Should Montecito be able to buy all the water they want? Listen to Garden Gossip Friday, May 1 2015

Garden Gossip Guests, Dan Bifano and Denise Richie talk Rose and Biodynamic Compost

Join the usual gang, Chris and Lisa Cullen and Leana Finley

This week on Garden Gossip, we'll talk about the lack of water in California. According to some, Montecito residents shouldn't be allowed to purchase water while others have no water at all. What do you think? I want to hear from you. Garden Gossip is live Friday's 11am. It is rebroadcast Fridays at 9pm, Saturday's 11am and Monday at 5am. 

In the Santa Barbara area, listen on AM1290, or streaming live by going here.

Send me your thoughts by going to the Garden Gossip Blog.

Gifts from the Garden

We talked about gifts from the garden on Friday's show and here's one of our ideas:

Make your own customized herb blends.

Herbs de Provence is a favorite. I use thyme, fennel seed, lavender, tarragon, marjoram and bay. Savory is another herb you can add. I just don't happen to have any in my garden at the moment. Dry the herbs and blend to your own taste.
Package in little jars, like left over jam jars. Or go all out and buy cool containers.

Make this into a seasoning salt by adding sea salt!

One more reason to plant lots of herbs in your garden.
Fill your garden with joy!

Garden Gossip Friday December 2nd-Gifts from the Garden and Chef MD, Dr. John La Puma

Great show today with Dr. John La Puma (author of Chef MD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine). Dr. La Puma gave us some tips on how to enjoy the holidays without packing on extra pounds and how to bring your cholesterol down without harmful drugs (cholesterol drug Lipitor went generic this week).
We've got gift ideas from your garden and of course there is the Montecito Landscape/Garden Gossip photo calendar give-away. No one had the correct guess for name that plant, so we'll continue that next week. Listen to rebroadcast Saturday at 11am on newspress.com or download past episodes from www.montecitolandscape.com

Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth

This Friday, October 7, 2011, on Garden Gossip, we'll be talking with Eric Helm, journalist-turned farmer-turned activist about the ravages on the earth of modern agriculture. Raised on a cotton farm in Texas, Eric got a degree in broadcast journalism and traveled the world. When he returned to the land his family had been farming for almost 100 years he was startled at the changes he saw in the land. He began to change his practices and speak out against the damages caused by modern commercial agriculture. His new book, Son of a Farmer, Child of the Earth, chronicles this journey and was awarded "Book of the Week" from the Organic Consumers Association. Join us at 11am PDT for the live show or listen to the rebroadcast Friday at 9pm and Saturday 11am. You can listen live on your mobile device or computer at newspress.com or download the show at www.montecitolandscape.com (click on the garden gossip tab)

Recyling Basics

Chef, author and contributing columnist to Edible Santa Barbara, Janice Cook Knight was kind enough to join us on the show yesterday. She had recently done an article for "Edible" on recycling so we asked her to give us the low down on recycling basics. Here is what we learned.

1. Paper or cardboard food containers (to-go boxes, pizza boxes, paper plates, napkins, etc) CANNOT be recycled! That was big news to us.  If the paper goods have touched food, they gum up the works in the recycling process. These items must be COMPOSTED.

2. Plastic bags (the kind you get at the grocery store, either for veggies or as a carry bag) CAN BE RECYCLED at any grocery store. The State mandates that stores must take them back. They are then used to make decking material. That's good news. A tip on that, if the bags are gooey or greasy, rinse them out before returning. The bad news is only 5% of the plastic bags distributed are being recycled.

3. Milk cartons. Bad news, these are not recyclable in Santa Barbara County. Nor are those "boxes" that contain soy milk, almond milk, etc.

4. Styrofoam, this is a complicated subject. It can not be recycled and it leaches stuff into food.

5. The good news is that all metals can be recycled.

Those are some basics, I highly recommend reading the full article in the most recent Edible Santa Barbara for the full story.

What Can You Do?
1. Tell the shops you frequent to stop using Styrofoam.
2. Recycle and reuse your plastic bags. 
3. Compost paper goods that have touched food.
4. Take your own reusable bags everywhere.
5. Spread the word.

It's our planet and it's the only one we have at the moment, so it's up to all of us to protect it. If we all do are part it's not such an overwhelming task.
 Click here for recycling basics in latest issue of Edible Santa Barbara

Don't Panic It's Organic! Andy Lopez on Garden Gossip

This week on Garden Gossip, our guest will be Andy Lopez, the originator of the slogan "Don't Panic It's Organic". He is an expert on natural pest control and organic gardening and is always full of helpful hints about how to have a better garden (organically, naturally). Tune in Friday's at 11AM & 9PM and Saturday mornings at 11:00. Or listen live at newspress.com.
For more about Andy Lopez click here

Microclimates of Montecito

When planning a garden it's all about location. In Santa Barbara there are unique microclimates that dictate what to plant where. See this column from the Montecito Journal for all the details. Montecito Microclimates article

