Vegetable Gardeners Are Everywhere!

Last Saturday I spent an hour with Ed Smith, our vegetable-gardening guru. I live in Western Massachusetts, and Ed lives in the Northeast Kingdom area of Vermont. We didn't see each other, we didn't even talk to each other, but I learned some valuable lessons about tomatoes, bug life, and ground cover. Ed has a weekly radio show on Saturday afternoons on WDEV-AM/FM radio, Vermont's comprehensive broadcast network. When he told me about the show a few months ago, I was cautiously excited, because while a weekly radio show is a great deal, I thought to myself, "Too bad only people in that area of Vermont will be able to hear it."

Well, Ed informed me about seven seconds later that his show is one of a few that are streamed online at WDEV, and although I am in awe of the Interwebs, I directed my computer that way last Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

And there he was! It honestly was like I was sitting next to Ed and asking him questions — except for the part where a commercial broke in to try to make me buy a rototiller or some cheese. Anyone, anywhere, can simply click on the "streaming" button on the home page of WDEV and get Ed's show. I know this is not a new concept, but this is the first time it brought home to me the idea that we can all be a community: that a gardener in, say, Madison, Wisconsin, could call in and ask Ed about zone-specific tomatoes or a Northern California cultivator could listen to see what East Coast opinions are on bug-repellent plants. And the show is just like Ed: straightforward and wicked smart. Saturdays from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., EDT, pull up a chair and enjoy some quality time with a master gardener who really wants to hear from you!

— Amy Greeman, Publicity Director