With Host Joe Lamp’l
Growing A Greener World – The Podcast is our five-star rated marquis series from the TV show. Think of it as GGWTV on steroids. It is the backstory you never hear on the television side. Great interviews with some of the most compelling leaders and innovators in the organic gardening, green living, farm to table movement including:
Our Full Listing:
#37: Organic Labeling with Peggy Miars – the CEO of OMRI
Organic labeling is becoming more common on the food and products we buy these days. While “Certified Organic” has become well know when it comes to selecting chemical-free edibles, there’s another label that matters just as much when it comes to identifying the products that go into making those edibles certified. In this podcast, host Joe Lamp’l has a conversation with OMRI’s (Organic Materials Review Institute) CEO, Peggy Miars, who walks us through the role that OMRI plays when it comes to organic labeling, and why it matters to household consumers.
#36: The Weedless Garden – An Interview with Author Lee Reich
As an avid reader of gardening magazines, there’s one author I’ve been following for a number of years. And it’s hard not too since he’s in just about every magazine I read. I’m referring to author, professor, and horticulturist Lee Reich, Ph.D. He’s all about the art and science of building the garden from the ground up, with an emphasis on organic gardening, compost and healthy soil. He’s my kind of guy and I thought it was time we got together for a podcast conversation about some of those very issues, along with one that has me most intrigued. Lee wrote a book about the weedless garden, and I just had to learn more. This podcast covers that topic as we meet Lee and learn more about the man who’s writing the articles we read so often
#35: GMO’s What You Need To Know with Jeffry Smith
With so much talk around GMO’s (Genetically Modified Organisms) in the news these days, this podcast is a discussion with Jeffrey M. Smith, the leading consumer advocate promoting healthier non-GMO choices. He’s also the author of the world’s bestselling and #1 rated book on the health dangers of genetically modified organisms. As Washington continues to rubberstamp more genetically modified food crops, in this compelling and eye-opening conversation, Jeffrey talks with Joe about the basics of GMO’s, the health risks, and how consumers really do have the power to derail GMO products from overtaking our grocery stores.
#34: NWF’s Naturalist – David Mizejewski Part 2 of 2
National Wildlife Federation’s David Mizejewski is the host and co-producer of Animal Planet’s Backyard Habitat and he is everywhere in the media. Today, he’s ours for part two of our conversation around his work with the National Wildlife Federation. In this podcast, David tells us how to create a Certifed Wildlife Habitat at home. It’s one of the hallmarks of the NWF, it’s easy to do and a great project for the whole family.
#33: NWF’s Naturalist – David Mizejewski – Part 1 of 2
If you love the topics surrounding this podcast series, you’ll love this conversation with National Wildlife Federation’s David Mizejewski. He’s the host and co-producer of Animal Planet’s Backyard Habitat and he is everywhere in the media. Today, he’s ours for not one but two conversations that you don’t want to miss. In this podcast, David talks about some of the true signs of global warming, the gulf oil spill and resources we can all use from the National Wildlife Federation.
#32: Waterwise Gardening with Nan Sterman
No matter where you live, water conservation is key to being a more sustainable gardener. Nan Sterman, waterwise gardening expert and award winning author, television and radio host, shares important insights and practical tips for using this precious resouce more responsibly. Her books, The California Gardener’s Guide and Waterwise Plants for the Southwest are two of the most popular books on the subject.
#31: Dispelling Gardening Myths with Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott – Part 2 of 2
In Part 2 of this popular discussion, horticultural myth buster, Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott presents more research-based, eye-opening insights in this fun and insightful dialogue. Drawing from her award winning book; The Informed Gardener and its sequal, The Informed Gardener Blooms Again, Dr. Chalker-Scott sheds light on some of the less than sound practices many of us have thought to be true for decades. Is adding filler to a container planting really a good idea to improve drainage? If you answered “yes”, this podcast is for you! Or, Is using fresh mulch really detrimental around plants due to nitrogen depletion? Do you really need to take time to sterilize pruning blades between cuts and if so, is bleech really the best way to do so? All this and more awaits you in this enlightening two-part podcast.
