Good Growing

This week on the Good Growing podcast, Ken and Chris sift through a survey that asks homeowners about water-saving products that can be used during water restrictions. The duo go down the list of products suggested by the survey and discuss whether these items would truly help save water and benefit your plants during a severe drought. After debating the merits of the survey’s products, Ken and Chris provide some horticulturally sound water-saving tips for our Midwest yards and gardens.

Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/oO3BYDiOzww 

Skip to what you want to know:
03:02 The survey we are discussing today regarding water-saving products from the lawn and garden. Impacts from water restrictions.
07:36 Going through the survey results.
12:26 Natural fertilizers. Water Saving Product?
16:08 Soil Wetting Agents. Water Saving Product?
21:49 Compost. Water Saving Product?
25:28 Liquid lawn fertilizers and soil moisture monitors. Water Saving Product?
30:35 Artificial Turf. Water Saving Product?
33:53 Soil amendments. Water Saving Product?
36:56 Granular lawn fertilizer. Water Saving Product?
40:35 Herbicides and fungicides. Water Saving Product?
42:17 Polymer pellets (hydrogels). Water Saving Product?
47:11 Recommendations for saving water in Illinois gardens and landscapes.
47:32 Soil amendments based on soil test results.
48:27 Planting vegetables in blocks rather than rows.
48:35 Siting plants based on their water requirements.
49:51 Select plants adapted to your site conditions.
50:12 Shade cloth in vegetable gardens.
51:00 Enhance and protect shade trees.
52:55 Eliminate non-functional turf.
53:32 Break up impervious pavement surfaces.
54:55 Water collection devices.
56:02 What about graywater in Illinois?
56:48 Watering properly and efficiently. 
57:59 Drip irrigation or soaker hoses.
58:51 Prioritizing what plants get watered and which are on their own.
01:02:07  Thank yous! See ya next week!

Mulch episode https://youtu.be/sqw4Cwr7wjo

Contact us! 
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
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Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

While we tend to focus on the positives of plants, not all plants work well in all gardens or for all gardens. Whether they are too aggressive, require too much time and maintenance, or we just don’t like them, there are a variety of reasons we may not want to grow certain plants. On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we discuss some of the plants we’ve grown in our gardens that we wouldn’t plant again and some that we would think twice about planting. It’s not all bad, though; we also discuss some plants we will always plant in our gardens.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XHqaxZPzlVU

Skip to what you want to know:  

  00:35 – Welcome, Ken and Emily! How are the gardens doing?

  03:55 – Why we chose these plants

  05:00 – Never again plants

      05:15 – Early sunflower

      09:25 – Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina'

      10:45 – Pink celery

      12:50 – Cauliflower

      16:20 – Maple trees

      23:53 – Daylilies (ditch lilies)

      28:25 – Mountain mint

      30:50 – Common milkweed

  32:40 – Think twice before planting again

      30:50 – River oats

      35:05 – Arborvitae

      37:55 – Vegetable garden

      41:20 – Passionflower

      43:05 – Sweet corn

      43:20 – Roses

      45:40 – Stock and snapdragons

      48:15 – Lamb’s-ear

      49:42 – Peanuts

      51:15 – Lemon seeds

      54:12 – Whorled milkweed

  56:40 – Must plant every year plants

        57:10 – Sunflower, snapdragons, cover crops

        58:40 – Kale, trees

        59:35 – Something new, garlic, tomatoes, gladiolus

  1:03:12 – Wrap-up, thank yous, what’s up next week, and goodbye!

Norway Maple Woes: Why it’s on my Do Not Plant list: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2024-07-05-norway-maple-woes-why-its-my-do-not-plant-list 

Contact us! 

Chris Enroth: [email protected]

Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Emily Swihart: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing

Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--

You can find us on most podcast platforms.  

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   

Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   

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Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   

Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us   

Google podcasts https://bit.ly/3AiYjTD 

Our Gardenbite for this week goes back to 2021 where Ken and Katie answered all of Chris' sweet corn growing questions. Right now we are starting to see sweet corn getting ready to pick in Illinois. How do we know when sweet corn should be harvested? Plus, what about some common sweet corn pests that tend to show up in July like raccoons and corn earworms?

Contact us! 
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   
Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   
Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   
Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

Each year we at Good Growing decide to try growing some new (to us) vegetables. This year we want to invite you to grow along with us. This video is for those who signed up to receive seed for our Grow Along. In this video Emily, Ken, and Chris check in and share how this year's crops are doing in their gardens and our plans for culturing these plants through the summer. 

