Backyard Transformation: How a First-Time Gardener Nailed It on the First Try

Plant friends, I have to tell you about someone who has completely blown my mind this gardening season! Her name is Lily, and she happens to be my brother's girlfriend, which means I've had a front-row seat to watch her absolutely blossom as a first-time gardener. She nailed it on her first try, and I mean that she has had the most incredible success I think I have ever seen from a beginner. In this episode, you're going to hear about how she and my brother were pretty much harvesting and eating from her garden every single day for the entire summer!

In this episode, we learn:

• [02:40] Meet Lily and her garden obsession!
• [04:15] What childhood memories inspired Lily’s love for gardening?
• [06:16] When did Lily decide to start her first backyard garden?
• [06:53] Why did Lily start almost everything from seed?
• [09:54] Lily's creative dining room seed-starting setup
• [15:00] Refresh your fall garden with ease using Espoma Organic
• [16:25] Bring your farmhouse garden dreams to life with The Vintage Farmhouse Garden
• [18:46] How did Lily handle pests, heavy rains, and a mosquito invasion?
• [22:01] Exploring composting to solve the pear tree problem
• [22:58] What surprised Lily the most about gardening?
• [24:26] How to freeze tomatoes and preserve the harvest for winter
• [25:30] Ice cube tray preservation tricks
• [26:06] My ramp butter memories from the Catskills
• [27:33] Is canning worth a full day's work?
• [28:45] Garden harvest tour: What did Lily grow?
• [31:30] Adding a pollinator garden with pest-deterring plants
• [33:26] Which medicinal and edible flowers should you try growing?
• [36:36] How to use AI in growing plants
• [37:17] Lily’s biggest lessons: labels, sunlight, and spacing
• [39:04] How gardening brought peace, joy, and connection to Lily’s life
• [40:14] Southern tomato pie: Lily’s star garden recipe
• [41:25] How Lily used garden-fresh rosemary and pears in her baking
• [42:34] Lily’s favorite ways to use her bounty
• [43:44] What will Lily focus on growing next year?

Mentioned in our conversation:

• Growing Joy Episode 202: How to Can and Ferment Vegetables and Fruits from Your Garden with Stephanie Thurow
• Growing Joy Episode 195: Homesteading for Beginners with Michelle Bruhn and Stephanie Thurow

Gardening for the first time?

Check out the full show notes and blog here!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Espoma Organic

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Quarto: The Vintage Farmhouse Garden: Your Guide to Creating a Vintage-Inspired Outdoor Space by Rhonda Kaiser

Grab your copy of The Vintage Farmhouse Garden at quarto.com and wherever books are sold.

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