Gardeners are always searching for something—a new variety of rose, disease-resistant tomatoes, or a magnolia that will survive our North Country winters. There are countless sources for garden information and inspiration these days, so I recently asked my fellow Master Gardeners to recommend books, blogs, podcasts, and movies to delve into during the off-season and boy did they deliver! These recommendations come with a disclaimer: there are no guarantees that you won’t go down a rabbit hole one of these chilly winter days and not emerge until spring warms the ground, but at least you will have had some fun and will have learned more about backyard gardening. Enjoy!
PODCASTS AND BLOGS AND CHANNELS
Melissa is a 5th generation homesteader who teaches how to use modern homesteading to grow, preserve and cook your own food. Her newsletters are great! You never know if she’s going to be plugging a new garden video, teaching how to dry beans pioneer style, or sharing how to change grandma’s pickle recipes to can them safely today. Check out her Pioneering Today podcast too! Email info@melissaknorris.com for her newsletter.
Luke and Sindy Marion created MIGardener to inspire others to garden, live healthier lives, and have fun doing it. Their videos are great for beginners, but also have in-depth information about many rather specific topics. They know northern gardening. Join the Facebook group: MIgardener
Joe Lamp’l hosted Fresh From the Garden for the DIY Network, hosted a show on PBS that toured gardens around the country, then created and produced the Emmy Award-winning Growing a Greener World. Now he talks and writes about gardening. His website contains organic gardening information. There is a wonderful “Resources” section full of links about different subjects (Pest and Insect ID, Disease ID, Butterflies, Birding, Plant Lists, Invasives, etc.)
The Joe Gardener podcast is all about organic gardening. He often has guests that we’ve all heard of: authors, scientists, and educators in the field, some of whom he teams up with to offer online courses. Beginners can get a lot from his podcasts, but they always go deep as well. His conversations with his composting guests are kind of like listening to a couple of rocket scientists who garden on weekends. Read more Inspiration for Gardeners