Master My Garden Podcast

Grow Your Own Herb Workshop Looking For To Seeing You here: 
https://subscribepage.io/growyourownherbalgarden
Your garden can look “fine” in August while quietly running on empty. With weeks of heat and very little rain, plants lose that fresh, lush look, new plantings stall, and even reliable beds start to struggle. We talk honestly about what prolonged drought looks like on the ground, from yellowed lawns and thirsty borders to the knock-on effects you can see across the countryside.

We also dig into the surprising stuff, like why blackbirds and crows start stripping apples and other fruit when everything turns dry. From there, we get practical: how to think about rainwater harvesting, why water butts feel essential the moment a hosepipe ban arrives, and why the best time to set up storage is long before the next heatwave. I share what I’m changing with my own polytunnel setup, and how early-morning watering becomes the only workable option in extreme temperatures.

Then we move to recovery mode: choosing plants that genuinely cope, using mulch to cut evaporation and keep the root zone cooler, and bringing in liquid seaweed as a simple way to boost resilience once moisture returns. We also touch on why seed sowing can fail in high heat, and how to adapt plans for carrots and other crops. To wrap up, I share details of our autumn herbal grow-your-own workshop with Laura Darcy, focused on building immunity with herbs, teas, and tinctures. If this helped, please subscribe, share it with a fellow gardener, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
Support the show
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email:  info@mastermygarden.com   

Check out Master My Garden on the following channels   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/ 
Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/  
 
Until next week  
Happy gardening  
John

You can grow a lot of things in a kitchen garden, but fruit is where the difference hits hardest. A homegrown apple or strawberry can make supermarket fruit taste flat, and that’s why we pull together our 10 essential fruits for a kitchen garden, with a focus on what actually works in Ireland and what still works when space is tight.

We start with the reality of gardening life: coming back from holidays, dealing with dry weather casualties, and the constant battle to keep plants watered without burning out. Then we get practical about the fruit that gives the biggest return, beginning with apples. We talk rootstocks for manageable trees, growing apples in pots, the basics of pruning and feeding, and why pollination partners matter. There’s also a very real warning about birds, including blackbirds stripping fruit when conditions are dry and water is scarce.

From there we move through strawberries for true seasonal flavour, raspberries for unbeatable freshness, and reliable choices like Victoria plum and Conference pear. We also cover currants as heavy-cropping, low-fuss bushes, grapes as a brilliant greenhouse or polytunnel project, and a few curveballs like gooseberries and blueberries, including the key detail that blueberries need acidic, ericaceous compost. We finish with rhubarb, the crop that gives and gives with remarkably little effort once established.

If you enjoy growing your own food, subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s on your personal list of 10 essential fruits?
This weeks sponsor: 
Crann From  Probio Carbon 
https://www.probiocarbon.ie

Support the show
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email:  info@mastermygarden.com   

Check out Master My Garden on the following channels   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/ 
Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/  
 
Until next week  
Happy gardening  
John

This weeks sponsors: 
Seeds Ireland High Quality Seeds: See link below for listener offer. 
https://seedsireland.ie/master
August arrives and the seed sowing list shrinks, but that does not mean the growing season is over. We talk through a practical August sowing guide that keeps your veg patch productive, especially if you garden in a UK or Ireland climate where late summer can still deliver plenty of growth when you pick the right crops.

We start with the dependable staples: spring onions for steady succession sowing, then lettuce choices that actually make sense now (think loose-leaf and butterhead rather than tight-heading types). We cover spinach variety switches as the month moves on, and why you can often sow a little more at this point because bolting pressure begins to ease. From there we move into quick, rewarding options like radish, plus the love-it-or-hate-it turnip, and how overwintering cabbages can be raised under cover and planted out for an early spring payoff, as long as you plan for protection from pigeons.

Autumn salads get a proper spotlight too: rocket, mustard leaves, winter cress, tatsoi, pak choi and endive bring flavour and continuity when summer salads slow down. We also touch on herbs still worth sowing, plus chard and kale under cover. Then we share a fun late-season project: Christmas potatoes grown in containers using cold-stored early varieties, including why blight vigilance matters and how the container routine flips as frost approaches. We finish with the August essentials around watering tomatoes, tidying beds after onions and garlic, and staying alert for caterpillars, slugs and disease.

If you find this helpful, subscribe, share it with a fellow gardener, and leave a review so more growers can find the show.
Support the show
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email:  info@mastermygarden.com   

Check out Master My Garden on the following channels   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/ 
Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/  
 
Until next week  
Happy gardening  
John

If you had to cut your kitchen garden down to just ten vegetables, what would you keep and why? We take on that exact challenge and build a list that is practical, flavour-led, and realistic for busy gardeners who want maximum results for the least fuss.

We start with the five filters we use when deciding what deserves space in a bed: taste (does it beat the supermarket?), effort versus reward, ease of growing, cost to buy, and how many ways you can use or store it. That framework quickly separates “nice to grow” from “worth growing”, especially if you are gardening in limited space and want crops that keep paying you back over a long season.

Then we get specific. We talk through tomatoes for that unbeatable homegrown flavour, potatoes for freshness you cannot replicate, and everyday staples like salad leaves, carrots, French beans, spring onions, beetroot, Swiss chard, red cabbage for the winter gap, and garlic for year-round cooking and great storage. Along the way we share simple, experience-based tips on sowing frequency, harvesting for continuity, and choosing crops that fit how you actually cook.

If you enjoy vegetable gardening, growing your own food, and making a small garden more productive, hit subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave us a review. What would your ten vegetables be?

This weeks sponsor: 
Crann From  Probio Carbon 
https://www.probiocarbon.ie
Support the show
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email:  info@mastermygarden.com   

Check out Master My Garden on the following channels   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/ 
Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/  
 
Until next week  
Happy gardening  
John

If your herb bed could only earn space for ten plants, which ones would actually make your dinners better week after week? We take a listener request from Ivy in Connemara and build a clear, usable shortlist of essential herbs for an Irish garden, balancing everyday cooking with what genuinely grows well in our climate.

We start with the hardy, low-effort staples that keep giving: rosemary, sage and thyme. We talk about why free-draining soil matters so much for Mediterranean herbs in Ireland, how many plants you really need for a household, and the little details that turn a struggling herb into a reliable year-round picker. From roast potatoes to stuffing and simple midweek meals, these are the herbs that justify their place.

From there we move into the heavy lifters and the seasonal favourites: chives for near-daily use, parsley as a biennial you can easily preserve by freezing into ice-cube trays, and Italian cooking essentials like oregano, basil and bay laurel. We also get honest about the love-it-or-hate-it herbs, including coriander and dill, plus the practical reality that coriander needs repeat sowing if you want a steady supply. To round things out, we mention a few brilliant medicinal herbs for teas and wellbeing, and share details of our upcoming herbal workshop with Laura Darcy on 5 September.

If you enjoy practical growing advice and want more flavour from your garden with less effort, subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave us a review.
This weeks sponsor: 
Crann From  Probio Carbon 
https://www.probiocarbon.ie
Support the show
If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know.
Email:  info@mastermygarden.com   

Check out Master My Garden on the following channels   
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/ 
Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/  
 
Until next week  
Happy gardening  
John