The Grow Guide – Details, episodes & analysis

Subscribe to our Patreon to listen to our full-length August episode, featuring the complete interview with our guest, former provincial apiarist for the Province of Manitoba, Rheal Lafreniere https://www.patreon.com/thegrowguide. Plus find images and links to everything we've discussed on this episode here on our website https://www.thegrowguidepodcast.com/

Subscribe to our Patreon to listen to our full-length July episode, covering in great detail both practical and more big picture tasks you can complete in the garden mid-season to enhance your plants and your experience! Plus find images and links to everything we've discussed on this episode here on our website https://www.thegrowguidepodcast.com/

Spring is officially here and Dave and Maggie are thrilled to be back behind the Grow Guide mics. The show kicks off with some BIG news: Maggie is expecting a baby, due this April! Maggie shares some of the ways her spring arrival will change her 2023 gardening strategies, but there is no holding her back and she is fully embracing the beautiful season ahead. After getting good and caught up, Dave and Maggie spend the second part of the show comparing notes on their seed-starting process, answering a series of questions that bring to life the fundamentals of seed-starting, and then some!

With Canada Day giving us all a little opportunity for R & R, Dave and Maggie are taking the week off from recording and will be back with a brand new episode next Tuesday. That said, we are excited to share one of our most popular episodes as a re-post: this is episode 26, Native Prairie Plants with Kelly Leask, manager of Prairie Originals Nursery. Kelly is so full of insights and inspirations! Although this was recorded in early spring of 2018 the info is completely helpful to anyone working on their landscape right now! 

Connect with The Grow Guide

- Grow Guide FB community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

- Follow The Grow Guide: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/?hl=en

- Follow Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/?hl=en

- Follow Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/?hl=en

As we head into the summer months plants can start to show a little neediness, particularly fast growing veggies. Dave and Maggie devote this episode to ten easy tips to help rookie growers (and let's admit it... veteran growers too!) find success and satisfaction in the vegetable garden. But before getting to the tips Dave has a surprising bit of industry-insider info to share, Maggie checks-in about some uneven success stories this growing season and both Maggie and Dave have an edible favourite plant to share with everyone. 

Connect with The Grow Guide

- Grow Guide FB community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

- Follow The Grow Guide: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/?hl=en

- Follow Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/?hl=en

- Follow Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/?hl=en

With the summer solstice around the corner, Maggie and Dave start today's episode feeling nostalgic for last season as they reminisce on the podcast from one year ago. Tune into last year's summer solstice episode where The Grow Guide chats about square foot gardening! Dave then shares what he loves most about his garden at this time of year while Maggie walks listeners through the behind-the-scenes for her own homestead. From there the duo are joined by this week's guest who is a fellow-podcaster (host of the Encyclopedia Botanic) and landscape architect from Seattle Urban Farm Co, Hilary Dahl. Hilary shares her secrets to maintaining and beautifying your edible garden, including the keys to success, her favourite flowers to throw in the mix and a garden tool she can't live without.

Here's some of the resources Hilary mentions in this week's episode:

• Food Grown Right in Your Backyard 
• High Yield Vegetable Gardening
• Seattle Urban Farm Company
• Hilary's Instagram

To join the Facebook community group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/

To connect with Maggie: https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/

To connect with Dave:  https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/

Every gardener has good days and bad, and Dave and Maggie chat about rolling with the busy season. Along the way they stumble upon a plant "of good cheer" and talk about a cucamelon relative that might just become a new fav. The big discussion today is all about sweet potatoes, with emphasis on how to grow an edible crop organically in northern gardens. Did you know sweet potatoes can grow just about every where in Canada? Or that sweet potato foliage is edible and tasty? Listen-in to learn how to make this amazing veggie happen in your garden!

Connect with The Grow Guide

- Grow Guide FB community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

- Follow The Grow Guide: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/?hl=en

- Follow Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/?hl=en

- Follow Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/?hl=en

It’s June and Maggie and Dave are officially in their garden playgrounds! The duo shares the plants they think are perfect for summer as their favourite things of the week, including a zinnia ideal for bouquets and a plant with unique edible berries. This week Stephanie Rose, from GardenTherapy.ca joins the podcast to share botanical infusions from the garden. She covers DIY recipes, must-have plants and her favourite gardening resources.

The Ressources Stephanie Mentions:

• savvygardening.ca
• Herbal Handbook for Homesteaders
• Gardeners Workshop Farm
• The Nerdy Farmwife
• Lovely Greens

Connect with Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/

Connect with Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/

Follow The Grow Guide on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/

Join The Grow Guide community group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

Unpredictable spring weather in Zone 3 has Maggie & Dave reminding listeners about the importance of protecting plants when temperatures drop over night. Be mindful, growers! Dave shares a variegated milkweed as his favourite plant of the week while Maggie shares an interesting concept to support local farmers in your community. A listener question around harvesting asparagus sparks a discussion about proper care for the edible perennial too. The topic of this episode then turns to organic fertilizing, covering the benefits, the positive impact organic fertilizers has for plants & the environment, soluble vs. slow release fertilizer and finding the right one for your garden-style.

Organic Fertilizers Mentioned in this Episode Include…

- Vegano Plant-Based Fertilizer: https://www.welcomeharvestfarm.com/products.htm

- Sea Soil Compost: https://www.seasoil.com/about.html

- Jobes Fertilizer Spikes: https://jobescompany.com/product/jobes-organics-fertilizer-spike-all-purpose/

Connect with The Grow Guide

- Grow Guide FB community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

- Follow The Grow Guide: https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/?hl=en

- Follow Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/?hl=en

- Follow Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/?hl=en

This week we have the pleasure of chatting with Emma Biggs, a 14 year old gardening guru who just published her first book with the famous Storey publishing company. Emma brings her kid's-eye-view to help kids and adults better understand each other when it comes to enjoying gardening, but absolutely inspires gardeners of all ages with her extensive urban gardening knowledge (she is Toronto based). We get to chat veggies, bugs, eating weeds and much more. She is so well spoken - you will love connecting with her on the pod!

Before chatting with Emma, Dave and Maggie sing the praises of a locally sourced organic fertilizer and discover a tiny zone 1 perennial from Siberia. Our listener question of the week takes our imaginations on a little tour of French courtyards, where we contemplate the possibilities of espalier as a fruit tree growing technique for northern gardeners. So fun. 

Join the Grow Guide Facebook community

https://www.facebook.com/groups/276990892799327/?ref=bookmarks

Follow The Grow Guide:https://www.instagram.com/thegrowguidepod/?hl=en

Follow Maggie:https://www.instagram.com/fromsoiltosoul/?hl=en

Follow Dave:https://www.instagram.com/sagegardenherbs/?hl=en