Good Growing

By University of Illinois ExtensionEducation Leisure Home & Garden

Good Growing episodes

March 10, 2023 Gardenbite: Growing Asparagus | #GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing Podcast, Ken Johnson talks about growing asparagus, including what type you should grow, how to plant, weed control, and fertilizing and harvesting. Check out the Good Growing Blog: go.illinois.edu/goodgrowing Subscribe to the weekly Good Growing email: 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. SoundCloud @user-555304573 iTunes podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good…ng/id1446630377 Stitcher www.stitcher.com/show/good-growing Tunein tunein.com/podcasts/Gardening/…d-Growing-p1187964/ Spotify open.spotify.com/show/202u3siWExE1tTqrVgtmCR Vurbl vurbl.com/station/good-growing-4pljnNlUtyG/ Listen notes www.listennotes.com/podcasts/good-g…th-cHLPMWpvEOG/ Ivy ivy.fm/podcast/good-growing-167902 Castbox castbox.fm/channel/Good-Growin…d4302614?country=us Google podcasts bit.ly/3AiYjTD
8 min
March 03, 2023 Gardenbite: Our local food system through the eyes of bread | #GoodGrowing
This week Nick Frillman takes us on a journey of our local foods system through his very own kitchen and a single loaf of bread. Listen in to learn how you can support a local food system with your food dollars.
5 min
February 24, 2023 Ep. 132 Sunflowers for 2023 | #GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome back horticulture educator Emily Swihart to finally talk about sunflowers! We discuss the history of sunflowers, some of their benefits to the environment and bees, what sunflowers we’ll be growing this year, and more.
Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YLlwBnHp4qA
Skip to what you want to know:
00:40 – Welcome Ken, and why isn’t Chris in Macomb?
01:45 – Welcome Emily
02:45 – An overview of sunflowers
04:00 – Sunflowers as food and a quick history of sunflowers
11:19 – Sunflower pollen benefits for bumble bees
12:50 – Effectiveness of honey bees and bumble bees on sunflowers
14:00 – Sunflowers as hyper accumulators (heavy metals)
17:45 – What do we need to think about when growing sunflowers?
22:20 – Do you grow sunflowers for cut flowers?
24:23 – What sunflowers were we growing at the Lukeman Garden and Education Center in Jacksonville?
25:40 – What sunflowers will Emily be growing in 2023?
26:45 – Sunrich Summer Provence
27:55 – ProCut White Nite and ProCut White Lite
29:25 – What sunflowers will Ken be growing in 2023?
30:55 – Short - Sunray yellow
31:11 – Medium – Soluna lemon, Gold & Silver, Italian white, Lemon queen, Evening sun, Seneca
32:23 – Giant - Arikara and Kong
34:00 – What site conditions do sunflowers need? Fertilizer? How to plant and dealing with critters
39:50 – More sunflowers Emily is growing in 2023
40:30 – Starburst Greenburst
41:30 – Goldy Double
42:40 – Strawberry blonde
43:20 – ProCut Plum
43:40 - Shock-O-Lat
44:15 – SunFil Purple
45:30 – Hopi black dye
47:13 – Are there fragrant sunflowers?
48:58 – Sunflowers are heliotropic
50:12 – Where is Chris planting sunflowers this year?
50:40 – A few problems in sunflowers
52:38 – Wrap-up, thank you’s, what’s up next week, and goodbye!
What new vegetables are we growing in 2023 - https://youtu.be/hww7vEXP3_0
What new flowers are we growing in 2023 - https://youtu.be/q_HGNwhTvqE
Contact us!
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected]
Emily Swihart: [email protected]
Check out the Good Growing Blog: htps://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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
55 min
February 17, 2023 Ep. 131 New Flowers for 2023 | #GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome horticulture educator Emily Swihart to share the new and strange seed we have ordered for our flower gardens for the 2023 growing season. We tease talking about sunflowers for the yard, but we don't get to them this week. So, look for that episode next week (we promise!).
Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/q_HGNwhTvqE
Skip to what you want to know:
00:35 – Welcome Ken, and has Chris bought his seeds?
01:08 – What seeds has Ken started?
01:55 – Welcome Emily, has she started seeds?
02:25 – Has Chris been keeping up with his New Year’s Resolution?
What are we growing this year?
04:05 – Ken – Cupid’s dart
05:50 – Emily – Calendula
09:40 – Chris – Sedges
14:40 – Poppies and flowering tobacco
17:25 – Emily – Snapdragons and supporting cut flowers
22:45 – Chris – Mayapple
25:40 – Ken – African daisy, Hibiscus, Cardinal climber, Stock
27:52 – Emily – Strawflower, Gomphrena
31:10 – Weird-shaped flowers, Amaranth and Celosia
33:16 – Chris – Rudbeckia 'American Gold Rush' (Black-eyed Susan)
36:12 – Ken – Cotton, snapdragon, cosmos, zinnia, sunflower, and more
38:06 – saving zinnia seeds
39:15 – Emily’s zinnias
39:55 – Cosmos
41:55 – Emily – Mrs. Burns' Lemon basil and ageratum
