We Dig Plants

On our season finale, host Carmen Devito visits Zone 1 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes Alaska, and also revisits Zone 13, which includes Puerto Rico. First, we hear from Peter Johnson and Rusty Foreaker, agronomists with Alaska's Department of Natural Resources Division of Agriculture. After the break, we're joined by Dr. Grizelle González, Project Leader of the Research and Development Unit at the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico. We Dig Plants is powered by Simplecast

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 2 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes Fairbanks, Alaska, where our first guest Cyndie Warbelow is a gardener. After the break, we're joined by Marta McDowell, author of The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes That Inspired the Little House Books. We Dig Plants is powered by Simplecast

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 3 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes parts of Alaska. Joining them on the line is Jeff Lowenfels, the author of a trilogy of award winning books on plants and soil, and the longest running garden columnist in North America. We Dig Plants is powered by Simplecast

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 4 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes the Wisconsin prairie. A pioneer in the native plant industry and recognized internationally as an expert in native plant community ecology, Neil Diboll has guided the growth of Prairie Nursery for 30 years. He has dedicated his life to the propagation of native plants and their promotion as uniquely beautiful, ecologically beneficial and sustainable solutions for landscapes and gardens. In 2013 Neil was the recipient of the Great American Gardeners Award from the American Horticultural Society. We Dig Plants is powered by Simplecast

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 5 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes parts of both Nebraska and Iowa. Del and Alice Hemsath are members of Nebraska's Soil Sisters and Misters Garden Club, which promotes education of the general public about the importance of outside activities for health, supports community projects, and provides education for youth and adults. Kelly Norris is an award-winning author and plantsman from Iowa and the first director of horticulture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, a newly revitalized public garden in Des Moines, Iowa. We Dig Plants is powered by Simplecast

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 6 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes Utah and western New York. Geoff Ellis is a landscape architect in Salt Lake City. He was born and raised in Utah and received a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture from Utah State University. He is the Past President of the Utah Associated Garden Clubs and currently the President of the Alternative Garden Club. Sally Cunningham is a garden writer, educator, and CNLP (landscape professional), well known in Buffalo after 23 years on Channel 4 (WIVB-TV) and as columnist for the Buffalo News and Buffalo Spree magazine. She is formerly a Master Gardener and Cooperative Extension Agent. She is also author of Great Garden Companions which has sold 50,000 copies. She leads Great Garden Travel for AAA around the U.S. and Europe.

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 7 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes our home state of New York, as well as Virginia. Joining them are Dr. Cait Field, Manager for Science and Research Development at Freshkills Park in Staten Island, and Symsi Houser, ‎Operations Coordinator for the Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation.

John Coykendall is a renowned heirloom seed saver, a classically trained artist, and Master Gardener at Blackberry Farm, one of America’s top resorts. For nearly four decades, Coykendall’s passion has been preserving the farm heritage – the seeds and stories - of a small, farming culture in Southeastern Louisiana, and this work is the subject of a new documentary, Deeply Rooted, from Louisiana Public Broadcasting. The documentary will be screening at Slow Food Nations in Denver this July.

This month on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 8 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes the great state of Texas. First, they're joined by Master Gardener Jenny Peterson of J. Peterson Garden Design, which has been creating cool gardens in the Austin area since 2001. She is also the author of The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion: Cultivating Hope, Healing & Joy in the Ground Beneath Your Feet. After the break, Rick Herman of the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute tells us about the organization's 507- acre site, which is comprised of semi-desert grasslands and igneous rock outcrops.

On the summer season premiere of We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito visit Zone 9 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes New Orleans and Palm Springs. First up is Ann Macdonald, director of The New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways. Employees at the Department of Parks and Parkways perform an enormous number of tasks to maintain and upgrade public green spaces, and to re-green and beautify New Orleans. After the break, we’re joined by Troy Bankord of Troy Bankord Design, which specializes in landscape and interior design, consultation, and project installations in Palm Springs, San Francisco, Long Beach, Las Vegas, the Midwest, and the across The Desert Southwest.

