INSIDE AND OUTSIDE: Nature + Pop Culture News with Jessica Murnane · Jessica Murnane

Is Peat Moss Bad for The Environment? + Reno 911 with Jules Giuliano (Soil researcher at Rosy Soil)

·1 hr 7 min·4 clips

Peat moss stores about 20% of all carbon, more than rainforests on land.

1. Inside and Outside: Nature + Pop Culture News with Jessica Murnane centers this episode on peat moss, soil mixes, and gardening as a climate issue. 2. Jessica Murnane hosts and introduces Jules Giuliano as a soil researcher, garden educator, former cannabis cultivator, and Rosy Soil worker. 3. The episode asks whether peat moss is a practical gardening material or a carbon problem that growers should move away from. 4. Jessica says growing helps her tap into creativity by choosing color palettes, using African marigolds for dye, and pressing plants. 5. Jessica also says she is considering video for next season and references a New York Times article about the rise of video podcasts. 6. Jules describes meeting Jessica at a trade show and says Rosy Soil uses bright branding, pastel colors, and hands-on soil displays to pull people in. 7. Jules recalls growing up in Santa Barbara, California, exploring La Barranca, and looking for a mountain lion in a river area with friends. 8. He also talks about living in San Diego, the suburbs of Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Pete, Chicago, Atlanta, and New Orleans. 9. Jules says Chicago was a rough transition because of a 2008 move, a cicada summer, and an awful winter blizzard. 10. He describes New Orleans heat as a "swamp pass" and says locals avoid going outside from 10 AM to 5 PM. 11. Jules compares heat stress in plants to his own need to stay cool, saying plants move water from leaves to roots to survive high noon. 12. He says soil microbes and gut bacteria work in similar ways and links healthy soil to mental health and plant health. 13. Jules mentions a bacteria he calls something like "Micael bacterium vac" and says it can mimic serotonin-like effects when people dig in soil. 14. He says less than 2% of soil bacteria have been identified, which makes soil feel like a miracle and a mystery to him. 15. Jules explains that store-bought potting mix is often a soilless blend made with peat and other lightweight ingredients for shipping. 16. He says many commercial mixes are heated in ovens to remove bacteria, which makes them different from living in-ground soil. 17. Jules argues that peat moss is the largest land-based carbon store in the world beyond rainforests and says peat bogs in Florida and Michigan matter. 18. He says Rosy Soil is building peat-free, biochar-based mixes to store carbon, reduce watering, and give microbes long-term housing. 19. This episode sounds like a practical interview with trade-show stories, soil science, and a conversational back-and-forth between Jessica and Jules. 20. Gardeners, soil nerds, and climate-conscious growers will get the most from it, while listeners wanting light celebrity chatter may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical peat moss discussion that weighs plant performance against environmental cost.

Jessica Murnane and Jules Giuliano make peat moss feel less like a niche gardening input and more like a real tradeoff. They stick to the basics gardeners actually need: what soil mix does, why peat became the default, and why something so effective can still carry an…

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Why you'd press play

If you want a real conversation about peat moss, plant performance, and sustainability, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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