From the Joe Gardener Show and GROWING A GREENER WORLD
Im 30 miles north north east of
everybody has acreage
home depot
I was a master gardener gardening community
people got to know me for various things
I was good at starting up
looking for someone who is a specialist
recommended about that
a week after
she got an email blast from HGTV starting a new show
dyi
everything was in place
searched by contacting the media who connected to the gardeners
sounded like me
what I know about you you need to contact the producer
got him to meet with me
called me back for a screen test
cameras
no feedback
following week big presentation with all candidates
male and a female
if they chose the male
a week later the picked me 2002
1 year 26 episodes
3 years 52 episodes
continuted without 52 things
we were growing parsnips
more variety
show had to retire out of materail
garden smart
do my own thing
most important message
nobody I could tell
knew anything about gardening
production side
disconnect people thinking
the importance of gardening
to do it to
younger up and coming gardeners
more about entertainment
greatest chemical fixed
left
idea in my head
never produced before
paid enough
growing a greener world in 2009
exectutive producer
host everything
took a lot on
coming back into podcasting
before tv
days always loved audio
fascinated with tech
podcasting element I could do
2007 podcasting series
ended up being a lot of the back stories I was telling on the tv show
not every single week
ended up doing
couple
3-4 epsideos
commitment with burped
26 episodes
tv was so busy
catch my breath
this June launched the Joe gardener show
how much of my week is consumed about the next show
workflow
high production value
its no wonder
not a lot of people stay with it beyond a certain episodes you have
audio is an intimate media
conveys so much more with the written in a way that can’t happen unique faithful listeners
So growing a greener world
dyi network about teaching people
amazing show it was supposed to be a one year show
3 years and 52 episodes
teach people how to grow
it was ahead of its time
backyard movement
when it retired
pbs
traveled all over the country to talk about public gardens
message wasn’t being told
future gardeners didn’t have mentors teaching them the way
younger people or we were gonna lose gardening catch the fever and b
huge shortage of gardening tv shows not a lot of advertising
hgtv were getting rid of their gardening shows
step away
create a new series
really to tell the stories of people and places
envioronmental living
healthy lifestyles
had a great story
how to garden
mixed in a way that was a new fresh approach
anyone could do anything like it
plan that could work
hit the ground successful
every state in the country
over a million people
Tell us a little about yourself.
Tell me about your first gardening experience?
I remember my first experience
I came from a family of non gardeners
weekend warrior
trim bushes
edged
youngest of 4 boys
old enough
follow him around
learn what he was doing
yard chores
didn’t want to get in trouble
miami fl where everything grows
walked away
forgot about it
jogged my memory
looked for the broken branch
sprout new leaves
how did that happen
hide my tracks
reroot and grow
definitng moment
so fascinated what happened there
led me to propagating
everything under the sun
mini nurseries
sell plants at the church bazars festivals
led to another
never slowed down
more exciting then the last
doing it full time as a professional gardening communicator
not been the case
more excited the day before
saying
you could say if you don’t work anymore
semi retired
love what i do
iuf your open to it
your bouncing off one thing to the next to the next
interested
sports
little league
all those other things
bit by the garden
How did you learn how to garden organically?
