207: Megan Cain on Garden Planning.
Joining a Legion of Gardening addicts through sensible preparation and design.
– – – –
Megan grew up an urban girl in a row home in Philadelphia. She never saw a vegetable growing in the ground until well into her 20’s. A few years ago, she quit her job and traveled to Africa for two months to volunteer with a fair trade organization. Now, she is a garden educator, writer and speaker. She has developed one of the first youth gardening programs in Madison, designed and installed gardens in many homeowners’ yards, managed a quarter-acre youth farm, worked on CSA farms, created a series of gardening class that often have waiting lists, and tends to a large home garden. She knows what works and what doesn’t…and loves to share it.
Megan is setting out to create a legion of gardening addicts that successfully and passionately grow their own food. Through her gardening education business, The Creative Vegetable Gardener, she helps people get more from their gardens by first mastering the essentials and then indulging in the colorful details that make gardening not just a favorite pastime, but a lifestyle.
In This Podcast:
Acquiring a love of gardening transformed Megan into a fully focused farmer and she tells Greg how she went from being an naïve urbanite with no plant growing experience to a gardening educator and resource to kids and adults alike.
Listen in and learn about:
- Her less than green upbringing
- How she developed her interest in the local food movement and gardening
- The internship in Missouri to work on a farm and her learning curve
- Some of the key events of her time there and her chance to move out of the tent
- Moving to Madison and starting a gardening program for kids
- Working on CSA farms as a WWOOFer
- Taking the skills she learned on the farms back to her home gardens
- Her goal of a “legion of gardening addicts”
- How she got the idea for starting her latest book
- How the book helps gardeners plan their garden
- Why she recommends against tilling the garden soil
- What an herb spiral is and how to build it and why it is so helpful
- Her online gardening club with the resources for gardeners looking for more
As well as:
- Her failure – Her experience with the garden that stopped growing in the new build house
- Her success – Her journey from an urban upbringing to becoming a gardener
- Her drive – The love, passion and deep joy that she gets from gardening
- Her advice – Keep going and stick to it!
Books written by Megan:
Smart Start Garden Planner: Your Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Season
Super Easy Food Preserving: Quick Techniques for Fresh, Fridge and Freezer Storage
Megan’s Book recommendations:
The Vegetable Gardener’s Guide to Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem
Seattle Urban Farm Co (Producer’s note: check out Colin McCrate’s podcast coming soon)
How to reach Megan:
UrbanFarm.org/Megan
*Disclosure:
Some of the links in our podcast show notes and blog posts are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guests and guest writers as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. We know the decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
1 Comment