Mike from Grow Happy Gardening joins our podcast to talk about the Kratky Method. Here are the 6 things that you will need to try this method: container/reservoir (you can use any container from a 5 gallon bucket to a 32 ounce mason jar) plastic cup with holes that will hold the plant and allow the roots to dip into the water (Mike uses 3” inch net cups with a wide-mouth mason jar.) seedling inert substrate to anchor the plant in the cup (clay pebbles, gravel or perlite) water nutrients (Mike uses Blue Planet Nutrients)   If you would like more information about the Kratky Method, check out this book.   You can connect with Mike on Instagram @growhappygardening.   As an Amazon affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Amanda joins us to share her ideas on how to get kids interested in gardening. Allowing children to participate in all aspects of gardening will help them learn where their food comes from and expose them to more varieties of herbs, vegetables, fruit and flowers. It can be as simple as a countertop herb garden or a small container outside where they can grow a few simple plants like strawberries, green beans or cherry tomatoes.   You can connect with Amanda on Instagram @grateful_gardener.   As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ruth from @colorfulworldacreage shares her experience with growing melons as well as her new adventure selling her home grown flowers, fruit and vegetables in her community.   Here are a few tips that we discuss during the episode: Plant melons when the soil is at least 65 degrees, whether you direct sow your seeds or you are transplanting seedling. Plant in an area that gets full sun throughout the day. When plants are young, keep them well watered and provide them with a lot of nitrogen. One source of nitrogen to help your vines grow lush and green is fish emulsion. You can amend the soil with bone meal to help prevent blossom end rot. Hand pollinate or grow flowers nearby to attract pollinators. When watering, avoiding wetting the leaves and water deep. Once the melon has formed and you notice it has stopped getting bigger, stop watering to allow the sugars to concentrate so you get a sweeter fruit. Only water if you see the leaves wilting.   Ruth’s Top 5 muskmelon/cantaloupe Charentais Kazakh melon Papaya Dew Honey Melon (Rajasthan) Petit gris de Rennes   Ruth’s Top 5 Watermelons Orangeglo Jubilee Crimson Sweet Strawberry Moon & Stars   New varieties that Ruth will be trying in 2021 Leelanau Sweetglo Kurobe Orange Flesh Melon Golden Honeydew Royal Golden Watermelon   Winter Melons Santa Claus Melon Valencia Navajo Winter Melon   If you are like me and have limited space for watermelons, here is a short list of a few varieties for “personal sized” watermelons: Doll Babies Rainbow Sherbet Petite Yellow Golden Midget   As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Most people think of chickens when they want fresh backyard eggs. However, quail are a great alternative to keeping chickens, especially in an urban setting. This episode will compare chicken keeping to quail keeping. We will also give you some basic information about quail keeping should you want to learn more.   During this episode, we mentioned that you can use a rabbit hutch to keep a small quail covey. The design and dimensions should work just fine for keeping about 4-5 quail if you want an “off the ground” enclosure. We would modify it though to have a solid wood floor that can hold pine shavings.   One of their favorite treats to supplement their food is dried black soldier fly larvae.   As far as providing clean water, we like using waterers that have a nipple or a small watering cup.    And to create a happy living space for them, we include places for them to hide such as a twig tunnel or a small wood house within their enclosure.     We have a lot more quail keeping information on our Instagram account.   As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Brian joins me to chat about his gardening journey, his urban garden space, being purpose minded and his kitchen garden “must haves”. You can connect with Brian on Instagram @neverenoughdirt. He also has a website and YouTube channel.   During the episode, we chatted briefly about seed starting. There are many different ways to start your seeds from repurposing containers from around your home to buying seed starting materials and supplies. On our mini farm, we use a variety of supplies including square 3.5 inch pots, seed starting coconut coir pellets and non-woven seed starting bags. We also use heavy duty 10X20 growing trays to hold everything. Heavy duty is a must when it comes time to move them around and harden off the seedlings. Don’t forget to label your seeds as you go. Happy seed starting!   As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Jen and I chat about her plans for the upcoming season, gardening in Zone 6A and bee keeping. You can connect with Jen on Instagram and Tik Tok @jensjuicyveggies. She also has a website with a shop where she offers some of her homegrown and homemade products. www.jensjuicyveggies.com Insect hotels are a great way to support the beneficial insects in your garden ecosystem. They are designed to provide a nest, habitat or temporary shelter for bees, butterflies and ladybugs.   As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Gardening can be both exciting and overwhelming.This episode will provide you with a few tips for how best to approach this new adventure. For those wanting to learn more about composting and the different techniques on how to make compost, “The Complete Compost Gardening Guide” is just what you need. I purchased this book many years ago and it was a great resource and continues to be even after all these years. Recommended Seed List for New Gardeners Veggies Beans Corn Cucumbers Melons Peas Pumpkins Summer Squash Winter Squash Flowers Calendula Marigolds Sunflowers Zinnias As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

