Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Our toll free number eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. Good morning. I am Ron Wilson, your
personal yard boy, and as I promise, it is time
for Are you urbally experienced with our ccp Cmahor Award
winning syndicated journalist, Appalachian herbal Scholar, member of the Urban
Society of America, Accredited Family Herbalist, author, cooking teacher, Madia personality,
(00:58):
regular contributor on six Around Nice Lady and All Around
Nice Lady, and of course on iHeart Radio as well.
She's a founding editor and the creator of the great
website about eating Ladies and Gentlemen. She loves eating weeds
from the lawn and garden. Let's all welcome, Rita Nader,
Hike and feed. You got them lined up this morning?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, you know, regardless, that just makes me feel so good.
Whether it's true or not, I'm smiling right now, and
I'm so happy to talk to you too, by the way,
mister Wilson, because I hope we have time. Somebody sent
me some really fun seeds. I got them in the
mail yesterday, so really, I'm I'm ready for spring.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Are you Did you get anything special?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Did I get any special in your seeds. Yes, yes, yes, yes,
one of the most specials. It's called balsam pear vine,
commonly known as bitter melon, and I have grown those before,
but I've never grown them from seeds, and it's just beautiful.
It's very It's a like an heirloom plant that Thomas
(02:15):
Jefferson grew, and it's really pretty because it starts out
green like a melon with bumps, and then it burst
into a beautiful color orange. So anxious to grow that
from seeds. And I have dear tongue lettuce.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Have you had that before?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
No? No, no, no. So those are two that I'm
very excited about. And I know you sent them because
even if I didn't recognize the address, I would recognize
your writing very distinctive. So thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Somebody trying to figure out what it says.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No, yeah, no, your printing is very good. I don't
think I've ever seen your cursive, but your print things good,
So thank you. I got a bunch of really fun things,
and tobacco plants and a new melon. It's called plumb
Granny Annie's pocket melons.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You've never grown that.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I have grown smaller ones, but not this variety. So yeah,
I'm very excited about it.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
They did, they did. They were out of broomcorn already
by the time I got there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh no, kidding, Allad.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What if you went and I was at the Columbus
Home and Garden Show last weekend and this is Circa Plants,
Circa Seeds, and they're in Logan, Ohio. They do all
heirloom seeds and of course they have the stories to
go with their seeds as well, which is really cool.
And so as soon as I got done with the
show up there, I went over to their booth and
they were already picked out of that and Cincinnati radishes
(03:44):
it's just any market ratish, but they're going to send
me some so I have them on back order. But yeah,
it's always and you would just go nuts walk going
through and looking all that. But the broomcorn, the Cincinnati
market ratish, and a couple other things that I usually
get you already out of it. So but it's a
lot of fun. I always enjoy it. But yeah, I'm
curious to see how the how those that that cucumber
(04:09):
thing works out for you though.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Quickly Well, yeah, the bitter melon, Yeah, yeah, it's and
it's a vining. It's so it'll be it'll be fun.
I'm sure it'll be beautiful. So I will trill that
out for you and enjoy eating the fruit as well.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Of course, mister Hikenfeld loves planning. That kissed me over
the gate.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
You know that. It's been a while since I've had that. Yeah,
kiss me over the gate. That beautiful red flowering vining
plant too. It's just something different. And as you said,
the names, they're so descriptive the stories that go along
with them. People should grow some of those old fashioned
heirloom plants and it's again fun to grow and you
learn something as well.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, go to their website circus It's Circus seeds dot
com and you'll love it. But uh, the new tomato,
which I had already put on our list for growing
this year, but Brandon was really impressed when he grew
it last year, is called big Dwarf. Now that doesn't
make sense, right, big dwarf, But it's a dwarf indeterminate,
so it keeps flowering all sor long. Love that big
meaty tomato, and surprisingly enough I had added at to
(05:09):
our list of tomatoes this year, and he said it
was absolutely outstanding, so I'm looking I can't wait to
grow that one as well. Talking with Rito Hikenfelder website
about eating dot com. Recipe this week, which you'll find
on our website at Ryan Wilson online dot com. Huevos rancheros,
which I absolutely love to get at the Mexican restaurant
right down the street from us. They do an outstanding job,
but now I can do it myself.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That's that's very true. And I heard that Joe loves
that kind of food too, and burritos and rancherro's. The
huevos the ranch are called farm ranch eggs. They have
all those wonderful flavors, easy to make and just something fun,
beautiful on a plate. And that uses the herb we're
going to be talking about today. Cilantro, so a key ingredient.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
In there too, you know what I and I like
it and you don't think about it, but they serve
you the scrambled eggs and the cilantro and everything mixed together.
Then they had the beans on the side, a little
bit of fried rice and it's a great combination.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, you've got your protein, you've got your carbs, you've
got your vitamins, and it's fun. The recipe that I'm sharing.
The sauce is good. It's tomatoes and cilantro and onion
and garlic and jalapeno pepper that you cook up and
then on and set it aside. Then you cook some
chiriso and I use the raw chriso, not the cure,
(06:27):
just sort of like hamburger, and you cook that up
and add that to the sauce, and then you smear
some re refried beans on a corn tortilla, and then
you top it with excuse me, the rancero mixture and
a scrambled egg or a fried egg. I like the scrambled,
not crazy about the runny eggs, And then you can
(06:48):
just put some cheese and your favorite avocado cilantro on it.
Really hearty and as I said, got a lot of
good nutrients in it. The ref fried beans can be
vegetab or not depending, So again, a nice, hearty meal
and beautiful on the plate, and something to spark up
these winter days, don't you think?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I think so. And of course having four eggs in it,
that means it'll cost you twenty five dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Oh my gosh, our girls are finally laying unless you at.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The hike and Fell at home where you can, of course,
then you have to keep an eye on those now.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I know they people are going to.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Start raiding the henhouses, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And not a four legged creature either, huh no, No, And.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You know what's I think it's interesting. Of course, you've
been raising chickens forever, and we did it when I
was a kid, but you know, as that folks started
getting into two backyard chickens about what fifteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Ten years ago?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, And now look, you know, it's kind of they're
probably thankful that they did if they've stuck with it,
because they're they're getting eggs, you know, and maybe selling
a dozen for what six bucks or something out there.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I don't know, but yeah, they said that you can
now rent chickens. I saw him.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I saw that.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Chickens for laying eggs, they bring you.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Two to three hens and a coop. Yeah, that's what
you and mister hiking Fell ought to get into.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I know, a new cottage industry. Don't tempt me here,
don't tempt him. No, he would do it in a flash.
He could be out to annoyed.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Well, he could be out there building these little coops and.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Travel around telling my girls, no, put them in the back.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Of the truck, of his truck and take them out
there and set them up.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, and you never know, I might be in one
of those little coops. So we're gonna stay away from that.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Instead of mister Hiking and mister Haney would be mister
Hiking Feld love it talking with Rita Hiking fell of course,
we want to see your recipe for this week. It's
huevos aron cheros uh and it's on our website a
Ron Wilson online dot com. We come back. We're gonna
every other week we're featuring an herb of the week,
and this week, of course, in this ingredient, the key
(08:57):
is uh seton throw and we're going to come back
and talk more about cilantrou Here in the garden with
Ron Wilson.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Help so the do it yourself gardener at one eight
hundred eight two three talk you're in the gardens with
Ron Wilson.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
When it comes to your plumbing and drain systems, maintenance
is the key if you want to keep it working right. Hey,
Gary Salvin here from my friends at roto Ruter plumbing
and water cleanup. If you like to do your own maintenance,
check out rotoruter dot com for helpful videos, blogs, and
seasonal information that'll allow you to keep your plumbing in
top form. And if you get over your head or
(09:49):
you don't have the time to diy, rotro Ruters expert
plumbers are always ready to help. Twenty four to seven.
Visit rotoruter dot com re call one eight hundred, Get
rodo Hi.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Ron Wilson here. Let me ask you a question. Are
you having problems with those hard to kill pesky weeds? Well,
I've got the answer for you. You ready get yourself some
high Yield kills All super concentrate you know. High Yield
kills All works great on any kind of unwanted weed
and grass around your house. High Yield kills All is
a non selective weed and grass killer that contains a
double surfacted formula that drives on the weed fast. It
(10:23):
starts working quickly, which helps it to work better than
other weed and grass killers. High Yield kills All is
perfect for use around your fences, patios, sidewalks, driveways, and
a whole lot more. Use High Yield kills All to
kill weeds before you plant a vegetable garden, before you
plant your flowers, or before you plant that new lawn.
Check out the label. It covers up to twice the
area that the national brand covers and works even better.
(10:44):
Kill your weeds down to the route with kills all.
