#176: Mike talks Small Space Gardening with author Stacey Hirvela

In this week's episode, Mike talks small space gardening with Stacey Hirvela author of the book Edible Spots and Pots: Small-Space Gardens for Growing Vegetables and Herbs in Containers, Raised Beds, and More It’s time for home gardeners to rethink the traditional garden and explore the wide variety of options for growing edibles in "anywhere" gardens—from decorative pots and raised beds to unusual growing bags, hanging pouches, and tomato rings. These contained gardens are more manageable than long rows or plots and require much less work—yet yield just as much bounty. Featuring dozens of preplanned planting recipes, based on space or container sizes, Edible Spots and Pots allows readers to mix and match vegetables, herbs, small fruits, and edible flowers to create a plant-style patchwork based on the "thriller" (dramatic, focal-point plants), "filler" (midheight, bushy plants), and "spiller" (vines and twining plants) formula for creating interesting and botanically sound gardens. Plot-free gardening offers practical solutions for any circumstance a gardener may encounter (challenging spaces, soils, or weather), while also taking into account budget, time, and aesthetic goals. Author Stacey Hirvela shares many other interesting concepts, like One-Minute Veggies (foods that go from patio to plate in less than a minute) Doubly Delicious Crops that give two flavors from one plant, and space/yield ratios (vegetables worth their footprint). Gardeners will also find an enticing array of 60 edibles that grow well in a defined space for productivity and beauty. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: Gardening in small spaces Edible Spots Gardening in pots Raised beds Thriller, Filler and Spiller One minute veggies Plot free gardening Techniques on choosing what you should be growing Horticulture techniques Items mentioned in this episode include: All about Stacey Hirvela Edible Spots and Pots: Small-Space Gardens for Growing Vegetables and Herbs in Containers, Raised Beds, and More Edible Spots & Pots Facebook page Stacey Hirvela on Pinterest Stacey Hirvela About this week's Guest, Stacey Hirvela: After working as landscaper while she earned her degree in linguistics from the University of Michigan, Stacey realized her calling was in the garden. She attended the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture in Bronx, New York, interning as a rooftop gardener in Manhattan for designer Jeff Mendoza. Upon graduation, she became the second female to serve as horticulturist at the former Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park. In 2005, she joined the editorial team at Martha Stewart Living, where she developed, wrote, and edited garden content for the magazine and co-hosted Homegrown, a call-in program on Sirius Satellite Radio. In 2011, she joined the marketing team at Spring Meadow Nursery, the company behind Proven Winners ColorChoice Shrubs. There, she aims to educate and inspire gardeners of all levels of skill and experience. She is based in west Michigan.
Previous Podcast Episodes #175: Mike talks with Gary Oppenheimer of AmpleHarvest.org #174: Mike talks with Vincent Suozzi Creator of the Ring Weeder #173: Mike talks with Holly Baird of the Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener About Urban Gardening #172: Mike talks with Carol Niec and Kerrie Rosenthal About the Seed Keeper Project #171: Mike talks Gardening with Shawna Coronado