pod casts

Garden Podcasts
Winter, especially when we are snow bound, is a great time to read garden books and listen to garden pod casts. There are several garden podcasts out there (including my recent entry into the mix, VirginiaOrganicGardener on itunes and podbean-just click on the link on this blog, near top left) and here are a few I really like:

The Dean Of Green: on WGLT out of Normal and Peoria, Illinois at itunes and: http://www.wglt.org/podcasts/Dean_of_Green.xml
Each week the Dean of Green (Don Schmidt, from the School of Biological Sciences at Illinois State University) answers a listener question. What I like about this podcast is that The Dean gives practical advice about plants and botanical care that seldom involves chemicals (though does sometimes- he is not organic), is not going to be costly and it is short. I have posted a few questions myself (for example, see blog entry on the pallet garden).

The Alternative Kitchen Garden at: http://coopette.com/akg and on itunes is hosted by Emma, a British organic gardener. Though her advice is not always relevant to Life In The Colonies, she is interesting, refreshing and I have come away with a few good nuggets of useful information. Love to hear her talk on about her chickens, Princess Layer and Hens Solo.

Heritage Radio Network at: http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/,
which broad casts/pod casts out of a shipping container in new York City, has some interesting offerings on food and gardening, including “We Dig Plants.” I am new to this one, but I so far enjoy its focus on sustainability. The hosts of this podcast write: We’ll bring the “culture” to horticulture and discuss such topics as: botany how to, cultivation, horticultural history, garden design trends and all things generally budding. If you are interested in food, there are other podcasts on trends in food, sustainability and the history of food (Edible Communities, and Why We Cook among others). The sound quality is not always great on these pod casts, but they are tolerable. (I guess the acoustics of a shipping container leave something to be desired!)

I feel I must mention Mike McGrath, and the pod cast of his radio show from WHYY, You Bet Your Garden, available on itunes. I really enjoyed Mike when he was the editor of Organic gardening magazine- his no holds barred, never retreat from organic stance was great in the written format of a magazine. However, I am easily irritated at verbal “shticks” and Mike is full of them (“Hello cats and kittens, time for another heapin’ helpin’” of blah blah blah) he says one too many times, along with other annoying catch phrases, channeling his inner 1950’s radio DJ). However, he does have a lot of information, a companion website with lots of garden advice (the “A to Z of Gardening”) and is knowledgeable. I don’t always agree with him, however (see my entry on fruit trees), but give him a try you might like him.

Let me know if you have recommendations for any pod casts that are related to garden, garden design, sustainability, food or cooking!

Happy Gardening!