Jane Perrone loves being outside, experiencing first hand the infinite intricacies and fascinations.  She loves growing her own delicious, fresh food.  She blogs about gardening at www.Perone.blogs.com  Jane is a journalist and gardening editor at The Guardian, one of the biggest newspapers in England.   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * Water conservation in the UK * Mint:  rat repellent, tea and 99 other powerful uses * Technology and the future of gardening – robots, automation and sensors Sponsors: * How healthy are you really? Take the test at  http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Discover weedless gardening – Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten * Need an aquaponics equipment list?  Fish-powered gardening is powerful!     Resources & Books The Well-Tempered Garden by Christopher Lloyd Plants for a Future  —  PFAF.org Royal Horticultural Society Tropical Britain     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:       Transcript:   Dave:  Well good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on where you are in the world when you listen to this.  I’m Dave Ledoux, and welcome to another episode of Back To My Garden.  Today we get to go across the pond over to England and we’re talking with Jane.  Jane loves being outside, experiencing first-hand the infinite intricacies and fascinations with nature.  She loves growing her own delicious, fresh food.  She blogs about gardening at Perrone.blogs.com and we’re going to talk about that.  And she’s also a journalist, and a gardening editor at The Guardian, one of the biggest newspapers in England.  Joining us from London, England, please welcome to the show Jane Perrone.  Hi Jane! Jane: Hi! Dave:  How was my introduction?  Did I get it mostly right? Jane:  You got it completely spot on. Dave:  Fantastic!  I want to hear your stories, and the listeners want to get to know you better.  Take a minute or two and share with us a little bit about your background, and how did you fall in love with gardening. Jane:  Okay, as you said I’m the gardening editor at The Guardian newspaper, and I always say to people who say “how did you get your job or how did you get into gardening?”  I always say I used to be a “real” journalist, which is a bit of a joke really.  My professional training is in journalism, so I did an English literature degree which was fun, but not very much practical use for journalism.  Then I went to the States and I studied a masters of mass communication at Louisiana State University, then I came back to the UK and I did a year doing research into the internet and journalism.  And then I did a journalism course to do local newspaper in the UK, and then I finally got my job at The Guardian, so I’ve come from a very traditional journalism background.  The flip side of that is that I’ve always been fascinated by plants, and from a very young age been growing stuff.  Started off really with houseplants,

Kirsten Lints loves growing veggies, starting seeds, and cooking with fresh, delicious ingredients from her garden.  She is a talented designer and loves the connection between her satisfied clients and their new landscapes.  Kirsten is a certified Professional Horticulturist and a Master Gardener.  www.GardensAliveDesign.com     In This Episode You’ll Discover … * Starting seeds indoors in January * easy landscaping design ideas for flower and vegetable gardens * Is watering your garden an optional choice? * Large leaf basil – indispensable in the garden   Sponsors: * How healthy are you really?  Take the test at  http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Ditch the wheelbarrow and check out the Gorilla Gor866d Garden Cart * Learn how to grow a strawbale garden to eliminate weeds and a sore back   Resources & Books Gardens Alive Design Year Round Gardener by Niki Jabbour The Year in Bloom: Gardening for All Seasons in the Pacific Northwest by Ann Lovejoy Gardening Month by Month     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:         Transcript: Coming Soon!           Listen to Kirsten Lints sharing her best garden landscaping ideas:  

Ruth Kassinger loves the way her conservatory garden lifts her spirits during the cold winter months.  She is a celebrated author of ten books for both kids and grownups on science, history and gardening.  Ruth’s brand new book is called A Garden of Marvels and explores the untold history of the first botanists and extraordinary plants.  www.GardenofMarvels.com     In This Episode You’ll Discover … * The therapeutic value of growing and caring for plants * Paradise under glass — test your gardening abilities * The pleasure of citrus trees in your home * Knockout roses * Why pruning works — or doesn’t Sponsors: * How healthy are you really?  Take the test at  http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Learn how to save a pot bound tree  * Did you know there are many gardening celebrities that love to dig in the soil?         Resources & Books TropicalBritain.com DavesGarden.com Logees.com Once Upon a Windowsill by Tovah Martin     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:         Transcript: Coming Soon!       Listen to Ruth Kassinger share her best gardening tips here:

  Todd Haiman believes that a garden should make you feel you’ve entered into privileged space. A place not just set apart, but reverberant. He is a landscape and garden designer, as well as a former instructor of landscape design at Columbia University. He blogs at www.ToddHaimanLandscapeDesign.com     In This Episode You’ll Discover … * The culture and respect of gardens in England * Yards versus Gardens in America * garden landscaping ideas for problem spaces and small patios * What to start with when designing your garden   Sponsors: * How healthy are you really? Take the test at http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.         Resources and Books: Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallman Heaven is a Garden by Jan Johnsen Brooklyn Botanic Garden Royal Horticultural Society     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:         Transcript: Dave:  Well good morning, good afternoon or good evening, depending on where you are in the world when you listen to this.  I’m Dave Ledoux, and welcome to another episode of Back to My Garden.  We have a very unique guest today, folks.  Todd believes that a garden should make you feel like you’ve entered into privileged space.  a place not just set apart, but reverberant.  He’s a landscape and garden designer as well as a former instructor of landscape design at Columbia University, and he has a brilliant garden blog at www.toddhaimanlandscapedesign.com   We have a ton to discuss.  Please welcome, from I believe it’s Lower Manhattan in New York City, Mr. Todd Haiman. Todd:  Thank you so much for having me.  I’m flattered, it’s an honour.  I listen to your posts quite often, so thank you again. Dave: I’m excited that you’re here Todd, and I want to get to know you better, and our listeners want to hear your stories.  So sit back and relax and take a couple of minutes, and share with us a little bit about your background, and how did you get into gardening? Todd:  Well, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York.  I didn’t spend any time gardening as a child, although my mother probably had 500 houseplants, my mother can make anything grow.  But as an adult I was a photographer, that was my first career, and I loved that career.  And at a certain point I decided it was time to take on new challenges and it began from creating a roof garden on a building which I co-owned with some other people.  It started with basically not having any irrigation whatsoever, putting a planter up on top of the building, and growing tomatoes and basil and walking up stairs with 5 gallons of water every day.  And eventually it came to building this roof garden out even more in detail, putting up plants, realizing I don’t know that much of what I’m doing so I started to take classes, and one thing led to another and I studied at the New York Botani...

  Brijette Romstedt is the owner of San Diego Seed Company, the only urban producer of organic, heirloom seeds in all of California.  Her seeds are hand-harvested, and hand-packaged in San Diego, and sold online and through many local nurseries.  Brijette works with numerous charities and educational forums to teach the importance and value of seed saving.    SanDiegoSeedCompany.com   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * California Heirloom Seeds * Growing practical food to help local communities * “cool season” gardening in San Diego * Converting lawns to native plants or edible gardens * Can you use molasses as a fertilizer? Oh No! Sponsors: * How healthy are you really? Take the test at http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.       Resources & Books: Food, Inc. Slow Food Seed Savers Exchange Gardening When it Counts by Steve Soloman   Watch the Podcast Interview Here:         Transcript: Coming Soon!     Listen to Brijette tell us about organic heirloom seeds Here:

David Corscadden is passionate about the outdoors, connecting with nature and the environment.  He loves how gardening can form a bridge to bring people together.  He is a brilliant blogger where he writes about plants, nature, gardening and food.  In 2013 his blog www.BeyondTheWildGarden.wordpress.com was named to the Garden Blog Hall of Fame and in 2014 it was named Best Great Outdoors Blog.     In This Episode You’ll Discover … * The “grow-your-own” popularity * Disaster in the garden – the water feature experiment * Lavender & sunflowers * The youth movement in horticulture Sponsors: * How healthy are you really? Take the test at http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.       Resources & Books: Royal Horticultural Society Gardenista.com Grow Your Own: Veg by Carol Klein     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:       Transcript: Coming Soon!   Listen to David tell us about gardening with nature below:

Alex Anderson loves gardening and embraces it for its artistic and therapeutic values.  She is an active garden blogger, sharing tips as diverse as worm beds, composting, edibles and rock gardens.  She has gardened on both coasts and calls Huntington Beach, California home.   www.PeaceLoveAndGardening.com   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * Why hydrangeas are blue and purple and how to change their color * Green gifts — the perfect present to encourage gardening * “Repurposing” water from the kitchen to the garden “California Friendly” * Backyard gardening a few miles inland Sponsors: * How healthy are you really? Take the test at http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.         Resources & Books: Tara Dillard – Beautiful Easy Landscapes Michael Dirr’s Plants Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening     Watch the Podcast Interview Here: Transcript: Coming Soon!     Listen to Alex tell us about gardening below:

Phil Nauta loves growing organic, nutrient-dense food.  And writing about it on his incredible gardening blog SmilingGardener.com   And teaching it.  And supplying other gardeners with the resources to make their gardens better.   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * growing organic vegetables * perennial food plants * composting with variety * plant diseases and soil imbalances * the ocean as an incredible source of nutrition Sponsors:   * How healthy are you really? Take the test at http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.         Resources & Books: Building Soils Naturally: Innovative Methods for Organic Gardens by Phil Nauta The Non-Toxic Farming Handbook by Philip Wheeler and Ronald Ward Science in Agriculture: Advanced Methods for Sustainable Farming by Arden B. Andersen     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:           Transcript: Coming Soon!   Listen to Phil tell us about growing nutrient-dense food Below:

Julie Slezak encourages all gardeners to embrace heirloom seeds.  The flavors that come out of her garden are unique and incredible.  Julie and her husband Scott run Annie’s Heirloom Seeds, a non-GMO heirloom seed company.  They grow some of the rarest, hard to find varieties on an island in Lake Michigan as well as with a team of partners across the US and Europe.  AnniesHeirloomSeeds.com   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * The beginners garden — the big 5 collection * 55-day cherry tomatoes from Russia * how to grow heirloom tomatoes * pest control through companion planting * the challenges of acid island soil * Why heirlooms taste better- – Science! Sponsors * How healthy are you really?  Take the test at  http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.       Resources & Books: You Can Farm by Joel Salatin Annie’s Heirloom Seeds   Watch the Podcast Interview Here:       Transcript: Coming Soon!   More Gardening Ideas: * rare varieties of heirlooms * how to garden in extreme drought * tips for growing gargantuan vegetables * urban farming concepts with Noah Herron * 19 things I love about gardening   Listen to Julie tell us about organic heirloom seeds Below:

  Jennifer Simmons loves plants, gardening in the beautiful outdoors, and chatting about growing with friendly gardeners.  Gardening professionally gives her the opportunity to embrace and meld all three.  She believes that gardening engages the mind as well as the body and is an amazing outlet for creativity.   @GrdnGirlL   In This Episode You’ll Discover … * Gardening trends * A garden as a laboratory * Keep it simple with in dealing with deer * garden design ideas for modern living * Succulents & cacti * garden design ideas for beautiful front and backyards Sponsors: * How healthy are you really?  Take the test at  http://NutritionWeCanTrust.com * Don’t Panic, it’s Organic! Are you a serious student of organic gardening? CLICK HERE for one of my favorite resources loaded with tips for building your own organic garden.       Resources: http://blog.horticulture.ucdavis.edu/ American Meadow Garden California Native Plants for the Garden Click here to see the book Jennifer mentioned on the show:     Watch the Podcast Interview Here:         Transcript: Dave:  Well good morning, good afternoon or good evening depending where in the world you are when you listen to this. I’m Dave Ledoux and welcome to another episode of Back To My Garden.  We’re going all the way across the world today to the west coast.   Jennifer loves plants, gardening in the beautiful outdoors and chatting about growing with friendly gardeners.  Gardening professionally gives her the opportunity to embrace and meld all 3 together.  She believes that gardening engages the mind as well as the body and is an amazing outlet for creativity.  Jennifer joins us from the San Francisco Bay area.  I want to welcome to the show Jennifer Simmons.  Hi Jennifer! Jennifer:  Hi! Thank you for having me. Dave:  Well good morning I’m glad you’re here. Jennifer:  I can’t wait. Dave:  I’ve given you a little introduction and I want to get to know you better and the listeners want to hear your stories.  Jennifer take a minute or two and share with us a little bit about your background and how you got into gardening. Jennifer:  Well, I grew up around gardening.  My grandmother and great grandmother were always taking pictures of plants and flowers and my grandmother always had lots of plants and trees and succulents and other things growing up in San Jose California.  You have that warm nice weather so we can pretty much grow anything we want.  Not lately because of drought but … and then when I got my own place I pretty much started doing my own gardening.  I wanted it to look a certain way.  I laid flagstone.  And then when I had my first son I was home and I would garden with him around my neighborhood, people started to notice.  I would help them with their gardens.