Skip to main content

Good Growing

Talking all things horticulture, ecology, and design.
Good growing text over soil and gardening tools background

Latest Episode

This week, we have a Gardenbite excerpt from our webinar, in which we discussed wildlife damage in the home landscape. In this clip, Chris details two common rodents in Illinois that tend to pop up in the winter months around the outside and inside of our homes: the vole and the mouse.

Ep. 179 Plants we wouldn’t plant or would think twice about before planting again| #GoodGrowing

While we tend to focus on the positives of plants, not all plants work well in all gardens or for all gardens. Whether they are too aggressive, require too much time and maintenance, or we just don’t like them, there are a variety of reasons we may not want to grow certain plants. On this week...

Gardenbite: Harvesting Sweet Corn & Two Common Sweet Corn Pests | #GoodGrowing

Our Gardenbite for this week goes back to 2021 where Ken and Katie answered all of Chris' sweet corn growing questions. Right now we are starting to see sweet corn getting ready to pick in Illinois. How do we know when sweet corn should be harvested? Plus, what about some common sweet corn...

Good Growing Grow Along 1st Check-in

Each year we at Good Growing decide to try growing some new (to us) vegetables. This year we want to invite you to grow along with us. This video is for those who signed up to receive seed for our Grow Along. In this video Emily, Ken, and Chris check in and share how this year's crops are...

Gardenbite: More than monarchs: Insects on milkweed | #GoodGrowing

Milkweeds have become a popular garden plant in the last several years. They are most commonly planted to help support monarch butterflies because milkweeds are the sole food source for monarch caterpillars. If you’ve ever gone out to check your milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars, you...

Ep. 178 Tomatoes to Ticks and Beyond: Early Summer Garden Q & A | #GoodGrowing

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris answer early summer gardening questions. From landscapes and lawns to tomatoes and ticks, we share recent questions we have been getting into our local Extension offices. 

Watch us on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CFPmxJvc_kk

...

Ep. 177 Getting your garden ready for vacation | #GoodGrowing

Have you ever gone on vacation only to come back to an out-of-control landscape or, even worse, dead plants? Check out this week’s Good Growing Podcast to learn about some steps we can take to get our landscapes ready for when we’re on vacation. 
 
Watch us on...

Gardenbite: Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes, Cause and PREVENTION | #GoodGrowing

This week on the Good Growing podcast we bring you a short gardenbite explaining what causes blossom end rot and why throwing eggshells in the planting hole at the beginning of the growing season might not be doing anything to help. Nick Frillman talks about calcium, tomatoes, and the best...

Ep. 176 Native Grasses in the Prairie and Your Yard | #GoodGrowing

This week on the Good Growing podcast Ken and Chris chat with Erin Garrett about native grasses and how to use them in our landscapes. Erin is a Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment educator with University of Illinois Extension who is a wealth of knowledge on native grasses and all...

Ep. 175 Eating periodical cicadas | #GoodGrowing

Are you an adventurous eater or interested in eating insects? You’re in luck! Many places in Illinois are awash in periodical cicadas, and while we usually think of them as food for birds and small mammals, humans can eat them too. Check out this week’s Good Growing Podcast to learn how you...

Ep. 174 Monarch Butterfly Science w/ Dr. Andy Davis | #GoodGrowing

This week on the Good Growing podcast we learn about monarch butterfly science from a leading scientist in the field of monarch butterflies, Dr. Andy Davis from University of Georgia. We learn some hard truths and ask do the monarch butterflies really need to be saved? What roles should humans...