The Messed Up Gardener

🎧 Press Play to Listen to Today’s Episode
Free Gardening Resources at the bottom of the show notes
Every garden seems to have that one awkward spot.
Beside the house.
Behind the shed.
Under a tree.
Or along a fence where the sunshine barely makes an appearance.
You plant something, water it, feed it and hope for the best.
But the plants struggle, the harvest disappoints, and eventually you start wondering whether anything useful will grow there.
Here's the thing...
Shade doesn't automatically mean wasted garden space.
In this episode of The Messed-Up Gardener, Esther Williams explores which vegetables, herbs and other edible crops can grow in shady conditions, why some plants struggle with reduced sunlight, and how to make those overlooked garden spaces productive.
Because not all shade is the same.
And choosing the right crop can make an enormous difference.
🌱 In This Episode You'll Discover:
🌿 The difference between full shade, partial shade and dappled sunlight
🌿 Which leafy vegetables grow best in partially shaded gardens
🌿 Why tomatoes, courgettes and other fruiting crops often struggle with reduced sunlight
🌿 Which herbs and root crops are worth trying in lower-light conditions
🌿 How shade changes watering, soil moisture and airflow
🌿 Why some plants survive in shade but never produce a worthwhile harvest
🌿 How containers can help you make better use of changing sunlight
🌿 Why oyster mushrooms offer another way to grow food in sheltered, shady spaces
🌿 How to create productive growing zones within a shady garden
🌿 A simple shade assessment to help you choose what to grow next
If you've been struggling with a shady garden bed, this episode will help you stop fighting the conditions and start working with them.
Because sometimes the answer isn't more fertiliser, more water or another gardening trick.
It's simply choosing a crop that actually wants to grow there.
🎧 Press play above to listen.
🍄 Turn Your Shady Corner Into a Mushroom Patch
Did you know that shaded garden spaces can also be suitable for growing gourmet oyster mushrooms?
At Mushrooms By The Sea, we have outdoor oyster mushroom patch kits available in Raglan, Pink and Phoenix Oyster varieties.
Each kit contains approximately 3 kg of mushroom mycelium, enough to establish a patch of approximately 2 m × 2 m with suitable straw and fresh woodchips.
With the right moisture, airflow and growing conditions, that forgotten shady corner could become another productive part of your garden.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
🍄 A Little Gift for NZ Podcast Listeners
Want to try growing your own gourmet mushrooms at home?
Use code SHROOM10 at checkout for 10% off your first full-priced order at Mushrooms By The Sea.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
Discount applies to full-priced items only and excludes already discounted products and bundles.
🌿 Let's Keep the Conversation Growing
Do you have a shady corner in your garden that you've struggled to grow anything in?
Or have you discovered a crop that thrives where others struggle?
I'd love to hear about it!
📩 themessedupgardener@gmail.com
🌐 www.themessedupgardener.com
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with another gardener or leaving a review. Every share helps more people discover the show.
🌱 Helpful Garden Resources
🌱 Create Your Own DIY Self-Watering Planters
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/create-your-own-diy-self-watering-garden-planters
🌿 Free Gardening Resources
12 Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden and the Organic Gardening Cheat Sheet.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Garden Goals Planning Worksheet
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/get-my-garden-goals-planning-worksheet-now
Until next time, remember...
Gardening can happen in any space, in any place, and on any budget.
Have an incredibly abundant week, and I'll buzz you later.
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea. Use code SHROOM10 for 10% off your first full-priced order. Excludes discounted products and bundles.
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.