And if you can't find kills all with that mass merchant,
you want to know why. That's because kills all from
high yield can only be found in your favorite local
independent garden centers or hardware stores. That's high yield kills
all get some today.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
Every paint removal project comes from with its own set
of challenges, and finding the right product for the job
can be difficult. I have the solution. Demand has developed
air complete paint removal test kit that will help you
zero in on the best paint removal product that you
need for your project. Test kit includes a down samples
of smart Strip, Advanced, smart Strip Pro and peel Away
paint removal products with all the necessary items you need.
(11:21):
You can get your test kit at participating Sherman William's
locations or visit Dumont Global dot com to purchase a
kid or find a retailer near you.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Talking you arden you get eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five Rita nat Or Hikenfeld with us
this morning for are you urbally experienced? Or web or
recipe this week is well Wavos rancheros, and of course
it features selantro. And that's what we're going to talk
about this morning, is cilantro.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
It's a wonderful urban, such a spring like urban. It
just reminds me of spring.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Don't you think it reminds me of I'm just it
reminds me of you.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I wonder why, because we have spoken so much about
that urban. One of my favorite herbs too.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
When I walk through the produce department at the grocery store,
I think of.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You, right right, smell those right with the.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Cilantro and the parsley and the rosemary and all the
herbs and all of that. And then you know, and
traveling and going to giving garden talks and stuff, our
vehicles always smelled of herbs and spices and.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Things so nice and cleansing as well.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, indeed, absolutely so. Why does why does some folks?
Why do some folks love celanthro like I do? And
other folks just can't stand it because they say it
tastes like soap.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
What's the deal there, Well, it's it's a constituent in
cilantro that's a very sort of a strong flavor. It
actually does taste like soap if you I always compare
it to tarragon if you eat too much. So some
people really embrace the flavor. Others don't like it at all.
So a little goes a long way, and I just
(13:53):
love it. And when you chop up cilantro too, you
should use a sharp knife, not a dull knife. And
the reason is it's very tender. It's very tender herbs,
so you don't want to bruise those leaves and stems
and lose all the volatile oils. And it's one of
the few plants that, regardless of where you get it
(14:15):
or how you grow it, you can always use the
stems because they always seem to be tender enough. But
it's just a lovely spring green. And when you said
you see it in the produce department, mister Wilson, next
to the parsley. Unless you have a real good eye,
once in a while they look so similar from a
distance you might pick up one for the other. So
(14:35):
the only way to really know is just pluck off
a leaf and give it a little sniff or taste. So, yeah,
Cilantro is a wonderful herb. It's a cool weather herb.
It does not like hot.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Weather, which is always a situation because folks like to
grow it. But the problem is once they start to
grow it and the temperatures get hot, it bolts right away.
And then of course when a bolt it turns it
the foliage is different, and then it goes to seaflower
and its seeds, and of course the seeds, if it
does happen, are very much, very usable in your spices.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Oh yeah, it's one of the herbs that's a spice
and an herbal in one because the green part the
cilantro are the leaves and the flowers, and then when
it seeds out it's called coriander. And you know, it's
funny because they even have different flavor profiles. To me,
cilantro sort of has a like a citrusy green tape,
(15:29):
but now coriander is more of a lemony taste in
the seed. I have to say, if you grow cilantro
and save some of the seeds, you don't want to
grind them up till right before you use them, because
the seed it loses its flavor pretty quick. And if
I grind up coriander seeds, I'll keep them in the freezer.
But if you let, as I said, a few of
(15:51):
the plants go to seed and say in the fall.
By spring, they'll be popping up just like dill. And
they do like cool weather, so it's not a hot
weather plant in our area. And then there's some different
what we call different kinds of cilantro, Vietnamese coriander and culantro,
(16:12):
which are I always say their cousins. They're not of
the same plant family, very strongly flavored and take to
our Midwestern heat. So different varieties. But what most people
are familiar with and what you're going to get in
your who I Vos Francero's are is the cilantro, the
(16:32):
little greenberry tender one.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I actually looked. I was doing some research myself on
cilantro because that was kind of interesting. There's actually nineteen
varieties cilantro available on the market, of which are some
are slow bolt so they will stand the heat a
little bit better for you, so you might be able
to find those. I thought it was also interesting they
were describing the flavor from citrusy to bit tangy, to
soapy to that of crushed bed bugs.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Oh gosh, okay, we never had the ladder, so I
would I could not speak to that, thankfully. Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The scientific names derived from the Greek chorus or coriander
or slantro, which means bug or nat.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, isn't that that's interesting? And the way the description is,
it's so well descriptive you can almost visualize that. But
it's a fun orb to grow. And when you said
the slow bolting varieties, there's one called Santo s Anto
which has a lot of leaf production before it decides
to flower and go to seed. So that might be
one that you might like too. But again, successive plannings
(17:36):
are always the way to go if you want it
all year, you know, during the season in your gardener
and your containers.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, if you just sew that and harvest it when
it's about six inches tall so more, and harvest it again,
or even grow it as a microgreen, you know, you
harvest it before it starts to bold and flower, you know,
And that does work. It's a little bit, a little
bit of work for you, but it does work, you know,
I was also, I'm surprising at one time was used
I guess in the Egyptian tombs.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Oh yeah, well you know what they found, Yeah, when
I was quite young, when mister Wilson. Yeah, the coriander seeds,
the seed of the plant is so viable that they
have found them in Egyptian tombs and they were viable.
So if you have a can of coriander seeds a
bottle in your pantry, feel free to go out and
(18:28):
plant those because most likely they will be again viable
enough to sprout. But when you were talking about solantro,
there's so many good health benefits too. It's got a
lot of calcium and vitamin C, and it's capable of
actually helping to destroy viruses and germs that cause colds,
(18:50):
anti inflammatory, there's so many wonderful benefits, which is why
a lot of the Asian soups like which is it
sounds like you would say it foe, but it's called
they have used cilantro and added the last couple minutes
or use it raw and you'll get all the health
(19:11):
benefits plus that wonderful flavor. So it's just wonderful to use.
And when you think of there's not a herb on
the planet. I don't believe that does your body good.
Doesn't do your body good, excuse me. And cilantro is
one of those that are just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So I also found afrodijiak listed on some of the
many benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So is that right?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I don't know that either.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Well, hey, you try it and let us know how
that got.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
About a minute ago. Are you giving a class this
next week at the Pollinator's Project at the Barn.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
In the Marie Mont yet, Actually I am going to
be doing that today and today to mention it to you. Yeah,
it's the Pollinators Project, be Friendly, and it's by the
Women's Art Club Cultural Center and it's on Cambridge Avenue,
right where I grew up. So I'm going to be
doing presentation on herbs for a suburban garden. And I'm
(20:06):
going to concentrate on what we call the simples, which
are the herbs grown way back then with a specific purpose,
like one main purpose, and they were called the still roomors,
the herbs of settlers brought for medicinal purposes and for
culinary purposes way back when. Again, So it'll be a
fun presentation because a lot of our herbs like bathel
(20:28):
and sybe. All those are go way back and have
wonderful medicinal qualities as well as takes great And that's at.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
One o'clock today at the Pollinators Project at the Barn,
Cambridge Avenue and Mariemont. Check it out. Reader Hickenfeld will
be there. If you want to meet and greet, she'll
be there for you. Rita Hikenfeld always a pleasure. Tell
mister Hickenfeld, we said it, he loo, I will.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
He's lying state. I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
There you go take here. Coming up next we'll talk
about squarefoot gardening here in the garden with run will.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Not gardening questions on has the answer at one eight
hundred eight two three talk you are in the garden
with Ron Wilson.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Sorry you're tired of stubborn odors that drive you crazy.
And odo X customers says it works on every smell
and my car home at work.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Love it.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
That's odor Exit, reliable, powerful and natural. It'll keep your
home fresh, your car odor free, and tackle tough smells
at work. With our one hundred percent money back guarantee,
You've got nothing to lose except the odor. Join our
satisfied customers at otor exit dot com and take time
to read our hundreds of reviews. Smell the difference otor
exit dot com. That's otor exit dot com.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
So if you're tired of scrubbing your shower, you need
wedd and Forget weekly shower cleaner Gary Sulvn here. Spray
it on today and rints tomorrow once a week. Spread
it on all your tub and shower surfaces, even glass stores.
The next day simply runs clean with wet and forgets shower.
You can breathe easy because there's no harsh fumes and
no scrubbing, make cleaning easy. Pick up wed and Forgets
(22:15):
Shower at home depot Low's Menards, Mere Ace, or visit
Wedinforget dot com the findest store near you.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Welcome back. You're in the garden with Ron Wilson. You
know there's been a book out there about gardening. It's
been on the market I think now different editions for
about forty years. And you know a book is good
when it's forty years old, still out there, been updated
as a matter of facts now in this fourth edition.
