll tell you how you can help solve this mystery.

We do have more calming things to talk about here today: information on where to get inexpensive soil tests, here and here; and, how to tame the heat in peppers that you’ve grown that are just too hot, including habanero and serrano chile peppers. Dave DeWitt, author of "The Complete Chile Pepper Book" has the solution.

Don’t plant those seeds. Spend less than a half hour with us here, on Episode 33 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. Let’s go.

More episodes and info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available at the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

We’re into that time of the summer when, with a very serious look in her eye, and wearing a tomato-stained apron, my wife sternly says: 
"Next year, don’t plant so many cherry tomato plants!" 
In my defense, there were only five cherry or grape-sized tomato plants in the ground this year: Sungold, Sweet Million, Gardeners Delight, Juliet and Valentine. Still, my wife is the one who has to do something with all those tomatoes. So, after spending the better part of a Sunday in a hot kitchen roasting tomatoes, I can understand her point of view.

Are you suffering from tomato burnout? Zucchini overload? A cornucopia of cucumbers? If so, you are not alone. If you’re a long time listener to the Garden Basics podcast, you might be asking yourself as your lugging in another bucket full of backyard produce…"didn’t I hear an episode about food banks and food pantries that gladly welcome excess garden produce?"
Here then, for you, and for many many others in the weeks to come, an expanded encore edition of our interview with Gary Oppenheimer, the founder of AmpleHarvest.org. For everyone else who will be consuming their own tomato harvests, here's a link to that nifty garden wagon pictured on today's podcast...perfect for hauling tomatoes to the kitchen.

Maybe afterwards I can get my wife to share her roasted tomato recipe on the air with us. And after listening to it, you just might be in the market for a convection oven. And a water bath canner.
More information about safe water bath canning.
In today's Q&A segment, a listener is wondering about the dimensions and materials of the raised beds pictured on the Garden Basics title page. Wonder no more...
Debbie Flower talks about what to do when your cool season vegetables begin to bolt when the weather gets too warm. You could enjoy the beneficial insects that visit those flowers of the bolted crops; or, serve up those flowers in meals! Here's a link to safe plants to munch on.

More episodes and info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available a the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

If you’ve ever talked with a gardener who uses the excrement of worms around their plants, you may be familiar with their wide eyed look of rapture talking about all the benefits of using, to put it more politely and accurately, worm castings. Today, we will dig deep into the Farmer Fred audio archives to hear gardeners sing the praises of raising worms, and using their output, if you will, in the garden, a practice known as vermicomposting.
Members of the worm castings choir chime in with their high praise for the lowly worm: from 2004, best selling author Amy Stewart, author of the book, "The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms"; from 2017, Sacramento County Master Gardener and vermicomposting specialist Susan Muckey discusses the worm bins at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center; and in a recent conversation, organic educator Giselle Schoniger, who works for a company, Kellogg Garden Products, that sells worm castings. Shall we go play with the worms? Let’s fill your worm bin. And, we’ll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go.

More info about vermicomposting.
The book, "Worms Eat My Garbage", by Mary Applehof.
Ants in Your Worm Bin? A Solution.

More episodes and info including live links, product information, transcripts, and chapters available a the home site for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

Bees are one of the best pollinators to have flying around your food garden. It’s been said that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food you eat. Today, we take attracting bees to your garden one step further: how about raising your own hive of honeybees? We talk with one of the world’s foremost bee authorities, Dr. Norman Gary, on how you can become a successful backyard beekeeper. He is the author of the book, "The Honeybee Hobbyist."
Maybe you just want to attract bees to your yard to help pollinate your food garden. Here's a list of plants for California that attracts bees. And for the entire country, check out this very informative bee website for even more plants.

Are you familiar with parsnips? This tasty, nutritious root crop matures in cold weather but needs to get planted soon for harvest after the frost season begins. We talk parsnips with a big fan of this carrot relative, Matt Mattus, author of the book, “Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening”.
Matt mentions his favorite parsnip variety, Gladiator. Find it at Renee's Garden seed company.

Gardening takes patience. Lots of patience. Years of patience. That’s the crux of a popular saying among nursery employees about growing plants…sleep, creep, leap. College Horticulture professor (retired) Debbie Flower will explain.

We’re buzzing with great garden information on this, episode 30 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fred https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

Confused about that tall wall of soil products you see in the nursery? Garden Soil, Planting Mix, Potting Mix, which do you choose for your plants? We talk with soil educator Gisele Schoniger about the right soil amendments for you. Fruit tree questions abound this time of year, we tackle your peach and apricot issues. And, college horticulture professor Debbie Flower insists, your roses do not have thorns. What?

