CO-HOST AND GARDEN DESIGNER CARMEN DEVITO really got me going on the popular weekly “We Dig Plants” show on Heritage Radio Network the other day, when she asked me to think back–now four-plus years–about my journey from the city life of my past to the here-and-now of living in the garden. Apparently I shared such wisdoms as: “With things that you treasure, whether it’s a person, a thing or plant, sometimes you can hold it a little too close and suffocate it. Plants taught me a good lesson about too-close, too-tight behavior.” And: “I had the illusion for many years that the concept of ‘enough’ was a tangible thing.” Ever the philosopher, huh? Listen in to our fun, wide-ranging chat.
radio podcasts
I do a weekly radio show (and podcast) with WHDD in Sharon, CT, the smallest NPR station in the nation.
margaret on ‘we dig plants’ radio podcast
February 27, 2012 at 9:18 am
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before you order seeds: assessing viability
December 29, 2011 at 7:49 am
WAIT—DON’T GET SEDUCED, or at least not by seeds, not quite yet. Try to resist that inevitable catalog binge at least until you inventory what’s left over, and still viable, from last year’s stash. I spent part of yesterday doing my tally, fearing impulse-buying would otherwise land me with double beans and no spinach, or worse. Seed viability was one of the topics on this week’s radio podcast (stream it, or subscribe free on iTunes), and while you listen, you can skip right to the handy reference piece on the matter (the chart above comes from there).
podcast: gardening against the deer
December 1, 2011 at 9:27 pm
THE BANG-BANG SOUND FROM THE WOODS this time of year—it’s hunting season!—always reminds me of who isn’t welcome in my garden, thanks to a tall fence. Keeping deer out, or choosing plants that are somewhat less palatable for the areas where you cannot bar them, was the topic of this week’s podcast. (A couple of deer-related links that I mention on the show, including a reference from Rutgers University, a slice of which is shown above, are on the jump page.) [read more…]
going for the gold: the last gasps of autumn
November 14, 2011 at 1:52 pm
THE ACTIVE SEASON ENDS AS IT BEGAN: with splashes of gold, as if to warm and reassure me. No, there are no Narcissus or winter aconite, like at the other end when things wake up (remember the gold springtime slideshow?), but even the humblest plants like Rosa rugosa (above) try to perk me up with last-ditch positive notes (my 2010 season-ending fall gold slideshow covers that). A tomato-red rose hip here and a golden leaf there helps, and right now, I’ll take it–along with a few more sunsets like the one last night, with just a little vein of gold: [read more…]
podcast: with debbie millman’s ‘design matters’
November 9, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I HAD A DAYLONG ADVENTURE back to New York City recently, when Debbie Millman, chair of the School of Visual Arts’ master’s program in Branding and creator of the podcast show “Design Matters,” invited me to her studio to record. Though Millman is still very much in the thick of it—not a dropout gardener by any means!—she’d read my recent book, and wanted to talk about a range of things from my history as a serial college dropout, to my love of gardening, my days at Martha Stewart, the importance of stillness—and what my Girl Scout sash still means to me. Enjoy the recording (which along with all of Millman’s archives since 2005 are hosted on a favorite site of mine, Design Observer). And say hello to Debbie while you’re there listening.
podcast: dealing with snowload on woody plants
November 4, 2011 at 8:09 am
IKNOW IT’S TOO LATE FOR HELP with the freakish October storm that flattened the woody plants here last weekend, but I have a hunch those of us in snow country will be needing tips for helping the garden through storms to come. After all, winter hasn’t even started yet (evidence outside my window, where it hasn’t melted yet, to the contrary). A podcast on recollections of other October storms, and some snowload-prevention tactics —my “triage-nurse” routine—and when to just let nature take its course. [read more…]
rocks, and rolling along: a chat with ken druse
April 19, 2011 at 12:43 pm
ILOVE THE HEADLINE THAT KEN DRUSE, the noted garden writer, photographer and podcaster, applied to our latest conversation on his show “Real Dirt” recently. He called it “A Little Bit Country–a Whole Lot of Rocks and Rolling with the Punches.” I guess that about sums up my life these days, and it was fun as always to talk to Ken, an old friend from whom I have learned much, about my book and rural living and more. You can listen in anytime right here to our chat.
i’m proud to be on whdd, npr’s ‘minnow’
April 9, 2011 at 9:29 am
IWANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU SAW this lovely New York Times piece on NPR’s “minnow,” WHDD from Sharon, Connecticut, the station I’ve been doing my weekly A Way to Garden podcast with for more than a year. [read more…]
margaret on ‘horticulture’ magazine podcast
March 29, 2011 at 11:46 am
ANDREW KEYS, WHO CREATES THE “RADIO GARDEN” PODCAST for “Horticulture” magazine’s website, invited me to talk about my garden, my decision to finally leave the city and live in it, and what gardening means to me. He asked me to describe my place, and here’s what came out: “It’s a collector’s garden meets a bird-lover’s garden meets an impossible piece of tilted land, with a side order of sensuality.” You can hear that (between minutes 4 and 5 of the podcast) and the rest of our conversation in Andrew’s latest episode, called “Checking Out,” right here.