no
came from
didn’t even come to me
adult had my first house
we weren’t
move environmentally lifestyle
rather recently
20 years ago
had my first
one day
fertilizer
root
hopper emptied
trying to get it up
can’t get every granule red
burned up
taken a torch to it
such a visual connection
loot at what happens
fertilizers a good thing
too much
nitrogen in a small area
visual conneciton to me
wiat a minute
awe of nature
started
led me to the
if that’s burning the grass
what is it doing to them
insatiable thirst for knowledge looking into those things
as much as we try to do things to create nice spaces
one of them
realize that
more environmentally responsible way
changed my ways
I think the places that I garden in
will rival
synthetic
connect to you in the same way
open to paying attention in your life
going about your business
open to experiences
amazing to information
don’t know that many people are
stress of the day
go by them
missed opportunities
polish your shiny pennies
I think a lot of people are interested about the raised beds
how did that come about
every year I have
many curve balls
adapt
challenges from those
never gonna be ultimately
varries
a raised bed
is really nice
design your soil create the soil you want to grow your plants
doesn’t drain enough
drains too well
ideal enivronment so there is
access to moisture
ammending the soil
things you need to do for most parts of the country
not a bad thing
one way to really fine tune
put that soil not going away
contained within those boundaries
Georgia
clay soil
not bad has a lot of minerals and nutrients
much better
native clay soil typically offered
heavily ammend it
rain events
cause a lot of that to wash away
raised beds allow me to contain
love the look of the raised bed
orderely look
my beds are pretty stocky
reference
18
6×6 timbers
12 feet long
length doesn’t matter
what they need to be
width is important
beds are 4 feet a few are 3 feet
16 beds inside a split rail fence
that’s
untreated cedar timbers
don’t want chemical
rot resistant
back story
how those beds came
fiskars spokes person
community gardens
between canada and us
design the gardens
show up on a weekday
7
installed planted the whole 9 yards
engineers at fiskars designed
just to die for
here I am to show up and install
the beautiful beds
when I can afford to do this
own beds in that
walk away from them
growing a greener world
backyard garden
bite the bullet
flew those engineers
wisconsin
beer and pizza
day and a half we installed
a lot of food comes out
don’t even weigh it
just me
intern volunteer for a few hours
family
teenage daughters
busy with other things
farm and animals
very productive
heck a lot
give it away
friends and neighbors
food pantry
restaurants locally that want to serve local food
couple thousands
no interest in selling it
this year
as we speak
3000 seedlings
tomatoes peppers
eggplants
seed flats
my 18 year old daughter
take all those seedlings intensively planted
pot them up in 3 inch pots
farmers markets
local community access
growing varieties not gonna find
not in
mostly heirloom
tomatoes and different food crops
could be very successful
get her involved
likes the ideas of making some money
plants and gardening
money goes
trying to do it for me but so my daughter makes
the other thing is
if it doesn’t work out for her
few thousand seedlings
can get those into peoples plants
get an introduction
help make the happen
worse case
16 beds
tomatoes are a love hate
I love eating them
here in the SE
high in humidity and high in heat
tomatoe plants so many diseases
plague gardeners here
first harvest
plants look terrible
go down from there
hard to grow tomatoes
very proactive
disease cycles
ton of work
on the road a lot during the growing season
I like a challenge
looking for ways to learn from experience
share what I’ve learned
writings
videos
I wanna be the guinea pig for people coming behind me
get the word out
no problem making and sharing my mistakes
better smarter gardeners
mistakes are to me required
share that experience
what you think you did to correct
I love growing tomatoes
classic summer crop
new varaitiest
heriloom varieites
in an experiemental mode
new discoveries
well, I think consistent watering was important
blossom end rot
think is a calcium
eggshells things to make the blossom end rot
consistent watering
oftn don’t have to worry about is if your soil is really good
feed the soil will feed the soil plants
decent level of water
humic acid
moisture hold it in place
people would just focus on
90% of their time
make ourselves healthy
junk food diet
satisfy cravings but nothing to preserve long term health of body
soil can feed the
whole food healthy diet for your plants
food
growing tomatoes can be mitigated problem wise
mulching
a couple of inches of something natural
keep
set yourself up for great success
is really how you solve the problem
making it to the plants consistently
strong cell walls steady flow to build the strength of their cells
moisture
soil consistent
drip irrigation
soaker hoses
in the soil
consistant way
health of tomato plants
a lot of your garden
year round gardener here
we don’t get that cold
single digits
never happens
lots of days in low twenties
so unusual for a winter for us
cool season garden
don’t go out with row covers
see what their tolerances are
not tolerant for that cold of weather
kale and spinach going strong with no intervention
summer
classic s
toma
eggplnats
squash so many diseases
prolific beetles
take up so much room in raised beds
go to the farmers market
smarter how to deal with those problems
all that interested
share that info
real affection
lemon cucumbers
have to grow those
pole beans things that grow on trellises
sweet potatoes
mood for that year
melons
hog for space for what you get
down here
decent harvest before they succumbed to foliage diseases
not as bad as squash
edamame
easy to grow here
gorw everything
put it in the garden and let it grow
have to grow everything
what I want to grow
mission to help teach others
care to eat
really want to grow at this point
be in the know
no better way to do that
wants to know
bottome of every potential challenge
Tell us about something that grew well this year.