🎧 Press Play to Listen to Today’s Episode
Free Gardening Resources at the bottom of the show notes
Your seedlings germinated beautifully.
Everything seemed to be going exactly to plan.
Then almost overnight...
...they stretched.
The stems became long and thin.
They started leaning toward the window.
Some began falling over.
Others looked pale and weak.
And suddenly that tray of promising little seedlings looks as though it may never survive the journey into the garden.
So what has gone wrong?
In this episode of The Messed-Up Gardener, Esther Williams takes a closer look at why seedlings become tall, thin and weak, what is actually happening when they stretch, whether leggy seedlings can still be saved, and how to grow stronger seedlings from the beginning.
Because a leggy seedling is not simply growing too much.
It is growing in the wrong proportions.
And one of the biggest clues is usually light.
Seedlings naturally grow toward light.
But when the available light is too weak, they can begin investing heavily in height as they try to reach better conditions.
Add warmth, overcrowding, still air or poor watering habits into the mix...
...and those little seedlings can become surprisingly weak, surprisingly quickly.
In this episode you’ll discover:
🌱 Why seedlings become tall, thin and "leggy"
🌱 What phototropism is and why seedlings naturally lean toward light
🌱 Why a bright-looking windowsill may still not provide enough useful light
🌱 Why simply rotating your seed tray doesn't actually solve the underlying problem
🌱 How warm conditions combined with weak light can encourage rapid, stretched growth
🌱 Why seedlings may benefit from slightly cooler conditions once germination has occurred
🌱 How overcrowding causes seedlings to compete for light, root space, water and nutrients
🌱 Why thinning seedlings can result in stronger plants
🌱 How gentle air movement can help seedlings develop sturdier stems
🌱 Why a leaning seedling doesn't automatically need more water
🌱 How to tell the difference between an ordinary leggy seedling and damping-off
🌱 Whether stretched seedlings can be rescued — and when restarting may actually be the better option
🌱 Why tomatoes are particularly forgiving when it comes to planting leggy seedlings deeper
🌱 Why not every seedling should be buried deeply when it is transplanted
🌱 How hardening off helps prepare indoor-grown seedlings for sunlight, wind and changing outdoor conditions
🌱 A simple seedling check to help you work out what is actually causing the problem
If your seedlings are racing upward but becoming weaker rather than stronger, this episode will help you stop guessing and start looking at the growing conditions around them.
Because fast growth is not always good growth.
And sometimes the solution isn't more fertiliser...
...or more water.
It is giving the plant the conditions it needs to grow strong, rather than simply the conditions that encourage it to grow fast.
🎧 Press play above to listen.
🍄 A Little Gift for NZ Podcast Listeners
Many of you know that growing food is a big part of my world. Alongside the vegetable garden, I also grow gourmet mushrooms through Mushrooms By The Sea.
If you’ve ever wanted to try growing your own gourmet mushrooms at home, I’d love to give you 10% off your first full-priced order.
Simply use the code:
🍄 SHROOM10
at checkout.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
Discount applies to full-priced items only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with another gardener or leaving a review. Every share and every review helps more people discover the show.
I’d also love to hear...
What are you growing from seed at the moment — and are your seedlings short and sturdy, or enthusiastically leaning toward the nearest window?
📩 themessedupgardener@gmail.com
🌐 www.themessedupgardener.com
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
🌿 Follow the Journey
Facebook / Instagram
🌿 The Messed-Up Gardener
🍄 Mushrooms By The Sea
🌱 Helpful Garden Resources
If you’d like to keep learning, you can explore some of my practical gardening resources:
🌱 Create Your Own DIY Self-Watering Planters
A step-by-step guide to building simple systems that help your garden thrive.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/create-your-own-diy-self-watering-garden-planters
🌿 Free Gardening Resources
🌱 12 Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden
Practical guidance from planning through to harvest.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Organic Gardening Cheat Sheet
Simple natural methods for chemical-free growing.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Garden Goals Planning Worksheet
A practical worksheet to help you design your garden with purpose and intention.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/get-my-garden-goals-planning-worksheet-now
Until next time, remember...
Gardening can happen in any space, in any place, and on any budget.
Have an incredibly abundant week, and I’ll buzz you later.
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.