This week on We Dig Plants, Alice and Carmen examine Zone 10 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes parts of Oregon, Florida, and Arizona. First, we're joined by Chris Daly, a senior research professor at Oregon State University, and founding director of the PRISM Climate Group. Next up is Denyse Cunningham, curator of the Bonnet House Museum & Gardens in Fort Lauderdale. And last but not least, we hear from Humberto Hernandez, farm superintendent of the University of Arizona.

This week on We Dig Plants, Alice and Carmen examine Zone 11 of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which includes both Hawaii and Florida. First, we're joined by Brandon von Damitz, co-founder of Big Island Coffee Roasters in Hawaii. After the break, we meet James Jiler of Urban GreenWorks, an organization which provides environmental programs and green job training to incarcerated men and women, youth remanded by court to drug rehab and at-risk high-school youth in low-income neighborhoods.

On the season premiere of We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito introduce a new series examining the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, taking you across the country one zone at a time. The map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive at a location. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree F zones. This week, we're joined by Scott Appell of Puerto Rico's Zone 13, and Tobias Koehler of Hawaii's Zone 12.

Grace, thirty feet above the Most Urban of Jungles. On the season finale of We Dig Plants, senior gardener John Gunderson joins Alice and Carmen to discuss gardening and garden practices at the High Line public park.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined in the studio by Elizabeth "Betsy" Barlow Rogers, a landscape designer, landscape preservationist and writer, whose lasting memorial is the revitalization of Central Park, New York City. This took place under her guidance as the first Central Park Administrator, and through the Central Park Conservancy, a private not-for-profit corporation that was founded, largely through Rogers' efforts, in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park. Betsy is also the author of Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito speak with renowned forager, food educator, and author Mike Krebill over the phone on his book, The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles: Learn How to Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods. Organic supermarkets are common for New Yorkers and few of us are foraging for sustenance, but the practice of finding edible plants in the wild is actually on the rise. We go “Into the Wild” with Mike and discuss how his portable, instructional guide, featuring a curated selection of thirty-three best-tasting plants and seven of his personal favorite mushrooms, is inspiring and informing adults and the next generation of foragers.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined by Caroline Seebohm and Curtice Taylor, author and photographer, respectively, of the book Rescuing Eden: Preserving America's Historic Gardens. From simple 18th- and early 19th-century gardens to the lavish estates of the Gilded Age, the gardens started by 1930s inmates at Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay to the centuries-old camellias at Middleton Place near Charleston, South Carolina—Rescuing Eden celebrates the history of garden design in the United States, with twenty-eight examples that have been saved by ardent conservationists and generous private owners, and opened to the public.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined in the studio by Gerard Lordahl, Director of Open Space Greening for GrowNYC. GrowNYC is the sustainability resource for New Yorkers, providing free tools and services anyone can use in order to improve our city and environment. With over 30 years of experience in urban and community gardening, Gerard currently leads a dedicated team of city-wide environmental professionals who design, maintain and coordinate services for hundreds of community, school, and roof-top garden projects each year.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined by Sarah Lohman, author of the forthcoming Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine. The book introduces the explorers, merchants, botanists, farmers, writers, and chefs whose choices came to define the American palate, and uses long-forgotten recipes to explain how eight flavors changed the way we eat.

