Welcome to Empress of Dirt’s Two Minutes in the Garden—our podcast! Get bite-sized informative updates on gardening basics, gardening myths and other subjects of interest to gardeners both new and experienced.
Available wherever you find podcasts—just look for “Two Minutes in the Garden” in your podcast app or use one of the links below. You can also hear it as a flash briefing on Amazon Alexa devices. Scroll down to see a list of episode topics.
Listen Here | Subscribe | Amazon Echo | Episode List
1Listen Right Here
Our podcast is hosted by my husband Gary. When we hear garden, nature, and environmental topics discussed, debated, or questioned, we look into the research and see what it has to say.
They are brief but satisfying bite-size episodes, just a few minutes in length.
If you have a topic you would like covered, send me a message ([email protected]) and we’ll see what we can do!
2Subscribe to the Podcast
Click on any button to subscribe in your favorite player:
If you’re new to podcasts, and want to listen to episodes on your phone, you can install a podcast app to subscribe. Two very popular podcast apps are:
- Android: Podcast Addict
- iPhone/iOS: Overcast
Install the app, and use the app’s search feature to find Two Minutes in the Garden. New episodes will be shown in the app as they are released.
3Listen to the flash briefing on Amazon Echo
To hear the briefing on Amazon Alexa devices:
- Open the Alexa app on your phone.
- Tap the menu icon (the three horizontal lines in the top left).
- Select “Skills & Games”.
- Tap the magnifying glass icon to search for “Two Minutes in the Garden”.
- Tap on the show.
- Tap “ENABLE TO USE”.
Once it’s enabled, say “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?” whenever you want to hear the latest episode.
Or you can enable the briefing in the skills store for your country:
- United States | Amazon.com (US)
- Canada | Amazon.ca (Canada)
- United Kingdom | Amazon.co.uk (UK)
- Australia | Amazon.com.au (Australia)
- India | Amazon.in (India)
4Episodes
223 – coming soon
222 – Fertilizers: Organic vs Synthetic
When we want to add nutrients to our soil we can choose between organic fertilizer and synthetic fertilizer. So, what’s the difference?
221 – Questionable Fertilizer Formulas
For growing plants in soil, you cannot know what nutrients to add—if any— without knowing what’s already there.
220 – Most Important Lesson on Nutrients
If a particular nutrient is essential to plants and delivers great benefits, it may seem like you should be adding it to your soil. But there’s a flaw in that thinking.
219 – Nutrients Your Plants Need to Thrive
There are about 20 nutrients plants need, but only a handful that gardeners have to spend much time thinking about.
218 – Soil pH: Change It or Adapt to It?
You want to know what your garden soil pH is, but—as with soil texture—it’s not because you’re going to change it.
217 – Why Ions are Critical to Plants
You can’t get far in understanding what’s happening to your plants without a rudimentary understanding of ions … which brings back some high school science.
216 – The Difference Between Annual and Perennial
Annual awards come back every year. Annual plants don’t. Gardeners soon learn the difference between annual and perennial, but it can be confusing.
215 – Growing Strawberries in Your Garden
Reports say the sales of strawberry seeds are way up this year — even though it takes some patience to start strawberries from seed.
214 – Get Your Seedlings Ready for Life Outdoors (Hardening Off)
The move outdoors can be rough on seedlings. You need to help ease them into the harsher conditions of their new life outside.
213 – Mulch Volcanoes: A Gardener’s Peeve
Somebody must like those mulch piles at the base of trees — you see them everywhere — but gardening experts have a different opinion.
212 – How Mulch Benefits Your Garden
From reducing weeds to keeping moisture in your soil, mulching provides a lot of advantages to your garden.
211 – Mulch in Your Garden: A First Look
Mulch can seem like the parsley of gardening — a nice garnish to add to the top. But it delivers some significant benefits.
210 – A Quick Look at Victory Gardens
Lots of mentions of victory gardens in the news lately—created in turbulent times when people in large numbers turned to vegetable gardening.
209 – How to Read Seed Packets
They’re a source of information you don’t want to overlook. Many of the questions you’ll have about growing from seeds are answered right on the packets.
208 – The Best Time to Sow Seeds Outdoors
As daytime temperatures starting getting pretty nice, we start thinking about sowing seeds outdoors. But when is the time right?
207 – Avoid Overwatering Your Plants
Many plants die every year from overwatering. It’s one of the easiest ways to harm your plants — as you’re trying to help them.
