Fermenting foods can be a fun and rewarding way to both preserve the harvest and enhance the flavors of our garden bounty. If you're a beginner looking to get started with fermenting your own foods, I’ve discovered it’s not hard, but there are some essential things to know. Today on Just Grow Something we’ll look at the key tenants behind fermenting foods, the basics of getting started, what types of equipment are necessary and what are just nice-to-haves. Ready to start fermenting? Let’s dig in!

Episode Resources and References:

Preserving Episodes | Just Grow Something with Karin Velez

Plan Like a Pro Fall Registration

Fermented Vegetables Book

Fermenting Supplies Kit

National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I? Can (uga.edu)

Health benefits of fermented foods: Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition: Vol 59, No 3 (tandfonline.com)

Health benefits of fermented foods: microbiota and beyond - ScienceDirect

Eating Fermented: Health Benefits of LAB-Fermented Foods (mdpi.com)

Are Fermented Foods Effective against Inflammatory Diseases? (mdpi.com)

Just Grow Something with Karin Velez (justgrowsomethingpodcast.com)

It's always best to start with saving seeds from your healthiest plants. But what if disease is unavoidable? In this throwback to episode 62, we talk about the two best treatments for saving seeds from plants infected with disease.

Episode Resources:

Hot Water Treatment for Seeds – Louisiana State University

If you were gardening in 2020 you likely remember the shortage of seeds that happened when the world shut down and suddenly everybody was growing a garden. Many seed companies were overwhelmed with the influx of orders and that shortage continued into the 2021 season. There’s nothing more disappointing than to peruse a beautiful seed catalog and make out your list of favorites to grow, only to be told the company is sold out.

Episode Resources:

Plan Like a Pro is open for fall registration! Get started here:

Plan Like A Pro | Just Grow Something with Karin Velez

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Ep. 63 - Proper Seed Storage: Moisture levels, storage conditions, containers, and more

Chart of Seed Viability and Simple Seed Germination Test

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On this Focal Point Friday, we go back to Episode 101 and talk about three important things to consider when starting plants for the fall garden: germination time, days to maturity, and harvest window.

Episode Resources:

Ep. 101 - How to Prepare and What to Grow in Your Fall Garden

Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group

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Succession planting gets a lot of attention in the early part of the season when we’re fresh and the garden is new, and we're not beat down by weather or pests or diseases or the endless pulling of weeds. But we often forget about it toward the hottest part of the year. This is why having a garden plan that goes from spring all the way through to fall and even into winter helps, because it’s laid out for us and it doesn’t require thought, just effort.

Succession planting is a really valuable technique for us to ensure a continuous harvest throughout the summer and into the fall. By staggering plantings of certain crops, we can extend the growing season and maximize our yields. Today we talk about some important things we need to know specifically about summer succession planting, what crops are most suitable to a late succession, timing, techniques, and how to use intercropping with your succession planting to make the most of the space you have. Let’s dig in!

Episode Links:

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When we're talking about fall gardening, it's important to know what grows well in our area at that time of the season so we can better plan. Let's chat about the factors that go into deciding what to grow in the fall garden and my top five picks for your USDA Hardiness Zone, from Zone 1 to Zone 13.

If you’ve never grown a fall garden, you are missing out. There seems to be so much less insect and disease pressure with a fall garden. The weather seems to be a bit more predictable, too, even if it is still hot when we get started.

This doesn’t mean the fall garden is fool-proof, but it does mean that many of us get a second chance or sort of “redo” of our spring crops. If there were things that didn’t grow well for us that we’d like to try again, fall is often a great time to do that. If there were things that grew fantastically well and we want more, fall is a great time for that, too. It’s also a time to get things going that will overwinter in the garden if our climate is mild enough or if we can employ some extra protection measures.

On today’s episode of Just Grow Something we’re going to run down the things we should be considering in the garden as we move into fall. The time to do these is now; many colder areas get shorted when it comes to summer gardening and the earlier we can plan and prepare the better off we are. And stick with me until the end and I’ll tell you all about my Fall Garden Planning Challenge. Let’s dig in!

Episode Resources:

Fall Garden Planning Challenge - Sign Up Here!

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Buy One Get One Free from Elm Dirt: Use Code WOLFCREEK

If you're in an area that is facing a drought this summer, like I am, you might be thinking of ways to combat it in the garden. Enter the rain barrel!

Home gardeners often use rain barrels to collect rainwater from roofs as a supplement to summer irrigation. Rainwater is a natural and unchlorinated water source for plants, but rooftop runoff can be contaminated by chemical and biological pollutants.

Today we talk about the practicality of rain barrels, possible contaminants and where they come from, and how to safely use rain barrel water in the garden. Let's dig in!

Resources and Citations:

Chang, M., M.W. McBroom, and R.S. Beasley. 2004. Roofing as a Source of Nonpoint Water Pollution. Journal of Environmental Management 73: 307–315.

Chen, J.J., R.C. Beeson, Jr., T.H. Yeager, R.H. Stamps, and L.A. Felter. 2003. Evaluation of Captured Rainwater and Irrigation Runoff for Greenhouse Foliage and Bedding Plant Production. HortScience 38(2): 228–233

de Kwaadsteniet, M., P.H. Dobrowsky, A. van Deventer, W. Khan, and T.E. Cloete. 2013. Domestic Rainwater Harvesting: Microbial and Chemical Water Quality and Point-Of-Use Treatment Systems. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution 224(7).

Lim, K.Y., and S.C. Jiang. 2013. Reevaluation of Health Risk Benchmark for Sustainable Water Practice through Risk Analysis of Rooftop-Harvested Rainwater. Water Research 47(20): 7273–7286.

Shuster, W.D., D. Lye, A. de la Cruz, L.K. Rhea, K. O’Connell, and A. Kelty. 2013. Assessment of Residential Rain Barrel Quality and Use in Cincinnati, Ohio. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 49(4): 753–765.

POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS IN RESIDENTIAL RAIN BARREL WATER

100-Year-Old Way to Filter Rainwater in a Barrel - The Prepper Journal

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There are few things that taste like summer quite like cantaloupe or watermelon. These hydrating favorites can sometimes be a little mystifying for new gardeners to grow. And what's the difference between a crenshaw and a canary melon?

Episode References and Citations:

Wasylikowa, Krystyna; van der Veen, Marijke (2004). "An archaeobotanical contribution to the history of watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai (syn. C. vulgaris Schrad.)". Vegetation

Paris, Harry S. (August 2015). "Origin and emergence of the sweet dessert watermelon, Citrullus lanatus". Annals of Botany. 116 (2): 133–148. doi:10.1093/aob/mcv077. PMC 4512189. PMID 26141130.

Strauss, Mark (21 August 2015). "The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon". National Geographic News.

"Cantaloupe". Oxford English Dictionary. 2016.

Marion Eugene Ensminger; Audrey H. Ensminger (1993). "Cantaloupe". Foods & Nutrition Encyclopedia (2nd Edition, Volume 1 ed.). CRC Press. pp. 329–331. ISBN 084938981X.

Melons: Cantaloupe, Muskmelon, Honeydew, Crenshaw, Casaba, etc. | College of Agricultural Sciences (oregonstate.edu)

Watermelon | College of Agricultural Sciences (oregonstate.edu)

Explore Cornell - Home Gardening - Vegetable Growing Guides – Watermelon Growing Guide

Explore Cornell - Home Gardening - Vegetable Growing Guides – Melon Growing Guide

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