We want to hear back from you! You should have gotten an email with a survey link if you received Grow Along seed from us. Did you get your seed in the ground? What was the germination rate? (We are finding out that it's not so great for certain crops!) And more! Please use the survey link sent to you in the most recent email that included a link to this episode. 

We are treating this as a quasi-trial of these crops. So we are asking for some specific details on your growing conditions. If this year works out, we may make these "trials" more official. 

Got questions? Contact us at 
Chris Enroth [email protected]
Ken Johnson [email protected]
Emily Swihart [email protected]

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   
Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   
Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   
Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   
Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

Milkweeds have become a popular garden plant in the last several years. They are most commonly planted to help support monarch butterflies because milkweeds are the sole food source for monarch caterpillars. If you’ve ever gone out to check your milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars, you may have been surprised to find other insects living and feeding on your milkweed plants. After all, milkweeds are toxic to other animals. However, some insects have evolved to be able to feed on milkweed and, like monarch caterpillars, have become milkweed specialists.

 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cLvl96PpqOg

Photos

Red milkweed beetle

• "Red Milkweed Beetle - Tetraopes tetropht" (CC BY 2.0) by Judy Gallagher
• Red milkweed beetle eyes - By Bruce Marlin, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1514284 

Swamp milkweed leaf beetle

• Adult – Thomas Irvine (CC BY 4.0), iNaturalist
• Larva – dbugs, Public Domain, iNaturalist

Milkweed bugs – Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension

Milkweed tussock moth

• Newly hatched caterpillars and damage - Erin Lalime (CC BY 4.0), iNaturalist
• Older caterpillar - "255/366 Milkweed Tussock Moth - Euchaete" (CC BY 2.0) by Judy Gallagher
• Adult moth - Dan MacNeal (CC BY 4.0), iNaturalist

Oleander aphids - Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension

Contact us! 

Chris Enroth: [email protected]

Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing

Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--

You can find us on most podcast platforms.  

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   

Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   

Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   

Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   

Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   

Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   

Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us   

Google podcasts https://bit.ly/3AiYjTD 

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris answer early summer gardening questions. From landscapes and lawns to tomatoes and ticks, we share recent questions we have been getting into our local Extension offices. 

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CFPmxJvc_kk

Skip to what you want to know:
00:31 Hey Ken!
01:12 It's a hot one out there for only being June.
02:55 What is causing all the tips of my branches to fall off or hang in the tree?
06:52 Can you take the protective netting off your trees and shrubs now that the cicadas are gone?
08:35 What's wrong with my tomatoes!? Why are the leaves curling?
15:38 How do you control weeds in an asparagus patch?
19:12 My lawn is thin. What type of fertilizer should I put down now to have a better lawn?
21:52 I have carpenter bees nesting in my barn. What can I do to stop them?
24:35 Where can I get ticks tested to see if they are carrying a disease?

Additional resources mentioned during the show:
Causes of rolling wilted tomato leaves https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2018-06-20-causes-rolling-wilted-tomato-leaves 
Carpenter bees: Destroyers of wood or beneficial pollinators? https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2023-05-05-carpenter-bees-destroyers-wood-or-beneficial-pollinators 
CDC tick testing decisions https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/after-a-tick-bite/index.html

Contact us! 
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   
Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   
Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   
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Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

Have you ever gone on vacation only to come back to an out-of-control landscape or, even worse, dead plants? Check out this week’s Good Growing Podcast to learn about some steps we can take to get our landscapes ready for when we’re on vacation. 

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JiC1RavU3kk 

Skip to what you want to know:  

  00:30 – Welcome, Ken and Emily!

  01:45 – What kind of gardens do we have?

  04:30 – What should we be thinking about when planning our gardens and vacations?

  08:27 – Getting plants water

  11:22 – How can we prepare our potted plants?

  14:05 – How does Emily ensure plants are getting water?

  17:32 – How do you ‘train’ someone looking after your garden?

  23:36  – What can we do about pests, diseases, and weeds before we leave?

  27:10 – Vacation vs. leaving for a few months

  28:30 – Getting your lawn ready 

  30:50 – Taking equipment in for maintenance while you’re gone

  33:04 – Preparing houseplants for vacation

  37:15 – Be careful of too much water

  38:42 – Wrap-up, thank yous, what’s up next week, and goodbye!

How Should I Water My Plants blog post: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2017-10-11-how-should-i-water-my-plants 

How to hand water your landscape plants Gardenbite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUwhrFc0kkM 

Contact us! 

Chris Enroth: [email protected]

Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Emily Swihart: [email protected] 
 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing

Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--

You can find us on most podcast platforms.  

