Discovering Photosynthesis

Episode 5 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: December 18, 2025 | Runtime: 5:32

Listen to Show-Me Horticulture on Spotify & YouTube

About This Episode

It's the most important chemical reaction on Earth — and most of us learned it as a formula and immediately forgot it. In this episode, Tiffany takes photosynthesis out of the textbook and puts it back where it belongs: in the leaf, the garden, and the food on your plate. From a 17th-century scientist who weighed a willow tree to the ancient cellular event that changed all life on Earth, this episode makes the science of photosynthesis genuinely fascinating. Because when you understand it, you'll never look at a plant the same way again.

What You'll Learn

Why Jan van Helmont's 1648 willow tree experiment was centuries ahead of its time

How Nicolas de Saussure (1804) proved water is an essential ingredient in photosynthesis

Joseph Priestley's 1771 discovery: plants produce the oxygen we breathe

How Robert Mayer connected sunlight to stored chemical energy — the law of conservation of energy

Why chlorophyll is the plant's solar panel and how it was finally classified

Endosymbiosis — the prehistoric 'acquisition' that created the chloroplast and changed all life on Earth

How photosynthesis and cellular respiration form a perfect planet-sized exchange system between plants and animals

Why fossil fuels are really just ancient, compressed packages of captured sunlight

The full photosynthesis equation and what each part actually means

The Photosynthesis Equation

• 6CO₂ + 12H₂O + light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ + 6H₂O
• Carbon dioxide + Water + Light → Glucose + Oxygen + Water

Scientists & Discoveries Mentioned

Jan van Helmont (1648) — plant mass comes from water, not soil

Joseph Priestley (1771) — plants produce oxygen

Nicolas Théodore de Saussure (1804) — water is an essential reactant

Robert Mayer (1845) — sunlight stored as chemical energy (conservation of energy)

20th century — chlorophyll classified as the key photosynthetic pigment

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱

Native Plants, Native Pride!

Episode 4 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: November 22, 2025 | Runtime: 9:40

Listen to Show-Me Horticulture on Spotify & YouTube

About This Episode

If you've been battling the same old weeds and the same tired boxwoods, this episode is for you. Tiffany dives into twenty minutes of fast facts and local stories that will fundamentally change how you view your Missouri landscape. She makes the case for ditching high-maintenance non-natives and embracing the thriving, resilient beauty that defines the Show-Me State — from Missouri's 900+ native bee species to the legend of the Sassafras tree to the forgotten fruit that foragers are rediscovering.

What You'll Learn

• Why Missouri hosts over 900 native bee species — and why they're specialists that need native plants to survive
• The ecological desert hiding in plain sight: your lawn, and what to plant instead (Little Bluestem!)
• Why Monarchs can't survive without Milkweed — and what you can do about it right now
• The legend of the Sassafras tree — from Ozark folk medicine to one of the New World's first exports
• Why Sassafras has THREE different leaf shapes on the same tree and what wildlife depends on it
• The Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) — why you should never cut it back in fall
• The Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) — Missouri's forgotten native fruit and how to grow it

Native Plants Featured

• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) — drought-tough prairie grass with 10-foot roots
• Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) — the Monarch butterfly's only host plant
• Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) — three leaf shapes, spectacular fall color, Spicebush Swallowtail host
• Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) — goldfinch magnet, leave seed heads standing all winter
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) — largest native fruit in North America, forest understory grower

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱

Nature's Chemistry: From Life's Building Blocks to Lifesaving Medicines

Episode 2 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: October 12, 2025 | Runtime: 9:22

Listen to Show-Me Horticulture on Spotify & YouTube

About This Episode

Have you ever thought about how much we owe to the quiet work of plants? In this episode, Tiffany takes a slow walk through a fascinating idea: that the chemistry of life itself is also the chemistry of medicine. From the willow tree that gave us aspirin, to the Pacific yew bark that became a cancer drug, to a humble Chinese herb that changed the story of malaria — plants have been humanity's pharmacy for thousands of years. And it all begins with just six elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.