On this Halloween edition of We Dig Plants, hosts Alice and Carmen are joined by Mary Reynolds, a landscape designer and author of the book The Garden Awakening: Designs To Nurture Our Land and Ourselves. The book is a step by step instruction manual drawing on ancient methods of working with the land and using them to invite the power and energy of nature back into your life and surround your house and life in its life giving healing embrace. Introduction to the book: Everything becomes simple if you immerse yourself in nature. Life’s complications melt away, leaving only the truth of the present moment, and the presence of what I call God. In this place we can see our soul reflected in every living thing, every gust of wind and splash of rain, and here we can find peace. This is our true home. Yet we are losing what little wild places we have left in nature, those corners where the spirits of the earth are flowing freely, where harmony, and balance still exists and we feel accepted for the truth of who we are. We have gone off course and need to find our way again. An old pathway, overgrown and forgotten, is waiting impatiently to lead us back home. Nature is willing us on. A feature length movie based on Mary's true life story will be released in 2016. This focuses on the story of Mary's journey to build a gold medal winning garden at the Chelsea flower show.

This week on We Dig Plants, Alice and Carmen are joined by Megan Uithoven, Community Manager for GrowIt! GrowIt! is a mobile app that connects gardeners through photos and comments using geo-location technology. GrowIt! is the only app that allows you to rate plant pictures from your area. The goal is to engage the next generation of gardeners (Millennials mostly, ages 20-38). This free mobile app is the first of its kind, creating a social platform for users to promote plants they love and help others steer clear of plants that just don’t perform, and runs entirely on user submissions.

This week on We Dig Plants, Alice and Carmen are joined by Troy Guinther, founder and CEO of Natural Stone Wall Solutions. Natural Stone Wall Solutions was founded by a team of engineers and certified landscape architects using an innovative new method of building and seamlessly installing retaining and freestanding natural stone walls. Their retaining walls typically cost 25–50% less than traditional stone and stone veneer walls with an installation rate 20x faster than both methods.

Today on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito do their part to contribute to the "robots will take our jobs" story! Our guest: Rory Aronson, the creator of the FarmBot. This robot is installed above a planter box, before Raspberry Pi, a rudimentary (and cheap) computer pushes it into action. FarmBot then plants and waters seeds in order to grow crops with minimal human labor.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Carmen Devito and Alice Marcus Krieg are joined by William Thomas, executive director of the Chanticleer Foundation. Chanticleer has been called the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America. The garden is a study of textures and forms, where foliage trumps flowers, the gardeners lead the design, and even the drinking fountains are sculptural. It is a garden of pleasure and learning, relaxing yet filled with ideas to take home.

On the season premiere of We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito discuss their new gardening exhibit, Garden of Discovery, which consists of growing tobacco, rice, cotton, begonias, and other plants with strange tales to tell in an urban setting – 550 11th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn to be exact. For more information about the project, which will run from September 17th to the end of October, visit http://www.wedigplantspodcast.com/.

On the season finale of We Dig Plants, hosts Carmen Devito and Alice Marcus Krieg speak with Dr. Richard T. Olsen, director of the U.S. National Arboretum. Prior to this appointment, he was a Research Geneticist and Lead Scientist in the Floral and Nursery Plant Research Unit (FNPRU) at the USNA. He reinvigorated the USNA’s urban tree program and developed new woody ornamental breeding projects utilizing genetic tools such as ploidy manipulation and interspecific and intergeneric breeding strategies. He is a recognized international leader in the public garden arena, providing his scientific expertise and practical knowledge to multiple national and international arboreta, urban forestry groups, and professional associations.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are joined by Marta McDowell, a teacher of landscape history and horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden, and consultant for private clients and public gardens. Her garden writing has appeared in popular publications such as Woman’s Day, Fine Gardening and The New York Times. Marta's book All the Presidents' Gardens tells the untold history of the White House grounds. Starting with the seed-collecting, plant-obsessed George Washington and ending with Michelle Obama's focus on edibles, this rich and compelling narrative reveals how the story of the garden is also the story of America. Readers learn about Lincoln's goats, Ike's putting green, the Kennedys' iconic roses, Amy Carter's tree house, and much more. They also learn the plants whose favor has come and gone over the years and the gardeners who have been responsible for it all.

Author Yvonne Horn calls in to tell us about her travels to exceptional gardens around the world, from Macau to Iceland, Germany and England.

