Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

Friday, April 11, 2025

387 Q&A: Reaction Wood and Seedlings. Controlling Scale. Plants and Mulch.

America’s Favorite College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, and I answers questions about the importance of building “reaction wood” in seedlings, greenhouse airflow, scale pest management for f...

Friday, April 4, 2025

386 Grape Growing Basics (And More!)

Farmer Fred and Debbie Flower provide practical advice on cultivating table and wine grapes, focusing on the essentials such as sunlight, well-drained soil and variety selection. Also: peach leaf cur...

Friday, March 28, 2025

385 The Repurposed, Sustainable, and Creative Garden

Prepare to be inspired as we dive into a creative and sustainable approach to gardening with Sacramento County Master Gardener Gail Pothour. We explore how to turn everyday household items and scrap m...

Friday, March 21, 2025

384 Ideas for a Successful First Garden!

Essential tips for beginner gardeners, focusing on starting small, plant selection, spacing and companion planting, along with maintenance strategies and the value of involving children and keeping a ...

Friday, March 14, 2025

383 The 2025 Tomato Preview Show!

If you’re a tomato-head, this is the episode for you! We dive into the world of tomatoes with Don Shor from Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, California. We discuss our favorite tomato varieties to pla...

Friday, March 7, 2025

382 Delayed Winter Pruning of Fruit Trees, and More!

In this episode: • The benefits of delayed winter pruning of fruit trees, with orchardist and Master Gardener Quentyn Young. • Controlling ants in raised garden beds, with America’s Favorite Retir...

Friday, February 28, 2025

381 Backyard Chickens vs. Bird Flu. Composting tips.

Tips for protecting your backyard chickens from the bird flu. Compost for potted plants. Previous episodes, show notes, links, product information, and transcripts at the home site for Garden Basi...

Friday, February 21, 2025

380 Flower Seed Starting Basics

Today: Practical flower seed starting techniques, such as the critical timing for beginning various flowers and the correct depth for planting those seeds. And, Debbie Flower shares with us her trick ...

Friday, February 14, 2025

379 AAS Award-Winning Garden Plants for 2025

We talk with Diane Blazek, the executive director of All-America Selections (AAS), exploring the newly announced 2025 winners of top-performing garden plant varieties. Each year, AAS winners under...

Friday, February 7, 2025

378 Battling Four-Legged Fruit Tree Pests

We tackle the management of four-legged garden fruit tree pests with Debbie Flower. We discuss listener concerns about squirrels, raccoons, and rats, exploring protective measures and the impor...

Friday, January 31, 2025

377 Tomato Seed Planting Tips. Rose Pruning Success.

Want bountiful tomatoes and beautiful roses in 2025? Today, we cover essential tips for starting tomato seeds and winter rose pruning. Debbie Flower shares insights on timing for planting tomato seeds...

Friday, January 24, 2025

376 Heal-All Herb Growing. Hackberry Aphids. Leaf Mulching Winter Garden Beds.

Episode 376 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast offers more sustainable gardening tips for all gardeners. We cover managing hackberry aphids using less toxic methods with Debbie Flower; grow...

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