43:35 – Chris – Lungwort
45:38 – Chris - Lipstick Blonde Hosta
47:55 – Asking questions about our gardens
48:33 – Wrap-up, thank yous, and good bye!
Stay tuned for our show where we talk about sunflowers for 2023.
What new vegetables are we growing in 2023 - https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573/new-veggies-for-2023-goodgrowing
Contact us!
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected]
Emily Swihart: [email protected]
Check out the Good Growing Blog: htps://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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
51 min
February 10, 2023 Ep. 130 New Veggies for 2023 | #GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing podcast, we welcome horticulture educator Emily Swihart to share the new and strange seed we have ordered for our vegetable gardens for the 2023 growing season. Plus, Chris has a monumental task of narrowing down his list of shade trees to only one for his front yard. We tease talking about sunflowers and ornamentals for the yard, but we don't get to them this week. So look for that episode next week.
Watch us on YouTube! https://youtu.be/hww7vEXP3_0
Skip to what you want to know:
0:20 Hey Ken
1:20 Welcome Emily - lamenting on the warm winter weather (mud)
2:11 Ken taps his silver maple for maple syrup
3:27 What are we growing this year?
4:30 Ken - Shiso
6:40 Emily - Porcelain Doll Pumpkin
8:51 Chris - German Butterball Potato
11:21 Ken - Cardoon
12:39 Emily - Heirloom Tomato Collection (Brandywine, Striped German, Cherokee purple, Amish paste) plus a hybrid slicer tomato (Mountain Merit)
16:16 Chris - Sikkim Cucumber
18:40 Ken - Parsnip, and lots of different lettuce types - red iceberg, Blackhawk, Red Sails, Continuity, Devil's Tongue, Deer Tongue, Drunken Woman Frizzy
20:48 Emily - Chamomile and celery (Kelvin)
23:39 Chris - Poblano peppers (Trident and Capitan) and Chris' rant about green peppers
26:03 Ken - Corn (Hooker's Sweet, Painted Mountain, Painted Hill, Silverqueen - for the corn smut)
29:39 Emily - Artisan tomatoes (Blush, Gold Nugget, Indigo Cherry Drops)
31:27 Chris' shade tree decision to replace an ash tree (Black gum, Kentucky Coffeetree, hackberry, or tulip poplar?)
40:12 Thank yous and so long!
Stay tuned for our show where we select flowering and ornamental plants for 2023.
Contact us!
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected]
Emily Swihart: [email protected]
Check out the Good Growing Blog: htps://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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
43 min
February 03, 2023 Ep. 129 Part 2 of growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal | #GoodGrowing
This week on the Good Growing podcast, we finish our conversation on growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal. Last week we got through pre-sprouting indoors, this episode we dive into getting your sprouted rhizomes planted, growing, and then harvested. We take you through a growing season with these tropical spices in Illinois.
Watch us on YouTube https://youtu.be/mGrZgSxOXJk
Skip to what you want to know:
0:44 Hey Ken!
1:26 Hey Nick!
1:48 Recapping last week
2:40 Planting sprouted rhizomes – What does fertility look like when presprouting for so long?
5:50 Preparing beds for planting in the ground in a caterpillar tunnel; digging a trench, fertility, compost, spacing, mulch
8:27 Watering with drip irrigation (or Kitty litter buckets in Ken’s case)
10:10 What role does fertility play in developing rhizomes? Any fertilizer recommendations?
14:04 Fertilizing during the growing season and hilling ginger (turmeric and galangal are not hilled)
17:34 Does planting depth impact hilling?
20:20 What type of timeline are we talking about for growing a harvestable rhizome?
23:40 Reminder when to start presprouting.
24:56 Managing temperature: If we can’t build a high tunnel in the backyard, what are the season extension options for home gardeners?
30:05 What does the harvest and processing look like for these three crops?
35:48 What are some marketplaces that ginger, turmeric, and galangal growers are selling?
39:52 How do we use these crops in our kitchens?
42:10 Growers and consumers take our ginger, turmeric, and galangal survey at go.illinois.edu/ginger
43:00 Growing tropical spices in Illinois can help in many different ways.
44:36 Thanks and Goodbyes!
How to build a low tunnel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nln3DVuwQXY
Take the ginger survey! https://go.illinois.edu/ginger
Presprouting ginger video: https://youtu.be/aGNlrOF9J3Y
Growing and Harvesting Ginger in Illinois https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzp0xMacTf8
Contact us!
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected]
Nick Frillman: [email protected]
Check out the Good Growing Blog: htps://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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
