Podcast appearances and mentions of julie chai

Have you ever walked by a lush, green space filled with pollinators and thought, “How can I create one of those?” Your answer might be found in the new book, “Garden Wonderland,” by Bay Area landscape and garden expert Leslie Bennett and her co-author Julie Chai. Their new book offers advice on how to create landscapes that include flowers, fruits and vegetables, healing plants, and gathering spaces that honor a gardener's personal culture. In time for spring, we talk to Bennet and Chai as well as nursery owner Flora Grubb about your garden wonderlands. Guests: Flora Grubb, co-owner, Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Grubb and Nadler Nurseries Leslie Bennett, owner and creative director, Pine House Edible Gardens; co-author, "Garden Wonderland: Create Life-Changing Outdoor Spaces for Beauty, Harvest, Meaning and Joy" Julie Chai, co-author, "Garden Wonderland: Create Life-Changing Outdoor Spaces for Beauty, Harvest, Meaning and Joy"

To round out Women's History Month in style, this week, we are back in conversation with Leslie Bennett, an Oakland, CA-based landscape designer who creates gardens that help to nourish and tell the story of who we are, individually and communally. Leslie lives out her horticultural and cultural ethos in her landscape design work with Pine House Edible Gardens and Black Sanctuary Gardens, as well as in her writing and advocacy. Her newest book, Garden Wonderland, written in collaboration with Julie Chai and photographed by Rachel Weill, will be published on April 2nd from Ten Speed Press.  Garden Wonderland brings together all of Leslie's wisdom, spirit, experience, and paradigm-shifting passions while also bringing together the power of women and gardens. Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years, and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Google Podcasts. To read more and for many more photos please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

Or, what to do when one needs to talk and the other doesn’t. Most of us will marry or be in a close relationship with someone who is put together differently than we are. The main difference is between the verbal processor who needs to talk to figure things out and get their “aha” moment and the non-verbal processors who need time and space to think things through to arrive at their “aha.” Julie Chai is an ordained pastor, potter, poet, artist and spiritual director working in private practice. She has combined her gifts of poetry and art in a monthly column in Families First Monthly for the last 17 years. In her private practice, she offers Inner Listening Therapy and energy work to help clients access repressed feelings that are blocking the flow of their energy and causing dis-ease in their emotional and physical lives. She offers premarital counseling focusing on communication dynamics and has officiated and worked with close to 300 couples for over 30 years. Her work is based upon the principles of Mindfulness or present moment awareness. Credit to Dwana Markova’s book The Art of the Possible: How People Think, Learn and Communicate. Julie's Web Site Download.

Or, what to do when one needs to talk and the other doesn’t. Most of us will marry or be in a close relationship with someone who is put together differently than we are. The main difference is between the verbal processor who needs to talk to figure things out and get their “aha” moment and the non-verbal processors who need time and space to think things through to arrive at their “aha.” Julie Chai is an ordained pastor, potter, poet, artist and spiritual director working in private practice. She has combined her gifts of poetry and art in a monthly column in Families First Monthly for the last 17 years. In her private practice, she offers Inner Listening Therapy and energy work to help clients access repressed feelings that are blocking the flow of their energy and causing dis-ease in their emotional and physical lives. She offers premarital counseling focusing on communication dynamics and has officiated and worked with close to 300 couples for over 30 years. Her work is based upon the principles of Mindfulness or present moment awareness. Credit to Dwana Markova’s book The Art of the Possible: How People Think, Learn and Communicate. Julie's Web Site Download.

Learn exactly how a garden book is born - from concept to book store shelves. We all have beloved garden books that inspire and inform us. But have you ever thought about exactly what goes into creating it?  A lot more than you think!  Garden books have the extra burden of being seasonal. And that can make things like photography super tricky.  In this episode, host Theresa Loe interviews garden book editor Julie Chai about exactly what went into the creation of one of the top garden books of 2017: Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden. Author Erin Benzakein was featured on episode 95 (where she shared how the book can help us grow better backyard flowers organically). But this week, we hear about how a book like that is born. It is a massive project and yet, the resulting book is both beautiful and is having a huge impact in the gardening world. You learn: What goes into creating a top garden book, The first thing you should do if you want to be an author, The secret to writing within the seasons, How many people does it really take to produce a book, The first step in garden research, The "angle" on flowers that most people wouldn't think about. As always, you can get more information at www.LivingHomegrown.com/98 where you will also find a full transcript of the episode. 

You don't need a lot of land to grow your own food. In this week's episode, host Theresa Loe interviews Julie Chai - former senior editor at Sunset Magazine all about getting started with edible plants in containers. You learn: What you can and cannot grow in containers, Why you don't want to use your garden soil, Key tips for bountiful crops, How to judge when to water, And tricks for making your own tomato cages. As always, you can go to www.LivingHomegrown.com/43 for a full transcript and links to all the things mentioned in the episode.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, explains why compost is an essential component for achieving good soil for edible plants.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, gives the lowdown on how to keep snails out of your garden, and away from your food.

According to Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, spreading mulch over your plant beds not only looks good, but can save you money as well.

If you don't have much space for a garden, Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, has the solution for you: hanging baskets. They're cheap, easy to maintain, and you can grow all sorts of things in them, from leafy greens to strawberries.

Watering your plants is deceivingly complex, but Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, has great tips for plants in the ground as well as in containers.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, shows an efficient way to get the most out of your leafy greens, ensuring that they'll keep providing you with food.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, shows how you can save money by growing your own greens, as well as the best way to harvest them to ensure that you have a constant supply for salads.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, warns gardeners that they should keep mint plants in containers or pots, lest the herb take over the entire garden. Once your mint starts to overwhelm your container, you'll need to take it out, divide it, and replant it. Share the extra mint with your cocktail-drinking friends.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, says that with lots of sun, a large container, and plenty of fresh potting soil, your tomatoes will grow hale and hearty. Staking the seedlings is important too.

Like many gardeners, Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, loves nasturtiums. Their seeds are readily available, they grow very easily in a variety of climates, and they reseed from year to year. Plus you can eat the leaves too.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, suggests that you plant herbs, especially basil, in a pot that is at least 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep to avoid the horror of root-bound plants.

There are particular plants and flowers that bees love, says Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine. And luring bees to your garden is a good thing: They pollinate plants and keep your garden healthy.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, picks herbs, not flowers, for her table's centerpiece. They look great, and their scent complements food nicely. Sunset also shares this set of one-pot garden ideas, which can be lovely centerpieces as well.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, suggests that you harvest your garden's herbs in the morning, when they are at their most flavorful. And be sure to leave enough in the ground to repopulate the plant.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, demonstrates how to dry herbs that you've grown in your garden. Wash and dry them, then hang them upside down. Once they're completely dry, you can crumble them into a jar. They are then ready to use. And here's a great article from Sunset about which herbs are best to grow for cooking.

Julie Chai, associate garden editor of Sunset magazine, suggests that home gardeners remove the flowers from basil plants as they appear. By plucking the flowers you are keeping the herb in a prepubescent state, which will taste a lot better, and less bitter, than "older" basil.