‘Teaming With Microbes’ podcast: The surprising benefits of snow in gardening

As Anchorage experiences a record snowfall, there’s some good news: The snow is storing a significant amount of nitrogen,sometimes referred to as “poor man’s fertilizer.”

Welcome to our weekly podcast with longtime Anchorage Daily News garden writer and author Jeff Lowenfels and co-host Jonathan White. Think of it as a companion to Jeff’s weekly ADN gardening columns and his popular series of books.

As Anchorage experiences a record snowfall, there’s some good news: The snow is storing a significant amount of nitrogen, which is sometimes referred to as “poor man’s fertilizer” (12 lbs of nitrogen per acre). That said, be sure to remove the snow from the greenhouse and shed to prevent them from collapsing.

Jeff and Jonathan are also celebrating the almost 2-hour increase in daylight over the course of January. This means that now is a great time to prune winter geraniums and prepare them for the summer growing season.

Have a question? Ask Jeff and Jonathan at teamingwithmicrobes@me.com

Sponsored by Number 2 Organics, Big Foot Microbes and Down to Earth Fertilizers

Hosts: Jeff Lowenfels and Jonathan White. Produced by Evan Phillips.

This podcast is a collaboration between the hosts and Anchorage Daily News.

Feedback: teamingwithmicrobes@me.com

Read Lowenfels’ weekly columns on gardening and growing at ADN.com.

Read Jeff’s books: “Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web,” “Teaming with Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to Optimizing Plant Nutrition,” “Teaming with Fungi: The Organic Grower’s Guide to Mycorrhizae,” among others.


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Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Lowenfels has written a weekly gardening column for the ADN for more than 45 years. His columns won the 2022 gold medal at the Garden Communicators International conference. He is the author of a series of books on organic gardening available at Amazon and elsewhere. He co-hosts the "Teaming With Microbes" podcast.

Jonathan White

Jonathan White is the co-host, with Jeff Lowenfels, of the "Teaming with Microbes" podcast. He's an Anchorage small business owner, gardener and former journalist.