Epic Gardening: From Backyard Blog to Global Green Empire

• Epic Gardening is a leading American gardening media brand, established in 2013 by Kevin Espiritu. The brand’s grand mission is to “help people around the world learn how to grow plants”—with a lofty goal of teaching 10 million people .
• It bridges science and nature, providing hands-on advice via various platforms: a strong blog, YouTube channel, social media, a podcast, and an e-commerce site .

• Kevin Espiritu began the brand as an autodidactic gardener following college. What started as a hobby soon turned into a full-time project, concentrating on developing an eco-friendly homestead and documenting the process for a fast-growing viewership.
• As of May 2025, the YouTube channel has approximately 3.8 million subscribers, more than 780 million video views, and roughly 683 videos posted.

• The Epic Gardening website encompasses a broad spectrum of gardening subjects:
  • Edible Gardening: vegetables, fruits, microgreens, nut trees, grains, and harvest
  • Ornamental Gardening: flowers, houseplants, succulents, vines, etc.
  • Soil & Compost, Basics, Plant Problems, and Products like seeds, raised beds, soil, and gardening tools .

• The website has a gifted editorial and horticulture team:
  • Kevin Espiritu – Founder & CEO
  • Jason Wilson – Head of Search, digital marketer and gardener
  • Lorin Nielsen – Head Horticulturist, composting and raised bed gardening specialist
  • Danielle Sherwood – Managing Editor, expert rose grower
  • And numerous content writers and horticultural specialists such as Sarah Jay, Madison Moulton, Logan Hailey, and more.

• Epic Gardening started in 2013 as a basic WordPress blog aimed at enhancing his SEO and marketing skills.
• In 2016, Kevin quit his job at a publishing startup (Scribe Media) and went full-time into Epic Gardening. His income quickly scaled up—from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month within months.
• He had a systematic growth plan:
  • 300% yearly revenue growth from 2016–2019
  • Content expanded to audio, video, and social
  • Developed a structured content process, enhancing repeatable workflows.

In 2019, he released his first physical product—a corrugated metal raised bed—and sold out right away. This was a turning point from content-only to a media + commerce model .

The COVID-19 lockdown fueled hypergrowth: YouTube subscribers boomed (gaining 15,000 in one day), passing 1 million subscribers in 2020.

He leaned into short-form video trends (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) for greater reach—surfing algorithmic momentum to scale .

• Epic Gardening’s integrated model features:
  • Media across platforms
  • E-commerce with handpicked products
  • Fulfillment operations and strategic acquisitions .
• Key acquisitions and expansions:
  • Botanical Interests (seed company) in 2023
  • Seed-starting product launches
  • A wholesale/distro pipeline through acquired brands .
• Total staff now over 80 employees, merging content, operations, and commerce .

• Kevin prioritizes content-first strategy: build a base first before introducing products for organic reach and credibility.
• He operates with this guiding philosophy:
  • Platform arbitrage—tailor content to ride new algorithms in a hurry
  • Prefer to acquire versus build from scratch where a product already exists
  • Optimize for scalable system of content and products.
• Most interestingly, he stays authentic: a lot of content shot in his backyard using his team, keeping the personable and direct-to-community feel
• Fast Company.
• Epic Gardening’s reach is far-reaching: from assisting a viewer’s family in maintaining someone’s spirits up amid cancer treatment, to encouraging new growers and home farms .

• Kevin was selected by Timberland as a “Nature Needs Heroes” global ambassador in 2019—for sustainable urban gardening leadership .
• Included as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in media (2023) .
• Wrote three books:
  • Field Guide to Urban Gardening (2019)
  • Grow Bag Gardening (2021)
  • Epic Homesteading (2024), discovering contemporary self-sufficiency in an urban environment.

• YouTube is still at the core of their content marketing, with tutorials such as “How to Grow Ginger in Containers” and “How to Prune Tomatoes for Maximum Yield”.
• In 2019, Epic Gardening opened an online shop with carefully selected gardening products—from raised garden beds to seed-starting equipment—hand-tested for quality and lifespan.
• In 2022, the company raised $17.5 million in funding from The Chernin Group (TCG) to fuel growth in content and commerce.
• By early 2023, Epic Gardening had purchased Botanical Interests, a Colorado-based seed company, expanding its product line even further.

• The brand has a robust, active community on platforms such as their blog, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, podcast, and even on a Discord channel.
• Web feedback is overwhelmingly favorable. For instance, users on Reddit have confirmed its validity:
  • “It’s a legit company… I have 22 of their raised beds I purchased.”