But you know it's great information when it sticks around
that long. And I tell you the concept when it
(23:34):
first came out kind of took everybody by surprise. They
love to jumped on it. And as things have changed
in our gardens and they've gotten smaller, we've gotten more
into the raised bed gardening and container gardening and gardening
on top of blacktop and wherever it may be. And
you need to take advantage of all of the square
footage that we have. This book is just becoming more
and more popular all the time. You know what I'm
(23:55):
talking about is called square Foot Gardening. And of course
Mel Bartholomew was the original author of this book and
today it's carried on by the square Foot Gardening Foundation.
Joining us this morning from the square Foot Gardening Foundation.
He is a master gardener, square foot Gardening Expert and
a member of the square Foot Guarding Foundation. As a
matter of fact, you can see his videos on the
(24:16):
square Footgardening dot org. We want to welcome Rick Bickley.
Good morning, party Ron.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Thanks so much for having me on your show to today.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well, we appreciate you getting up. First of all, tease
us a little bit. What's the temperatures like in your
area this morning?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Actually, I heard your gardening forecast up there that it's
above freezing. I'm in the Austin, Texas area, and it's
actually twenty nine degrees this morning. O Kim, we flipped
the script somehow.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Wow. I was talking to oh, I can't think of
his name right now, Bruce Fraser from the Dixondale onion
farm there in southern Texas last week and I think
he was talking, was supposed to be up in the
eighties by the afternoons. Last two weeks ago, he's.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Talking it was in the eighties, and this week it's
it's freezing, and next week it'll probably be in the
eighties again. So that's uh, that's spring in Texas.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I guess, well that's springing. And that's spring in Ohio too,
So you got it. You got it all across the Midwest. Anyway.
Great to have you on with us this morning. I
love this book. First of all, I met mel Bartholomew
many many years ago, probably twenty years ago. Greatest guy,
I mean, just super nice personality, and of course promoting
the book at the time and since then, of course
(25:28):
have been several editions, and I loved it. At the
beginning of this one, you've got some black and whites
of him in this thing. It brought back some good memories.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Yeah, he was a great guy. Unfortunately I never get
a chance to meet him. But score Foot Gardening Foundations
run by Mel's son Steve and Steve's wife Laura, Now,
so I have had the pleasure to meet them and
work with him, so kind of secondhand getting to know Mel.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, and I've had Steve on the show before. I
think was the I don't know if it was the
third edition that came out, but they had him talking
about that and putting this foundation together, which I think
is outstanding. We'll talk more about that as we get
into the show here, but let's talk about this book,
square Foot Gardening, the fourth edition. Why do you think
this square Foot Gardening book? Why does this continue to
be such a popular book.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Well, it's like you said it today the way things
are first, gardening is becoming more and more popular. I mean,
at twenty twenty, well known, we gained eighteen point three
million new gardeners. And not to mention everyone who's already
been guarding, but some of the things that come into
play are like you said, there's less space, people have
(26:37):
less time, probably less money to spend, and they might
not want to put the effort in to go out
and tilling up the back acre of their yard. So
one of the first tenants of score put gardening is
is that it lets you grow more food in less
space with less waste. And some of the ways it
does that is it uses eighty percent less space. And
(27:02):
the way it accomplishes that is by using raised beds.
Now a lot of people use raised beds or containers,
and that's great. One of the things that does is
it kind of separates out, like from the old road gardening.
It separates out the growing area from the walking area.
So now if you want to water your garden, you
just water the part that's growing the vegetables. You don't
(27:25):
have to water the little row in between.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Right. Yeah, I'll tell you what I I looked at it.
You know, as I read through this book, and I do,
I read these from front to back. You know, I
think what's interesting, what I think is great about this
book is the fact that you take it from the
very beginning and explaining what square foot gardening is all about.
And again you kind of you know, when you first
(27:48):
I would think that if I'm a first time gardener
I read this, it's like, really, I can grow that
much in that square foot and it literally is a
square foot gardening area within the garden. But you know,
you walk everybody from the very beginning, whether it be
from starting seeds or the plants, through building the square
foot garden, through the soil mix and of course you've
got Mels special mixing there, which has always been very
(28:10):
popular as far as putting putting your own mix together.
But you just the updates on this thing is is phenomenal.
I think this book just gets better and better every
edition that comes along, and you you're finding new things,
new projects, new pictures. It really boy, it really does
(28:31):
a fine job walking through from the beginning to the
harvest and storing as well.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Yeah, I think it's not just for square foot gardening,
but a lot of the stuff that covers in there.
Like you said, it talks about plants spacing. You know,
how do you know when you're any certain vegetable that
has reached its maturity and you know, how do you start?
So it kind of covers it from right from the
go up to putting on your plate and cooking it
up for dinner.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
And I like it because you know, you continue to
add new projects in here, and now I start to
see more and more where you're starting to address a
vertical gardening using more trellisis musing over more overheads, using covers,
so that you can extend the seasons from And I've
always said, especially and I'm a big by the way,
I'm a big container gardener, big race bed gardener. And
(29:22):
it's so easy to extend your seasons spring and fall
with especially with greens, by simply taking a little PVC
or a little wood structure, putting it over the top
of these square foot boxes and covering with a little
bit of plastic. Could you get another month or two
months out of those with no problem?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Exactly. You don't need a big greenhouse to keep growing
that extra month or two. Like you said, you're basically
making a little mini greenhouse over each race bit and
makes a big difference.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
We're talking with Rick Bickling. The name of the book
is square Foot Gardening. I know you've heard of it before,
if you've been around for a while. This is the
fourth edition, so you know it's a good book. Been
around for forty years. Originally written by mel Bartholomew, now
of being updated by the square Foot Gardening Foundation, which
was established by his son and his son's wife, and
they just can continue to add more and more projects,
(30:12):
more and more great information for you, well worth it.
Whether you're a first time gardener or an experienced gardener.
Guarantee you're going to get lots of good ideas out
of this. Let's take a quick break. We come back.
We'll talk more with the Rick about the foundation, how
you can be maybe become and more involved yourself. We'll
talk about Rick's own personal garden and how he got
started in square foot guarding. Again. The name of the books,
(30:34):
square Foot Gardening, is the fourth edition. We're talking about
that here in the garden with Ron.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Wilson Landscaping Ladies here with your personal yard boy. He's
in the garden and he's Ron Wilson.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
When you're planning your new plants this spring, remember it's
all about the roots. Hi, Ron Wilson here, When you're
planting those new plants this spring, here's what you need
to use. Use fertilome roots stimulator and plant starter solution
for everything you plant trees, shrubs, ornamentals, and flowers. This
mild starter fertilizer has an actual rooting hormone to help
stimulate new growth. Now you make three applications ten to
(31:26):
fourteen days apart and get up to thirty three percent
more roots. More roots means summer heartiness, increased drought tolerance,
and less insect and fungal issues. Fertilon Roots Stimulator and
Plant Starter solution also helps to reduce transplant shock and
promotes greener, more vigorous plants. Get your plants started out
the right way so you can enjoy its beauty sooner
(31:47):
and longer. Ask for Furtilo and roots Stimulat and Plant
Starter solution at your favorite local independent nursery, garden center,
or hardware store, or find a dealer near you at
fertilome dot com. That's Fertilom Root Stimula later plant Starter solution.
(32:44):
Talking your Gardening at eight hundred and eight two three
eight two five five our book today, square Foot Gardening.
You say, wait a minute, that's been around for a while, yeah,
about forty years, but it's the all new square Foot Gardening.
It's the fourth edition. You can from urban to rurle,
you can garden anywhere. We have new gardening plans and
projects in here, fully updated and revised for today's gardener
and joining us from the square foot Gardening Foundation, Rick Bickling.
(33:08):
As a matter of fact, you can see some of
Rick's videos on their website is Squarefootgardening dot org. And
you know, as I walk through this thing, and there
are so many great ideas in here, it's crazy, and
anybody it's you know, like I said, and you have said,
whether you're a first time gardener or not, so many
great ideas you can add to this. But you know,
I'd like the top hat structure add a little bit
(33:31):
of height and a little bit of depth to the
to the to the square foot garden.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Absolutely, it's a great way to if you want to
grow up potatoes or carrots, you need a little bit
more depth. And really one of the keys to score
foot garden we talked about the raised bids, but you
can cost any kind of soil in there and it
may not work too well. I mean, in the United
States alone, there's over seventy thousand varieties of soil and
they all have different textures, nutrient contents in pH But
(33:59):
one of the things that set square for gardening part
is the soil mixture we use called mals mix, and
basically it's one equal parts by volume of three natural ingredients,
peat moss, vermiculate, and compost, and that's it. You don't
need to use fertilizer. The compost provides that the peat,
moss and the vermiculate. Now, one of the things everyone
(34:22):
kind of has heard of pH and nutrients. But one
kind of characteristic of soil that a lot of people
don't know is something called the cat ion exchange capacity.