We are sticklers for accuracy on this, episode 29 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

Looking for easy-to-grow fruit trees, loaded with tasty  fruit, every summer? It’s hard to beat peaches and plums. Today we talk with fruit tree expert Phil Pursel of Dave Wilson Nursery about the delicious choices available. For peaches, try the O'Henry, Harken, the Donut Peach, Red Baron, Contender, Elberta, Babcock, Garden Gold. For plums, it would be the Weeping Santa Rosa, Burgundy, Emerald Beaut. And we touch upon the plum crosses,  pluots and pluerries. For best results, especially to maintain tree vigor, use organic fruit tree fertilizers because of their lower dosages of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Control peach leaf curl with dormant season sprays. For more fruit tree selections, how-to videos and where to find the nursery nearest to you that carries Dave Wilson Nursery fruit trees - visit DaveWilson.com.

Also: our favorite college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, takes the bitterness out of cucumbers. Grow them in full sun and choose hybrid cucumber varieties such as Diva, Sweet Success, Cool Breeze, Summer Dance, Improved Long Green, Eversweet, Ashley, Sunnybrook, Saticoy Hybrid, and Lemon.

We are burp-free on this, episode 28 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes.
p.s. That's the Garden Gold peach in bloom in the picture.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? Call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

You think you’re learning something new every time YOU listen to the Garden Basics podcast? Heck, I learn something new in each episode, as well. So, this time around, it’s a compilation of garden knowledge that will definitely make you a better gardener, and a better food shopper. We will call this episode, I DID NOT KNOW THAT. College horticulture professor Debbie Flower talks about the benefits of cutting the roots of plants before you stick them in the ground, and most importantly, HOW you cut those roots.
A former guest on the show, Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott, recommends washing off all the soil from woody plants before sticking them in the ground.
Also, which soil and fertilizer amendments to add to a planting hole (How about liquid seaweed or kelp meal, says I. How about none, says Debbie. Compromise: add it to the top of the soil after planting).

Hot chile pepper expert Dave Dewitt talks about the myth of the Hatch Chile, and how those oversized jalapeño peppers that you might see at the market may not pack much heat…which for many of us, might be a good thing. Dave Dewitt is the author of many chile pepper books.

Planting tips, pepper advice, on this episode of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube
Garden columnist, Lodi News-Sentinel 

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

It seemed like a simple enough garden question to answer: The writer of the email said: “I have never cared for a young peach tree or any other variety so I don't know what to do since I got it in the ground. Now what?” The writer included a picture of the tree, which you can see attached to this episode.

Our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, and I ended up having more questions and comments after closely studying the picture. The end result? a show, mostly dedicated to how to plant a fruit tree to insure success. 

Also in this episode: a Quick Tip for keeping new soil in a pot from coming out the drain holes.

And, this week's Feel Good moment: the joy of eating a piece of homegrown fruit. Over the sink. A wonderful, juicy mess!

So, grab a piece of home grown fruit and Give us a listen! It’s all part of Episode 26 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. And we will do it all in under 30 minutes.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube
Garden columnist, Lodi News-Sentinel 

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.

Today, we’re talking about two of the ten most popular backyard garden vegetables: sweet peppers and hot peppers. We talk with the man whom the New York Times dubbed the Pope of Peppers, Dave Dewitt. Besides offering up tips on how to grow hot peppers, but also how to overwinter them for a second year crop (some varieties are better than others for this). Plus, he has the remedy for what to swallow after you’ve bitten down on a pepper that is just too hot. And no…it’s not water or beer, and its not milk! Looking for different varieties to try? Check out some of these from a previous Pepper Tasting Party.

And we get questions about sweet pepper problems. Our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, tackles the case of the falling flowers from pepper plants. Sound familiar? Give us a listen! It’s all part of Episode 25 of Garden Basics with Farmer Fred.

More info about why vegetables shed blossoms prematurely here.

An informative NuMex Joe E. Parker pepper seed packet from Renee's Garden.

The Scoville Scale, explained.

An easier way to germinate pepper seeds.

And kids...don't try this at home.

More episodes and info available at Garden Basics with Farmer Fredhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1004629.

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's available just about anywhere podcasts are handed out. Please subscribe and leave a comment or rating at Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Got a garden question? There are several ways to get in touch: call and leave a question, or text us the question: 916-292-8964. E-mail: [email protected] or, leave a question at the Facebook, Twitter or Instagram locations below. Be sure to tell us where you are when you leave a question, because all gardening is local.

All About Farmer Fred:
Farmer Fred website: http://farmerfred.com
Daily Garden tips and snark on Twitter
The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog
Facebook:  "Get Growing with Farmer Fred"
Instagram: farmerfredhoffman
Farmer Fred Garden Videos on YouTube
Garden columnist, Lodi News-Sentinel 

Thank you for listening, subscribing and commenting on the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast and the Beyond the Garden Basics  Newsletter.