Gardeners of the Galaxy

Emma the Space gardener jumps in the time machine to head back to 1997, when Ukrainians astronaut Leonid Kadenyuk conducted a variety of plant experiments on the Space Shuttle, with thousands of students following along on Earth.    Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: Mission Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

It’s Gardeners of the Galaxy’s fifth birthday! To mark this milestone, I'm gazing into the future of astrobotany with my very own crystal ball. What plants will we be growing on the Moon? Who are the next generation of astrobotanists preparing for space? And which seeds are starting their cosmic journey? Plus, a couple of fellow space-gardening enthusiasts share their own predictions. Find the show notes for this episode, and much more about growing plants in space, at https://spacebotany.uk/.

Emma the Space gardener explores the concept of a Dyson Tree, an engineered plant that would grow out of an asteroid, creating a habitable environment for humans within. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: Mission Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Our Mission Specialist for this episode is Paul Sokoloff, a senior research assistant in botany at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Paul is very involved in cataloguing plant and lichen biodiversity in the Arctic and beyond. He’s also a sci-fi fan and an analog astronaut who has participated in multiple biological expeditions at the Mars Desert Research Station. Find the show notes for this episode, and much more about growing plants in space, at https://spacebotany.uk/.

Emma the Space Gardener is back with another episode with a non-human Mission Specialist, Google’s “virtual research assistant” NotebookLM. Together they're diving into the historic Blue Origin mission that took astrobotanist Rob Ferl into space. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

Happy new year and welcome to the first episode for 2025! For this episode, Emma the Space Gardener is experimenting with a non-human Mission Specialist, Google's "virtual research assistant" NotebookLM. Together, they're learning about China's recoverable Shijian-19 satellite, and the seeds it took into space. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Throughout human history, when people have moved around the globe, they’ve taken their plants with them. They’ve carried with them the plants they relied on for food, for health, and for happiness. But when European colonisers began to transport plants from far flung locations, they ran into a problem - keeping plants alive during long sea voyages. In this episode, I tell the story of the man who solved it - Dr Nathaniel Ward, inventor of the Wardian case. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Our Mission Specialist for this episode is Benz Kotzen, a Professor of Landscape Architecture and Nature Based Solutions at the University of Greenwich. He’s here to tell us about his FEEDING MARS project, which showcased a live experiment growing vegetables, herbs and fruits in Martian simulant soils, using fish effluents from an aquaponic system as fertilizer. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

It’s Gardeners of the Galaxy’s fourth birthday! To celebrate this auspicious event, I looked up what would be a suitable fourth anniversary gift. Traditionally, there are two that fit that bill – fruit and flowers. So Ryan and I have baked a lemon cake with strawberry frosting and sugar flower decorations, and I have picked two fun stories from the astrobotany archives to share with you. Want more Gardeners of the Galaxy, buy me a coffee to show that you care :)

Our Mission Specialist for this episode is the wonderful Borja Barbero Barcenilla, who is talking about what happens to plant telomeres in space. Borja and I had a brilliant chat about his breathtaking research, including an upcoming flight experiment, a special mutant Arabidopsis strain, and the sci-fi experience of putting your plants into a particle accelerator. And if you’ve ever wondered what plant a Spaniard would choose to take into space, well… you won’t want to miss it!   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Our Mission Specialist for this episode is Patrick Grubbs, who recently completed a Professional Science Master's degree in Controlled Environment Agriculture at the University of Arizona. Patrick is one of the people behind the Space Ecology Workshop, an annual virtual symposium on bioregenerative life support, space agriculture, closed ecological systems, and more. He also co-founded The Spring Institute for Forests on the Moon, an international non-profit research organization developing closed ecological life support technology and working to democratize space access in underrepresented countries. The Spring Institute is working on some really exciting astrobotany projects, and Patrick is here to tell us about... some of them!   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Marshall Porterfield, Professor of Biological Engineering & Space Biophysics at Purdue University, who offers up some highlights from his long career in space science.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In the summer of 1863, a world-famous English botanist was pondering why the shoots of climbing plants twirl around as they grow. In this episode, join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores the fascinating world of plant movement, and what that has to do with the first plants that ever flew on NASA's space shuttle.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Gardeners of the Galaxy is three years old! To celebrate, Emma the Space Gardener has been delving into the archives, digging deeper into three related astrobotany stories from days gone by, which all have something to do with trees.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

It's time for another exciting episode, and in this one Emma the Space Gardener talks with Dr Emily Sessa, the director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium at the New York Botanical Garden. Now Emily's job might just be one of the coolest in the Universe, but she has also recently been working on some NASA-funded research that could tell us a lot about the history of life on planet Earth, but also give us some hints about how to live well on other planets. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

