Expect Great Growing in 2022

March 5, 2022March 7, 2022 Mike Nowak Chris Beytes, climate change, environment, Gardenary, Great Grow Along, green living, GrowerTalks, Kitchen Garden Revival, LaManda Joy, Nicole Burke, Peggy Malecki, sustainability, The Mike Nowak Show

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:55:26 — 55.3MB)

(March 6, 2022) We live in strange times. (Understatement? Yup.) COVID-19 hit us in 2020 and much of the world shut down. It rebounded somewhat last year. And now? We created vaccines. Yay. But we added war in Europe to the mix. Yeesh. What happens now? We do know that horticulture was a big winner over the past couple of years. People turned to gardening for practical and therapeutic reasons. And there are predictions that the streak will continue. Do you expect great growing in 2002? We explore that on today’s show.

That article above about expectations this year appeared in GrowerTalks. Chris Beytes is editor of that magazine, as well as Green Profit and Acres Online. They are all part of the Ball Publishing empire. He returns to the show for the first time since the end of 2020. At that time, the industry was rejoicing over the year’s sales. Now, it’s shooting for a trifecta. Today, Beytes gives us a brief “state of the industry” report.

**Double impatiens, coming to a garden center near you**

We’ll also discuss the ongoing debate about whether peat moss is sustainable. Given their role as carbon sinks, the conservation of peatlands is crucial to success in fighting climate change. Unfortunately, however, political questions play into our ability to protect those wetlands.

Finally, on a lighter note, Beytes will take a look at some new plants bred by Ball Horticulture. Personally, I’m an impatiens snob. But you have to admire the work it took to get around downy mildew, which almost wiped out the impatiens market. Take a look at the blooms on the right and see what you think. But they’re not available to the public yet. You’ll have to wait a couple of years.

The Great Grow Along

Meanwhile, the hort industry can’t make a profit if people aren’t gardening. And, for the past two years, people have been gardening in record numbers. It looks as though gardeners will expect great growing again this year. So it makes sense that the Great Grow Along returns for a second year. It’s the brain child of a friend of the show, LaManda Joy. You might remember her from the Peterson Garden Project or her book, Fearless Food Gardening in Chicagoland.

The Great Grow Along describes itself as “a free 10-day virtual garden festival connecting new plant lovers with the influencers, taste-makers, and cutting-edge content of today’s gardening world.” It runs from March 11-20 and here’s what you can expect.

Small Space Saturday: BIG ideas for tiny spaces, from balconies to beds!
Sustainability Sunday: Garden for a brighter future.
Make-It Monday: DIY projects you can take on with ease.
Transformation Tuesday: All about landscaping, from dreaming to doing.
Wildlife Wednesday: Welcome birds, bees, bats and more!
Tiny Thursday: Gardening with kids!
Flower Friday: From orchids to bold blooms and cut flowers.

Overall, there are more than 35 sessions that will appeal to beginners and veterans alike. What’s more, speakers include folks like author and entomologist Doug Tallamy, who was recently on our program.

Kitchen Garden Revival

This morning, however, we chat with presenter Nicole Burke, who has a site called Gardenary. One of her goals is to bring great growing to your yard by making gardening ordinary again. And promoting puns, apparently. She also runs a business called Rooted Garden. It will create a raised bed kitchen garden for you. Though Burke lives in Texas, the biz is launching a franchise operation in at least two states. Stay tuned.

Today, she will talk to us about the Kitchen Garden Revival. I love that band! No, wait, it’s actually a book. And a step by step plan to help you create your own beautiful raised bed kitchen garden. You’ll learn exactly how to plan, plant, tend and harvest from it more than you thought possible. That’s the theory, anyway. Hey, I’m looking in the mirror, not at you!