On this episode, we are joined by Nick, a friend and new homesteader, to talk about gardening. Are you new to gardening or homesteading? There is so much to learn about as it relates to gardening and homesteading. Our “Ask a Homesteader” segment allows us to dialogue about a variety of topics as we learn and grow together. If you are new to homesteading and want to learn more, I highly recommend “The Backyard Homestead”. It was one of the first few books that I purchased (back in 2010) that covers a wide range of topics from growing your own food, to taking care of farm animals to brewing your own beer. Check it out!   As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The pandemic that started in the United States in March 2020 led to a shortage of many items, which then led many people to explore and embrace how to be more self sufficient and self reliant. As a result, there was a growing interest in many aspects of homesteading type activities like baking, sewing, growing food and keeping chickens for eggs and meat. If you are new to keeping chickens or thinking about it, my friend Anne wrote “The Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens: How to Raise a Happy Backyard Flock.” This comprehensive guide will help you with just about every aspect of keeping chickens. And as mentioned in the podcast, here is a recipe for crusty and rustic artisan bread. Artisan Bread Recipe You only need 4 ingredients to make this bread. It makes 3-4 medium sized loaves and you can even refrigerate the dough for a few days should you want to bake over the span of a few days. Things you will need: A large mixing bowl/container A large mixing spatula Plastic wrap Parchment paper Cornmeal A dutch oven Bread lame Silicone oven mitts Cooking rack Measuring cups and spoons Kitchen thermometer Ingredients: 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees F) 1 ½ tablespoons active dry yeast 6 ½  cups unsifted, unbleached all purpose white flour 1 ½ tablespoons salt Directions: 1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the water and yeast and let it sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes. 2. Add the flour and then the salt. Using the mixing spatula, mix while scraping the sides of the bowl until all of the flour has been incorporated and a dough ball forms. 3. Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap leaving an opening to allow the gases to escape during the first proofing. Place the bowl in a warm, draft free spot. (I like to put my bowl inside the microwave.) Let it rest for 2 hours. 4. After 2 hours, the dough should have risen and doubled in size. You will also see a lot of air pockets letting you know that the yeast is active and doing its job. 5. Remove the plastic wrap. With wet (or floured) hands, punch down the dough ball to remove all of the air pockets. You will notice that the dough will collapse and shrink back to half its size. You are now ready to prepare your first loaf for baking. 6. Prepare a work surface with a bit of flour. Tear of a chunk of dough from the main dough ball and lightly knead the dough with just a bit of flour. Only add flour if the dough ball is too tacky to work with. Form a dough ball once you see a tight stretch forming on the surface of the dough ball. Place the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper that has been sprinkled with a bit of cornmeal. Let this newly formed loaf proof on the counter for 40 minutes. 7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven and the dutch oven to 450 degrees F. This takes about 15-20 minutes depending on the oven. 8. Once the loaf is done proofing after 40 minutes, you should notice that the loaf got a bit bigger as the yeast continued to work. Gently dust the surface of the loaf with some flour and score the dough with the bread lame. 9. Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven. IT IS SUPER HOT, that’s why I use silicone oven mitts made specifically for high heat. What looks like the lid of the dutch oven will be the bottom part for baking and what looks like the pot portion of the dutch oven will serve as the dome on top of the bread.

This episode is a quick introduction to our urban homesteading journey and our future plans for this podcast. We started many years ago with container gardening in a fairly small space and have grown over the years to an 8,000 square foot lot with a vegetable, flower and rose garden along with keeping quail for fresh backyard eggs. We also have a small fruit orchard that we are trying to establish and we enjoy doing a lot of DIY projects around the house. Join our adventure and learn and grow with us! One of our favorite containers for container gardening is called an EarthBox. We started with these “self watering” containers as new gardeners and were successful with growing a variety of vegetables. If you are a container gardener, check them out. Even though we have a large yard with raised beds now, we still have a few EarthBoxes strategically placed around the yard to increase and maximize our growing space. And while we are the subject of favorites, here are 3 gardening must haves around our urban homestead garden: Sloggers gardening shoes…they also come as boots too! They are waterproof and there are a variety of prints and colors to choose from. We love Down to Earth products including this vegetable fertilizer which we use throughout our garden for all types of plants. Velcro plant ties are a must haves around here. They can be cut to the needed length and they are both durable and reusable.    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.