🎧 Press Play to Listen to Today’s Episode
Free Gardening Resources at the bottom of the show notes
Your garden bed looks beautiful.
Fresh mulch covers the soil. The weeds are hidden. Everything looks tidy and protected.
But what is actually happening underneath?
Is the soil staying too wet? Are slugs sheltering beside your seedlings? Or is the mulch absorbing water before it ever reaches the roots?
In this episode of The Messed-Up Gardener, Esther Williams explores how mulch affects your garden soil, when it helps, and when it can create problems you might not even realise are there.
Because mulch is not automatically beneficial simply because it covers the soil.
In this episode you’ll discover:
🌱 How mulch affects soil moisture, temperature and root health
🌱 Why too much mulch can cause waterlogging, delayed soil warming and poor plant growth
🌱 The advantages and disadvantages of different mulching materials
🌱 Why mulch depth matters and why stems, crowns and trunks need breathing space
🌱 How mulch can shelter slugs, snails and persistent weeds
🌱 Why wet mulch doesn't always mean wet soil
🌱 How mulch can conceal compaction, poor drainage and unhealthy root conditions
🌱 A simple mulch diagnosis to help you identify problems before adding another layer
If your plants are struggling despite regular watering and careful garden maintenance, it might be time to look beneath the surface.
Because a beautifully mulched garden bed is not necessarily a healthy one.
Sometimes the most useful thing you can do is pull the mulch aside and see what is actually happening underneath.
🎧 Press play above to listen.
🍄 A Little Gift for NZ Podcast Listeners
Many of you know that growing food is a big part of my world. Alongside the vegetable garden, I also grow gourmet mushrooms through Mushrooms By The Sea.
If you’ve ever wanted to try growing your own gourmet mushrooms at home, I’d love to give you 10% off your first full-priced order.
Simply use the code:
🍄 SHROOM10
at checkout.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
Discount applies to full-priced items only and cannot be used on products already on sale, discounted products or bundles.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with another gardener or leaving a review. Every share and every review helps more people discover the show.
I’d also love to hear...
What are you using to mulch your garden right now – and have you ever checked what is happening underneath?
📩 themessedupgardener@gmail.com
🌐 www.themessedupgardener.com
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
🌿 Follow the Journey
Facebook / Instagram
🌿 The Messed-Up Gardener
🍄 Mushrooms By The Sea
🌱 Helpful Garden Resources
If you’d like to keep learning, you can explore some of my practical gardening resources:
🌱 Create Your Own DIY Self-Watering Planters
A step-by-step guide to building simple systems that help your garden thrive.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/create-your-own-diy-self-watering-garden-planters
🌿 Free Gardening Resources
🌱 12 Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden
Practical guidance from planning through to harvest.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Organic Gardening Cheat Sheet
Simple natural methods for chemical-free growing.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Garden Goals Planning Worksheet
A practical worksheet to help you design your garden with purpose and intention.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/get-my-garden-goals-planning-worksheet-now
Until next time, remember...
Gardening can happen in any space, in any place, and on any budget.
Have an incredibly abundant week, and I'll buzz you later!
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.
 
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.

🎧 Press Play to Listen to Today’s Episode
Free Gardening Resources at the bottom of the show notes
Your plant is covered in flowers.
The bees are visiting.
Everything looks as though a bumper harvest should be just around the corner.
Then the flowers fall off...
...and nothing follows.
No tomatoes.
No courgettes.
No pumpkins.
No fruit at all.
So what has gone wrong?
In this episode of The Messed-Up Gardener, Esther Williams takes a closer look at what actually has to happen between a flower opening and a fruit beginning to grow - and the surprisingly large number of places where that process can stop.
Because flowers are only the beginning.
Pollination still has to happen.
Fertilisation has to succeed.
The right kind of flower needs to be present.
The weather has to cooperate.
And the plant needs enough water, energy and healthy root function to support the developing fruit.
In this episode you’ll discover:
🌱 Why seeing flowers doesn’t necessarily mean fruit will follow
🌱 The important difference between pollination and fertilisation
🌱 How to tell male and female flowers apart on courgettes, pumpkins, cucumbers and squash
🌱 Why bees visiting your flowers doesn’t always mean successful fruit set
🌱 How heat, cold, rain and wind can interfere with pollination and fertilisation
🌱 Why inconsistent watering can cause flowers and young fruit to drop
🌱 Why adding more fertiliser may not solve the problem - and can sometimes make it worse
🌱 How incomplete pollination can lead to misshapen strawberries, poorly filled corn cobs and courgettes that begin growing before stopping
🌱 Why some fruit trees need a compatible pollinator flowering at the same time
🌱 A simple flower-to-fruit check to help you work out where the process may be failing
If your garden is producing plenty of flowers but very little fruit, this episode will help you stop guessing and start looking at what is actually happening.
Because a fallen flower is only the visible result.
The real cause may have happened hours - or even days - earlier.
🎧 Press play above to listen.
🍄 A Little Gift for NZ Podcast Listeners
Many of you know that growing food is a big part of my world. Alongside the vegetable garden, I also grow gourmet mushrooms through Mushrooms By The Sea.
If you’ve ever wanted to try growing your own gourmet mushrooms at home, I’d love to give you 10% off your first order.
Simply use the code:
🍄 SHROOM10
at checkout.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
Discount applies to full-priced items only and cannot be used on products already on sale or discounted.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with another gardener or leaving a review. Every share and every review helps more people discover the show.
I’d also love to hear...
What is flowering in your garden right now - and is the fruit actually following?
📩 themessedupgardener@gmail.com
🌐 www.themessedupgardener.com
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
🌿 Follow the Journey
Facebook / Instagram
🌿 The Messed-Up Gardener
🍄 Mushrooms By The Sea
🌱 Helpful Garden Resources
If you’d like to keep learning, you can explore some of my practical gardening resources:
🌱 Create Your Own DIY Self-Watering Planters
A step-by-step guide to building simple systems that help your garden thrive.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/create-your-own-diy-self-watering-garden-planters
🌿 Free Gardening Resources
🌱 12 Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden
Practical guidance from planning through to harvest.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Organic Gardening Cheat Sheet
Simple natural methods for chemical-free growing.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Garden Goals Planning Worksheet
A practical worksheet to help you design your garden with purpose and intention.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/get-my-garden-goals-planning-worksheet-now
Until next time, remember...
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.

🎧 Press Play to Listen to Today’s Episode
Free Gardening Resources at the bottom of the show notes
Your compost pile is full.
You’ve added kitchen scraps, grass clippings, dry leaves and cardboard.
But weeks later...
...not much seems to be happening.
The pile is cold. The cardboard is still cardboard. Or worse, everything has become wet, slimy and smelly.
So what has gone wrong?
In this episode of The Messed-Up Gardener, Esther Williams takes a closer look at what is actually happening inside a compost pile — and why decomposition sometimes slows down or seems to stop altogether.
Because composting is a living process.
And when the organisms doing the work are missing the right balance of food, moisture, oxygen or time, the pile will tell you.
In this episode you’ll discover:
🌱 Why some compost piles break down faster than others
🌱 How to balance carbon-rich browns and nitrogen-rich greens
🌱 How to tell whether your compost is too wet or too dry
🌱 What bad smells can reveal about conditions inside the pile
🌱 When turning your compost helps — and when it doesn’t
🌱 Why a cold or slow compost pile is not necessarily a failed one
🌱 A simple way to diagnose what your compost actually needs
If your compost has been sitting there doing very little, this episode will help you stop guessing and start reading the clues.
Because sometimes your compost doesn’t need another activator, ingredient or quick fix.
It simply needs the right conditions to get back to work.
🎧 Press play above to listen.
🍄 A Little Gift for NZ Podcast Listeners
Many of you know that growing food is a big part of my world. Alongside the vegetable garden, I also grow gourmet oyster mushrooms through Mushrooms By The Sea.
If you’ve ever wanted to try growing your own gourmet mushrooms at home, I’d love to give you 10% off your first order.
Simply use the code:
🍄 SHROOM10
at checkout.
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz
Discount applies to full-priced items only and cannot be used on products already on sale or discounted.
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with another gardener or leaving a review. Every share and every review helps more people discover the show.
I’d also love to hear...
What is happening in your compost pile right now: too dry, too wet, smelly, cold—or simply very slow?
📩 themessedupgardener@gmail.com
🌐 www.themessedupgardener.com
🌐 www.mushroomsbythesea.co.nz

🌿 Follow the Journey
Facebook / Instagram
🌿 The Messed-Up Gardener
🍄 Mushrooms By The Sea

🌱 Helpful Garden Resources
If you’d like to keep learning, you can explore some of my practical gardening resources:
🌱 Create Your Own DIY Self-Watering Planters
A step-by-step guide to building simple systems that help your garden thrive.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/create-your-own-diy-self-watering-garden-planters
🌿 Free Gardening Resources
🌱 12 Essential Tips for a Thriving Garden
Practical guidance from planning through to harvest.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Organic Gardening Cheat Sheet
Simple natural methods for chemical-free growing.
https://stan.store/EstherA
🌿 Garden Goals Planning Worksheet
A practical worksheet to help you design your garden with purpose and intention.
https://stan.store/EstherA/p/get-my-garden-goals-planning-worksheet-now
Until next time, remember...
The Messed-Up Gardener is brought to you by Mushrooms by the Sea.
Want to grow your own gourmet mushrooms at home? Visit Mushrooms by the Sea and use code SHROOM10 at checkout to receive 10% off your first full-priced order.
Discount applies to full-priced products only and does not apply to already discounted products or bundles.