Hothouse – Détails, épisodes et analyse

On this episode, we’re tackling Phosphorus – an element, crucial to life on earth, which exists in both abundance and scarcity. We cover how humans got hooked on P fertilizers, the political and environmental impacts of mining and pollution, and what might be done about it. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

City of Austin Algae Mitigation;Toledo Junction Coalition Interview; Points North Podcast; US EPA explanation of phosphorus processing waste product storage; Florida Public Radio story about Florida mine disasters; Atlas Obscura podcast: “The Belt and Berm” Part 1 and Part 2; Atlas Obscura text: Moroccan Western Sahara Wall; Soil is Sexy

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On this episode, we’re gettin’ down and dirty with sheet mulch. Sheet mulching is a no-till, no-dig gardening practice of removing unwanted vegetation and building fertile soil by layering organic matter and letting it compost in place. While the layers suppress weeds by blocking sunlight, subterranean soil biology goes to work to break down the layers into new soil. The beauty of this simple practice is that you can do it at any time of year with materials you have on hand (like cardboard, shredded paper, and leaves) or can source for free from local sources (arborist wood chips, coffee grounds, and spent mushroom substrate).

We discuss the reasons for sheet mulching, when and how to do it, and what to use. Then we dive into the corrugated controversy around cardboard and ponder the role of science in gardening. 

Mentioned in this episode:

“Pocket Prairies with John Hart Asher” (Horticulturati podcast episode, 2022);

JHA pocket prairies ep of Horticulturati; Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway (2001); “Fungal Vision with Daniel Reyes” (Hothouse podcast episode, 2018); Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets (2005); Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis (2006); “Mulches: The Good, The Bad, and the Really, Really Ugly” by Dr. Linda Chalker Scott (presentation to the Clackamas County Master Gardeners, 2019); “The Cardboard Controversy” by Chalker-Scott (Garden Professors blog, 2015); “Permaculture - More Concerns” by Chalker-Scott (Garden Professors blog, 2010).

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Happy New Year! We’re back from vacation with a discussion of a book that is very much in the Horticulturati wheelhouse, The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden. Author Roy Diblik, a Wisconsin-based designer and plantsman, argues that anyone can build a “design-magazine-worthy garden at home” by thoughtfully combining perennials to form functional plant communities that need little more than an annual mow – almost no irrigation, mulch, or hand-pruning required. This low-maintenance method could be a revelation for residential and commercial landscapes alike, but can it work in Texas, with our balmy winters and scorching summers? Is there a way to implement the mowing-for-maintenance concept using electric, rather than gas, machines? Colleen is inspired to experiment as she redesigns her front yard.

Next, we review a documentary short, The Soul of a Farmer, by filmmaker Roger Sherman. Chef-turned-grower Patty Gentry of Early Girl Farm rents three acres in Long Island from Isabella Rosselini (!!!), who calls Patty “the Picasso of Vegetables.” Sidestepping many of the tropes of farm-to-table docs (Gentry admits she’d probably be living out of her truck if it weren’t for her spouse’s financial support) this film paints an honest portrait of the struggles and small victories of one artisanal vegetable grower as she transitions from wholesale growing for restaurants to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model. Food porn ahead! 

If you’re SERIOUS about gardening, join our Patreon at $5/month and get bonus “in the weeds” content from this episode, video classes, and early access to the show! In this edition of the bonus, Colleen shares her plant list for the front yard, and the mulch conundrum continues. We’re talkin’ hydrophobic crustiness, the virtues of leaf mold versus pine straw, and so much more! 

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Photo credit Patrice Casanova/First Run Features 

If you have a passion for plants, you probably love plant shopping. Our local garden centers are more than just a place to source nursery stock; they’re a designer’s trove of botanical information and inspiration. After untold hours spent perusing the grounds of Barton Springs Nursery, we finally sat down for a chat with two of the new owners, designer Amy Hovis and horticulturist Willy Glenn. 

Founded in 1986 by Bernardine and Conrad Bering, Barton Springs Nursery is an Austin institution. Into a drab '80s landscape of photinias, nandinas, and boxwoods, the Berings introduced wild plants from seed and cuttings -- salvias, mallows, bunchgrasses, and palms -- and helped to pioneer the city's vibrant gardening scene with an emphasis on sustainability, native plants, and local expertise. After 35 years, the Berings retired in January 2021 and sold the store to Hovis, the owner of Eden Garden Design; Glenn, the former manager of the nursery; and Greg Thomas. Since then, they've added an event space, revamped the grounds, and adopted two new mascots: a kitten named Fern, and a tortoise named Fig. 

Hovis and Glenn say their goal is to make the "new" BSN the best nursery in Texas (at the very least). We talked about new propagation experiments coming down the pike, the catastrophic winter storm in February, and how the pandemic has ushered in an unexpected gardening renaissance.