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   

Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   

Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   

Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   

Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   

Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   

Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us   

Google podcasts https://bit.ly/3AiYjTD 

This week on the Good Growing podcast we bring you a short gardenbite explaining what causes blossom end rot and why throwing eggshells in the planting hole at the beginning of the growing season might not be doing anything to help. Nick Frillman talks about calcium, tomatoes, and the best advice to prevent blossom end rot.

Contact us! 
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   
Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   
Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   
Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   
Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris chat with Erin Garrett about native grasses and how to use them in our landscapes. Erin is a Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment educator with University of Illinois Extension who is a wealth of knowledge on native grasses and all things native plants! We dive into how these grasses function in a prairie and how that translates to your yard. Plus suggestions for what native grasses might work best to transform your landscape!

Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/EaFf5zziNiQ

Skip to what you want to know:
0:31 Hey Ken! Remembering cicada pizza and growing sedges from seed.
5:01 Welcome Erin! Superman Festival in Metropolis, Illinois. Cicadas are LOUD!
8:43 The role of grasses in prairie.
12:57 Are native grasses different from the ornamental grasses we plant in our yards?
15:20  Seems like a lot of non-native lawn grasses are cool-season grass. Do we have any native cool-season grasses?
16:53 What are the benefits of growing native grasses?
19:12 Are there any drawbacks to using native plants in the landscape?
22:16 What species of native grasses are recommended for the home landscape?
28:03 When planting native grasses with flowers, does it help to plant the flowers first and then later the grasses? Plus talking seed ratios of grasses and forbs (wildflowers)
30:13 Buffalograss is a native grass that grows low and is used for lawns in some areas. Is buffalograss a good lawn alternative in Illinois?
34:21 Fun with nimblewill
36:57 What tips does Erin have for creating backyard meadows or prairies?
44:18 Where can people go to find out more information about native grasses?
46:55 Thank yous and coming up next week.

Illinois Extension Grasses Website https://extension.illinois.edu/grasses
Grasses at a Glance Video Series https://go.illinois.edu/GrassVideos
Grasses at a Glance blog https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/grasses-glance
Spotlight on Natural Resources Podcast https://extension.illinois.edu/podcasts/spotlight-natural-resources

Contact us! 
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected] 
Erin Garrett [email protected]

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing
Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--
You can find us on most podcast platforms.  
iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   
Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   
Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   
Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   
Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   
Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   
Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us

Are you an adventurous eater or interested in eating insects? You’re in luck! Many places in Illinois are awash in periodical cicadas, and while we usually think of them as food for birds and small mammals, humans can eat them too. Check out this week’s Good Growing Podcast to learn how you can get in on the cicada-eating action. From Pesto Pizza to Cicada Sundaes, we’ve got you covered on how to collect, prepare, and enjoy periodical cicadas.

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/U_0K70ajACM 

Skip to what you want to know:  

  00:35 – Welcome, Ken! We are excited about eating cicadas!

  02:00 – Welcome, Kristin and Kacie! 

  03:07 – How to collect periodical cicadas for eating.

  06:35 – Any considerations or things to look out for when collecting periodical cicadas for eating?

  08:25 – Kristin, any hesitations, and how did you come up with the recipes? 

  11:00 – Periodical Pesto Pizz-zz-zz-za

  13:02 – Eating the blanched cicadas, what did they taste like?

  14:25 – More on the Periodical Pesto Pizz-zz-zz-za

  15:05 – Battered Cicadas with Spicy Lime Aioli

  17:37 – Cicada Sundae’s

  18:45 – Roasting cicadas

  20:02 – What we’re our favorite recipes?

  24:02 – Are there any benefits to eating insects?

  26:37 – Are periodical cicadas a practical food source? What insects are?

  29:10 – Where are insects eaten around the world? Getting over the cultural stigma of eating insects. 

  34:10 – How would we rate the meal?   

  36:48 – Wrap-up, thank yous, what’s up next week, and goodbye!

Cicada recipes: https://go.illinois.edu/CicadaRecipes

Contact us! 

Chris Enroth: [email protected]

Ken Johnson: [email protected] 

Kristin Bogdonas: [email protected] 

Kacie Athey: [email protected] 

Check out the Good Growing Blog: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing

Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: https://go.illinois.edu/goodgrowingsubscribe

Any products or companies mentioned during the podcast are in no way a promotion or endorsement of these products or companies.

--

You can find us on most podcast platforms.  

iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-growing/id1446630377   

Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing   

Tunein https://tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/Good-Growing-p1187964/ 

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR   

Vurbl https://vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/   

Listen notes https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-growing-chris-enroth-cHLPMWpvEOG/   

Ivy https://ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902   

Castbox https://castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growing-id4302614?country=us   

Google podcasts https://bit.ly/3AiYjTD