with Amy Ellard-Gray
Is your garden soil giving your plants everything they need to thrive?
Last November, Joanne welcomed Amy Ellard-Gray to the podcast to explore why soil testing is one of the smartest steps you can take toward a healthier garden. Discover how understanding your soil can help you solve plant problems, avoid costly mistakes and take the guesswork out of gardening.
About Amy
Amy runs The Hobby Homestead in suburban Guelph, where she cultivates over 100 varieties of native plants to support the local ecosystem. Through her YouTube channel, Instagram, website, and in-person consultations, she helps people design and troubleshoot their own food-growing spaces. Her mantra, “growing food in harmony with nature,” guides everything she does, from tending soil life to welcoming wildlife into the garden.
Tune in to hear more about the benefits of soil testing with Amy Ellard-Gray of The Hobby Homestead.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Understanding Your Soil: Why Testing Matters
Amy and Joanne discuss why healthy gardens start with healthy soil and explore the benefits of professional soil testing.
Building Healthy Soil for Better Gardening Results
From choosing quality triple mix to using compost, mulch and organic matter, Joanne and Amy share practical ways to improve soil health. They also discuss raised beds, container gardening, crop rotation and how working with nature can create healthier, more productive gardens with less maintenance.
Growing More Food in Small Spaces
Amy explains how thoughtful planning, good soil and sustainable gardening practices can help homeowners grow more food, even in smaller yards, raised beds and containers.
Find The Hobby Homestead at www.thehobbyhomestead.com and on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
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Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path Podcast
On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes.
As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low-maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide. Get your copy today on Amazon.
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