And that's kind of a mouthful, and it sounds like
you need to have a science degree to know what
it is and how it works. But if you think
of your garden or your raise bed as a jar
(34:43):
of marbles, the marbles are soil particles, and the space
in between the marbles is called the poor space. Now,
vermiculate helps increase the poor space, and that kind of
helps with soil aeration and moisture retention. And the peat
moss actually holds about twenty times its weight in water
while it's in there. But besides just that, if you
(35:08):
think of the marbles instead of as soil part and
think of the soil particles rather than marbles, think of
them as little tiny magnets. And most soil particles are
negatively charged and a lot of nutrients are positively charged.
So what happens is the ability of your soil to
hold on the nutrients and then easily give it to
the plant is measured by this cat im exchange capacity.
(35:33):
And Pete moss has it. Go ahead, you got it going.
Pete moss has a high has a CEC of between
one hundred and hundred and twenty. Regular soil could have anything,
but you know, you never know what you're going to get.
So that's the whole idea. If you ask, well, why
do I use peat moss, why do I use remiculate?
(35:55):
You know? Why do I use why mals mixed? That's
why is because it helps the plants grow, and it
lets you grow your plants in only six inches. But
if you want to grow some carrots or potatoes or something,
you use a top hat, which basically just is a
little square that makes the soil a little bit deeper
(36:15):
in one area and then you can grow your tall
things in there.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, because if you look at these and most of
these are about six to eight inches deep. As a
matter of fact, this works great on a table. And
I'm just going to bring that up, is that you
know I've seen several friends that have seniors, their parents
or whatever, or someone who's disabled in a wheelchair, and
build these square foot boxes on legs as a table
(36:40):
and man that allows folks and kids as well. Or
you know, as I get older, I can't bend over
as easily anymore. It makes it so much easier to garden.
But doing these on tables is fantastic. But you know,
you are limited as far as the depth. But everything
that we put in there grows, except if you look
for some a little bit deeper. You add these top
boxes and it does help. But you do a whole
(37:00):
chapter on filling your square foot garden bed with Mels mix,
and you walk everybody through and you explain it, which
is great, and it's one of those things you know,
even with a regular garden, a lot of folks, you know,
they fertilized, fertilized, fertilized. You know, my guarden's not doing
so well. We don't do the testing, and we always
forget about the pH level of the soil and how
important that is for nutrients to become available. So this
(37:23):
Mel's mix, like you said, is just a great combination.
The mel came up with many many years ago. That's
perfect for obviously for your square foot garden. And again
there's a whole chapter on on how to do that
and how to walks you through the whole nine yards
talking with Rick Bickling. The name of the book is
All New square Foot Gardening. It's the fourth edition put
out by the Square Foot Gardening Foundation. Absolutely great ideas
(37:46):
in here as far as what to do. And you
know the other thing I like about this, you guys
addressed the pest, Pest go away building, Critter extensions, critter covers,
how to keep the critters out of your your square
foot garden. Some great ideas there.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Absolutely there's nothing more frustrating to spending all summer and
spring planting and maturing and getting ready to harvest your
crops and then you come out in the squirrels have
eaten them, or there's worms on there and they've eaten
your broccoli. It's frustrating. So again, kind of the same
concept is making a little greenhouse over your each raised bed.
(38:26):
You can make a little critter cover out of either
chicken wire or to keep insects out, you can just
use some floating rod cover.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
And it does work, and it's very easy to do.
And it looks nice as well. And you know the
other thing I got out of this when I was
looking reading through this is dividing up the squares, and
there's many ways to do that in the garden. Using
that PVC pipe and using it as an irrigation system
I thought was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, you know that's the kind of the third
tenet of the square foot gardening is rather than just
that's nice that you have raised bed, nice that you
have mels mixing there, But if you just plant a
row of green beans a row of tomatoes, you're really
not utilizing the space as much as you can. So
what Mel came up with is putting a grid of
(39:12):
one foot by one foot either PVC or drip irrigation
or something. You're basically cutting up that raised bed into
one foot by one foot areas. Now you only have
to work with one foot at a time. I kind
of think of it as you know, we all have
that silver words or where you're throwing your twisty ties,
your car keys, your spoons and stuff like that, and
(39:33):
it's in there, but it's not really organized. Dispatch LA
always gets the way when you try to open it.
But if you put in one of those little compartment
things where you have Now you've got a little compartment
for the forest, one for the knives. It works a
lot better. So that's how the grid works. It really
helps kind of optimize and make it easier to plant.
(39:55):
I think of the example of carrots. I mean, everything
is planted, whether it's a square foot garden or any
regular bid. You plant them space a part based on
its mature science. You know, if you've made the plants
are bigger, you need to make sure you take that
into account. Carrots about three inches apart, that'll work. So
if you have a row of carrots, then you plant
that let's say maybe you have a oh, I don't
(40:17):
know three, you know, sixteen carrots. You can grow sixteen
carrots in just one square foot in a square foot garden,
and there's still three inches apart.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Right, and you know you have What's all I can
hear too, is you actually have a chart helping folks
to lay out there square foot garden as far as
what would fit in each one and how to lay
that out in course of succession planting and the whole
nine yards. And of course then you've got the planting chart,
you've got the planting, harvest, the storing, the whole nine yards.
It's a great great covers everything you could ever imagine
(40:51):
about gardening in general, and of course the vegetable gardening,
and then of course doing it the square foot gardening
way as well. Talking with Rick Bickley again. The website
if you want to check it out, is square foot
Gardening dot org. Thatt square foot Gardening dot org. In
this book, absolutely outstanding. I love it against the all
new square foot Gardening fourth edition. All right, got a
couple of minutes ago talk to me about the courtyard
(41:11):
garden and I guess my, And by the way, this
is Rick's own garden in Austin, Texas. It was a
basketball court, so you had a couple of sons who
were basketball players. And I noticed as I look at
the pictures thing and you fenced it in and you've
turned it into your your your above ground garden with
all the square foot garden beds there. You left the
basketball hoop.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
I did. That really doesn't prevente any kind of gardening advantage,
but I just thought it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It's I've said, people say I should try to, you know,
grow some some green beans the pole and wrap it
around the net. But you know, it's just kind of
adds to the story of you know, oh it used
to be a basketball court. Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Oh yeah, I thought it was great because I'm sitting
there and looking I was reading about your garden and
I'm looking at the picture and seeing all the great
things that you're doing. And I saw that, and I said,
you know what, he just left that there for memories.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
I did. There is no shooting of the hoop with
the basketball at this point, I'd squashed my tomatoes and.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You got your greenhouse there in a whole nine yards,
got it all off fenceive. That's a nice looking garden.
I've always said I'd rather visit gardens like your garden
that you have here than to visit flower gardens or
landscape gardens. I just think they're much more interesting.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Yeah, I mean, that's the nice thing about square foot gardening.
I mean, when we were kids growing up, you know,
like I said, you till up a big area in
the back corner of the yard and grow stuff there,
But you wouldn't really that was it. It was kind
of muddy and messy, and that's what it was for.
But now it's square foot gardening. Whether you've got you know,
a yard or a piece of concrete, you can make
(42:47):
beds and kind of space them out and kind of
mix the practical with the pleasant.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Oh absolutely, And you know, if you're a first time gardener,
even if you're not, this book's great. But if your
first time gardener, a square foot guarding idea here to
start with one bed or maybe two and just get
the hang of it. I would imagine the next thing,
you know, you're building three or four or five of
them as you continue to do this and be more
and more success when you realize how easy it is
(43:14):
to do.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Exactly. I mean, that's how I got started. Like I said,
I had a basketball court. I wanted a bigger garden,
and the basketball court was the only sunny area. So
I started off with one square foot garden bed and
it was super productive. Planet some more and a way
I went.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
And the way you went. Rick Bickler our special guest
this morning. And the book is called the All New
square Foot Gardening, the fourth edition put out by the
square Foot Gardening Foundation. Rick being a part of that
as well. And if you want to see his basketball
court courtyard garden. Check it out. It's on page forty one.
It's a great looking garden. Hey, Rick, I appreciate you
getting up early this morning spending time with us. Great book.
(43:51):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Thanks so much, Ryan.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
All right, take care, Rick Bickling And again the book
is called the All New Square Foot Gardening fourth And
I started digging the other day because I have my
original one that Mel signed many many many years ago.
I know it's in there somewhere. I couldn't find it,
but I know I got it somewhere. Anyway. You know
it's good when it's forty years old. How is your
(44:19):
garden growing?
Speaker 4 (44:20):
Call Ron now at one eight hundred eighty two three
Talk you're listening to In the Garden with Ron Wilson.
Our toll free number eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. Good morning. I am Ron Wilson, your
personal yard boy, and as I promise, it is time
for Are you urbally experienced with our ccp Cmahor Award
winning syndicated journalist, Appalachian herbal Scholar, member of the Urban
Society of America, Accredited Family Herbalist, author, cooking teacher, Madia personality,
(00:58):
regular contributor on six Around Nice Lady and All Around
Nice Lady, and of course on iHeart Radio as well.