Is there something you would do different next year or want to try/new?
4
Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.
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Which activity is your least favorite activity to do in the garden?
kind of weird
harvesting
so much out there to harvest
figure out what to do with it if I haven’t planned for it
clock of
peak of freshness
where I’m gonna go
whos’ coming to get it
love to grow it
harvesting you
want
ample harvest.org
what to do with that produce
don’t want it to go bad
online search
food pantries in your area
take in that produce
only have so many hours
take it in
made available to those who need it
fresh produce
food pantry
ample harvest
Gary Oppenhower has dedicated
make sure people don’t grow hungry that are unnecessarily, that are your neighbors.
What is your favorite activity to do in the garden?
I like planting and watching it grow
obviously
it’s not like you see it happen before your eyes
healthy garden every day is different
in the early morning
quiet
just us out there with the plants
there’s so much to see to me that’s how you really learn how plants work
see the water droplets coming off the margins of your tomato leaves
why is that
that’s the water pumping up
through the margins of the leaves
that’s a phenonomenom
take the time to understand
good sign there’s enough moisture in the soil
telling me the plant is healthy
morning walks with my coffee time to commune with your plants
my favorite thing
everyday opportunity to spend time in the garden
make those observational
I swear sometime before your eyes. There’s some days in the heat of the day I feel like it grows 3″ in a day. We have really long days, in June on the equinox June 22, the sun is out til like 11pm and it drives me crazy.
What is the best gardening advice you have ever received?
feed the soil let the soil feed the plants!
It just plants
- the health of the plants
- pest disease resistance
- vigor
- productivity
is all related to how healthy your soil is
super star gardeners
make our soil healthier
compost make it yourself
so many things beyond making great soil your also taking waste out of the waste stream
It’s the best soil input make at home
why wouldn’t you want to do it?! Oh by the way it keeps it out of the landfill and reduces carbon dioxide
we aren’t all doing that
It’s a little bit of work and extra things to do on your to do list
do it with compost
it’s the best
in fact people don’t compost because they think its too complicated
happens in nature
IDK, I just don’t know that it’s extra work. In my apartment there’s probably 2 month’s worth of garbage there, but what’s in there, nothing but paper? I don’t throw anything away that’s gonna smell or rot. It drives me crazy to me it’s not extra work it’s just sorting.
It’s gonna make it lighter. To say nothing of I have the brownest thumb anywhere but it’s so easy! I can make compost and you never go wrong… I just feel like you do, it can just be an extension of your life. It drives me crazy at school… I almost got the ok if we could get it growing.
IT’s the key!
So easy to make!
Incredibly easy to make, people think it’s complicated but it’s not!
It happens in nature with no intervention
It’s forgiving, you can stir it once a week or once a month, sometimes it get’s moldy, mike will say stir that but its pretty easy!
A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.
my tool
3 parts
my holster on my belt that
holds my garden knife
basically a hori hori
don’t like the wooden flat handle
option hard rubber orange handle
serrated stainless steal knife.
diggit
so many ones that looks the same
same design
they also sell the holster
dual sheath
holds my pruners
soil knife or pruners using all the time whenever I step outside
there were a fire
grab that sheaf
I wanted to ask you about landscaping? My brother’s episode he talked about landscaping has been really popular for people aren’t gonna grow vegetables, only interested in their yard, they live by the farmer’s market.
take for granted that everybody is growing food
productive vegettable garden
getting it locally or farmers market
not going 200,000 miles get to them
all the power to them
I recommend people think closely about what you can plant that is gonna attract native wildlife
birds and pollinators
now I understand where you live
losing to urban sprawl
losing these habitats and
corridors
wildlife depends on
trees taken down
we can do no matter where we live
repopulate some of the most important flora and fauna things
the life giving sustenance
entertains us too
As we speak I’m looking out at four bird feeders
food they are taking from these
- they’re out their getting
- seeds
- sources
- insects
coming from plants out there
plant it and they will come
yard
put those
native species
- trees
- shrubs
- perennials
- ground cover
more conscious
pick up the plants on the rack store because they are pretty
Does it really serve the greater good
Does it serve wildlife that we need?
