Episode
973: Christy Wilhelmy on Writing Garden Fiction and Her New Novel
- Published
- Mar 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1288
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- http://www.urbanfarm.org/category/podcast
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Summary
Subtitle In this Episode Christy Wilhelmy, founder of Garden Nerd and author of multiple gardening books, returns to discuss her upcoming novel Bolting to Seed . The book is the sequel to her debut garden novel Garden Variety and blends gardening education with a cozy mystery storyline set in a community garden. Christy shares how real-life community garden experiences inspired her fiction, how she structures a mystery novel, and why she chose to independently publish the sequel through Kickstarter. Along the way, she highlights how storytelling can inspire people to start gardening, even if they’ve never grown food before. Our Guest: Christy is the founder of Garden Nerd, the ultimate resource for garden nerds, where she publishes newsletters, her popular blog. Top ranked podcast and YouTube videos. She also specializes in small space, organic vegetable garden design, consulting, and classes. Between 50 and 70% of her family's produce comes from her garden of less than 300 square feet. She is the author of High Yield Small Space Organic Gardening, 400 plus Tips for Organic Gardening Success, Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden and her debut novel Garden variety. Key Topics Christy Wilhelmy Garden Nerd Bolting to Seed novel Garden Variety novel Community gardens as storytelling inspiration Independent publishing and Kickstarter campaigns Cozy mystery genre Gardening education embedded in fiction Small space organic vegetable gardening Scrivener writing software Thrips damage on citrus and nectarines Beneficial insects and insectary plants Lacewings and minute pirate bugs Biological pest control in gardens Key Questions Answered How did Christy Wilhelmy move from gardening books into writing fiction? Christy spent more than 27 years gardening in a community garden and reali…