She's a founding editor and the creator of the great
website about eating Ladies and Gentlemen. She loves eating weeds
from the lawn and garden. Let's all welcome, Rita Nader,
Hike and feed. You got them lined up this morning?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, you know, regardless, that just makes me feel so good.
Whether it's true or not, I'm smiling right now, and
I'm so happy to talk to you too, by the way,
mister Wilson, because I hope we have time. Somebody sent
me some really fun seeds. I got them in the
mail yesterday, so really, I'm I'm ready for spring.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Are you Did you get anything special?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Did I get any special in your seeds. Yes, yes, yes, yes,
one of the most specials. It's called balsam pear vine,
commonly known as bitter melon, and I have grown those before,
but I've never grown them from seeds, and it's just beautiful.
It's very It's a like an heirloom plant that Thomas
(02:15):
Jefferson grew, and it's really pretty because it starts out
green like a melon with bumps, and then it burst
into a beautiful color orange. So anxious to grow that
from seeds. And I have dear tongue lettuce.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Have you had that before?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
No? No, no, no. So those are two that I'm
very excited about. And I know you sent them because
even if I didn't recognize the address, I would recognize
your writing very distinctive. So thank you for that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Somebody trying to figure out what it says.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No, yeah, no, your printing is very good. I don't
think I've ever seen your cursive, but your print things good,
So thank you. I got a bunch of really fun things,
and tobacco plants and a new melon. It's called plumb
Granny Annie's pocket melons.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You've never grown that.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I have grown smaller ones, but not this variety. So yeah,
I'm very excited about it.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
They did, they did. They were out of broomcorn already
by the time I got there.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh no, kidding, Allad.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
What if you went and I was at the Columbus
Home and Garden Show last weekend and this is Circa Plants,
Circa Seeds, and they're in Logan, Ohio. They do all
heirloom seeds and of course they have the stories to
go with their seeds as well, which is really cool.
And so as soon as I got done with the
show up there, I went over to their booth and
they were already picked out of that and Cincinnati radishes
(03:44):
it's just any market ratish, but they're going to send
me some so I have them on back order. But yeah,
it's always and you would just go nuts walk going
through and looking all that. But the broomcorn, the Cincinnati
market ratish, and a couple other things that I usually
get you already out of it. So but it's a
lot of fun. I always enjoy it. But yeah, I'm
curious to see how the how those that that cucumber
(04:09):
thing works out for you though.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Quickly Well, yeah, the bitter melon, Yeah, yeah, it's and
it's a vining. It's so it'll be it'll be fun.
I'm sure it'll be beautiful. So I will trill that
out for you and enjoy eating the fruit as well.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Of course, mister Hikenfeld loves planning. That kissed me over
the gate.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
You know that. It's been a while since I've had that. Yeah,
kiss me over the gate. That beautiful red flowering vining
plant too. It's just something different. And as you said,
the names, they're so descriptive the stories that go along
with them. People should grow some of those old fashioned
heirloom plants and it's again fun to grow and you
learn something as well.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Yeah, go to their website circus It's Circus seeds dot
com and you'll love it. But uh, the new tomato,
which I had already put on our list for growing
this year, but Brandon was really impressed when he grew
it last year, is called big Dwarf. Now that doesn't
make sense, right, big dwarf, But it's a dwarf indeterminate,
so it keeps flowering all sor long. Love that big
meaty tomato, and surprisingly enough I had added at to
(05:09):
our list of tomatoes this year, and he said it
was absolutely outstanding, so I'm looking I can't wait to
grow that one as well. Talking with Rito Hikenfelder website
about eating dot com. Recipe this week, which you'll find
on our website at Ryan Wilson online dot com. Huevos rancheros,
which I absolutely love to get at the Mexican restaurant
right down the street from us. They do an outstanding job,
but now I can do it myself.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That's that's very true. And I heard that Joe loves
that kind of food too, and burritos and rancherro's. The
huevos the ranch are called farm ranch eggs. They have
all those wonderful flavors, easy to make and just something fun,
beautiful on a plate. And that uses the herb we're
going to be talking about today. Cilantro, so a key ingredient.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
In there too, you know what I and I like
it and you don't think about it, but they serve
you the scrambled eggs and the cilantro and everything mixed together.
Then they had the beans on the side, a little
bit of fried rice and it's a great combination.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Well, you've got your protein, you've got your carbs, you've
got your vitamins, and it's fun. The recipe that I'm sharing.
The sauce is good. It's tomatoes and cilantro and onion
and garlic and jalapeno pepper that you cook up and
then on and set it aside. Then you cook some
chiriso and I use the raw chriso, not the cure,
(06:27):
just sort of like hamburger, and you cook that up
and add that to the sauce, and then you smear
some re refried beans on a corn tortilla, and then
you top it with excuse me, the rancero mixture and
a scrambled egg or a fried egg. I like the scrambled,
not crazy about the runny eggs, And then you can
(06:48):
just put some cheese and your favorite avocado cilantro on it.
Really hearty and as I said, got a lot of
good nutrients in it. The ref fried beans can be
vegetab or not depending, So again, a nice, hearty meal
and beautiful on the plate, and something to spark up
these winter days, don't you think?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I think so. And of course having four eggs in it,
that means it'll cost you twenty five dollars.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Oh my gosh, our girls are finally laying unless you at.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The hike and Fell at home where you can, of course,
then you have to keep an eye on those now.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I know they people are going to.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Start raiding the henhouses, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And not a four legged creature either, huh no, No, And.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
You know what's I think it's interesting. Of course, you've
been raising chickens forever, and we did it when I
was a kid, but you know, as that folks started
getting into two backyard chickens about what fifteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Ten years ago?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:44):
Yeah, And now look, you know, it's kind of they're
probably thankful that they did if they've stuck with it,
because they're they're getting eggs, you know, and maybe selling
a dozen for what six bucks or something out there.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
I don't know, but yeah, they said that you can
now rent chickens. I saw him.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
I saw that.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Chickens for laying eggs, they bring you.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Two to three hens and a coop. Yeah, that's what
you and mister hiking Fell ought to get into.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I know, a new cottage industry. Don't tempt me here,
don't tempt him. No, he would do it in a flash.
He could be out to annoyed.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Well, he could be out there building these little coops and.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Travel around telling my girls, no, put them in the back.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Of the truck, of his truck and take them out
there and set them up.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, and you never know, I might be in one
of those little coops. So we're gonna stay away from that.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Instead of mister Hiking and mister Haney would be mister
Hiking Feld love it talking with Rita Hiking fell of course,
we want to see your recipe for this week. It's
huevos aron cheros uh and it's on our website a
Ron Wilson online dot com. We come back. We're gonna
every other week we're featuring an herb of the week,
and this week, of course, in this ingredient, the key
(08:57):
is uh seton throw and we're going to come back
and talk more about cilantrou Here in the garden with
Ron Wilson.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Help so the do it yourself gardener at one eight
hundred eight two three talk you're in the gardens with
Ron Wilson.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
When it comes to your plumbing and drain systems, maintenance
is the key if you want to keep it working right. Hey,
Gary Salvin here from my friends at roto Ruter plumbing
and water cleanup. If you like to do your own maintenance,
check out rotoruter dot com for helpful videos, blogs, and
seasonal information that'll allow you to keep your plumbing in
top form. And if you get over your head or
(09:49):
you don't have the time to diy, rotro Ruters expert
plumbers are always ready to help. Twenty four to seven.
Visit rotoruter dot com re call one eight hundred, Get
rodo Hi.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Ron Wilson here. Let me ask you a question. Are
you having problems with those hard to kill pesky weeds? Well,
I've got the answer for you. You ready get yourself some
high Yield kills All super concentrate you know. High Yield
kills All works great on any kind of unwanted weed
and grass around your house. High Yield kills All is
a non selective weed and grass killer that contains a
double surfacted formula that drives on the weed fast. It
(10:23):
starts working quickly, which helps it to work better than
other weed and grass killers. High Yield kills All is
perfect for use around your fences, patios, sidewalks, driveways, and
a whole lot more. Use High Yield kills All to
kill weeds before you plant a vegetable garden, before you
plant your flowers, or before you plant that new lawn.
Check out the label. It covers up to twice the
area that the national brand covers and works even better.
(10:44):
Kill your weeds down to the route with kills all.
And if you can't find kills all with that mass merchant,
you want to know why. That's because kills all from
high yield can only be found in your favorite local
independent garden centers or hardware stores. That's high yield kills
all get some today.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
Every paint removal project comes from with its own set
of challenges, and finding the right product for the job
can be difficult. I have the solution. Demand has developed
air complete paint removal test kit that will help you
zero in on the best paint removal product that you
need for your project. Test kit includes a down samples
of smart Strip, Advanced, smart Strip Pro and peel Away
paint removal products with all the necessary items you need.
