‘Teaming With Microbes’ podcast: Is too much rain bad for your garden?

If your outdoor soil food web garden is healthy, rain shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

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

The guys are talking about all the rain happening in Southcentral Alaska recently, and Jonathan asks: Is too much rain bad for your garden? It turns out this is a nuanced question. For example, if your outdoor soil food web garden is healthy, rain shouldn’t be too big of a deal. Just remember that too much water for indoor plants can be a bad thing.

After the break, the team discusses some abundant Alaska wildflowers that are edible, including fireweed, dandelions, and watermelon berries, to name a few.

Finally, they answer some listener questions, one of which involves radishes — Jeff’s favorite food!

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

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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.