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Mentioned in this episode: 

Know Maintenance by Roy Diblik (2014); Leersia oryzoides; Melica mutica

A year ago, we recorded a long and rambly episode on garden design. Now we're making it an October tradition! Revisiting the subject, we realize our approaches to design have changed, but we're still hell-bent on questioning basic tenets. How important is color? Are foundation shrubs necessary? Should we flip the script on "seasonal interest?" Does "timesharing with plants" really work? Join us at the picnic table as we parse out some jargon (form, texture, verticality), swap tips, and get hangry for cookies. 

Mentioned in this episode: Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf (2017) and Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West (2015). 

When you have too many plants, it's time to make more! That's gardener logic for you. Fall is a great time to divide perennials and save seeds - but how? We dig into these methods of backyard propagation and again give you permission to be ruthless and/or lazy in the garden. Go ham on that root ball! Let the veggies bolt! Plants can handle it. Up first: Leah has a design question and Colleen scours the streaming platforms for Monty Don. 

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Mentioned in this episode: 

Monty Don; "How to Divide 45 Favorite Perennials" and "Three Simple Ways to Divide Plants" from Garden Gate Magazine; The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds by Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough.

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Fresh off a hometown visit to Cleveland, Colleen brings us the story of the Cuyahoga: a river once so polluted with industrial sludge, it burned. At least thirteen times. While the largest and most damaging conflagration occurred in 1952, it was the 1969 river fire that made national headlines, thanks to Mayor Carl Stokes. As one of the first Black mayors of a major American city, the charismatic and media-savvy Stokes connected the dots between economic inequality and environmental degradation, and advocated on the national stage for legislation that would clean up the “urban environment,” starting with the Cuyahoga and Lake Erie. Today, the pristine Cuyahoga is a symbol of pride for Clevelanders, yet this civic success story belies the reality of ongoing inequality there. Colleen shares her personal history of growing up in “a city with no superlatives,” her own chance connection to Stokes, and how she’s begun parsing the difference between “environmentalism” and “environmental justice.”

Also, Leah shares an update on the so-called Mystery Seeds from China.

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Mentioned in this episode:

“The Truth Behind the Amazon Mystery Seeds” by Chris Heath (The Atlantic, 7/15/21); Burning River Pale Ale; The Good Time III boat; The Mayor and The People: Carl B Stokes (album by Oliver Nelson); “Carl B. Stokes and the 1969 River Fire” (National Parks Service); “The Cities: The Price of Optimism” (Time, 8/1/69), “The Myth of the Cuyahoga River Fire” (Distillations Podcast, Science History Institute); “Bringing Back Trees to ‘Forest City’s Redlined Areas to Help Residents and the Climate” (NPR, 6/23/21).

At long last, here's the second installment of our bee-stravaganza! Leah interviews beekeeper Tara Chapman, owner of Two Hives Honey, about the intricate connection between bees, plants, and weather. Then, your hosts discuss how to be a good steward to honeybees--and native bees and other pollinators as well. Even if you're not a beekeeper, there are many things you can do (or not do) to be a friend to the bees! 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Instagram's @mr.mrs.beeRescue and @theinnocentgardener (beekeeper Sam Dula); Honey and Venom by NYC beekeeper Andrew Coté. 

Enter the hive with us for another classic critter topic: BEES! We recorded so much on bees that we have to split this bee-nanza into a two-parter! In part one, Leah suits up for a tour at Two Hives Honey in Manor, Texas, and investigates honeybee ecology. In part two, we’ll focus on how, as a gardener, you can support our honey-making friends (along with native bees and other pollinators). 

What are honeybees? Why do they live in boxes? And how did Apis mellifera, just one of tens of thousands of bee species in the world, become so ubiquitous in our gardens? We’ll answer these questions and more with the help of professional beekeeper Samantha Dula. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

The Beekeeper’s Bible by Richard A. Jones and Sharon Sweeney-Lynch; and Bee City (1951), a short film about honeybees narrated by sportswriter and amateur naturalist John Kieran. 

Welcome to Hothouse Season 2! If you follow any flower farmers on Instagram, the romance may be all too tempting: picture yourself quitting the city, fixing up an old farmhouse, and spending your days harvesting flowers and arranging bouquets on a ten-acre homestead. Now imagine doing that in a fire-prone, flood-prone, deer-pressured, rapidly developing portion of Austin without access to well water or an agricultural property tax exemption. Sam Eberhardt and Dan Poole are farming on the razor’s edge, doing everything the hard way, and still somehow managing to make the dream look absolutely fabulous.

In this episode, we take a walk behind the scenes of Cassiopeia, a flower farm and orchard dedicated to ethical land stewardship, wildlife conservation, and “beyond organic” principles. Sam and Dan discuss the structural obstacles faced by small farms, their commitment to regenerative agriculture, and their “shotgun approach” to rolling with the punches of climate change. 

Check out Cassiopeia Farm's farm-to-table CSA, the Best Buds Club, find their flowers at Austin Flower Company, Salt and Time, and Confituras, and follow them on Instagram.

This interview was recorded in February 2019. Drop me a line! Music by Moonsicles.