As 2023 is the International Year of Millets, Emma the Space Gardener explores just exactly what millets are, whether we'll ever see them growing in space, and why the International Atomic Energy Authority and the FAO just sent millet seeds into space.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Dr Jenny Mortimer from the University of Adelaide, one of the scientists involved with the new Plants for Space (P4S) project. Jenny currently has a bit of an obsession with duckweed, a plant with superpowers that could be right at home in space! Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

It's Valentine's Day on Earth, and love is definitely in the recycled air in the Orbital Garden! Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores the history of roses in space, and an art project that imagines a future for roses on Mars. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

  In this teaser episodes, join Emma the Space Gardener for a trip into the astrobotany archives. In 2006, researchers published their work attempting to grow marigolds on simulated lunar regolith. But there's more to it than that....   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

The last episode of 2022 is here, and it's a good one! Emma the Space Gardener has been talking with Amy Padolf and Carl Lewis from the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden about their citizen science/education project Growing Beyond Earth® (GBE). GBE is really something special, because it allows school students to collect data that influences which plants NASA grows in space.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In 2018, the German Space Agency launched a particularly ambitious project on a year-long space mission - a satellite equipped with two greenhouses designed to grow tiny tomatoes at gravity levels equivalent to those found on the Moon and Mars. But it was more than just an experiment to grow plants in space. In this episode, Emma the Gardener explores Eu:CROPIS, a project to develop a biological life-support system... for tomatoes.

In the latest episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with two young scientists, Pia Bensch and Nils Wörz, from a team of students working on a space plant experiment. Glücksklee will spend a month on the ISS next year, exploring the relationship between a clover-like plant and its symbiotic bacteria.  Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

With the launch of NASA's Artemis I mission to the Moon just days away, Emma the Space Gardener has put together a guide covering the highlights of the mission for space gardeners. Learn about the space biology experiments on their way to their Moon, the seeds stashed away in the Orion capsule, and more! Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

The year is 2022, and all across the United Kingdom, something extraordinary is afoot. Ten awe-inspiring projects are coming together in a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of creativity, many of which involve space or plants! In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener is joined by Prof Fiona Burnett, the horticultural lead for Dandelion. Dandelion is an amazing Scotland-wide grow-your-own project this summer, bringing together art and music, harvest and cooking, and community spirit. Learn about the Cubes of Perpetual Light, the Unexpected Gardens springing up across Scotland, the Big Tattie Experiment and more!   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Gardeners of the Galaxy is celebrating its second birthday! So join Emma the Space Gardener as she chats with Dr Anna-Lisa Paul of the UF Space Plants Lab, one of the astrobotanists behind the recent groundbreaking experiments growing the first ever plants on real Moon soil. Anna-Lisa also talks about her wide-ranging experiences, from being an analog astronaut to flying with her plants on the vomit comet, and chooses a Fantasy Space Plant specially designed for growing off-world. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In 2021, One Giant Leap Australia sent golden wattle seeds into space, as part of a nationwide STEM project to explore "What'll Happen to the Wattle??!". In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks to Jackie Carpenter about how the seeds got to space, and then back home again, and what's next for the space-flown wattle seeds.   Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks to Mission Specialist Susan Young. Susan's new book, "Growing Beans: A Diet for Healthy People and Planet" aims to get us to look beyond green beans, as growing and eating shelled beans - fresh and dried - has numerous benefits for us and our home planet.    Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

If you've ever carried out a research project, you know how hard it can be to find the relevant scientific papers. The SALAD (Space Agriculture Laboratory Analysis Database project aims to make astrobotany research widely accessible. By linking research papers according to their plants, spacecraft missions, and other details, SALAD compiles astrobotany research in one central location. In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Sam Humphrey and Luke Concollato about the SALAD project.    Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

Watering plants in space is a bit tricky, and something NASA is still working on. In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener explores one of the designs they've been perfecting. The Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System (PONDS) is a Tupperware-based upgrade to the Veggie growing system.  Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.

An extraordinary apple tree in a garden in Lincolnshire is 400 years old. It inspired Sir Isaac Newton to think about gravity, and in 2015 British astronaut Tim Peake took its pips into space. In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Jeremy Curtis, Head of Education and Skills at the UK Space Agency, about sending Newton's apple seeds into space. She finds out what's happened to the space saplings and has a close encounter in Cornwall. Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

Getting a plant payload into space is rarely straightforward. In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener chats with Dr Carl Carruthers, who started out sending his own research projects into space and then became Chief Scientist at Nanoracks. There he worked on projects to send palm tree seeds to the International Space Station for the UAE, and to design a kit to turn school kids into space farmers.  Sign up for the Gardeners of the Galaxy: MIssion Report newsletter to get new episode alerts and bonus astrobotany content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/.  

