ALMOST PRECISELY in time to mark the start of Robin Hood Radio’s and my fourth year together creating the “A Way to Garden With Margaret Roach” public-radio show and podcast, I have some exciting enhancements to announce. Drumroll, please:
So I can invite guest experts to join me as well as share the program with other public-radio stations, we’re pre-taping “A Way to Garden With Margaret Roach” to stand alone, instead of airing live as part of my local station’s morning show, which it has been since March 2010.
You can listen in to the first such standalone show here, right now. This week’s topic: When to sow what seeds, with guest Dave Whitinger of All Things Plants in Texas. Next time (February 4), the topic is why I’m going to grow calendula again in my vegetable garden, and my guest is scientist Dennis Paulson of Seattle, an adviser to the BirdNote public radio show, with whom I’ll talk about what birds are being seen this winter around the nation.
Locally, in the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA)-Litchfield Hills (CT) region, “A Way to Garden” will still air at the same time on Robin Hood’s three stations–Monday mornings about 8:30 Eastern, with a rerun Saturday mornings. It will also still be available anytime free on iTunes, the Stitcher app, or for streaming from the RobinHoodRadio.com site or on its RSS feed. Robin Hood has been called “the smallest NPR station in the nation,” and (by “The New York TImes,” it was dubbed “NPR’s minnow.”)
The change means you won’t hear my friend and Robin Hood co-founder Jill Goodman’s welcoming voice each week any longer, chatting with me—but I thank her for her crucial role in inventing the show…and for nudging me to make these new enhancements to keep it growing strong.
Think your local public-radio station would like to include the show in its schedule? They can contact Robin Hood Radio about that.
links: get the show now, or anytime
LISTEN LIVE to “A Way to Garden With Margaret Roach” at about 8:30 AM EDT on Mondays, or to the replay on Saturday mornings around 8:30, or to the podcast anytime. Or:
- get the iTunes version free,
- subscribe free on the Stitcher app,
- or get the podcast RSS feed by pressing the orange button labeled for the purpose on WHDD’s archive site, once you navigate to their A Way to Garden archive page.
(Vintage 1920s photo by Underwood & Underwood, from the Library of Congress archives.)
Nooooooo! The other gardening podcasts I listen to all take the interview-with-an-expert format and I really like that A Way to Garden is/was different! And I liked Jill’s questions and contribution.
I’ll check it out! BTW…that photo is exactly how I picture you doing the show every week. Ha!
It’s great! I love the old version but you are getting out MUCH more information now that you are in complete control of the conversation. Good move, I love it.
I’m with Brian. The first seasons of the podcast were great fun, and there was certainly plenty of info. But changing things up has to make it more interesting for you and that carries over to us!
I’d be very interested in a show about climate change and what it means in practical terms for gardeners. I heard a piece on NPR last week that said when the colonists were planting, they had to wait a month or more later than we do due to the different climate!
Yes-s-s-s-s-s! I feel just the opposite of redbrick. I love the new format. The sound quality seems much improved and I noticed you didn’t get a frog in your throat (: Was that a coincidence?
I’m enjoying the book and much to my surprise I am even on board with the woo woo. You’re an amazing woman.
Thanks to all for their feedback. I suspect the show will evolve once I get used to the new way and relax a little, and it will probably go through lots of evolution, but a step at a time. Most important was to make it so we could share it with other stations, which we can now, and also to be able to introduce everyone to the amazing people I get to talk to and email with who know so much.
As for sound quality, now I am in the radio studio whereas before I was at home on Skype. Big difference.
Good luck…many exciting things going on your life…keep rolling!!!!
I’m on the bandwagon! You already sound so much more at ease in the new format and still managed to pack in a ton of content into a very short time. Loved the show before…even more so now! The pacing and tone of the show seemed much more focused and yet relaxed and conversational. Great changes! Here’s hoping lots of stations pick it up!
I listened to the podcast this morning, and I thought it was great. I think it’s a big improvement over the old format. You sound like such a natural on the radio, it’s hard to believe you’re not a full time NPR host!
Very funny, Kate. Thank you. You are too sweet!
Way to go, Margaret! VERY nice pod cast! The interview with Dave Whitinger was informative. And Dave’s Garden Planting Calendar is S-O helpful to me. Thanks!
Thanks for signing The Backyard Parables RJ books for me and my BF and her sister, too! Enjoying reading mine!
Love, love, love the new format. I enjoyed the show with Jill (she seems like a sweet lady) but I know I’ll be getting lots more content with the new format. Good Luck with it!
I have become a Stitcher Radio addict, so I’m so glad your podcast is available there now. Will take you with me to all my appointments this spring. And can’t wait to dig into the new book! I’m about to do an interview for the career services office of my divinity school alma mater, and I’m totally going to plug The Backyard Parables as a bridge between gardening and the spirit.
So nice of you to write, Carolyn, and I’m glad the Stitcher solution is good for you. Other listeners requested it last year, so we were happy to oblige. And thanks for the good words on the book!
The new podcast is really so much better. Love it! You sound clearer and in control. I really couldn’t take all the sponsors. Thanks for what you do for all of us.
Great! Love the improvements!
Hope it finds a wider radio audience as it really deserves it.
hi. i just wanted to tell you how much i like your show’s new format. i just finished listening to my 3rd podcast and i just really, really like it. keep up the great work!
Margaret, I agree with so many others…I love the new format. I’ve been listening to the podcast almost since the beginning and found that I had to constantly adjust the volume. Jill’s voice came in LOUD and your’s not-so-much. I just think the new format just sounds so much more polished and professional. BTW, I’m also a great lover of your books (have just purchased the newest) and have followed the blog for many months. Thanks for all your info and insight!
You are VERY kind, Vickie. Thank you. I hope you will enjoy the new book; I am pleased to hear that you got a copy.