#30: Dispelling Gardening Myths with Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott – Part 1 of 2
Horticultural myth buster, Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott presents plenty of research-based, eye-opening insights in this fun and insightful dialogue. Drawing from her award winning book; The Informed Gardener and its sequal, The Informed Gardener Blooms Again, Dr. Chalker-Scott sheds light on some of the less than sound practices many of us have thought to be true for decades. Is compost tea really effective? Is using fresh mulch really detrimental around plants due to nitrogen depletion? Do trees need to be staked and if so, how long is too long? All this and more awaits you in this enlightening two-part podcast.
#29: The Soil Food Web – An Interview with Co-Author Jeff Lowenfels
After reading Jeff Lowenfel’s book, co-authored with Wayne Lewis; Teaming with Microbes-The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, I’ve never looked at soil the same way again. What we do to it either fosters the life below the surface that sustains our plants, or destroys it. For years, I was doing the latter. Listen to the podcasts to see if you were too.
#28: What’s Wrong With My Plant? Interview with David Deardorff & Kathryn Wadsworth
Finally, the book we’ve all been waiting for is here. What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?) provides an easy system for visually diagnosing any problem, and matching it to the right cure. This podcast interview with the authors provides a delightful overview of the book, as well as valuable insights into preventing problems in the first place.
#27: Keeping Pests Out In for Winter – Suzanne Wainwright-Evans Returns
She’s baaaack. Ornamental plant entomologist, Suzanne Wainwright-Evans is back for an unprecedented third time. And this time she’s telling us eveything we need to know to keep the pests outdoors when the plants come inside. She has an update on the biggest pest problems this time of year, along with tips on using the most eco-friendly way to keep them where they belong.
#26: A Chemical Reaction – An Interview with Paul Tukey
This show is an interview with Paul Tukey. You might know Paul as the founder of SafeLawns.org or as host of People, Places and Plants on HGTV, or perhaps, author of The Organic Lawncare manual. Today he’s back to fill us in on his biggest and most exciting project yet. It’s a documentary movie, called A Chemical Reaction and Paul’s the Executive Producer. It’s an amazing, true story of how one woman’s persistence, finally set the wheels in motion sweeping Canada for a chemical free ban on ornamental pesticides. Will it have an affect in the U.S? Well stay tuned to find out.
Chef Nathan Lyon of Growing a Greener World, has a lot more to say then time (or producers) allow during each episode. But Nathan has never been at a loss for words, and this podcast is a testament to that. Find out how he became interested in food and cooking to begin with, and why using fresh local ingredients is so much more to Nathan than just the flavor it adds to every dish. You don’t want to miss his wisdom shared in this interview! It may just change your life for the better, at least in how you eat.
# 24: An Interview with Maria Rodale
With so much interest in taking care of the health of our planet and our bodies, the term organic has more meaning today than ever before. And, rightly so…chemicals and pesticides are so widely used in farming and home gardening almost every person in the US has pesticide residue in their system. In this podcast, Rodale Inc. Chairman and CEO Maria Rodale, granddaughter of J. I., gives her frank, research-based opinion about the far-reaching effects of chemicals and pesticides so prevalent in our lives today. Generations ago chemicals and pesticides were unheard of but as science progressed so did the notion of “better living through chemicals”.
#23: Canning & Preserving 101 – An Interview with Canning Expert, Theresa Loe
Over the last few years, canning and preserving has grown in popularity in a big way. More people are looking for ways to preserve fresh-from-the-garden-flavors to stretch the meal dollar and know what it is in their food. In this podcast, Joe interviews Theresa Loe – who is the canning expert on Growing A Greener World and was the Associate Producer of the TV series. (She is now the Co-Executive Producer.) Theresa is a life-long canner with a big passion for fresh, local and in season food. You can catch Theresa’s passion in her weekly canning blog here or when she hosts our canning videos. Joe and Theresa discuss why canning is so popular today and why we should want to do it ourselves.
#22: The $25 Victory Garden & Organic Garden Writer Ferm Marshall Bradley
This week Joe Lamp’l fills you in on his latest project, “The Twenty-five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge”and tells you how you can read and SEE what he’s doing all along the way. Plus, and interview with Fern Marshall Bradley, author of Reader’s Digest’s All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening. At nearly 600 pages, this book is newly revised with all organic information.
#21: Victory Gardens – Interview with Rose Hayden Smith
Well, not since the early forties has there been so much talk about Victory Gardens. But with a downturn in the economy, the responsibility to feed our families healthier, chemical free food, and our desire to live more sustainable lives, growing our own groceries is back in the spotlight. In fact, 7 million more people will have a food garden this year for the first time, raising the new total to 43 million people. That’s a 19% increase over the previous year, according to the National Gardening Association. In this podcast, we’ll talk to one of the foremost authorities on Victory Gardens, Rose Hayden-Smith to learn about their history and more on why they are so popular today, and are they here to stay?