This week on We Dig Plants, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito wrap up their season on horticulture in America. They then chat with guest David Milarch, founder of  Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit that seeks to replicate the genetic material of the world’s biggest and oldest trees (the ones Milarch calls “champion trees”) and replant them anew, all around the world.  

On this week’s episode of We Dig Plants, host Alice Marcus Krieg welcomes guests Dr. Richard McCourt and Dr. Alfred E. (Ernie) Schuyler, both of Philadelphia, to discuss the plants and horticulture associated with the Lewis and Clark expedition. Dr. McCourt is the Associate Curator of Botany at Drexel University’s Academy of Natural Sciences, Dr. Schuyler is its Curator Emeritus. “[Thomas Jefferson] didn’t like to use [tobacco], but Ernie says he grew it. He did live in Virginia, after all.” [23:30] – Richard McCourt  

On today’s episode of We Dig Plants we welcome Russell Shorto, an American author, historian, and journalist best known for his book on the Dutch origins of New York City, The Island at the Center of the World. The book is currently being developed into a dramatic series for PBS with Ridley Scott and David Zucker as executive producers. Shorto and hosts Carmen Devito and Alice Marcus Krieg discuss how so much of our American identity and horticultural heritage comes from the Dutch. “Just in general, when you’re doing history, you’re always going back and forth from, I can’t believe how different things were to, I can’t believe things are exactly the same.” [40:00] – Russell Shorto  

On this President’s Day edition of We Dig Plants, hosts Carmen Devito and Alice Marcus Krieg examine the roots of America’s horticultural heritage through the vision of its first families. From Washington to Lincoln, right up to the present day, American presidents and first ladies have had an undeniable influence on our nation’s horticulture. Guest Robin Selfridge joins in to discuss how this horticultural heritage has been documented in our coins and stamps. Finally, we learn a bit more about the current presidential candidates by analyzing their respective state flowers. “I think it’s fascinating when people pay attention to the symbolism of America.” [48:15] – Alice Krieg

In this episode of We Dig Plants, Executive Director Susan Lacerte of the Queens Botanical Garden and former Executive Director Roland “Chuck” Wade talks about how Flushing is the birthplace of the American horticultural industry. Prince Nursery was the first ever commercial catalog of plants. They came out around when the Boston Massacre was in 1737. This catalog was released when most people were still subsistence farming. Tune in to hear about how Americans saved the French wine industry and plants inspired the founding fathers. “We all come from some heritage of growing plants and eating plants.” [32:00] –Susan Lacerte on We Dig Plants “A country is only as strong as its soil.” [45:30] –Roland “Chuck” Wade on We Dig Plants

Today on We Dig Plants, hosts Carmen DeVito and Alice Marcus Krieg are talking trees… really big trees… and what it takes to move them! Tune in as they are joined by David Cox of Environmental Design, Inc./TreeMovers.com, the premier tree transplanting company in the world.

This week on We Dig Plants , solo host Alice Marcus Krieg is on the line with Thomas Rainer.  Thomas is a landscape architect, teacher, and writer who lives in Arlington, Virginia. He has designed landscapes for the United States Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and the New York Botanical Garden, and recently teamed up with Claudia West to write the book, “Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes.” These two leading voices in ecological landscape design, reveal how plants fit together in nature and how to use this knowledge to create landscapes that are resilient, beautiful, and diverse. As practical as it is inspiring, Planting in a Post-Wild World is an optimistic manifesto pointing the way to the future of planting design.

