The incredible thing about interviewing Judy Owsowitz is how much she knows. This is true of just about everyone I interview, and I always learn something, but in a way it’s more startling when the topic is one that I actually think I know something about, such as starting seeds and caring for the seedlings. Continue reading
Posted in Organic Gardening, seeds and propagation, Vegetables
Tagged organic gardening, podcast, seedlings, seeds
Hover mouse over photograph for name and photo credit. Many more photos below!
Four guests, representatives and owners of one organization and three companies that sell heirloom and organic seeds, tell us about a few of their many seeds: new ones, undervalued ones, and personal favorites. But first, I hold forth at greater length than usual about some of the terms that you’ll encounter when perusing catalogs or websites in search of organic and sustainable seeds.
Okay, I have a confession: I am not a seed catalog addict. I do not pour over new arrivals, cultivars, and varieties, or old favorites, tried and true heirlooms, prolific producers, dependable bearers of heavy yields, whatever. Truth to tell, I didn’t really care.
After doing this week’s show, I do.
Posted in Organic Gardening, seeds and propagation, Sites to See
Tagged heirloom, organic gardening, podcast, seeds, vegetable gardening
The Show: Water-Wise Gardening
Tom Christopher
Guests: Thomas Christopher – author, lecturer, gardener – on how and why to save water in the home garden.
Edwin Beck – entrepreneur, designer, consultant, gardener – on a rain barrel, EarthMinded RainStation, that’s even more environmentally friendly than most.
And while we’re on the subject– How do you save water in your garden? Add your ideas and experiences to the comments below.
image from Timber Press
The statistics in Tom’s introduction to The New American Landscape: Leading Voices on the Future of Sustainable Gardening are enough to make you want to fall on your pitchfork in the gardener’s version of the old Roman custom of falling on one’s sword when the battle was clearly lost.
Now some of these stats, I’d seen before–for instance the fact that about 30% of water used by residences goes to water lawns and gardens. But the claim that 36 states would face chronic water shortages by 2013? That’s next year. This was a new one on me. And the fact that Southern Florida, which gets 55 inches of rain, has a water shortage? How could this be? (If you don’t believe these are facts, please feel free to take it up with the EPA and the Gov’t Accounting Office, a.k.a. the GOA.)
Given such statistics, how did Tom manage to avoid is own pitchfork, much less encourage us to avoid ours? Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Podcasts, Tools of the Trade
Tagged environment, podcast, rain barrels, water conservation
The “upcoming” podcast mentioned a few days ago is now up. You can listen to or download the show, “Turning the Tables: Organic Farmers Sue Monsanto,” to get part of the back story about why 83 organic seed growers, farmers, and organizations are suing GMO seed giant (and manufacturer of RoundUp) Monsanto.
You can also check out my original post on the suit, written a couple of days after it was filed last spring, for some background.
In the course of the show, many sins are laid at Monsanto’s feet: that genetically modified crops don’t increase yields as promised, that they may give rise to an organism that causes miscarriages in cattle, that they have fostered a race of super weeds, that Monsanto routinely engages in intimidating tactics, that it has sued thousands of farmers.
Posted in Environment, Organic Gardening, Podcasts, Politics, The Scary Stuff
Tagged farmers sue Monsanto, GMO, Monsanto, organic farming, podcast
Yesterday I came off a marathon podcast editing session–about 20 hours straight, tacked onto the end of a work day.
It’s not the first time I’ve stayed up all night putting the podcast to bed; this fall I’ve probably been up more Tuesday nights than I’ve slept. But this was a bigger deal than most. This was a show about the suit brought by organic farmers, seed growers, and organizations against Monsanto, the seed company that keeps suing farmers whose fields become contaminated with its genetically modified–and patented–seeds. Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Podcasts, Politics
Tagged farmers sue Monsanto, GMOs, Monsanto, organic farming, podcast
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