Here at Eden Brothers, we are big podcast listeners! The greatest advantage to listening to podcasts is that you can learn so much. Naturally, we gravitate towards gardening podcasts where we can dive deep into the topics we are interested in. We are always learning and open to hearing other people’s experiences. No matter how many seasons we start our vegetable garden from seeds or battle pests amongst our flowers, we are always open to hearing what works for other gardeners, what hasn’t worked, or a fresh perspective. A great advantage to listening to podcasts is that we can be entertained or learn a new lesson whenever and wherever we want. So while you are out digging that hole or weeding your vegetable garden or flower bed, look up one of our favorites below and give it a try. It will make that digging or weeding and working so much more pleasant, and you will learn something to boot!
Cultivating Place Podcast
Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden with Jennifer Jewell
"Your need to garden is inextricably linked to your humanity." What do we mean when we garden? Jennifer Jewell attempts to answer that question through her thoughtful, peaceful talks with various gardeners across the country. This weekly podcast does not attempt to offer gardening 101 how-to lessons. Instead, we connect with the earth, our own driving forces, grief, the community in which we live, and how gardening interweaves itself into our very being, bringing us peace, solitude, connectivity, and meaning. Cultivating Place is the podcast you will listen to as you sit outside in the early evening, or while you walk your dog, while you take a moment out of your busy day to reflect and contemplate the slice of land we have chosen to cultivate our place in the world. With each episode, we get to listen in on conversations that focus on natural history, and the human impulse to garden. Yes, we realize there is something larger at play that drives us to play and create in the soil. This podcast validates us as we listen and learn about the wonderful connectedness of the gardening experience as we nod our heads in unison. If you want to dive deeper into why you and the rest of us dig in the soil, pull weeds, sweat, plant, and be validated, then give Cultivating Place a try. A new episode is released every Thursday. Highlights and Features we love:
- Hear from real gardeners who talk about not just how but why they garden.
- Thoughtful episodes about resilient, enchanting, and hopeful people who see gardening as a form of poetry.
- Learn about seed banks and projects.
- The community of gardeners is diverse, yet interconnected – this podcast celebrates us!
Our favorite episode: Long Live Love Foundation and their Serenity Healing Garden, episode from June 9, 2022
Spoken Garden Podcast
"You have the ability to care for your garden, no matter what previous garden care experience you have." What a refreshing idea - DIY gardening tips in about a minute! That’s right! This low commitment podcast delivers the information given in the title in 1 to 1 ½ minutes. No more listening to needless information and banter for 30-45 minutes just to finally get to the meat of the podcast. Spoken Garden has paired down each episode so as not to waste anyone’s time. We love this idea because, let’s face it, who needs to listen to 45 minutes on dividing daffodils? Spoken Garden will give you the most pertinent info in about a minute. Another reason we love Spoken Garden podcasts is because they center on landscape and garden advice that comes in handy for every homeowner. Listening to Spoken Garden Podcast is like listening to your favorite, garden savvy neighbor who peaks his head up over the fence every now and then offering advice to help you tackle your landscape and maintenance chores. Preparing for fall, overwintering potted plants, lawn care, deadheading and many other gardening chores are covered in this short, easy to digest podcast. In addition, right below each podcast is a transcription, making it easy to reference or go over steps. This is a neat feature as each episode is so informative that you will surely want to jot down notes. No need to - they have you covered with the full transcription of the podcast for quick and easy reference. As if that wasn’t enough, below the transcription is a link to their YouTube channel where you can watch a video on the given topic. So whether you are an audio, kinesthetic or visual learner, Spoken Garden has created a platform for all of us. Spoken Garden claims that they offer seasonal and everyday landscape, maintenance, and garden advice for your best garden. We agree, and we keep this podcast in our regular line up to provide us with this kind, useful, and neighborly advice.
Highlights and features we love:
- Each podcast lasts no more than 2 minutes from beginning to end.
- Soothing and knowledgeable host offers practical gardening advice
- Focuses solely on challenges we face as we maintain our outdoor property
Our favorite episode: 5 Garden Hacks to Improve Your Seed Germination Game, episode 184
The Beginner’s Garden Podcast with Jill McSheehy
"Easy-to-understand resources, tips, and information to help beginning gardeners get the most out of their gardening adventure." Don’t be put off by the title - many of us at Eden Brothers have been gardening for years, yet there is still information to be learned. If we are humble enough to admit it, we are ALL still learning! Host Jill McSheehy and her softly pleasant voice dives deep into her weekly podcast as she sifts through all the information out there to bring to her listeners helpful information that we can put to use in our gardens. Jill began gardening in 2013 and she delivers her knowledge as a friend would; a friend willing to share her experience with us! Rather than feeling like we are being taught by someone with knowledge that far exceeds our own, Jill helps us feel like we are learning right along with her. After 100 episodes, The Beginner’s Garden has established its place in the podcast world. Podcast topics include “Plant Timing Mistakes,” “Succession Planting Strategies,” and “Money Saving Crops to Grow.” Keep in mind that all information given in these episodes is also centered around organic gardening. Information on composting, mulching, cover crops, soil amending - is all done organically. No affiliate links are pointing you toward big box and big company non-organic items. All ideas and materials are organic and that’s good for us, our environment, and the way we want all beginning gardeners to learn.