Tune in as Alice and Carmen wrap up their series, “China: Mother of Gardens,” discussing the beautiful peony.   Dan Furman of Cricket Hill Peonies is on the line discussing the history and evolution of this flower, sharing that his focus is the Chinese tree peony (Paeonia sufferuticosa) and that they are among the most elegant, vibrantly colored flowers you will ever come across, so much so that the Chinese call them their National Flower. For over 1300 years, tree peonies have been growing in China on hillsides, coloring the landscape with their extraordinary color and infusing the air with the most invigorating scents. This is an episode not to be missed! “We try to stay really true to the names, because there’s so much history to any one cultivar.” [35:00] –Dan Furman on We Dig Plants  

How have native Chinese plants changed Western gardens? Continuing their focus on Eastern Asian plants, this week We Dig Plants takes on the Camellia.  Between the interesting factoids that link the Camellia to both the economic and ornamental realms, Carmen and Alice share the history behind the Camellia sinensis (tea plant) before getting Brienne Gluvna Arthur on the line in the second half of the show to further discuss the differences between Camellias commonly found throughout the United States today.  Did you know the Camellia was Coco Chanel’s favorite? Tune in for more on this fashionable flower.

How have native Chinese plants changed Western gardens? Find out on a brand new episode of We Dig Plants.  Carmen & Alice are joined by Dan Hinkley. Dan is an American plantsman, garden writer, horticulturist and nurseryman. He is best known for establishing Heronswood Nursery, in Kingston, Washington; and Windcliff, on the Kitsap Peninsula near Indianola, WA; and for collecting, propagating, and naming varieties of plants new to the North American nursery trade. “You can promote a plant for general cultivation at least until people can pronounce the name.” [07:00]

Kelly Norris is a 20-something, award-winning author and plantsman from Iowa and the first director of horticulture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, a newly revitalized 14-acre public garden in Des Moines, Iowa, and this week he joins Alice and Carmen for this season’s last show of _ We Dig Plants _. Popularly known for his book “A Guide to Bearded Irises: Cultivating the Rainbow for Beginners and Enthusiasts” and his second book, “Plants with Style,” he is also a speaker that has garnered acclaim for his high-energy, zealous presentations on the national stage, leading many to call him one of the rising stars of American horticulture. He shares with the hosts that his career infamously began at age 15 when he talked his parents into buying a nursery (Rainbow Iris Farm), and since then he’s become one of the few gurus on marketing horticulture to emerging demographics. Tune in for an inspiring show! > #### “Horticulture is about humanity: it’s about people, plants, and passion.” [17:00] “Plants have personality, sure it anthropomorphizes plants on some level, but gardens have a distinct personality. Gardens should be expressions of their creators.” [19:15] –Kelly Norris on We Dig Plants  

On two hundred acres in the Hudson Valley, Amy Goldman grows heirloom fruits and vegetables–an orchard full of apples, pears, and peaches; plots of squash, melons, cabbages, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and beets. Today, she joins Alice and Carmen for a brand new episode of We Dig Plants.  Talking her new book, “Heirloom Harvest: Modern Daguerreotypes of Historic Garden Treasures,” she shares her passion for preserving agricultural heritage, beautiful and unique heirlooms that truly are organic treasures.  Over fifteen years, the acclaimed photographer Jerry Spagnoli visited Amy’s gardens to preserve these cherished varieties in another way–with the historical daguerreotype process, producing ethereal images with a silvery, luminous depth and a timeless beauty, underscoring the historical continuity and value of knobby gourds, carrots pulled from the soil, and fruit picked fresh from the tree.

_ We Dig Plants _ is getting artsy this week as Alice and Carmen welcome Abbie Zabar to the studio for a thorough talk on her work. Abbie is an acclaimed artist, graphic and garden designer, and the author of five books. Her first book, The Potted Herb (1988), is now considered a gardening classic. Her landscape collages have been represented by Allan Stone and BlumHelman, and the Flowers in the Great Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art series has been represented by Ursus Books & Prints and the Horticultural Society of New York. Her artwork has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the Parrish Museum (Water Mill, NY), the International Paper Corporation, the Louvre, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London) and the Vigeland Museum (Oslo), and is part of the permanent collections of the Mead Paper Corporation of America, the Brooklyn Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation (Pittsburgh, PA) and the Smithsonian Museum. Zabar’s illustrated articles have appeared in Garden Design, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Gourmet and The New York Times, as well as in numerous esteemed British publications. Zabar is currently the Program Chairperson for the Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society and a Learning Leader at P.S. 198. This program was brought to you by the Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York. “My style depends on what I’m working off. I can work in many mediums.” –Abbie Zabar on We Dig Plants  