Chapala Chickens on Garden Gossip

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get into Jason and Michelle's garden. That's for sure.
Jason and Michelle are urban farmers in downtown Santa Barbara, CA. who started with a few chickens and has since expanded into ducks and raised vegetable beds full of every kind of produce you can imagine. Chapala Chickens is the name of their facebook page, which they started as a way of keeping their friends up to date on their chicken world. If you haven't checked out Chapala Chickens, it is a great page with lots of fun stuff.
As a chef, Jason is accustomed to utilizing great ingredients so it was a natural progression into growing his own food. His inspiration was his grandfather, a police officer and urban farmer in Santa Barbara, CA. Jason's story is inspirational in itself. His grandfather definitely set a good example for Jason. Michelle, Jason's girlfriend couldn't get a word in on the show, but she and Jason were celebrating their two-year anniversary. They look like they are made for each other. Congratulations you two!
We had fun talking about their livestock and their vegetable garden and if you look closely at the picture, you'll see the fabulous basket of produce they brought us! Yum, yum.
For me, it is particularly exciting to see younger folks becoming as excited about gardening as we are. 
If I can figure it out, technically, you will soon be able to listen to Garden Gossip on my website, blog or facebook (whichever I can figure out first). I would love so help from a technical person out there. Until next time, fill your garden with joy! Lisa  

  Chris and Lisa Cullen, Michelle and Jason and the ever-perky Leana Finley

Garden Gossip Radio Show April 2, 2010

What do you get when you cross a bunch of gardeners with a musician? The Garden Gossip first annual joke show with musical interludes by Spencer Barnitz (aka Spencer the Gardener)! Okay, last week's show was a bit unconventional, but we had fun. Spencer played tunes from his CD Organic Gangster and we told jokes. Like this one: "What do you get when you cross a four-leafed-clover with poison oak? A rash of good luck!!" Or, how about this one? "What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole? Hot cross bunnies!"
And, "How do you turn a duck into an R&B singer? Put him in a microwave until he's Bill Withers."
Anyway, Spencer ended up having a good time I think and we sure enjoyed his songs. This new CD of his is his first kid's record, with songs like "Don't eat genetically modified food" and "Worm Girl".
You can get his music on itunes and at the link to Spencer the Gardener website. Anyway, I am working on getting the Garden Gossip website up so that I will be able to post our shows and you will be able to listen any time you want. Oh, but I have a learning curve on that...hope to get it done soon...until then, contemplate this "What do you have when you have two Pinon nuts in one hand and on Pinon nut in the other hand? A difference of a Pinon"..Guess that sort of sums up last week's show...
Until next week, fill your garden with joy! here is the link to spencerthegardener.com

This Friday, April 2, 2010 Spencer the Gardener Plays Live in Studio

Hello all you Spencer the Gardener Fans. This Friday, April 2, 2010 our guest will be Spencer the Gardener playing live in the studio. It is also the first annual Garden Joke Show, so send in your jokes, call in the studio live on Friday and tell your joke. Best joke wins a prize! This will be fun, so tune into AM 1290 if you live in Santa Barbara or Ventura or listen on your computer at http://www.newspress.com. And get ready to have some great music and a few laughs (we hope)!

Garden Gossip Radio Show March 26, 2010

This week on Garden Gossip our guests, Gary and Lisa Young, enlightened us on the subject of making great pickles. This brother-sister team are multiple blue-ribbon winners for their pickles and preserves (well, I guess Lisa is the multiple winner, Gary won for his Dill Pickles). They told me about a low-temperature canning method to preserve the crispness of the veggies. I was very excited to learn about this. They said just google "blue ribbon pickles" to find out more about this new (to me) method of canning.
I have included a photo of the pickles and preserves our guests brought to the show. I had some of the pickled green tomatoes with my eggs and toast this morning! Yummy!
Regular listener, Marilynn, won "Name That Plant" and in case you were wondering, the answer was
Grapefruit! Did you know that Grapefruit is a natural cross that occurred in the 1700s in the Caribbean? The most famous variety, Ruby Red, was a chance mutation that was discovered in Texas in the 1920s.

Congratulations, Marilynn for winning Name that Plant. 

 Here is the promised photo of pickles and preserves brought in by my guests Gary and Lisa Young. You can see that the pickled Asparagus has been broken into! Gary told me to poach eggs in the home-canned Tomatoes and serve them for breakfast. Doesn't that sound good?
By the way, next week is our first annual Garden Joke Show with live musical accompaniment by Spencer the Gardener! I need your garden jokes, please send them to gardengossip@verizon.net.