206 – Should We Worry About Walnut Trees in the Garden?
Something seems to be going on around walnut trees, but is it poison in the soil or something else?
205 – Do Walnut Trees Kill Other Plants?
It’s a question that’s been asked for millennia. So you might reasonably think that we’d have a conclusive answer by now.
204 – Getting to Know Hummingbirds
Some fun facts about our little garden friends. For one, they’re the only bird that can really hover … but they can’t walk.
203 – Hummingbirds Are On Their Way!
In much of the U.S. and Canada, we will soon be welcoming hummingbirds back to our gardens. When will they arrive and how can we prepare?
202 – Plenty to Do in the Spring Garden
Spring is going to be different this year, but plants and birds will carry on as if nothing has happened and there’s lots to keep you busy.
201- Fling Into Spring
It may be the only good news we’re getting this week, but it’s the beginning of spring and gardens will soon be blooming.
200 – What Can You Do About Soil Texture?
Once you’ve tested your soil texture, you’ll probably find out that it’s less than ideal. What do you do next?
199 – How to Know Your Soil Texture
Tiny bits of minerals in your soil are going to make a big difference in your garden — and it’s easy to find out your soil texture.
198 – What Determines Soil Texture?
So much of the success of our garden depends on our soil — a very thin layer where rocks, the atmosphere, living things and water all come together.
197 – Soil: The Foundation of a Garden
So much of the success of our garden depends on our soil — a very thin layer where rocks, the atmosphere, living things and water all come together.
196 – Garden Bulb Basics
We know that we plant bulbs in the ground to get new plants, but what are they exactly?
195 – Extending the Longevity of Seeds
There have been seeds that remained viable after more than 1,000 years, but we’re usually happy with 5 or 6. How can we extend the life of seeds?
194 – How to Avoid Damping Off
The best ways to improve your chances of avoiding damping-off — and how basic plant care and seed starting mix help.
193 – Damping Off: Causes and Appearance
It’s the biggest threat your seedlings may face — diseases caused by fungi and other pathogens in the soil.
192 – Watering Options for Seedlings
Seedlings need water, but you can give them too much of a good thing.
191 – The Right Lights for Starting Seeds
Even experienced gardeners can feel anxiety about all the choices for lighting, but it doesn’t have to be that complicated.
190 – Starting Seeds: Temperature and Planting Depth
Continuing our look at what you need to provide your seeds in the stages leading up to germination.
189 – Starting Seeds Indoors: What Seeds Need
Part one of a series on starting seeds indoors. We start off start off with a look at when to start seeds and what they need to germinate.
188 – Germination: Where Seeds Become Seedlings
When we start plants from seeds, our first goal is germination. And it usually happens … even though plants have developed a range of ways to block it.
187 – Supporting Mycorrhizal Fungi in Your Soil
What can you do in your garden to protect and encourage the mycorrhizal fungi in your soil?
186 – How a Tomato is a Fruit and a Vegetable
Some of our vegetables are fruits, most of the nuts we eat aren’t nuts and our berries aren’t berries — but a tomato is.
185 – How Flowering Plants Create Seeds
Starting off a look at seeds: why they’re important and how they form in most of the plants in your garden.
184 – Supporting Mycorrhizal Fungi in Your Soil
What can you do in your garden to protect and encourage the mycorrhizal fungi in your soil?
183 – Should You Buy Mycorrhizal Inoculants?
They help most of the plants in your garden, but does that mean you should buy more mycorrhizal fungi to add to your soil?
182 – How Your Garden Benefits from Mycorrhiza
Improving your plants’ access to phosphorus and other nutrients is just one of many ways mycorrhizal fungi help your garden.
181 – How Mycorrhizal Fungi Help Plants Grow
180 – The Flower That Grows Entirely Underground
179 – How to Push the Winter Blues Aside
178 – Does Wood Chip Mulch Steal Nitrogen from Your Soil?
177 – Nitrogen: The Most Important Nutrient for Your Plants
176 – Are Gardeners Happier than Non-Gardeners?
175 – Eating Healthier with a Keto Diet
174 – Creative Ways to Reuse a Christmas Tree
173 – The Annual Christmas Bird Count
172 – What Makes a Tree a Tree?
171 – Grow Vegetables Indoors This Winter
170 – Hairspray on Christmas Trees? No!
169 – Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh
168 – Tree Basics: Rings and Trunks
167 – Can Poinsettias Rebloom Next Year?