Highlights and Features we Love:
- Easy to follow tips
- Focus on organic gardening
- No matter how much we know, we continue to learn
Our Favorite Episode: How to Amend Your Soil Before Spring Planting, Episode 237
The Joe Gardener Show with Joe Lamp’l
"The world needs more gardens and more gardeners!" Devoted to all things gardening, national gardening television host, Joe Lamp’l, is our humble yet knowledgeable guide on this podcast. You may know him from the Emmy-award winning PBS series ‘Growing a Greener World.’ Giving us practical tips to become a smarter gardener, no matter our expertise, we gain a spectrum of knowledge that begins with organic food gardening and branches off into a diverse range of topics. We especially love this podcast because Joe Lamp’l is widely known as one of the leading gardening voices and we feel secure in his advice. With close to 300 episodes, this weekly podcast is not only chalk full of useful information, but also interesting stories from beekeepers, scientists, horticulturalists and doctors. Listening to this podcast has taught us about black gardens, the insect apocalypse, and regenerative gardening, to name a few topics. Joe and his guest speakers are engaging, knowledgeable, and informative.
Highlights and Features we love:
- New guest speaker each week
- Podcast comes with a great website full of resources
- Experienced, time-tested advice
Our favorite episode: Dahlia Growing and Breeding, with Kristine Albrecht, episode 248
Backyard Gardens Podcast
Learn to Grow. Grow for Change
Ben Gardner and Batavia have been gardening for over 25 years and they want to pass their knowledge on to you. At over 200 episodes, Backyard Gardens Podcast has established itself as a gardening podcast that is here to stay. We depend on their expertise, as Ben gardens in the country and Batavia gardens in the city, but we also appreciate their friendly relationship and banter as they impart their knowledge on us. Backyard Gardens is here for everyone to have fun while learning how to grow more food and flowers in their gardens. Every week they break garden topics down like a compost pile so it is easy to understand! Ben and Batavia like to give us the full picture of gardening, starting their gardens from seed and taking us through the process all the way to how to dry, freeze and can your harvest. They offer multiple episodes on food security, what that looks like for the home gardener, and how to work towards attaining it. Other informative episodes cover composting, sustainable gardening, growing herbal remedies, container and vertical gardening. Each episode is just a bit under an hour, and what we love so much about their podcast is that they will offer several podcasts to cover one subject. They dive deep into each subject and ask us to come along as we listen to the two of them break down meaningful garden topics into a conversational format. They want you to have the most productive and easy to maintain garden so you can spend more time enjoying your space. So let’s all Learn to Grow and Grow for Change—together! Highlights and Features we Love
- Ben and Batavia cover subjects we may be thinking about but rarely discuss, like their March 1, 2022 episode, “Is it weird if I don’t harvest my vegetables?”
- After each growing season, they keep it real by offering an episode or two talking about their garden fails and disappointments.
- Hosts give us a city and country view to gardening and the successes and challenges of both.
- Sprinkled in each Tuesday is a mini episode.
- You have the ability to submit a gardening question on their website homepage.
Our Favorite Episode: Mini episodes - Growing Herbal Remedies - chamomile, calendula, and echinacea
Old World Garden Farms Simple Life Garden Podcast
Gardening, Recipes, DIY and More
An incredible treasure trove of information, Old World Garden Farms at www.oldworldgardenfarms.com is a website chock full of information! Gardening advice sits right alongside Tiny House ideas, DIY projects, and yummy recipes. Created by Jim and Mary Competti, Old World Garden Farms is their passion project, which began in 2010, when they followed their dreams to the middle of Ohio where they started a self-sufficient farm. Not long after arriving at their new homestead, they cleared some land, and began a blog to document their progress. Fast forward to today, and they now have six websites dedicated to home, garden, and cooking. The websites allow Jim and Mary the opportunity to share and help others looking to grow and prepare more of their own food, as well as build and create projects all around the home. In addition to writing and speaking, Jim and Mary enjoy spending time on their 3 acre Old World Garden Farm, which serves as a test ground for many of their articles, recipes and DIY projects. Now that their new podcast has been launched, Simple Garden Life, they have more of an opportunity to connect with listeners all over about their passion for all things gardening. Each week, Jim and Mary take on a new garden topic, taking the listener through the how and why of gardening, along with advice on how to always keep it fun and enjoyable. Their episodes generally last about 20 minutes. Have a burning question that you would love to have answered? You can email them directly at thefarm@awgarden.com. Highlights and Features we Love
- Both Jim and Mary weigh in on each episode, giving the listener the gift of both of their perspectives.
- Each episode comes with a full-length corresponding article where all reference and product links are available for easy access.
- They provide practical and useful advice, answering questions we have always had and dispelling myths.
Our Favorite Episode: Episode 201: Saving Eggshells and Coffee Grounds—The Key to Big Garden Success!
We hope that you are able to find something that interests you in one or more of the podcasts above. Best case scenario, if you discover one of these that you really enjoy, your tasks and chores will become the excuse you need to go outside and listen and learn while you check off your gardening to-do list. I for one can say that my best days gardening are when I can tune out the world, put a fun and informative podcast in my ears and start playing in the dirt. If you are like the rest of us here at Eden Brothers, let us know what gardening podcasts you enjoy. Comment below with your suggestion and we will give them a try!