(11:21):
You can get your test kit at participating Sherman William's
locations or visit Dumont Global dot com to purchase a
kid or find a retailer near you.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Talking you arden you get eight hundred eight two three
eight two five five Rita nat Or Hikenfeld with us
this morning for are you urbally experienced? Or web or
recipe this week is well Wavos rancheros, and of course
it features selantro. And that's what we're going to talk
about this morning, is cilantro.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
It's a wonderful urban, such a spring like urban. It
just reminds me of spring.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Don't you think it reminds me of I'm just it
reminds me of you.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I wonder why, because we have spoken so much about
that urban. One of my favorite herbs too.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
When I walk through the produce department at the grocery store,
I think of.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You, right right, smell those right with the.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Cilantro and the parsley and the rosemary and all the
herbs and all of that. And then you know, and
traveling and going to giving garden talks and stuff, our
vehicles always smelled of herbs and spices and.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Things so nice and cleansing as well.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yes, indeed, absolutely so. Why does why does some folks?
Why do some folks love celanthro like I do? And
other folks just can't stand it because they say it
tastes like soap.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
What's the deal there, Well, it's it's a constituent in
cilantro that's a very sort of a strong flavor. It
actually does taste like soap if you I always compare
it to tarragon if you eat too much. So some
people really embrace the flavor. Others don't like it at all.
So a little goes a long way, and I just
(13:53):
love it. And when you chop up cilantro too, you
should use a sharp knife, not a dull knife. And
the reason is it's very tender. It's very tender herbs,
so you don't want to bruise those leaves and stems
and lose all the volatile oils. And it's one of
the few plants that, regardless of where you get it
(14:15):
or how you grow it, you can always use the
stems because they always seem to be tender enough. But
it's just a lovely spring green. And when you said
you see it in the produce department, mister Wilson, next
to the parsley. Unless you have a real good eye,
once in a while they look so similar from a
distance you might pick up one for the other. So
(14:35):
the only way to really know is just pluck off
a leaf and give it a little sniff or taste. So, yeah,
Cilantro is a wonderful herb. It's a cool weather herb.
It does not like hot.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Weather, which is always a situation because folks like to
grow it. But the problem is once they start to
grow it and the temperatures get hot, it bolts right away.
And then of course when a bolt it turns it
the foliage is different, and then it goes to seaflower
and its seeds, and of course the seeds, if it
does happen, are very much, very usable in your spices.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Oh yeah, it's one of the herbs that's a spice
and an herbal in one because the green part the
cilantro are the leaves and the flowers, and then when
it seeds out it's called coriander. And you know, it's
funny because they even have different flavor profiles. To me,
cilantro sort of has a like a citrusy green tape,
(15:29):
but now coriander is more of a lemony taste in
the seed. I have to say, if you grow cilantro
and save some of the seeds, you don't want to
grind them up till right before you use them, because
the seed it loses its flavor pretty quick. And if
I grind up coriander seeds, I'll keep them in the freezer.
But if you let, as I said, a few of
(15:51):
the plants go to seed and say in the fall.
By spring, they'll be popping up just like dill. And
they do like cool weather, so it's not a hot
weather plant in our area. And then there's some different
what we call different kinds of cilantro, Vietnamese coriander and culantro,
(16:12):
which are I always say their cousins. They're not of
the same plant family, very strongly flavored and take to
our Midwestern heat. So different varieties. But what most people
are familiar with and what you're going to get in
your who I Vos Francero's are is the cilantro, the
(16:32):
little greenberry tender one.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
I actually looked. I was doing some research myself on
cilantro because that was kind of interesting. There's actually nineteen
varieties cilantro available on the market, of which are some
are slow bolt so they will stand the heat a
little bit better for you, so you might be able
to find those. I thought it was also interesting they
were describing the flavor from citrusy to bit tangy, to
soapy to that of crushed bed bugs.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Oh gosh, okay, we never had the ladder, so I
would I could not speak to that, thankfully. Well, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
The scientific names derived from the Greek chorus or coriander
or slantro, which means bug or nat.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah, isn't that that's interesting? And the way the description is,
it's so well descriptive you can almost visualize that. But
it's a fun orb to grow. And when you said
the slow bolting varieties, there's one called Santo s Anto
which has a lot of leaf production before it decides
to flower and go to seed. So that might be
one that you might like too. But again, successive plannings
(17:36):
are always the way to go if you want it
all year, you know, during the season in your gardener
and your containers.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, if you just sew that and harvest it when
it's about six inches tall so more, and harvest it again,
or even grow it as a microgreen, you know, you
harvest it before it starts to bold and flower, you know,
And that does work. It's a little bit, a little
bit of work for you, but it does work, you know,
I was also, I'm surprising at one time was used
I guess in the Egyptian tombs.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Oh yeah, well you know what they found, Yeah, when
I was quite young, when mister Wilson. Yeah, the coriander seeds,
the seed of the plant is so viable that they
have found them in Egyptian tombs and they were viable.
So if you have a can of coriander seeds a
bottle in your pantry, feel free to go out and
(18:28):
plant those because most likely they will be again viable
enough to sprout. But when you were talking about solantro,
there's so many good health benefits too. It's got a
lot of calcium and vitamin C, and it's capable of
actually helping to destroy viruses and germs that cause colds,
(18:50):
anti inflammatory, there's so many wonderful benefits, which is why
a lot of the Asian soups like which is it
sounds like you would say it foe, but it's called
they have used cilantro and added the last couple minutes
or use it raw and you'll get all the health
(19:11):
benefits plus that wonderful flavor. So it's just wonderful to use.
And when you think of there's not a herb on
the planet. I don't believe that does your body good.
Doesn't do your body good, excuse me. And cilantro is
one of those that are just wonderful.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
So I also found afrodijiak listed on some of the
many benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
So is that right?
Speaker 3 (19:33):
I don't know that either.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
Well, hey, you try it and let us know how
that got.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
About a minute ago. Are you giving a class this
next week at the Pollinator's Project at the Barn.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
In the Marie Mont yet, Actually I am going to
be doing that today and today to mention it to you. Yeah,
it's the Pollinators Project, be Friendly, and it's by the
Women's Art Club Cultural Center and it's on Cambridge Avenue,
right where I grew up. So I'm going to be
doing presentation on herbs for a suburban garden. And I'm
(20:06):
going to concentrate on what we call the simples, which
are the herbs grown way back then with a specific purpose,
like one main purpose, and they were called the still roomors,
the herbs of settlers brought for medicinal purposes and for
culinary purposes way back when. Again, So it'll be a
fun presentation because a lot of our herbs like bathel
(20:28):
and sybe. All those are go way back and have
wonderful medicinal qualities as well as takes great And that's at.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
One o'clock today at the Pollinators Project at the Barn,
Cambridge Avenue and Mariemont. Check it out. Reader Hickenfeld will
be there. If you want to meet and greet, she'll
be there for you. Rita Hikenfeld always a pleasure. Tell
mister Hickenfeld, we said it, he loo, I will.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
He's lying state. I'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
There you go take here. Coming up next we'll talk
about squarefoot gardening here in the garden with run will.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Not gardening questions on has the answer at one eight
hundred eight two three talk you are in the garden
with Ron Wilson.
Speaker 6 (21:22):
Sorry you're tired of stubborn odors that drive you crazy.
And odo X customers says it works on every smell
and my car home at work.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Love it.
Speaker 6 (21:31):
That's odor Exit, reliable, powerful and natural. It'll keep your
home fresh, your car odor free, and tackle tough smells
at work. With our one hundred percent money back guarantee,
You've got nothing to lose except the odor. Join our
satisfied customers at otor exit dot com and take time
to read our hundreds of reviews. Smell the difference otor
exit dot com. That's otor exit dot com.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
So if you're tired of scrubbing your shower, you need
wedd and Forget weekly shower cleaner Gary Sulvn here. Spray
it on today and rints tomorrow once a week. Spread
it on all your tub and shower surfaces, even glass stores.
The next day simply runs clean with wet and forgets shower.
You can breathe easy because there's no harsh fumes and
no scrubbing, make cleaning easy. Pick up wed and Forgets
(22:15):
Shower at home depot Low's Menards, Mere Ace, or visit
Wedinforget dot com the findest store near you.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Welcome back. You're in the garden with Ron Wilson. You
know there's been a book out there about gardening. It's
been on the market I think now different editions for
about forty years. And you know a book is good
when it's forty years old, still out there, been updated
as a matter of facts now in this fourth edition.