#20: The San Francisco Flower & Garden Show
This is a special edition of the podcast. In light of breaking news regarding the possible purchase of the SF Flower Show, Joe Lamp’l sits down with Tim O’Shea, Steering Committee Chair of the newly appointed transition team tapped to lead the SF Flower & Garden Show into a new era. When this interview was conducted on March 20, the show had just announced they had a buyer the day before. In this interview, we go behind the scenes to hear the news and see what’s in store…
#19: Deer Resistant Landscaping with Neil Soderstrom
This week Joe Lamp’l takes on one of the most common questions we get on the show…How to deal with the issue of deer, and other four-legged pests. Joe interviews Neil Soderstrom, author of Deer-Resistant Landscaping and talks with James Messina of Messina Wildlife on the subject of deer repellents. The discuss many different solutions so that everyone can find something that will work for them. All that and more…
#18: The “Bug Lady” Encore, Suzanne Wainwright-Evans
This week Joe Lamp’l picks right back up where he left off last time the “Bug Lady”, Suzanne Wainwright-Evans was on. Back by popular demand, Suzanne gets on a roll again as she shares her passion and wisdom on great ways for us all to manage insect pests in a more eco-friendly way, and the latest on other amazing information. All that and more…
#17: Nat’l Gardening Assoc. – Interview with Bruce Butterfield
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews National Gardening Association’s Market Research Director, Bruce Butterfield. The NGA recently released the findings of their latest survey, entitled The Impact of Home & Community Gardening in America. The findings support a huge rise in home vegetable and food gardeners this year to new record levels. And what’s going on with the organic and sustainable gardening trend? All that and more…
#16: Safelawns Founder, Paul Tukey
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews Paul Tukey, author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual, Founder of Safelawns.org and the American Horticulture Society’s Communicator of the year in 2006. He’s also host of HGTV’s People, Places & Plants. Paul shares some very interesting news and fills us in on his busy life campaigning for safer, more eco-friendly lawns, gardens and landscapes. All that and more…
#15: Best Selling Author Tracy DiSabato-Aust
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews award-winning and best-selling author Tracy DiSabato-Aust to discuss her brand new book, 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. Find out what are the criteria that makes each of these plants pass “Tracy’s test of toughness”. She’s also a popular garden designer and international presenter on perennial gardening, design and sustainability. They also talk about her previous best selling books and more…
#14: BugLady Wisdom from Suzanne Wainwright-Evans
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews Ornamental Entomologist Suzanne Wainwright-Evans. Fasten your seatbelts because this show is loaded with information. Suzanne talks about the best way to attract beneficial insects, discusses the truth about buying beneficials, the good and bad of root nematodes and how to deal with Japanese beetles, and the latest in alternatives to plastic pots…
#13: NW & SF Flower Show Founder – Duane Kelly
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews Duane Kelly, who along with his wife, Alice, founded and has managed the Northwest and San Francisco Flower & Garden Shows for the past 21 years. Although these shows are the second and third largest shows of their kind in the country, declining traffic and tough economic times have taken their toll and hastened Duane’s decision to try and find a buyer. Listen to this interesting and thought-provoking interview and hear Duane’s insightful comments on the future of flower & garden shows, and of gardening in general.
#12: Hort Waste & Mo. Botanical Garden’s Dr. Steven Cline
This week Joe Lamp’l interviews Dr. Steven Cline, the person credited with founding and managing the largest and most successful plastic pot recycling program in the country, found at the Missouri Botanical Garden. He clearly understands the challenges to starting a successful program and the barriers to even great opportunity. In this most interesting interview, learn what you can do to keep all those pots out of the landfill.
#11: Kitchen Gardener’s Int’l Founder – Roger Doiron
This week Joe interviews Roger Doiron, recent Grand Prize winner of the OnDayOne.org’s contest. Citizens were encouraged to submit their ideas to set a positive global agenda for President Obama. Roger’s idea, entitled Eat the View was to grow a large organic Victory Garden on the White House Lawn. He’s also the Founder of Kitchen Gardener’s International, a nonprofit network of 10,000 gardeners from 100 countries who are inspiring and teaching more people to grow some of their own food.
