If you want an easier garden season, February is the time to set the foundation. Two steps do most of the heavy lifting: getting a soil test and prepping beds without damaging soil structure. Done well, these tasks reduce fertilizer guesswork and improve root growth.

You can do a lot right now that sets you up for success without rushing into two classic mistakes:

1. throwing amendments at the garden without knowing what the soil actually needs, and

2. working soil while it’s still too wet, which can damage structure for the long haul.

So, today on Just Grow Something, I’m walking you through what a soil test can (and can’t) tell you, exactly how to collect a sample that’s representative of your whole garden, the key parts of a soil report that matter most for vegetables, and bed prep steps you can do now that improve soil instead of compacting it.

Let’s dig in!

Resources:

My Seed to Sprout course is waiting for you here: https://justgrowsomething.com/indoor-seed-starting

My free Seed Starting eBook is here: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/seedbook

Soil amendment episodes and articles: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/search/amendments

How to calculate how much fertilizer to add to the garden: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/blog/how-much-fertilizer-to-add-to-your-garden

References:

How temperature affects the rate of nitrification: https://livetoplant.com/how-temperature-influences-the-rate-of-nitrification/

Guide to Collecting Soil Samples - Oregon State University: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ec-628-guide-collecting-soil-samples-farms-gardens

Soil Compaction from Wet Soils - Purdue University Extension: https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/yardandgarden/resist-the-urge-to-work-wet-soil/

Add Organic Matter to Improve Most Garden Soils - Oregon State University: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/add-organic-matter-improve-most-garden-soils

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

Today is a clinic episode, a Seedling Troubleshooting Clinic to be exact, because if you’re starting seeds indoors, something is eventually going to look weird. A tray that was perfect yesterday is suddenly leaning. Something looks fuzzy on the soil surface. Or a seedling that seemed fine just flops over.

The good news is most seedling problems come from a small handful of causes, causes that we can actually control - light, temperature, water, airflow, or sanitation. And once you know what you’re looking at, you can usually fix it quickly or at least stop it from spreading to the rest of your tray.

So, I’m going to give you a simple diagnostic checklist and then we’ll walk through the most common seedling symptoms and what to do about each one.

Let's dig in!

Get my FREE seed starting ebook: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/seedbook

Take my comprehensive course for indoor seed starting, Seed to Sprout: https://justgrowsomething.com/indoor-seed-starting

Just Grow Something episodes, videos and blog posts on seed starting: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/search/seed%20starting

References and resources:

University of Illinois Extension: Troubleshooting seed starting problems: https://extension.illinois.edu/blogs/good-growing/2022-02-25-whats-wrong-my-seedlings-troubleshooting-seed-starting-problems

University of Minnesota Extension: How to prevent seedling damping off: https://extension.umn.edu/solve-problem/how-prevent-seedling-damping

Utah State University Extension: Seedling culture, airflow, temps: https://extension.usu.edu/yardandgarden/research/starting-vegetable-seeds-indoors-seeding-culture-and-transplanting.pdf

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

Onions and shallots are closely related, they can be used in similar ways, and they look similar at the store, but they behave differently in both the kitchen and the garden.

So, today on Just Grow Something we’re doing a side-by-side comparison of these alliums. We’ll cover how they differ in taste and cooking uses, how they differ in growth habit, how to grow each one, and finally, how to adapt for hot climates and short-season climates, because those two extremes can make or break your allium crop.

Let’s dig in.

References and Resources:

Plan Like a Pro Gardening Planning Course: https://justgrowsomething.thinkific.com/courses/plan-like-a-pro

Growing Onions - Ep. 233: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/ep-133-growing-onions

How to Harvest, Cure, and Store Garlic and Onions - Ep. 256: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/how-to-harvest-cure-and-store-garlic-and-onions-ep-256

University of Minnesota Extension — Growing onions in home gardens: https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-onions

UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions — Onions and shallots: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/vegetables/onions-and-shallots/

Oregon State University Extension — Plant onions early for bigger summer bulbs: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/plant-onions-early-bigger-summer-bulbs

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

If you’ve ever planted a big patch of arugula at the same time you planted the rest of the spring garden, only to watch it shoot up a flower stalk a few weeks later, you’ve already met this week’s topic: heat-sensitive crops.

