YouTube Channels for Beginning Gardeners
This gardening journey has been an experience in finding resources to ensure our success. Can you imagine acquiring this skill PRE-INTERNET days?! Lucky for us, we live in a day and age where information is easily accessible at our fingertips and there are many people willing to share their personal stories to help you grow. Everything is as easy as knowing the right questions to ask, and these are just a handful of channels that that EVERY BEGINNING GARDENER SHOULD KNOW. Happy Gardening! =)
John Kohler's "Growing Your Greens": He's recorded COUNTLESS VIDEOS on the subject of gardening, on nearly every aspect of gardening that you can think of. I appreciate that he makes a conscious effort to make videos on new topics instead of regurgitating the same typical information you see all over the internet. Chances are, he's made a video for nearly every topic you can think of and there's no way you can avoid binge-watching a few of his videos when learning how to garden on YouTube. With over 1000+ videos on all things gardening, I appreciate his wealth of knowledge when it comes to edible varieties to grow to improve your diet and health. My favorite topics of his to watch are related to "Asian Greens" and "Perennial Edibles" if you feel like searching a few topics. ;)
David The Good: He's got a super-cool/laid back attitude with his permaculture practices in his garden. I love that he introduces budget conscious and sustainable practices to help amend our gardens and that he has a large collection of perennial edible plants to film video topics on. He and his wife cultivate their land and they post video updates often on their changing environment. I love the idea of using seaweed in the garden as a natural garden amendment and that you can make an activity of it with your loved ones. Check out his videos for a wealth of knowledge and perspective.
Dan from "Plant Abundance": A gardener from my hood, zone 9b in Northern California - he's a valuable resource for our garden since we share the same season. PRO TIP: Subscribe to at least ONE gardener you know of that shares your same growing zone/season. His channel has helped tip me off in regards to what works in my growing area, but what amazes me most is his Hugelkultur techniques are pretty impressive. I originally started down my garden journey envisioning perfectly manicured potagers and bright rows of vegetables arranged in neat rows, but I've since learned a new appreciation for permaculture techniques shared by Dan. Though the look of the potager is still a classic aesthetic, I now envy the no-dig "food forest" style gardens.
Wendy Phan of "Wendiland": I found her videos when hunting down rare tropical Asian varieties of plants to grow and her SoCal growing zone leaves me green with envy even IF I don't have much to complain about in my own growing zone. She has an online store where she sells some of her plants, seeds and Marimo moss balls that are quite cute. (I've bought some a while back to gift to my sister-in-law and she still has it!) I've many plants in my garden thanks to what she's shared, and I have Black King Kong Wax Apples at the top of my fruit tree wishlist thanks to her video on the topic. I've been obsessed with the fruit since I was a kid and just recently remembered how good they were on a honeymoon trip in Asia. Even if you DON'T grow anything she might offer on her channel, it's definitely worth a watch to see the bright colors, textures and offerings of exotics her backyard has to offer. =D
Justin Rhodes: He's the patriarch of a family of 6... lives on a farm and has a wonderful family dynamic with his wife and kids. I love how well traveled their kids are thanks to their Great American Farm Tour entries... it's what #familygoals are made of. Although I live in an urban setting, it's nice to feed the fantasy of of owning my own homestead, but realistically I like my conveniences. Thanks to YouTube, you can watch to adapt some of the cool things the family shares with us in regards to gardening, tools and homestead supplies. I like that they're brave enough to take the simpler approach in life and they have definitely inspired me to add a chicken coop/tractor to our future forever home. I get to live vicariously through them with some of their sustainable practices that I've adapted into my daily routine..
Here are just a few great channels to start you down your gardening addiction. I personally enjoy videos that are well-edited with hard-to-find topics, but I'm always up for new channels to subscribe to! Have you found any new YouTubers worth watching? If so, spread the love and share! <3