#10: Territorial Seed Company – What Makes Seed Companies Different & Better?
In this episode, Joe Lamp’l interviews Territorial Seed Company’s Josh Kirshenbaum to find out what makes one seed company different from another. We find out that all seeds are not created equal. Next Joe talks to Barbara Pleasant. She’s an author of many books and Contributing Editor of Mother Earth News. In a recent survey of their readers, we find that the most popular food crops to grow are not necessarily the ones you might think.
#9: The Truth About Organic Gardening w/Jeff Gillman
In this episode, Joe interviews Jeff Gillman, author of The Truth About Organic Gardening; Benefits, Drawbacks and the Bottom Line. With so much information available on any given subject, especially when it comes to organic gardening, it can easily become confusing on who and what to believe. Well, consider Jeff the kind of guy you want by your side. With years of practical and academic experience, Dr. Gillman has the courage and academic firepower to shoot down false claims and tell it like it is in practical, easy to understand ways. This is an eye-opening interview that even discloses some bad characters in organic gardening practices.
#8: Garden Rant’s Susan Harris & All About Seed Catalogs
If you spend anytime online, chances are you’ve read a garden blog or two. Today, we’ll interview Susan Harris. She’s one of the four contributors to the wildly popular blog, Garden Rant. With daily posts, and no fear of telling it like it is, Garden Rant is a must-read for thousands of fans every day. In this episode, we also dive into seed catalogs and why buying from them can be good for you and your garden.
#7: Professional Garden Photographers: Alan Detrick & Joe DeScoise
This week, Joe interviews professional photographers Alan Detrick on the release of his new book, Macro Photography for Gardeners and Nature Lovers and former Senior Staff Photographer for Southern Living Magazine, Joe De Sciose shares his views on how media looks at gardening. Both share why they think photography plays and important role in communicating the importance of gardening.
#6: Real Christmas Trees vs. Artificial
This week, Joe interviews Rick Dungey, of the National Christmas Tree Assoc to discuss the topic of which is greener, a real tree or an artificial one that can be reused for years. Rick shares some interesting points in this lively discussion. We also address the best ways to recycle a tree after the holidays plus, selection and care for a living tree.
#5: Garden Tours and Tree Topping
In this episode, garden travel tour expert Marty Wingate discusses the appeal and unique benefits of touring gardens abroad in small groups. Next Joe explains why tree topping is so harmful to their longevity and Dr. Stephen Kress is back to share information on a new high-tech gadget any backyard bird lover will want to have. Finally, Joe answers a listener’s question on why we’re seeing less and less gardening shows on TV these days.
#4: Winter Composting, Birds in Winter, Poinsettias & How To Kill a Houseplant
This week, Joe tells you how to successfully compost in winter to jumpstart your spring garden. Don’t miss our interview with Dr. Stephen Kress, National Audubon Society’s Vice President of Bird Conservation and popular author as he discusses ways to attract and care for backyard birds this fall and winter. Do you have a black thumb when it comes to keeping houseplants looking their best? As winter rolls in, attention turns towards indoor plants. Joe answers a listener’s question by sharing the seven most common ways to kill a houseplant.
#3: Certified Mulch, Obsessed Gardeners & More…
This week, Joe Lamp’l shares how to know the mulch you are buying is free of hazardous material, like arsenic. Very important stuff! Then, Joe also interviews the grower of the world’s largest pumpkin for 2008. This story has great drama and you don’t want to miss it! And finally, from extreme gardener, to just fanatic, we hear some amusing accounts of what some people do, all for the love of gardening. You might find yourself relating more than you care to admit.
#2: Why Leaves Shed in Fall, Disposing of Chemicals & Mulch
This week’s featured stories include a follow up to last week; Now that you know why leaves change color each autumn, now learn Why leaves fall in fall. Also learn more about the latest issues with Plastic Pot Recycling. So many pots—so few options! And learn how to Choose Organic Products with Confidence. We also hear a tip about how to avoid buying bulk mulch containing hazardous materials and Joe answers a listener’s question about how to dispose of garden chemicals safely.
#1: A Chicago Community Garden & Why Leaves Change Color
Debut show! Joe Lamp’l explains why leaves change color each fall, how to get great deals at the nursery, what to do with all those fall leaves to create super soil and a community garden story you won’t want to miss.