281: Shawna Coronado on Gardening Hacks.

Making gardening easier through a series of simple shortcuts, and changing your life through gardening.


Shawna is an author, columnist, blogger, photographer, and spokesperson for organic gardening, green lifestyle living, and culinary preparation, as wells as and avid campaigner for social good. Her goal in authoring gardening and green lifestyle books is to promote a world initiative to encourage healthy and sustainable living. Shawna was featured as a Chicago Tribune “Remarkable Woman” and speaks internationally on building community, simple urban garden living, and green lifestyle tips for the everyday person.

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Shawna lives in the western suburbs of Chicago where she has a suburban front lawn vegetable garden. This adventurous garden is highlighted in all her books and has been featured in many media venues including radio, and TV. Her organic living photographs and stories have been shown both online and off in many international home and garden magazines and multiple books.

In This Podcast:

Initially we thought this might be an episode that focused on gardening hacks, and Shawna Coronado has over 100 hacks to share, so we did get to hear some cool ideas. Yet there was so much more to the conversation as important mindsets to help make gardening and life in general less stressful and more enjoyable became a topic that stole the show.  Her infectious attitude is sure to help put you at ease and might help you focus on the things you love too!

Listen in and learn about:

    • Growing up on a farm in Indiana and being raised in an environment with natural foods and regular Sunday dinners
    • Moving to Chicago and losing her connection to the natural world, getting sick, and needing a dozen prescriptions
    • Wise advice from her mother to work at something she loves
    • Self-publishing her first book
    • Changing her life once more through her connections in social media
    • Converting to a strongly vegetable diet with no dairy, no grains, and no sugar and now living virtually pain free
    • Going grain free and experiencing a dramatic pain reduction after only 4 days
    • Being ready for her book on gardening hacks
    • A hack on using materials to line her paths
    • Finding seed materials for potatoes
    • Making floating patios through reclaimed and recycled materials
    • DIY Seed Tape
    • Using furniture in her garden
    • Taking photos for her blog and books
    • Some of the people in her life that had a huge influence on her
    • Taking advantage of “bonus years”
    • An epic gardening moment when she became motivated to garden everywhere she could

As well as:

Her failure – cannot grow an artichoke to save her life!

Her success – Building an online business that helps inspire people to live well

Her drive – Knowing that every year is a bonus year

Her advice – Stop with the perfection!

Books written by Shawna:

101 Organic Gardening Hacks: Eco-friendly Solutions to Improve Any Garden

Grow a Living Wall: Create Vertical Gardens with Purpose: Pollinators – Herbs and Veggies – Aromatherapy – Many More

The Wellness Garden: Grow, Eat, and Walk Your Way to Better Health

Shawna’s Book recommendations:         

Good Bug Bad Bug: Who’s Who, What They Do, and How to Manage Them Organically (All you need to know about the insects in your garden) by Jessica Walliser

The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved Butterfly by Kylee Baumle

How to reach Shawna:       

Website: Shawnacoronado.com

Instagram: @shawnacoronado

UrbanFarm.org/GardeningHacks

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