What You'll Learn

• The six elements that form life's alphabet and how they build every living thing
• The four major families of biological molecules: proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids
• How plant chemistry directly inspired modern medicine — from aspirin to chemotherapy
• The story of willow bark and how it became the world's most widely used drug
• How the opium poppy led to both breakthrough painkillers and a cautionary tale
• The Pacific yew tree, taxol, and the conservation question it raised
• Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) and how artemisinin transformed malaria treatment
• Why understanding plant molecules means we can recreate them sustainably

Plants & Medicines Mentioned

• Willow (Salix spp.) → Salicin → Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid)
• Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) → Morphine & Codeine
• Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) → Taxol (breast & ovarian cancer treatment)
• Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) → Artemisinin (antimalarial)

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱

Risky Water Quality in Northeast Missouri

Episode 1 | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: October 6, 2025 | Runtime: 5:34

Listen to Show-Me Horticulture on Spotify & YouTube

Contact DNR

(573) 634-2436 or dnr.mo.gov/container-form.htm

About This Episode

What happens when a major flood leaves behind more than washed-out roads? In this episode, Tiffany McCoy digs into the growing water quality concerns in northeast Missouri — from the orphaned storage containers left behind by the 2019 floods to the ongoing pressure of farm runoff and industrial discharge. More importantly, she connects local contamination to global consequences and shares practical steps every Missourian can take today.

What You'll Learn

• How the 2019 Missouri floods created an ongoing water contamination crisis
• The main sources of water pollution in northeast Missouri — farm runoff, factory discharge, and orphaned containers
• How local water pollution connects to regional rivers, the Mississippi system, and global ocean health
• The planetary boundary concept of biogeochemical flow and why it matters to your backyard
• Simple household steps to reduce exposure to contaminants
• How to report orphaned flood containers to the Missouri DNR
• How to get involved in local drinking water decision-making

Resources Mentioned

📞 Report orphaned flood containers: (573) 634-2436 or dnr.mo.gov/container-form.htm

Attend local water quality meetings: call (573) 324-5451

🔗 Missouri DNR Water Protection Program

📄 Bowling Green Public Water Supply Annual Report

🔗 EWG Tap Water Database

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱

Climate-Smart Vineyards: Growing Resilient in a Changing World

Episode 0 (Pilot) | Host: Tiffany McCoy | Published: October 6, 2025 | Runtime: 6:06

Target Audience

About This Episode

Imagine your vineyard like a fine wine — delicate, resilient, and full of character. But what happens when the climate becomes too hot, too dry, or too unpredictable? In this pilot episode, Tiffany McCoy introduces Show-Me Horticulture with a compelling look at how climate-smart agricultural practices are helping vineyards survive and thrive in the face of climate change. From cover crops in Napa Valley to climate-smart villages in Colombia, this episode makes the science of agricultural resilience practical, inspiring, and actionable.

This episode was created as a science communication project through Unity Environmental University's Eco-Literacy for a Sustainable World course — and it became the launch episode that introduced the world to Show-Me Horticulture.

What You'll Learn

• How California vineyards are facing hotter summers, unpredictable rainfall, and soil degradation
• What climate-smart practices are — and how they turn agricultural challenges into opportunities
• How cover crops improve soil structure, moisture retention, and vine health (turning dry ground into a sponge)
• Christina Lopez's real-world story: how cover crops transformed her Napa Valley vineyard
• How climate-smart villages in Colombia use improved irrigation, drought-resistant crops, and agroforestry to build resilience
• How cover crops restore the carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles that agriculture depends on
• The planetary boundaries framework and why farming within natural limits protects both producers and the planet
• Three actionable steps any grower can take today to start a climate-smart journey

Climate-Smart Practices Mentioned

• Cover cropping — planting clover, vetch, or grasses between rows to build soil and retain moisture
• Conservation irrigation — adjusting water use to reduce runoff and drought vulnerability
• Soil health monitoring — tracking organic matter, microbial activity, and compaction
• Agroforestry — integrating trees with crops to improve shade, habitat, and carbon capture
• Drought-resistant crop varieties — selecting genetics adapted to warming and variability

Real-World Examples Featured

• Christina Lopez, Napa Valley vineyard owner — cover crop success story (Wine Enthusiast, 2024)
• LangeTwins Family Winery and Vineyards — large-scale cover crop implementation
• Climate-Smart Villages, Cauca, Colombia — community-wide agricultural resilience (Loboguerrero, 2018)

Your 3-Step Call to Action (from the episode)

1. Adopt one practice today — plant cover crops, monitor soil health, or optimize irrigation
2. Experiment and learn — start small, observe results, then expand
3. Think like a climate-smart community — share knowledge, seek extension advice, collaborate

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

Instagram & Facebook: @ShowMeHorticulture

Podcast: Spotify & YouTube — search Show-Me Horticulture

📦 CSA Sign-Up: show-me-horticulture.polsia.app/#/csa

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Spotify or YouTube — it helps more Missouri gardeners find the show! 🌱