Good to Grow

Summary: Fall is one of the best times to plant fruit trees. Mike Johnson of Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton (OFRE) shares tips on growing fruit in Alberta.

Topics in this episode

• OFRE’s public micro-orchard.
• How to get involved with OFRE.
• How to deal with apple maggots.

Grow your garden knowledge even more, and connect with other Alberta gardeners. Join our Facebook Group, AMA Good to Grow. 

Summary: Grow vegetables and plants in the smallest of spaces. Author and AMA member Sheryl Normandeau shares tips for starting a garden on your apartment balcony, patio or deck.

Plus, green thumb Christine Allin offers a quick tour of her garden.

Topics in this episode

• Small-space gardens. For more info, check out The Prairie Gardener’s Go-To for Small Spaces, written by Normandeau and Janet Melrose.
• Grow bags.

Reduce food waste with Home Harvest, a new program for Edmonton and Calgary. Volunteers will pick the fruit and vegetables in your garden, then donate at least half of the harvested food to a local service agency. Coordinator Garnet Borch offers details.  

Plus, green thumb Terry Jones shares her love of mindful gardening.

Topics in this episode

• How to get involved with Home Harvest.
• Good Note Community Farm.

Grow your garden knowledge even more, and connect with other Alberta gardeners. Join our Facebook Group, AMA Good to Grow. 

It’s August—time to start enjoying the fresh fruit and vegetables from your garden. Get the most out of your harvest with these tips from Rob Sproule of Salisbury Greenhouse in Sherwood Park. He also shares tips to get your garden ready for the colder months.

Plus, a young gardener and her Monstera.

Topics in this episode

• When should you harvest your fruits and veggies? Here’s a calendar.
• Late-harvest vegetables.
• Salisbury’s workshops, including how to grow a cat-friendly garden.

For more garden goodness, join our online community, AMA Good to Grow.

How to attract good bugs to your garden while discouraging the ones that will harm your food and flowers. Horticulturist and HGTV host Donna Balzer offers her tips.

Plus, gardener Janene Wagner shops for petunias in Sherwood Park.

Topics in this episode:

• Beneficial bugs.
• Red lily beetles. If you have an infestation, you can report it here as part of an Alberta-wide tracking initiative.
• How to deal with aphids. For more tips, listen to Donna Balzer’s podcast, Helping Gardeners Grow.

Want more gardening goodness? Join the AMA Good

to Grow Facebook Group.

Help grow a new generation of green thumbs. Get your child(ren) interested in gardening with these tips from consultant and educator Claudia Bolli.

Plus, gardener Alana Dahlen discusses her ongoing battles with red lily beetles.

Topics in this episode:

• Sustainable Food Edmonton, a non-profit group dedicated to building community through urban agriculture.
• Little Green Thumbs, a program to help students grow veggies in their classrooms.
• Winterscapes, an initiative encouraging families to create nature displays during Edmonton’s snowier months.

Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Jann Arden shares her love of gardening—and connecting with Mother Earth.

Plus, green thumb David Kahane talks about his Edmonton food forest.

Topics in this episode:

• Kohlrabi, also known as German turnip.
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
• The Over Story, a Pulitzer Prize winning book about trees by Richard Powers.
• Science and nature broadcaster Ziya Tong. Listen to an interview with her on The Jann Arden Podcast.

For more gardening tips and tales, join AMA Good to Grow. It’s a down-to-earth, online community where Albertans can connect with likeminded enthusiasts, share success stories, and get advice from experts and Good to Grow members.  

Want to be part of our podcast? Share your gardening storiesor questions with us and you might be featured in an episode. We want to hear about what you’re growing, what you like about gardening and/or any burning questions you might have about growing food or flowers in Alberta. Send an email, audio recording (Voice Memo on iPhone) or video message to [email protected].

Happy gardening!

Music composed by: Doug Hoyer

Alberta is home to a range of different growing zones. Stettler horticulturist Robert Spencer explains the differences between the zones and offers advice on what vegetables and fruits we can grow in our province.

Plus, Niko Palmer shares a story about her community garden in Edmonton.

Topics in this episode:

• Growing zones. Here’s a map of Alberta’s various zones and when to start your seeds.
• Growing corn.
• Here are more of Robert’s tips.

For more gardening tips and tales, join AMA Good to Grow. It’s a down-to-earth, online community where Albertans can connect with likeminded enthusiasts, share success stories, and get advice from experts and Good to Grow members.  

Want to be part of our podcast? Share your gardening stories or questions with us and you might be featured in an episode. We want to hear about what you’re growing, what you like about gardening and/or any burning questions you might have about growing food or flowers in Alberta. Send an email, audio recording (Voice Memo on iPhone) or video message to [email protected].

Happy gardening!

Music composed by: Doug Hoyer

Maintaining healthy soil is fundamental for growing food and flowers. Chelsie Anderson, owner of Chelsie’s Garden Soil-utions, dishes the dirt on soil amendments and how to help your garden thrive.

Plus, Elyse Abma-Bouma shares a story about her balcony garden.

Topics in this episode:

• Worm castings. Read more about worms and soil microbes on Chelsie Anderson’s blog.
• How to compost.

For more gardening tips and tales, join AMA Good to Grow. It’s a down-to-earth, online community where Albertans can connect with likeminded enthusiasts, share success stories, and get advice from experts and Good to Grow members.  

Want to be part of our podcast? Share your gardening stories or questions with us and you might be featured in an episode. We want to hear about what you’re growing, what you like about gardening and/or any burning questions you might have about growing food or flowers in Alberta. Send an email, audio recording (Voice Memo on iPhone) or video message to [email protected].

Happy gardening!

Music composed by: Doug Hoyer

In 2020, CaraLee Epp and her husband Jeff challenged each other to a friendly gardening contest. Who ended up growing the most vegetables in their Edmonton backyard?

Plus, avid gardener Robyn Couture shares a story about some special peonies.

Topics in this episode:

• Making your own herb butter. Here’s a recipe for butter with shallots, mustard, black pepper and thyme.
• Growing cucamelons.
• How to collect seeds. For more info, check out The Prairie Guide Gardener’s Go-To for Seeds, written by Calgary master gardeners Janet Melrose and Sheryl Normandeau.

For more gardening tips and tales, join AMA Good to Grow. It’s a down-to-earth, online community where Albertans can connect with likeminded enthusiasts, share success stories, and get advice from experts and Good to Grow members such as Melrose and Normandeau. Want to be part of our podcast? Share your gardening stories or questions with us and you might be featured in an episode. We want to hear about what you’re growing, what you like about gardening and/or any burning questions you might have about growing food or flowers in Alberta. Send an

email, audio recording (Voice Memo on iPhone) or video message to [email protected].

Happy gardening!