This week on _ We Dig Plants _, Alice and Carmen are tipping their hats to the homesteaders that settled the country located west of the Mississippi River. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act encouraged western migration by providing settlers 160 acres of public land. In exchange, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land.  On the line with Dan Housholder, he explains the story behind his family’s history of 19th century homesteaders that worked the land in Kansas.  After returning to his roots and repurchasing the land that once belonged to his ancestors, he shares his homesteading journey from researching the original Homesteading Act to how his family became involved to the farm auction that led him back to the land in Kansas.  Tune in for a fascinating story!

Fruits and vegetables have changed a lot since the onset of agriculture 10,000 years ago, as generation after generation of farmers artificially bred crops to select for more desirable traits like size and taste. Today on _ We Dig Plants _, Alice and Carmen are visualizing and delving into the vast world of plant genetics and breeding with James Kennedy, on the line from Australia.  A VCE Chemistry teacher at Haileybury, one of Australia’s largest and leading independent schools, he has 5 years teaching and tutoring experience in Cambridge, Melbourne and Beijing, plus he is a progressive informative graphic artist.  Realizing that scientific topics like evolution can be hard for anyone to digest, he has created some terrific infographics to show just how drastic evolution has been. One of of James’ original posters, for instance, shows how corn has changed in the last 9,000 years — from a wild grass in the early Americas known as teosinte to the plump ears of corn we know today.  Tune in for this fascinating show and check out James’ work here! “As a science teacher, I would be expected to be on the pro-GM side… as a human being, I know that I have this slight preference for natural stuff too.  I can’t pick a side.” [19:00] –James Kennedy on We Dig Plants

A small patch of land within the 58-acre Shore Road Park, Narrows Botanical Gardenswas formerly an overlooked area of parkland. Today the gardens thrive, enriching the lives of nearby residents and on the line with hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito is Jimmy Johnson, urban landscape designer heavily involved with the Narrows Botanical Gardens. Continuing the series on horticultural disrupters, We Dig Plants is delving into the recent trend in park management: community involvement. Jimmy goes on to explain that these gardens are meant to satisfy the senses with colorful flowers, aromatic plants, and singing birds, making the Bay Ridge neighborhood in Brooklyn a beautiful destination.  Tune in for a great discussion on the numerous benefits of public horticulture! “We’re the only one in New York that has a cactus garden!” [31:00] “What landscape designer gets the chance to design 4.5 acres of parkland?” [36:00] –Jimmy Johnson on We Dig Plants  

This week on _ We Dig Plants _, hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are talking green business with Brienne Gluvna Arthur.  By day, a grower and propagator at the Camellia Forest Nursery in North Carolina, Brienne is also dedicated to connecting with horticulturalists around the country with the groups Emergent and Green Women Unite, not to mention her blogging and posting on her own growing of ancient grains.  Tune in to hear how Brienne is changing the space around her through being outdoors with her hands in the dirt. “We are going to be sustaining 9 billion people – horticulture has the opportunity to be a part of it.” –Brienne Gluvna Arthur

Wrapping up the series on botanical beauty, this week on _ We Dig Plants _ Alice and Carmen welcome the team behind Brooklyn Bar and Bath, Joann Montalto and Itala Pelizzoli. Launching their natural skincare business to give a fresh, natural alternative to products that pack a long list of unpronounceable ingredients, the ladies discuss becoming more conscious about knowing exactly what we put on our bodies on a daily basis. After the break, the hosts are on the line with Jenn Segale of Garden Apothecary, an organic bath and beauty company.  Crafting hand-made, small-batch botanical products for the face and body, Jenn shares their best selling products and why Garden Apothecary excels in bringing wholesome organic products into homes all over the world. “I’m not a skin care guru necessarily, I’m a gardener!” [30:00] –Jenn Segale on We Dig Plants  

