May 25, 2017
I Meet the Coolest People!
Wow, what glorious gardeners we’ve met on our travels this spring! Although everyone’s story is different, all of them find serenity, energy, health, and spirituality outside. 
In Lorena, Elizabeth DeMaria’s spring garden soon will explode with summer flowers for pollinators and birds.
We visited an East Austin backyard native plant micro-prairie, tended by John Hart Asher (Environmental Designer at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center) and his partner, Bonnie Evridge. Their chickens handle pest control when not laying eggs.
At Community First!, a self-sustainable village for the homeless, we saw how growing and eating fresh, organic food makes a difference both in soul and body.
In Kempner, Mrs. Saigon Farms (Carolin Le) astounds us with her food forest, a bounty in herbs, vegetables, and greens that are “a pharmacy in my backyard.”
It’s made quite a difference for her husband, a U.S. Army veteran, who was injured on duty.
Since so many locavore-committed are sweet on beekeeping these days, we met with Tara Chapman from Two Hives Honey. At the Sustainable Food Center, she tended hives in an apiary designed by University of Texas grad students.
Tanya Phillips and Chuck Reburn, founders of Bee Friendly Austin, schooled us in the fascinating details.
And we got to see our first swarm, as a queen and her new bee team went house hunting, quickly provided by Tanya and Chuck. Wow!
Artist Valerie Fowler captivated us completely with stories behind her richly expressive paintings.
In San Antonio, Richard and Christine Alcorta stepped us through their organic techniques in cinder blocks that yield pounds of food and herbs every season.
Since The Garden Conservancy hosts Open Days tours in San Antonio and Austin this fall, we taped our features for the fall previews. More on that later! This one’s on the Austin tour.
And at the Festival Beach Food Forest and Festival Beach Community Gardens, we saw how community innovators are feeding people along with neighborhood unity.
Coming up soon:
The How Do Gardener, Rick Bickling and wife Ellen, turned their kids’ basketball court into a food court and solved flooding problems and lack of color in backyard shade.
• Shelley S. Cramm, author of NIV God’s Word for Gardeners Bible: Grow Your Faith While Growing Your Garden
• Ann McCormick, Herb ‘N Cowgirl
• Brie Arthur, author of The Foodscape Revolution
• Erika Kotite, author of She Sheds
• Barbara Wise and Trisha Shirey container design
NEXT WEEK:
Liz Morphis from Barton Springs Nursery ramps up the heat with summertime combos that don’t break out a sweat.
THIS WEEK:
In Blanco, Pamela and Frank Arnosky of the Arnosky Flower Farms tour us through their lives as local flower farmers, plus DIY tips you really can do at home!
Thanks for stopping by! See you next week, Linda