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From The Ground Up!
Saturdays at 9:35am, and Tuesdays at 1:33pm

“From the Ground Up,” hosted and produced by Judy Wagley, is a weekly program designed to inform and inspire the home gardener, or ANYONE who has an interest in the natural world around us. Each week, Judy talks with an expert and highlights a topic that is timely for the season. You are sure to learn something new and interesting. Let's get growing!

From the Ground Up is a production of WCMU. Our theme music was written and performed by Ken Verheecke.

Latest Episodes
  • Flowers have the superpower of making us feel good! Kathleen McCoy and her daughter Megan West know all about the magic of flowers; since 2016, they've been growing fields of flowers at Oakbrook West Farms in Clare. They offer tips on how to care for your fresh-cut bouquets.
  • Rebecca Finneran, Senior Horticulture Educator for Michigan State University Extension, suggests several ways to help keep deer from your property.
  • Do all plants need additional fertilizer? Brent Crain from Michigan State University Extension says, "The best thing to do is to get a soil test. And that's where you send in a soil test sample, and you find out what's going on in the nutrients in your soil. And that's the best way to guide when to add fertilizer."
  • Judy talks with Mike Jenkins, owner of Elm Creek Garden Center in Farwell, about successfully growing and caring for hydrangeas.
  • Put your kitchen scraps to work in your garden—by composting!Rokko Jans is an avid composter. He tells us that compost is the result of the composting process, in which kitchen scraps such as eggshells, fruit and vegetable peels and other organic material is allowed to break down into a nutrient-rich product that is beneficial to garden and house plants.
  • Elly Maxwell is an entomologist at Dow Gardens in Midland, she is all abuzz about “pollinators.”What is a pollinator? We may have learned about “the birds and the bees” in school, but Elly concisely explains it again.
  • There is nothing better than biting into a ripe, juicy tomato just picked from your garden!Bevin Cohen from Small House Farm in Sanford, Michigan offers plenty of practical information on how to grow the best tomatoes.
  • Sometimes we need to help Mother Nature provide water to our gardens. Brent Crain, Consumer Horticulture Educator for Michigan State University Extension, offers practical tips on how to water properly and effectively.
  • Everyone loves to see the colorful displays of blossoms that cascade down from hanging baskets, but keeping those flowers looking their best can be a challenge. Janice Jenkins, from Elm Creek Garden Center in Farwell, recommends four steps for caring for them.
  • Bevin Cohen from Small House Farm in Sanford is an herbalist, author and podcaster. He shares his “Top Five” list of culinary herbs that are easy to grow and useful in the kitchen.