Continuing with the beauty and botanical series, Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito welcome beauty expert Trae Bodge to detail her favorite plant based productions on this week’s _ We Dig Plants _.  Sharing a great detail of fascinating facts about ingredients like blueberries, chocolate, and even coffee for skin care, Trae even comments on the use of cannabis in beauty products.  Which are the best ingredients to look for on beauty labels? If you only use makeup sparingly, which are the integral products? For answers and much more, check out this episode! “You want to look for companies that talk about fair trade, especially with these butters, things like chocolate, coffee, things like that.  You do want to be mindful because it’s like diamonds because you don’t know where it’s coming from and who’s being mistreated.” [13:30] “To be 100% natural or organic, sometimes there’s no preservatives in the product.” [20:00] –Trae Bodge on We Dig Plants  

Continuing the series on the intersection between plants and beauty regimes, solo host Carmen Devito welcomes Mandi Vance from the Dr. Hauschka team to this week’s We Dig Plants. Dr. Hauschka Skin Care preparations and treatment methods are based on the founder’s mission “to support the healing of humanity and the earth,” a mission reflected in everything from the sustainable agriculture behind our ingredients to their holistic approach to business.  Talking the fascinating background of the late Dr. Hauschka, the importance of biodynamic farming to the business, natural skin care, plus what the company has on the horizon. “Skin care is the internal reflection on what is going on in the inside of the body.” [18:00] –Mandi Vance on We Dig Plants  

This week hosts Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito are in studio talking about botanical beauty, a first installment of a four part series, previewing plants’ deep roots in beauty regimes.  From the Egyptians and Cleopatra to Ancient Rome to Indian cosmetic practices, plants (and other interesting ingredients!) have been used around the world throughout the ages to dye hair, cover scars, enhance eyebrows, tint skin, and more.  Tune in for a fascinating show and hear what the next few episodes have in store! “When you’re spraying hairspray, you’re spraying insect secretion on your head!” [26:10] –Carmen Devito on We Dig Plants  

Why do some gardens make us feel so wonderful, relaxed and refreshed? Using ideas based on ancient and modern practices, today’s guest on We Dig Plants, landscape designer Jan Johnsen, explains how you can uplift yourself and others in a serene setting designed for “unplugging” and relaxing. Whether you are intending to create a lovely garden or just thinking about a future outdoor haven, her new book “Heaven is a Garden” helps you see your backyard in a whole new light and reawaken an awareness of the wonders of nature. Drawing on her 40 years in the profession, she relays what it was like as a woman coming up in the business throughout the years and also shares why a gate facing East is considered auspicious and suggests which trees you can use to impart a special atmosphere. Tune in for a great show! “Finally, I believe that people are starting to say, the design of our outdoor space is just as important if not more important as our indoor space.” [40:25] –Jan Johnsen on We Dig Plants  

Hosts Alice and Carmen welcome Dr. Michael Graham to this week’s episode of We Dig Plants.  Talking aquatic plants, like seaweed and algae, Dr. Graham is an experimental ecologist whose research program currently focuses on seaweed-based systems (primarily kelps).  He is currently investigating the various physiological, ecological, and genetical processes that regulate kelp population biology, as well as the consequences of such habitat dynamics on the various physical and biological processes that ultimately determine the productivity, structure, and diversity of kelp forest communities. Mr. Graham goes on to explain how plant life like algae is often the first indicator of issues in the resulting food chain.  Tune in for a thought-provoking show! “Anywhere in the world where it’s great to make red wine it’s great for kelp… it’s called upwelling.” [24:00] “You start to change the quality of the water the algae respond.” [29:00] –Dr. Michael Graham on We Dig Plants