Welcome back to the Helpful Gardeners Podcast. How’s it growing? This week, we’re wrapping up 2023 with a look back at all our favourite moments, guests, and fun we had talking about gardening. Colin and I can’t believe we’re coming up on a year of growing our passion project. We started this project as a couple of friends who work for a local garden centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Our sole aim was to make gardening accessible and fun for everyone. We’ve explored seed starting, garden critters, weather, houseplant maintenance, avoiding garden burnout, and even the spicy topics like World Naked Gardening Day. Let’s look back on out top 10 favourite episodes this year on the Helpful Gardeners Podcast:
TOP 10 FAVOURITE EPISODES OF 2023
Our most streamed episode of 2023 Sometimes we have to be strategic in our gardening endeavors based on our lifestyle and space. This was a great episode to explore what’s involved in seed starting so you know what path to take heading into the garden season. .
Colin’s favourite episode was our Canada Day special because we explore all sorts of Canadian symbols in the garden…. and out of it. I think at one point we started talking about license plates and horses?! It was fun and a highlight of the year.
Our first, and only, appearance on camera. We dressed as garden gnomes, ate snacks, told a scary story, and talked about the spooky toxic garden located in the UK.
FIND COLIN THE CATERPILLAR CANDY AND MORE
Fall Clean Up | Autumn Mini Series
Our autumn mini series was a hit! We dived into all the different elements of putting the garden to bed.
Planting Amaryllis and Bringing Fictional Plants to Life
This was another highly streamed episode as we unwrapped everything about the Amaryllis, including the #AmaryllisChallenge… which I failed. But Colin got me a flowering one for Christmas and it made me feel better. I really loved our “Hypothetical Question of the Week” about bringing fictional plants to life.
Enjoying Your Garden and Avoiding Burnout
We know there are many health benefits associated with gardening, but I think we could talk about garden burnout more. Sometimes we take on a lot during the gardening season, and this is an episode that goes into how to enjoy it in a sustainable way.
Going back to one of our first episodes about houseplants. Lots of good nuggets in here like repotting, soil, fertilizer, watering and more.
Fertilizer: How to buy it, use it and store it
This was one of the most important episodes for us to do this year, because it’s one of the most frequently asked questions at the garden centre. We recognize the benefits of fertilizer, especially in climates with a shorter growing season, but there’s so many kinds. In this episode, Colin lays out a nice road map to follow.
The poppy is such an important symbol of Remembrance and it was really cool to explore more about this flower.
Prepping Your Garden for Spring
While we still have a beautiful winter season ahead, I can’t help but plan ahead toward a beautiful spring. This was a great episode to have your tool kit as it covers things you can do in your garden once the snow melts even before planting a single plant!
SHOUT OUT TO OUR GUESTS AND FRIENDS
Gardening isn’t one size fits all. There’s always going to be new ways of doing things and that’s why we were so lucky to have many of our friends pop by to visit the podcast this year, Check out this
Shelley Vance, Scotts Canada
From Vancouver, BC our friend Shelley joined us for a couple episodes to help us keep our lawns looking their brightest! We loved her relatable advice for every gardener.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SCOTTS CANADA
Jean-Mathieu Daoust, Let it Grow Horticulture Services
Our friend, and colleague, Jean has a strong passion for trees and shrubs which is why we’ve invited him onto the podcast twice this year!
Elise Watson, ABC Bees
In honour of World Pollinator Week, we sat down with Elise Watson, an educator and community leader for beekeepers all across North America. Her company, ABC Bees, offers courses, webinars, and workshops for those interested in learning more about bees! On the podcast, she shared some buzzworthy information on selecting bee friendly flowers for your garden. Check out the full episode for information on how to attend her “Field Days” in 2024.
Erin Neal, Senior Coordinator with the Calgary Drop-in Centre
Our friend, and neighbour, Erin came on the podcast to talk more about the community garden she started in the affordable housing program. She’s witnessed the benefits gardening has had on the residents.
THANK YOU
Listener, thank YOU! You are truly the sunshine in our podcast garden. Thank you for supporting this little passion project and for making the world a more planty place. We hope you reached your biggest garden goals in 2024, and we hope to be along for the ride.
A big shout out to Golden Acre Home & Garden for giving us the support to blossom on this incredible platform. Coming up, we’re going to set some garden intentions, try to keep a poinsettia alive, and maybe even hit the road to visit a garden or two.
Happy new Year and we’ll catch you next week on the Helpful Gardeners Podcast.
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