We all know that spaceflight is tricky, and after 18 months of hearing about some amazing astrobotany successes, in this episode, Emma the Space Gardener looks into some space plant experiments that didn't quite go according to plan. An astrobotanical blooper reel, if you like.    Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/ 

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks to Vertical Veg Man Mark Ridsdill Smith, an expert on small space gardening on Earth. Small space gardening shares many of the same constraints facing space gardeners, although harvesting runner beans up a ladder isn't one of them! Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Join Emma the Space Gardener as she talks to Dr Wieger Wamelink about how he became a space farmer, his experiments growing plants on Moon and Mars soil simulants, the importance of developing off-world ecosystems, and whether we can bring pet chickens to Mars! Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/  

In episode 35, Emma the Space Gardener explores why bioregenerative life support systems are things we only see in the movies, and how far NASA has come in its quest to build a space salad machine. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/  

Luke Fountain joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the different ways plants use nitrogen. Luke is investigating two different processes in the nitrogen cycle, and his work could help us to grow crops more sustainably on Earth - and have applications in space! Luke is also part of the team working on the SpaCEA Space Foam Crop Growth Challenge, which will turn everyday citizens into Earth-bound astrobotanists. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Hello, Gardeners of the Galaxy! Just in time for Halloween, Emma the Space Gardener presents a truly terrifying episode, involving our gardening nemesis. When you learn just how many snails have been sent to space, you'll be horrified! 🐌 🚀 (And they're not the only pests to have made it into space 😱.)   Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content:https://emmadoughty.substack.com/ 

There's growing evidence that gardening on Earth has both physical and mental benefits. However, so far there has been little research into the psychological benefits of gardening in space. In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener explores anecdotal evidence that suggests we should ensure long-duration space missions pack a greenhouse module, and takes a peek at an ongoing study into whether growing plants helps astronauts endure the stresses of space travel. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Lori Waters from Magnitude.io joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the Exolab experiments that have sent intrepid leguminauts into space, the student researchers involved in the ground control experiments, and her experiences as an analog astronaut. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Dr Christina Johnson, who works with microgreens at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. She explains the benefits and challenges of growing microgreens in orbit, and what it's going to take to get them onto astronaut menus. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Prof Mark Weislogel from Portland State University joins Emma the Space Gardener to explore engineering solutions to the challenge of watering plants in space. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Join Emma the Space Gardener on the Tiangong space station to learn about China's botanical experiments in space, and why Chinese consumers are eagerly awaiting rice from heaven. Plus - what was the first plant grown in space? Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Gardeners of the Galaxy has completed its first solar orbit! Join Emma the Space Gardener for a birthday celebration and learn how GotG got started, hear the story of a space plants experiment you'll never forget, and find out which plant Emma would choose to take into space. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

Join Emma the Space Gardener in the Gardeners of the Galaxy time machine to learn about the time that NASA encouraged schoolchildren all over the world to grow killer mutant space tomatoes. That can't be right, can it? Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

How will we pollinate plants in space? Join Emma the Space Gardener to discover why future space crops will need pollination, and how that might be achieved. And learn the history of bees in space, and whether our buzzy friends will be joining us on future space missions. Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

NASA will soon be growing chillies on the International Space Station. Jacob Torres joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk New Mexico chiles in space, his Space Chile Challenge citizen science project, and more! Sign up to the Gardeners of the Galaxy newsletter for new episode alerts and bonus content: https://emmadoughty.substack.com/

In 2020, Morgan Irons made space exploration history when she sent the first Earth soils to the International Space Station. Morgan joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the importance of soil structure on Earth, why she sent soil into space, and how we might develop living soils on Mars.

Thirty years ago, Helen Sharman blasted off on her Project Juno mission, becoming the first British astronaut and the first women to visit the Mir space station. Join Emma the Space Gardener to discover how Helen was chosen for the mission, the plants she grew on Mir, and what happened to the pansy seeds she took into space.

In the Hi-Seas habitat in Hawaii, analog astronauts take part in simulated space missions. Ben Greaves joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the isolation, the dehydrated diet, and his experiment growing microgreens in space-age hydrogel.

Can sending vines into space help wine production on Earth? Nicholas Gaume and Dr Michael Lebert from Space Cargo Unlimited join Emma the Space Gardener to discuss Mission WISE, and why they've sent both wine and vines to the International Space Station.