166 – Are Poinsettias Poisonous For Pets?
165 – Gifts That Gardeners Will Use
164 – Thanksgiving: A Hat-Tip to Veggie Growing
163 – The State of the Garden Center Industry
162 – Why Are There Many More Acorns Some Years?
161 – Propagating Plants with Cuttings: A First Look
160 – Poppies: From Weed to Remembrance Icon
159 – Keeping the World’s Seeds Safe
158 – How to Have Fresh Flowers During Winter (Indoors)
157 – Pumpkins: From Bitter Fruit to Fall Icon
156 – Keep Your Halloween Pumpkins Out of Landfill
155 – Keep Pond Fish Safe in Freezing Weather
154 – Why Do Blue Jays Eat House Paint?
153 – Why Are Some Falls More Colorful Than Others?
152 – Why Do Leaves Change Color in Fall?
151 – Extend the Life of Fruit with Dehydration
150 – Where Do Hummingbirds Go for the Winter?
149 – How to Hand Feed Wild Birds
148 – Should You Plant Cover Crops in Your Garden?
147 – When to Harvest Winter Squash
146 – Do Ripe Watermelons Sound Different?
145 – How to Tell if Watermelon is Ripe
144 – Do Balanced Fertilizers Makes Sense For Your Garden?
143 – Rubber Mulch: Benefits and Toxicity
142 – Ripening Green Tomatoes
141 – The Controversy Around Peat in Gardening
140 – Is it Safe to Use Rainwater from the Roof in Your Garden?
139 – Plastic Waste and Gardening
138 – Plant Propagation: The Basics
137 – Getting Started with Plant Propagation
136 – Vermicomposting Problems
135 – Best Worms for Vermicomposting
134 – A First Look at Worm Composting
133 – Do Cold Weather Carrots Taste Sweeter?
132 – What’s the Best Way to Stay Safe in the Sun?
131 – Is Sunscreen Safe for Us?
130 – Watering tips – Giving plants what they need without overwatering
129 – Why is water so important to plants and what do they do with all this water?
128 – Water: Gardening’s Essential Ingredient
127 – Can you really burn the leaves of your plants by watering them in the midday sun?
125 – Latin Names for Plants — Pretentious or Useful?
124 – Growing Citrus Trees in a Cooler Climate
123 – How to Grow Citrus Trees from Seed
122 – Poison Ivy – What to do for skin contact
120 – Poison Ivy – Such a beast
119 – Do Plants Have Thoughts and Feelings?
118 – Do Garden Center Plants Attract Pollinators?
117 – Get More Blooms in the Garden By Deadheading
116 – Plants that Attract Pollinators | Checking the Lists
115 – Blossom End Rot Misinformation
114 – Update for Amazon Echo listeners
113 – Ladybugs: Great in the Garden But Not to Buy
112 – Skunks in the Garden | How to Remove the Odor
111 – The Best Ingredients for Potting Soil
110 – Is it Safe to Reuse Potting Soil?
109 – Keep Ants Off Your Hummingbird Feeder
108 – Are Coffee Grounds a Danger to Your Garden?
107 – Get Inspired by Garden Tours
106 – How to Attract Moths to Your Garden
105 – Moths: Pollinators with a Bad Reputation
104 – Why are Birds Pecking at Your Window?
103 – Comparing Home Soil Test Kit versus Lab
102 – Soil Testing Options for Your Garden
101 – Should You Get Your Garden Soil Tested?
100 – What is pH and Why is it Important?
099 – Are Tastier Tomatoes on the Way?
098 – Do Oils, Candles, Plants Keep Mosquitoes Away?
097 – Four Proven Mosquito Repellents
096 – Alternatives to DEET in the Garden
095 – Gardening Without Mosquito Bites
094 – Dubious Method for Weed Control
093 – Backyard Farming…in 1889
092 – What to Do if You Find Bones in Your Garden
091 – Were Vegetables More Nutritious in the Past?
090 – Is Gardening as Good as Going to the Gym?
089 – Do Feeders Increase Bird-Window Collisions?
088 – Reducing Bird-Window Collisions
087 – Are People Oblivious to Plants?
086 – Should You Be Gardening by the Moon?
085 – Can Gardening Help our Memory as We Get Older?
084 – Do Pine Needles Make Soil Acidic?
083 – Do Marigolds Help Tomatoes
082 – Get Ready for Hummingbirds
081 – Spring Checklist – Time to Get Started!