Heat-sensitive doesn’t always mean a plant can’t survive warm weather. It usually means warm temperatures and lengthening days change the plant’s priorities. Instead of producing the leaves, heads, or tubers we want to harvest, the plant pivots toward flowering and seed production or it keeps growing, but quality drops.

So, today on Just Grow Something we’re talking about the five crops you should plant earlier than you think to avoid this change. And I’m also including an herb that can bolt as fast as you blink. Let’s dig in.

References and Resources:

Ep. 133 - Growing Onions: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/ep-133-growing-onions

Soil Temperature Maps: https://www.greencastonline.com/tools/soil-temperature

Plan Like a Pro Garden Planning Course: https://justgrowsomething.thinkific.com/courses/plan-like-a-pro

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠⁠

If you’ve ever gone into a Facebook gardening group and asked, “When am I supposed to plant this?” and then gotten ten different answers, you are not alone.

And if you’ve ever started seeds too early, ended up with giant leggy plants taking over your house, and then still got hit with a late cold snap? Also not alone.

Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to make garden timing feel simple, flexible, and predictable.

I’m going to show you how to build a planting calendar using frost dates as your starting point, then layering in:

• cool-season versus warm-season timing,

• how many weeks to start seeds indoors,

• a buffer for weather variability,

• and how to plan your fall garden by counting backward from your first frost.

This is one of those “once you understand it, you can reuse it forever” skills.

Let's dig in.

If you’ve ever planned a garden that looked amazing on paper and then halfway through summer you thought, “I do not have the time for this,” this episode is for you.

Because a garden can be beautiful, productive, and fun and still be too much if the plan doesn’t match your real life.

Today on Just Grow Something we’re building a low-maintenance garden plan. Not by choosing “easy plants,” but by designing your garden around the things that actually determine how much work it takes: location, layout, watering, weed control, and disease pressure and how that fits into the rest of your actual life.

Low-maintenance does not mean low-yield. It means fewer chores that pile up, fewer “emergency problems,” and a garden that still functions when your life gets busy.

As we go, I’ll give you simple action steps you can do in January to set this up. Because the easiest gardening season is the one you design on purpose.

Let's dig in.

References and Resources:

My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠

University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension. “Beginning Vegetable Garden Basics: Site Selection and Soil Preparation.” https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/beginning-vegetable-garden-basics-site-selection-and-soil-preparation

Colorado State University Extension. “Drip Irrigation for Home Gardens.” https://extension.colostate.edu/resource/drip-irrigation-for-home-gardens/

University of Minnesota Extension. “Mulching 101: the secret to a healthy and happy garden.” https://extension.umn.edu/news/mulching-101-secret-healthy-and-happy-garden

Oregon State University Extension Service. “Sheet mulching and lasagna composting with cardboard.” https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/em-9559-sheet-mulching-lasagna-composting-cardboard

If you’ve ever had that one magical week where the garden is giving you exactly what you want - some lettuce, a few carrots, a handful of beans, a couple tomatoes - and then two weeks later you’re drowning in zucchini while everything else is kind of between harvests ...

Today we’re fixing that.

Because the goal for a lot of home gardeners isn’t “the biggest harvest possible on one weekend.” The goal is steady, usable harvests week after week so you’re actually eating from the garden regularly, without a sudden produce avalanche.

So today on Just Grow Something, I’m going to teach you a planning method that revolves around harvest windows.

Instead of only asking, “When do I plant this?” we’re going to ask:

“When do I want to be harvesting this, and do I want it over and over again?”

I’ll walk you through a simple framework and give you a few practical “rules of thumb” for how often certain crops can be re-planted or staggered to keep the harvest going.

Let's dig in!

References and Resources:

My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: ⁠https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro⁠

University of Missouri Extension — “Harvest all season long with succession sowing” : https://extension.missouri.edu/news/harvest-all-season-long-with-succession-sowing

University of Minnesota Extension — “Climate resilience resources for vegetable growers in Minnesota” (includes a “when to plant for continuous harvest” interval table): https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/climate-resilience-resources-vegetable-growers-minnesota#strategy-3%3A-reduce-risks-from-warmer-and-drier-conditions-3571512

NC State Extension — Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter 16 “Vegetable Gardening” (Succession planting: varieties with different maturity, repeat plantings, and filling in after harvest): https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/16-vegetable-gardening

If you’ve ever stared at a seed catalog in January and thought, “I want all of it,” and then somehow ended up with a garden that felt chaotic by mid-summer, today’s episode is for you.