But you know it's great information when it sticks around
that long. And I tell you the concept when it
(23:34):
first came out kind of took everybody by surprise. They
love to jumped on it. And as things have changed
in our gardens and they've gotten smaller, we've gotten more
into the raised bed gardening and container gardening and gardening
on top of blacktop and wherever it may be. And
you need to take advantage of all of the square
footage that we have. This book is just becoming more
and more popular all the time. You know what I'm
(23:55):
talking about is called square Foot Gardening. And of course
Mel Bartholomew was the original author of this book and
today it's carried on by the square Foot Gardening Foundation.
Joining us this morning from the square Foot Gardening Foundation.
He is a master gardener, square foot Gardening Expert and
a member of the square Foot Guarding Foundation. As a
matter of fact, you can see his videos on the
(24:16):
square Footgardening dot org. We want to welcome Rick Bickley.
Good morning, party Ron.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Thanks so much for having me on your show to today.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Well, we appreciate you getting up. First of all, tease
us a little bit. What's the temperatures like in your
area this morning?
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Actually, I heard your gardening forecast up there that it's
above freezing. I'm in the Austin, Texas area, and it's
actually twenty nine degrees this morning. O Kim, we flipped
the script somehow.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Wow. I was talking to oh, I can't think of
his name right now, Bruce Fraser from the Dixondale onion
farm there in southern Texas last week and I think
he was talking, was supposed to be up in the
eighties by the afternoons. Last two weeks ago, he's.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Talking it was in the eighties, and this week it's
it's freezing, and next week it'll probably be in the
eighties again. So that's uh, that's spring in Texas.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
I guess, well that's springing. And that's spring in Ohio too,
So you got it. You got it all across the Midwest. Anyway.
Great to have you on with us this morning. I
love this book. First of all, I met mel Bartholomew
many many years ago, probably twenty years ago. Greatest guy,
I mean, just super nice personality, and of course promoting
the book at the time and since then, of course
(25:28):
have been several editions, and I loved it. At the
beginning of this one, you've got some black and whites
of him in this thing. It brought back some good memories.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
Yeah, he was a great guy. Unfortunately I never get
a chance to meet him. But score Foot Gardening Foundations
run by Mel's son Steve and Steve's wife Laura, Now,
so I have had the pleasure to meet them and
work with him, so kind of secondhand getting to know Mel.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yeah, and I've had Steve on the show before. I
think was the I don't know if it was the
third edition that came out, but they had him talking
about that and putting this foundation together, which I think
is outstanding. We'll talk more about that as we get
into the show here, but let's talk about this book,
square Foot Gardening, the fourth edition. Why do you think
this square Foot Gardening book? Why does this continue to
be such a popular book.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Well, it's like you said it today the way things
are first, gardening is becoming more and more popular. I mean,
at twenty twenty, well known, we gained eighteen point three
million new gardeners. And not to mention everyone who's already
been guarding, but some of the things that come into
play are like you said, there's less space, people have
(26:37):
less time, probably less money to spend, and they might
not want to put the effort in to go out
and tilling up the back acre of their yard. So
one of the first tenants of score put gardening is
is that it lets you grow more food in less
space with less waste. And some of the ways it
does that is it uses eighty percent less space. And
(27:02):
the way it accomplishes that is by using raised beds.
Now a lot of people use raised beds or containers,
and that's great. One of the things that does is
it kind of separates out, like from the old road gardening.
It separates out the growing area from the walking area.
So now if you want to water your garden, you
just water the part that's growing the vegetables. You don't
(27:25):
have to water the little row in between.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Right. Yeah, I'll tell you what I I looked at it.
You know, as I read through this book, and I do,
I read these from front to back. You know, I
think what's interesting, what I think is great about this
book is the fact that you take it from the
very beginning and explaining what square foot gardening is all about.
And again you kind of you know, when you first
(27:48):
I would think that if I'm a first time gardener
I read this, it's like, really, I can grow that
much in that square foot and it literally is a
square foot gardening area within the garden. But you know,
you walk everybody from the very beginning, whether it be
from starting seeds or the plants, through building the square
foot garden, through the soil mix and of course you've
got Mels special mixing there, which has always been very
(28:10):
popular as far as putting putting your own mix together.
But you just the updates on this thing is is phenomenal.
I think this book just gets better and better every
edition that comes along, and you you're finding new things,
new projects, new pictures. It really boy, it really does
(28:31):
a fine job walking through from the beginning to the
harvest and storing as well.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Yeah, I think it's not just for square foot gardening,
but a lot of the stuff that covers in there.
Like you said, it talks about plants spacing. You know,
how do you know when you're any certain vegetable that
has reached its maturity and you know, how do you start?
So it kind of covers it from right from the
go up to putting on your plate and cooking it
up for dinner.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
And I like it because you know, you continue to
add new projects in here, and now I start to
see more and more where you're starting to address a
vertical gardening using more trellisis musing over more overheads, using covers,
so that you can extend the seasons from And I've
always said, especially and I'm a big by the way,
I'm a big container gardener, big race bed gardener. And
(29:22):
it's so easy to extend your seasons spring and fall
with especially with greens, by simply taking a little PVC
or a little wood structure, putting it over the top
of these square foot boxes and covering with a little
bit of plastic. Could you get another month or two
months out of those with no problem?
Speaker 3 (29:40):
Exactly. You don't need a big greenhouse to keep growing
that extra month or two. Like you said, you're basically
making a little mini greenhouse over each race bit and
makes a big difference.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
We're talking with Rick Bickling. The name of the book
is square Foot Gardening. I know you've heard of it before,
if you've been around for a while. This is the
fourth edition, so you know it's a good book. Been
around for forty years. Originally written by mel Bartholomew, now
of being updated by the square Foot Gardening Foundation, which
was established by his son and his son's wife, and
they just can continue to add more and more projects,
(30:12):
more and more great information for you, well worth it.
Whether you're a first time gardener or an experienced gardener.
Guarantee you're going to get lots of good ideas out
of this. Let's take a quick break. We come back.
We'll talk more with the Rick about the foundation, how
you can be maybe become and more involved yourself. We'll
talk about Rick's own personal garden and how he got
started in square foot guarding. Again. The name of the books,
(30:34):
square Foot Gardening, is the fourth edition. We're talking about
that here in the garden with Ron.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Wilson Landscaping Ladies here with your personal yard boy. He's
in the garden and he's Ron Wilson.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
When you're planning your new plants this spring, remember it's
all about the roots. Hi, Ron Wilson here, When you're
planting those new plants this spring, here's what you need
to use. Use fertilome roots stimulator and plant starter solution
for everything you plant trees, shrubs, ornamentals, and flowers. This
mild starter fertilizer has an actual rooting hormone to help
stimulate new growth. Now you make three applications ten to
(31:26):
fourteen days apart and get up to thirty three percent
more roots. More roots means summer heartiness, increased drought tolerance,
and less insect and fungal issues. Fertilon Roots Stimulator and
Plant Starter solution also helps to reduce transplant shock and
promotes greener, more vigorous plants. Get your plants started out
the right way so you can enjoy its beauty sooner
(31:47):
and longer. Ask for Furtilo and roots Stimulat and Plant
Starter solution at your favorite local independent nursery, garden center,
or hardware store, or find a dealer near you at
fertilome dot com. That's Fertilom Root Stimula later plant Starter solution.
(32:44):
Talking your Gardening at eight hundred and eight two three
eight two five five our book today, square Foot Gardening.
You say, wait a minute, that's been around for a while, yeah,
about forty years, but it's the all new square Foot Gardening.
It's the fourth edition. You can from urban to rurle,
you can garden anywhere. We have new gardening plans and
projects in here, fully updated and revised for today's gardener
and joining us from the square foot Gardening Foundation, Rick Bickling.
(33:08):
As a matter of fact, you can see some of
Rick's videos on their website is Squarefootgardening dot org. And
you know, as I walk through this thing, and there
are so many great ideas in here, it's crazy, and
anybody it's you know, like I said, and you have said,
whether you're a first time gardener or not, so many
great ideas you can add to this. But you know,
I'd like the top hat structure add a little bit
(33:31):
of height and a little bit of depth to the
to the to the square foot garden.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Absolutely, it's a great way to if you want to
grow up potatoes or carrots, you need a little bit
more depth. And really one of the keys to score
foot garden we talked about the raised bids, but you
can cost any kind of soil in there and it
may not work too well. I mean, in the United
States alone, there's over seventy thousand varieties of soil and
they all have different textures, nutrient contents in pH But
(33:59):
one of the things that set square for gardening part
is the soil mixture we use called mals mix, and
basically it's one equal parts by volume of three natural ingredients,
peat moss, vermiculate, and compost, and that's it. You don't
need to use fertilizer. The compost provides that the peat,
moss and the vermiculate. Now, one of the things everyone
(34:22):
kind of has heard of pH and nutrients. But one
kind of characteristic of soil that a lot of people
don't know is something called the cat ion exchange capacity.