And, finally, we played an excerpt of a show when our guest was Fess Parker, I don't think there's a way to post an audio to this blog or I would do that and share with you that special moment when Mr. Parker was on Garden Gossip. He passed away last week and this saddened us. Where ever you are, we wish you well and look forward to seeing you up the line in the future. Until next week, fill your garden with joy! Lisa

The Santa Barbara International Orchid Show on Garden Gossip

This week, our guest was owner of Cal Orchid, Lauris Rose. The 65th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is coming up next week, Fri, Sat and Sun, March 12, 13 & 14th at Earl Warren Showgrounds and Lauris gave us the scoop on this year's show. With exhibitors and visitors from all over the world, this is an opportunity to see and buy orchids you won't find anywhere else. We also had an opportunity to ask Lauris about growing Orchids.
If your Orchids need to be divided, do it right after they finish blooming, put them into fresh Orchid bark and water well. As far as fertilizing, once they start to push new green growth, feed them every month. Stop feeding when they start to push out flower spikes and don't feed again until after they finish blooming. Another very important tip, if you use a knife or shears to divide your Orchids, sterilize your blade before moving onto another plant so as not to spread viruses. If you want to learn more about growing Orchids, come to the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, March 12, 13 & 14 at Earl Warren Showgrounds. Until next week, fill your garden with joy!
The Santa Barbara International Orchid Show 2010

Garden Gossip Show Friday, Feb 26, 2010

Today, our guest was Lotusland Executive
Dir. Gwen Stauffer and boy did we have fun.
Lotusland is a treasure of Santa Barbara County and if you haven't visited this incredible garden, you are missing something very special. Gwen talked about an upcoming exhibit that is the installation of sound throughout the garden. These sounds range from recordings of Madame Ganna Walska singing opera to those of birds singing in the gardens. This exhibit will only last 4 days! Opening day is Wednesday, March 17 and ends Saturday, March 20. Call Lotusland for reservations at 805.969.9990 or visit on the web at www.lotusland.org.
Lotusland also has a winter special, from now until March 13th the entry fee will be discounted 20%.
What about name that plant? The answer was Allspice! Allspice is the unripe fruit from a type of Myrtle tree that is grown in Jamaica. We discovered that the wood is used to smoke meats and that the Allspice tree can not be propagated by seed unless the seed has been first digested by a bird! See you next week and if you have any questions about your garden call us for a FREE Home Garden Consultation at 805.969.3984 or on our website: www.montecitolandscape.com. Until next week, fill your garden with joy! Chris, Lisa and Leana
 

Garden Gossip Show Friday, Feb 19 2010

The man behind the French Festival, Steve Hoegerman, was our guest on Friday. We were talking about the gardens of Provence. Steve is a frequent traveler to France and specifically the region of Provence. In fact once a year he organizes a trip to the area, taking his guests to the
hidden spots that he has discovered in his years of travel there..
I was thrilled that a new caller won the Name That Plant Contest..this week's prize was two tickets to the upcoming International Orchid Show March 12, 13 & 14 in Santa Barbara.
One of the clues I thought was fun: this plant (which is traditionally an ingredient in Herbs de Provence) was used as an additive in beer as a preservative and aromatic before the introduction of hops! It was known as a symbol of happiness to the Greeks and Romans in early times. The answer: Marjoram! Steve Hoegerman's websiteI always have some fresh Marjoram growing in my garden.
Next week on Garden Gossip, we'll be talking with executive director of Lotusland, Gwen Stauffer. She is always fun..see you next week and remember to Fill Your Garden with Joy! Lisa
Steve Hoegerman's Website

this week on Garden Gossip

This week on Garden Gossip we talked about what to do in your garden in Feb.
We also had a winner in the Name that Plant contest. If you didn't hear the answer to this (and last) week's Name that Plant contest was Nettles...yes, they are good to eat, use them to dye your clothes green and flogging someone with them will wake them up! Anyway, next week we will have another contest. I think I will plant more Dahlias this year. I had such an abundance of them in the past and I think the gophers ate them. Anyway, they are very rewarding. I have always ordered them on line from Connell's Dahlias in Washington, because the selection is fabulous.
Here is a photo of what you have to look forward to if you plant Dahlias...
I love them in combination with Sunflowers. And as you can see they are beautiful as cut flowers!

George Schnakenberg on Garden Gossip

What a great show today with George Schnakenberg. The secret is in the soil. George has a new service called Soil Care Solutions. Did you know that if your soil has the correct balance, weed seeds won't even germinate? Amazing...it all starts with soil testing. Sort of like getting a blood test to discover your deficiencies rather than buying every vitamin on the shelf. The same goes for your soil. He tests for everything from compaction to humus levels. Humus is digested vegetable matter and that is very important. This was great. I hope you learned as much as I did. And, since no one guessed "Name that Plant" we will continue it next week.
If you want to have a soil analysis done, call George at Agri-Turf. (805) 569-2257.
And, of course, if you have questions about your garden call us for a FREE Home Garden Consultation. Call (805) 969-3984. 
Until then, Fill Your Garden With Joy.

Lisa and Chris

This week on Garden Gossip Radio Show

This Friday on Garden Gossip our guest, George Schnakenberg, will be talking about how to bring the life back into your garden. The secret's in the soil. Garden Gossip is live every Friday morning at 11 and rebroadcast Friday's at 9pm and again Saturday morning at 11. on AM1290 or on the web at
http://radiotime.com/station/s_26742/KZSB_1290.aspx