Because most “garden planning” advice starts with the fun part—varieties, colors, wish lists—and then we wonder why the plan falls apart when real life shows up.

So today on Just Grow Something, we’re going to flip the order.

I’m going to give you four questions that can lead you to an actual usable plan. These questions help you decide what to grow, where it goes, when it happens, and how to keep the plan realistic for the space and time you actually have.

And the best part is you can use these four questions whether you garden in a single planter, a few raised beds, or a bigger in-ground plot.

Let's dig in!

References and Resources:

My Plan Like A Pro Course is Open for Registration: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro

How to Plan Your Raised Bed Garden, Ep. 269: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/how-to-plan-a-raised-bed-garden-ep-269

Seven Steps to Planning Your Entire Garden Year - Ep. 234: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/episode/7-steps-to-planning-your-entire-garden-year-ep-234

Virginia Cooperative Extension (2025). “Planning the Vegetable Garden.” VCE Publications: https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-312/426-312.html

Washington State University Extension (2015). “Crop Rotation in Home Gardens” (PDF): https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2070/2015/08/Crop-Rotation-in-Home-Gardens.pdf

Penn State Extension (2023). “Keeping a Garden Journal.”: https://extension.psu.edu/keeping-a-garden-journal/

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

We’ve reached the end of another gardening year. Maybe your garden was spectacular. Maybe it was just so-so. Maybe it was an absolute disaster in certain beds and you’re still a little salty about the squash vine borers.

However it went, this is a powerful moment in the gardening calendar.

Today we’re going to slow down and talk about taking time to reflect on the past season, reset your expectations, and reimagine what you want from your garden next year.

Extension programs and planning guides consistently recommend end-of-season evaluation, note-taking, and mapping as key pieces of long-term garden success. Research on goal-setting shows that specific, challenging, and meaningful goals help people follow through and actually change their behavior.

So, in this final episode of the year, we’re going to weave those two ideas together:

1. Why the end of the year is the best time to reflect on your garden

2. What goal-setting research can teach us about making better garden goals

3. Turning reflection into 3–5 clear, realistic goals for next year

4. A healthier mindset for handling “failures” and unexpected seasons

By the end, you’ll have a framework to close the book on this year’s garden and open a new one with intention.

Let’s dig in.

References and Resources:

Iowa State University Extension – Yard and Garden. “Garden Journaling.”: https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/garden-journaling

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation.” American Psychologist, 2002: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12237980/

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch andDownloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething

Seed catalog season is fun, but it can also be overwhelming. If you’ve ever ordered way more seed than you can possibly plant, chosen a variety that just did not perform in your climate, or gotten confused by all the codes, abbreviations, and marketing language this episode is for you.

Today on Just Grow Something we’re going to talk about how to read a seed catalog.

We’ll cover:

1. Why seed catalogs are tools, not just wish books

2. The key pieces of information in a catalog listing (and what they actually mean)

3. Days to maturity, and why that number is not as simple as it looks

... and more

By the end, you’ll be able to flip through a catalog and quickly decide, “Yes, this variety makes sense for my garden” or “Nope, that’s just clever marketing” and make a wish list that can actually be fulfilled.

Let’s dig in.

Resources:

1. Washington State University Extension. Tips to Making Strategic Vegetable Seed Selections (EM057E), 2025: https://wpcdn.web.wsu.edu/wp-extension/uploads/sites/2073/2025/01/Vegetable-Seed-Selection.pdf

2. Oregon State University Extension. “How to Read Seed Packets Before You Buy.”: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/how-read-seed-packets-you-buy

Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com

Just Grow Something Merch and Downloads: https://justgrowsomething.com/shop

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18YgHveF5P/

Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/JustGrowSomething

Bonus content for supporters of the Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/justgrowsomething

Amazon storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/justgrowsomething