080 – A Butterfly’s Astonishing Migration
079 – Our Favourite Gardening TV Show is Gardening Australia
078 – Do Hummingbird Feeders Spread Disease?
077 – How to Change Hydrangea Colors
076 – Should You Use Compost Tea in Your Garden?
075 – The Compost Tea Debate – Part 2
074 – The Compost Tea Debate – Part 1
073 – Can Plants Solve Air Pollution in the Home? – Part 3
072 – Plants as Air Purifiers – Part 2
071 – Do Plants Remove Chemicals from Our Air?
070 – Is it Safe to Eat Sprouting Onions?
069 – Keeping Birds Safer from Cats in the Garden
068 – Should Cats Roam Free?
067 – How Frost Harms Gardens
066 – “Days to Harvest’ May Not Mean What Beginners Think
065 – FAQ – Starting Seeds Indoors for Beginners
064 – Starting Seeds Indoors in Winter
063 – How Do Birds Survive the Cold?
062 – Do Plants Hear Water?
061 – Can Plants Hear?
060 – How to Make Beeswax Wraps
059 – Is it Okay to Feed Birds?
058 – Which Bird Feeders Attract Birds?
057 – Bird Feeding: Most Attractive Birdseeds
056 – Bird Feeding: Best and Worst Birdseed
055 – Bird Feeding: Loved by Gardeners Around the World
054 – Benefits of Gardening: New Research
053 – Legionnaires’ Disease from Potting Mix?
051 – Planning the Year Ahead with Seed Catalogs
- The History of Seed & Nursery Catalogs for Gardeners
- United States Seed Company Directory | Online Sources
- Canadian Seed Company Directory | Online Sources
049 – Reusing Your Christmas Tree
048 – Keeping Your Christmas Tree Fresh
047 – Do Gardening Anecdotes Make Good Evidence?
046 – Poinsettias: Keeping them Year-Round (and No, Not Poisonous)
045- Christmas Cactus: What are They and How to Help Them Bloom
044 – Growing More in Less Space with Vertical Gardening
043 – Are Native Plants Better for Gardens?
042 – Native vs Non-Native: A First Look
041 – Fixing a Smelly Compost Pile
040 – Gift Ideas for the Garden Nerd
039 – How to Keep Composting in Winter
038 – Compost for Your Garden: Getting the Right Brown-Green Mix
037 – Compost for Your Garden: Browns and Greens
036 – Compost for Your Garden: An Introduction
035 – Growing Vegetables in Your Garden Year-Round
034 –Do Homemade Rooting Hormones Work?
033 – Are Avocado Seeds Safe to Eat?
032 – Banana Peels – Great for Compost, Not Planting Holes
031 – Is Baking Soda Safe in the Garden?
030 – Are Coffee Grounds Good for the Garden?
029 – Is Dish Soap Safe for the Garden?
028 – Is Salt Safe for the Garden?
027 – Does Vinegar Kill Weeds?
026 – When is it Too Late to Plant Trees in Fall?
025 – When is it Too Late to Plant Bulbs in the Fall?
024 – Are Halloween Pumpkins Edible?
023 – Bee Hotels in the Garden
022 – Choosing Garden Seeds: Heirloom Seeds
021 – Choosing Garden Seeds: Organic Seeds
020 – Choosing Garden Seeds: Hybrid Seeds
019 – Planting Fall Mums as Perennials
018 – Choosing Garden Seeds: Open-Pollinated Seeds
017 – Choosing Garden Seeds: GMO Seeds
016 – Do Pot Shards and Gravel Improve Drainage?
015 – Using Fall Leaves as Mulch and Compost
014 – What Do We Really Know About Bees?
013 – Developing a Pruning Plan
012 – Invasive Earthworms: Helping Gardens, Changing Forests
011 – Hummingbird Feeders in Fall
010 – Does Talking to Plants Help Them Grow?
009 – Rooftop Farms: Growing Food in Cities
008 – Night Lighting and its Effects on Garden Ecosystems
007 – The No-Dig Alternative for Your Garden
006 – The Danger of Overwatering
005 – Are Epsom Salts Good for Plants?
004 – Japanese Beetles: How They Got Here, What Can Be Done
003 – Benefits of Joining a Fruit Sharing Program
002 – Do Eggshells Give Your Garden a Boost?
001 – Understanding Garden Zones
I hope you enjoy the show!
~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛
