The Roots of Missouri Gardening

Episode 3 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: November 5, 2025 | Runtime: 6:39

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About This Episode

Every flower bed, every backyard tomato patch, every native prairie restoration has a story beneath the soil. In this episode, Tiffany digs deep — into the historical, ecological, and cultural roots of gardening in Missouri. From the Indigenous Three Sisters planting systems to the Victory Gardens of World War II, from the clay-rich loam of central Missouri to the rocky Ozark soils that shaped an entirely different kind of plant community — this episode explores what it truly means to garden in the Show-Me State.

What You'll Learn

• How Indigenous peoples like the Osage, Missouria, and Illini practiced sophisticated companion planting thousands of years ago
• The 'Three Sisters' system — corn, beans, and squash — and why it still works today
• How European settlers adapted their farming to Missouri's unique clay, loam, and limestone soils
• The role of garden societies, agricultural fairs, and Victory Gardens in shaping Missouri's gardening culture
• Why Missouri sits at a crossroads of ecosystems — prairie, Ozark forest, and river valley — and what that means for gardeners
• How native prairie grasses like Big Bluestem send roots 10+ feet deep, building soil and sequestering carbon
• The movement to preserve heirloom seeds and why each seed is a time capsule of Missouri history
• How modern Missouri gardeners are blending Indigenous ecological knowledge with contemporary soil science

About Your Host

Tiffany McCoy is the host of Show-Me Horticulture and founder of the Show-Me Horticulture pilot farm in northeast Missouri. She is pursuing a B.S. in Sustainable Horticulture at Unity Environmental University and is passionate about connecting people to the food they grow. Every episode is rooted in real Missouri gardens, practical growing advice, and the community that makes local food so meaningful.

Connect With Show-Me Horticulture

Email: showmehorticulture@gmail.com

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