47 min
January 27, 2023 Ep. 128 Growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal in Illinois, Part 1 | #GoodGrowing
On this week’s Good Growing Podcast, we have the long-awaited, often teased episode on growing ginger, turmeric, and galangal in Illinois! We discuss what they are, why you may want to grow them, where to grow them, presprouting, and more.
Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1V121FzkJus
Skip to what you want to know:
00:40 – Welcome Ken and Nick
02:05 – Why would I want to grow ginger, turmeric, and/or galangal?
05:50 – What are the monetary and other incentives for growing these spices?
11:00 – What plant family do these spices belong to? What are the disease implications of this?
18:50 – How do turmeric and galangal compare to growing tomatoes and cucumbers in high tunnels?
21:30 – What are turmeric and galangal? How are they used?
26:40 – Is there a market for turmeric and galangal?
30:00 – Where do I get ginger, turmeric, and galangal seeds? How do I know if a company is reputable?
34:45 – Live plants and growing seed stock
36:55 – What is the germination process for ginger, turmeric, and galangal?
45:46 – wrap-up, take the survey, what’s up next week, and goodbye!
Take the ginger survey! https://go.illinois.edu/ginger
Presprouting ginger video: https://youtu.be/aGNlrOF9J3Y
Contact us!
Chris Enroth: [email protected]
Ken Johnson: [email protected]
Nick Frillman: [email protected]
Check out the Good Growing Blog: htps://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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
49 min
January 20, 2023 Ep. 127 A year in review of our 2022 vegetable gardens | #GoodGrowing
On this week's Good Growing podcast, we look back at 2022 to review what went well in our vegetable gardens, and also some lessons learned from the struggles of growing food in Illinois. From annoying critters to the beauty provided by some of our edible crops we cover it all.
Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/cmDVlZ00ecU
Skip to what you want to know:
0:37 Hey Ken!
1:21 Our year in review of the 2022 garden
2:02 Types of poblanos Chris tried in 2022
2:43 Raccoons had different ideas about the poblanos and how we handled them
4:09 Ken's artichoke adventures - delicious and pretty
6:53 Chris' Caracas Carrots - still in the ground for winter harvest and works well in heavier soils
9:02 Ken grows lovely dryland rice...and then the birds showed up
10:39 Tomato talk (and Chris continues to vent about the raccoons)
14:10 Sweet corn struggles and a fertilizer experiment (not an official experiment or recommendation)
19:20 Homegrown celery, not your normal grocery store celery
21:37 Drunken Woman Frizzy head lettuce - goes to show good names sell seed
23:12 Growing a monster Jarrahdale pumpkin vine, with only one pumpkin. Plus dealing with squash bugs and squash vine borer. (and pretty pictures of squash vine borer)
27:23 Ken's cotton - attractive, unusual, and susceptible to lawn herbicides
31:56 Maypop (Passion flower) - a native fruit with wonderful flowers and attractive to carpenter bees. Beware it does spread!
33:49 Carpenter bees pollinating Maypop flower
34:22 Thank yous!
35:35 Coming up next week and goodbye!
Jeff Gillman's article on using urine as fertilizer https://gardenprofessors.com/want-an-organic-source-of-nitrogen-that-isnt-shipped-from-halfway-across-the-world-urine-luck/
A fun (and informative) video from Jeff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR2Qu_RZmT8
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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
39 min
January 13, 2023 Gardenbite - Amaryllis care and getting it to rebloom | #goodgrowing
On this week's Good Growing podcast Chris Enroth talks about amaryllis care and how to get it to rebloom for next year's holiday season.
Check out the original text by Ken Johnson https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2021-12-03-how-take-care-amaryllis-and-get-them-rebloom
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.
SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/user-555304573
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
11 min
January 06, 2023 Gardenbite: Some things to consider while going through garden catalogs | #GoodGrowing
Garden and seed catalogs have been arriving for a while now. When flipping through catalogs, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices. Unfortunately, you probably don’t have room (or time) to grow everything you see, no matter how amazing it seems. So how should you go about choosing what to grow this year?
9 min

About Good Growing

From the publisher's feed

The Good Growing Podcast from University of Illinois Extension helps gardeners grow with confidence. Each episode features research-based advice, practical gardening tips, and engaging conversations…