And that's kind of a mouthful, and it sounds like
you need to have a science degree to know what
it is and how it works. But if you think
of your garden or your raise bed as a jar
(34:43):
of marbles, the marbles are soil particles, and the space
in between the marbles is called the poor space. Now,
vermiculate helps increase the poor space, and that kind of
helps with soil aeration and moisture retention. And the peat
moss actually holds about twenty times its weight in water
while it's in there. But besides just that, if you
(35:08):
think of the marbles instead of as soil part and
think of the soil particles rather than marbles, think of
them as little tiny magnets. And most soil particles are
negatively charged and a lot of nutrients are positively charged.
So what happens is the ability of your soil to
hold on the nutrients and then easily give it to
the plant is measured by this cat im exchange capacity.
(35:33):
And Pete moss has it. Go ahead, you got it going.
Pete moss has a high has a CEC of between
one hundred and hundred and twenty. Regular soil could have anything,
but you know, you never know what you're going to get.
So that's the whole idea. If you ask, well, why
do I use peat moss, why do I use remiculate?
(35:55):
You know? Why do I use why mals mixed? That's
why is because it helps the plants grow, and it
lets you grow your plants in only six inches. But
if you want to grow some carrots or potatoes or something,
you use a top hat, which basically just is a
little square that makes the soil a little bit deeper
(36:15):
in one area and then you can grow your tall
things in there.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, because if you look at these and most of
these are about six to eight inches deep. As a
matter of fact, this works great on a table. And
I'm just going to bring that up, is that you
know I've seen several friends that have seniors, their parents
or whatever, or someone who's disabled in a wheelchair, and
build these square foot boxes on legs as a table
(36:40):
and man that allows folks and kids as well. Or
you know, as I get older, I can't bend over
as easily anymore. It makes it so much easier to garden.
But doing these on tables is fantastic. But you know,
you are limited as far as the depth. But everything
that we put in there grows, except if you look
for some a little bit deeper. You add these top
boxes and it does help. But you do a whole
(37:00):
chapter on filling your square foot garden bed with Mels mix,
and you walk everybody through and you explain it, which
is great, and it's one of those things you know,
even with a regular garden, a lot of folks, you know,
they fertilized, fertilized, fertilized. You know, my guarden's not doing
so well. We don't do the testing, and we always
forget about the pH level of the soil and how
important that is for nutrients to become available. So this
(37:23):
Mel's mix, like you said, is just a great combination.
The mel came up with many many years ago. That's
perfect for obviously for your square foot garden. And again
there's a whole chapter on on how to do that
and how to walks you through the whole nine yards
talking with Rick Bickling. The name of the book is
All New square Foot Gardening. It's the fourth edition put
out by the Square Foot Gardening Foundation. Absolutely great ideas
(37:46):
in here as far as what to do. And you
know the other thing I like about this, you guys
addressed the pest, Pest go away building, Critter extensions, critter covers,
how to keep the critters out of your your square
foot garden. Some great ideas there.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Absolutely there's nothing more frustrating to spending all summer and
spring planting and maturing and getting ready to harvest your
crops and then you come out in the squirrels have
eaten them, or there's worms on there and they've eaten
your broccoli. It's frustrating. So again, kind of the same
concept is making a little greenhouse over your each raised bed.
(38:26):
You can make a little critter cover out of either
chicken wire or to keep insects out, you can just
use some floating rod cover.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
And it does work, and it's very easy to do.
And it looks nice as well. And you know the
other thing I got out of this when I was
looking reading through this is dividing up the squares, and
there's many ways to do that in the garden. Using
that PVC pipe and using it as an irrigation system
I thought was outstanding.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Yeah. Absolutely, you know that's the kind of the third
tenet of the square foot gardening is rather than just
that's nice that you have raised bed, nice that you
have mels mixing there, But if you just plant a
row of green beans a row of tomatoes, you're really
not utilizing the space as much as you can. So
what Mel came up with is putting a grid of
(39:12):
one foot by one foot either PVC or drip irrigation
or something. You're basically cutting up that raised bed into
one foot by one foot areas. Now you only have
to work with one foot at a time. I kind
of think of it as you know, we all have
that silver words or where you're throwing your twisty ties,
your car keys, your spoons and stuff like that, and
(39:33):
it's in there, but it's not really organized. Dispatch LA
always gets the way when you try to open it.
But if you put in one of those little compartment
things where you have Now you've got a little compartment
for the forest, one for the knives. It works a
lot better. So that's how the grid works. It really
helps kind of optimize and make it easier to plant.
(39:55):
I think of the example of carrots. I mean, everything
is planted, whether it's a square foot garden or any
regular bid. You plant them space a part based on
its mature science. You know, if you've made the plants
are bigger, you need to make sure you take that
into account. Carrots about three inches apart, that'll work. So
if you have a row of carrots, then you plant
that let's say maybe you have a oh, I don't
(40:17):
know three, you know, sixteen carrots. You can grow sixteen
carrots in just one square foot in a square foot garden,
and there's still three inches apart.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Right, and you know you have What's all I can
hear too, is you actually have a chart helping folks
to lay out there square foot garden as far as
what would fit in each one and how to lay
that out in course of succession planting and the whole
nine yards. And of course then you've got the planting chart,
you've got the planting, harvest, the storing, the whole nine yards.
It's a great great covers everything you could ever imagine
(40:51):
about gardening in general, and of course the vegetable gardening,
and then of course doing it the square foot gardening
way as well. Talking with Rick Bickley again. The website
if you want to check it out, is square foot
Gardening dot org. Thatt square foot Gardening dot org. In
this book, absolutely outstanding. I love it against the all
new square foot Gardening fourth edition. All right, got a
couple of minutes ago talk to me about the courtyard
(41:11):
garden and I guess my, And by the way, this
is Rick's own garden in Austin, Texas. It was a
basketball court, so you had a couple of sons who
were basketball players. And I noticed as I look at
the pictures thing and you fenced it in and you've
turned it into your your your above ground garden with
all the square foot garden beds there. You left the
basketball hoop.
Speaker 3 (41:33):
I did. That really doesn't prevente any kind of gardening advantage,
but I just thought it was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (41:38):
It's I've said, people say I should try to, you know,
grow some some green beans the pole and wrap it
around the net. But you know, it's just kind of
adds to the story of you know, oh it used
to be a basketball court. Okay, that's interesting.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Oh yeah, I thought it was great because I'm sitting
there and looking I was reading about your garden and
I'm looking at the picture and seeing all the great
things that you're doing. And I saw that, and I said,
you know what, he just left that there for memories.
Speaker 3 (42:05):
I did. There is no shooting of the hoop with
the basketball at this point, I'd squashed my tomatoes and.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
You got your greenhouse there in a whole nine yards,
got it all off fenceive. That's a nice looking garden.
I've always said I'd rather visit gardens like your garden
that you have here than to visit flower gardens or
landscape gardens. I just think they're much more interesting.
Speaker 3 (42:25):
Yeah, I mean, that's the nice thing about square foot gardening.
I mean, when we were kids growing up, you know,
like I said, you till up a big area in
the back corner of the yard and grow stuff there,
But you wouldn't really that was it. It was kind
of muddy and messy, and that's what it was for.
But now it's square foot gardening. Whether you've got you know,
a yard or a piece of concrete, you can make
(42:47):
beds and kind of space them out and kind of
mix the practical with the pleasant.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Oh absolutely, And you know, if you're a first time gardener,
even if you're not, this book's great. But if your
first time gardener, a square foot guarding idea here to
start with one bed or maybe two and just get
the hang of it. I would imagine the next thing,
you know, you're building three or four or five of
them as you continue to do this and be more
and more success when you realize how easy it is
(43:14):
to do.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Exactly. I mean, that's how I got started. Like I said,
I had a basketball court. I wanted a bigger garden,
and the basketball court was the only sunny area. So
I started off with one square foot garden bed and
it was super productive. Planet some more and a way
I went.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
And the way you went. Rick Bickler our special guest
this morning. And the book is called the All New
square Foot Gardening, the fourth edition put out by the
square Foot Gardening Foundation. Rick being a part of that
as well. And if you want to see his basketball
court courtyard garden. Check it out. It's on page forty one.
It's a great looking garden. Hey, Rick, I appreciate you
getting up early this morning spending time with us. Great book.
(43:51):
We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (43:54):
Thanks so much, Ryan.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
All right, take care, Rick Bickling And again the book
is called the All New Square Foot Gardening fourth And
I started digging the other day because I have my
original one that Mel signed many many many years ago.
I know it's in there somewhere. I couldn't find it,
but I know I got it somewhere. Anyway. You know
it's good when it's forty years old. How is your
(44:19):
garden growing?
Speaker 4 (44:20):
Call Ron now at one eight hundred eighty two three
Talk you're listening to In the Garden with Ron Wilson.
In The Garden with Ron Wilson News
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.