S7E2 Tess and Alyce answer a listener question all about ensuring you've got good soil quality. This listener has a couple of raised garden beds she's filling up, she's got a couple of tonnes of organic compost blended with coco coir, perlite and chicken manure plus the contents of her bokashi bins and some store bought worms. She says "I'm scared that my soil will lack nutrients to grow strong healthy plants, any suggestions?" They've said on the podcast before that your plants are as good as your soil so listen in to find out what Alyce thinks of this mix and whether she'd do anything differently. 

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S6E12 Tess and Alyce chat about the expiration dates on seeds. What do they mean? Are they a 'use by' or 'best before'? They chat about how to use your seeds best once they've passed their expiry date (hot tip: don't throw them out!) plus the best way to store your seeds to ensure longevity. 

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S6E9 Tess and Alyce chat about fruit salad trees. Not quite a cool as a tree that grows apples, pears, strawberries, bananas and a watermelon, but it's pretty close! Fruit salad trees are created when different types of the same fruit tree are grafted together, like a citrus tree growing lemons, limes, oranges - it's pretty incredible! Listen in to hear all about the pros and cons and tips for growing these magical plants!  

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Rooting for You is hosted by Tess and Alyce, artwork by @lorynjanene You can find us at https://www.alycealexandra.com/rooting-for-you-pod or email us at [email protected]

Tess and Alyce acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we live and grow our gardens, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.

S6E8 Tess and Alyce discuss succession planting. Succession planting is one of those fancy gardening terms you hear thrown around from time to time. Here at Rooting for You we’re all about breaking down those gardening barriers and giving it to you straight, so in this episode we’re talking about succession planting. Crops that are great for succession planting are: radishes, lettuces, sprouting broccoli, carrots, basil, coriander, beans, rocket, mustards, Asian greens, spring onions and silverbeet. 

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Rooting for You is hosted by Tess and Alyce, artwork by @lorynjanene You can find us at https://www.alycealexandra.com/rooting-for-you-pod or email us at [email protected]

Tess and Alyce acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we live and grow our gardens, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.

S6E7 Tess and Alyce talk about growing asparagus. Asparagus is a little like a rhubarb, perennial stay in the ground all year round AND grows from a crown. This crop takes a bit of time and effort to get started but once you’re going, you’ll have asparagus for 30 years! Asparagus crowns are planted in winter so nows the time to get it in the ground. This episode is jam packed full of fun asparagus facts, from stinky wee, gendered plants and how white asparagus is grown, it’s gonna blow your mind!

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Rooting for You is hosted by Tess and Alyce, artwork by @lorynjanene You can find us at https://www.alycealexandra.com/rooting-for-you-pod or email us at [email protected]

Tess and Alyce acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we live and grow our gardens, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.

S4E7 No idea what we’re talking about? Well this this is the episode for you!! NPK is gardening shorthand for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. These are three super important ingredients for helping your plants flourish and if they don’t get all three, they might be in big trouble! In this ep, we’ll tell you what each one of these chemicals does and help you decipher nursery-fertilizers - an introduction to this kinda sciency topic! Now remember, fertilizers are not a substitute for good, life-filled, enriched soil but sometimes you just need a little extra help. If anyone has an easy way to help us remember NPK and what each one does, let us know!!

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Rooting for You is hosted by Tess and Alyce, artwork by @lorynjanene You can find us at https://www.alycealexandra.com/rooting-for-you-pod or email us at [email protected]

Tess and Alyce acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where we live and grow our gardens, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to Elders, past and present. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal Land.

S6E6 Tess and Alyce discuss hot composting. Hot composting is the process of turning your waste into new soil in only a few weeks! By creating the right environment, your compost pile will heat up and expedite the transformation process, turning garden waste, cardboard and paper, foot scraps into brown gold. This topic was partly inspired by our recent conversation with @compostable.kate and although it might not be a topic for beginners but a very cool process. Check out our chat with @compostable.kate for all the fun sciencey details. 

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