Probably the answer is no it does
Maybe do a little educaiton online
more then one purpose
More then an productive native plant
a little bit of homework
Unfortunately the plants in don’t typically care with those
easiest to grow in the
nursery
lowest commno denominator
I’m gonna take the challenge to a listener out there who doesn’t know what kind of green business they want to start is a Native Plant nursery, where do you have access to those. You’re going to the store on the weekend. Do the person who does the research on line.
Ask your local garden center to get native plants
create the demand if you provide the supply
typically stores don’t sell things that people don’t buy but
people aren’t gonna buy it if the store doesn’t carry it.
Ask to carry it.
support purchasing those items once they make the investment.
A favorite recipe you like to cook from the garden?
I love to cook
I’m not all that sophisticated
kale
leafy crops
love the tomatoes
don’t even make it inside
- soups
- stews
- sautes
- compliments
- soup or a stew
oh gosh
nothing more flavorful then what you just went out to your garden and harvestsed
2 teenage daughters who aren’t the craziest about vegetables unless the
not the best tasting out there
broccoli
coming inside
consumed
grown from who knows where
recipe
I just love cooking stuff out of my garden
Broccoli is super super sweet
like candy
super sweet
they’ll eat it from my garden raw but not otherwise
I like to hear that
A favorite internet resource?
browse a lot
tend to go to the academic sites
don’t feel like your getting the whole
Margaret Roach A Way to Garden
friend
such a science based digger of info
best info out there
upstate
seeks experts
radio show
does a great job
her background
working for marhta stewart
find the info
best sources for it
applied that to her blog
if she’s written about it talked about it or the both
if I need info
first go to place
top people in all the fields
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can recommend?
I used to love Organic Gardening Magazine
fine gardening mag
I love books
go towards books
Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe by Maria Rodale
taking action
buying organic why that makes sense
exposing the harm chemicals
Rachel Carson
love all the books
favorite curent
craig lehouliiar
history of
craig lehouliar
love picking it up
the way the book is laid out
stories and
super fantastic
really put my single
Final question-
if there was one change you would like to see to create a greener world what would it be? For example is there a charity or organization your passionate about or a project you would like to see put into action. What do you feel is the most crucial issue facing our planet in regards to the environment either in your local area or on a national or global scale?
I think IDK this but it’s just a hunch of mine
Everybody has an inate connection to the earth
never discover it
thank got it happened at 8
People may not garden but they find themselves
- outdoors
- in a garden a
- public garden
peace and calm around plants around nature
take that one step further
people that garden get it
plant something get it
house plant
nurture it it’s a living thing you have some input on its survival through that process
- your making observations
- relationship
- leads to greater things
- more plants
- gardening
- wonder and awe
Desire to spread what you know to someone else
making that first step
bury that first seed
getting that first plant
some point in love
I was gonna ask you in the beginning did your parents take you on nature walks? Where did that love of nature come from?
born with it
in my dna
thnk I’ve always had it
respect for nature
life
know that things are so resilient
real fragile
especially with our impact on nature
thins to promote it
harm it
understand
I think I was born with it.
How do we connect with you?
contact
#joegardener hashtag or handle
joe lampl that’s me
social media
Quick funny side story
The man by the name Joe Gardner and he’s a CPA he is in texas
We finally connected and he forwards his websites
I wanted to buy it but he wouldn’t do it
his website forwards to my website
delta airlines once sent airlines tix and he said joe I think these are for you, and they were for the town he lives in, and he said I see your coming to Austin.
I asked my husband if he cared if we changed our name to B-u-y-e-r it’s funny this year at school they called me Breyer. It’s funny with names but you have no idea how many times I’ve had to go back and type that e in there! It just happens by typo.
Thank you soooooo much for sharing!
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Mike's Green Garden 