-
Suffering from Allergies?
Ann and I were fortunate to interview Tom Ogren.
Tom is the author of a fascinating ,very informative book about Allergies in the garden.
This is a must read for avid gardeners everywhere. Especially if you are one of the many suffering from allergies.
You can hear our interview with Tom below or at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments, please spend a moment sending us your thoughts and suggestions.
Ann & Chris
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 269
-
The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion
Ann and I were fortunate to interview Jenny Peterson, just after her new book was published. Jenny is an amazing, extremely positive lady who is an inspiration for us all.
A Garden that Heals.
Pittsburgh, Pa. (October 5, 2015): When Jenny Peterson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, it rocked her world. Her cancer treatment was hard, emotional and often deeply depressing. But Peterson, a garden designer and Master Gardener, did not let the cancer diagnosis define her. She used her desire to garden and dig in the dirt again to pull her out of the darkness. And she discovered that gardening is good medicine –for the body, mind and spirit.
The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion:
Cultivating Hope, Healing and Joy in the Ground Beneath Your Feet
(St. Lynn’s Press, January 2016) tells Peterson’s story and explores the therapeutic benefits of this vital “earth connection,” including inspirational profiles of other cancer survivors, both men and women, whose gardens became their partners in healing.With gentle empathy, beautiful photographs and easy how-to steps. Peterson shows others how to create their own backyard haven for healing – a personal restorative garden – with well-grounded guidance about diet, exercise, mental focus and spiritual renewal. Her book adds a fresh voice to the growing fields of horticultural therapy and therapeutic gardens.
What others are saying about The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion:
“Jenny’s tips for incorporating gardening into your life for mind, body, and spiritual health are ingenious!
What other authors are saying.
As a cancer coach, I will definitely be suggesting this book to my clients.” – Susan Gonzalez, BSN, CPCC, co-author of 100 Perks of Having Cancer Plus 100 Health Tips for Surviving It, and editor of The Savvy Sister blog
“Jenny’s beautiful book reminds us all that life can be found in the healing, meditative act of gardening. By lovingly tending a garden, we can learn to nurture ourselves, restoring our mind, body and spirit in the process.” – Ray Anne Evans, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas
“Jenny’s connection with gardening, garden design, and simply being in nature remained strong throughout her cancer diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. In fact, it was part of what helped her through. And now she is helping others to learn from her powerful experience.” – Naomi A. Sachs, Founding Director, Therapeutic Landscapes Network; co-author, Therapeutic Landscapes: An Evidence-Based Approach to Designing Healing Gardens and Restorative Outdoor Spaces
The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion will teach readers how to use the garden to heal, find hope and feel joy.
About the Author.
Jenny Peterson is a landscape designer and Master Gardener specializing in xeriscaping and small urban spaces. She is a cancer survivor who found hope and healing in her garden, even during the darkest days of chemotherapy and radiation. In the process, she made deep connections with the cancer support community, including physicians, nutritionists, bodywork practitioners, psychologists and spiritual counselors.
Peterson co-authored Indoor Plant Décor: The Design Stylebook for Houseplants (St. Lynn’s Press, 2013) with Kylee Baumle. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her fiancé, 19 chickens, two dogs, two quails and a goat.
You can listen to the interview here : Interviewing Jenny Peterson
If you would like to purchase the book : The Cancer Survivors Garden Companion
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 146
-
Grandy’s Long walk – The Bibbulmun Track, Western Australia
Ann and I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Stanley after she had completed this 1000km walk.
Linda undertook this walk on her own, it took the best part of 8 weeks to complete and more than three months to prepare for.
Linda isn’t your average walker by any means, she suffered some serious injuries breaking her back in an accident. Being a somewhat determined lady she set about challenging herself to literally get back on her feet again.
We interviewed Linda in her new home, a beautiful chestnut farm in Nannup, Western Australia just after the launch of the children’s book she wrote about her journey.
‘Grandy’s Long Walk’ is written for young children, superbly illustrated about her walk.
Linda wrote the book out of a concern that children today spending less and less time with nature and more and more time in front of the small screen. She hopes to encourage more children to get outside and discover the same senses of wonder and joy of nature that she had experienced on her long walk in the forest.
You can listen to her telling us all about this amazing journey below.
We were so curious about this really long walk that during our research we found some youtube videos of other people who travel from all over the world to walk this track.
Darren is one such person, he created a video and kindly gave us permission to include it in this article. His video is just a part of the walk, you can view it here Bibbulmun track video Darren is raising money for Diabetes you can see his web site here Darren’s website
There is also a specialist web site filled with information for those who want to plan their own walk..The BIbbulman Track
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 74
-
Growing Trends interviews Bill Sosinsky on his recent trip to China
Hello everyone, we hope you like our new logo ?
We have some great interviews planned for the next few months.
Our first is with Bill Sosinsky , CEO of Energime University. Bill has recently returned from a trip to China. He talks to us about how the Chinese are adapting, planning and coping with the enormous growth the country has seen over the past few years.
Cities of 5 – 10 million people built in under 10 years !
This type of growth brings staggering infrastructure issues or as Bill says ” This is a big deal !”
The interview is one of those must listen to events… we all have seen or heard of the Great Wall of China, a quite amazing feat of building, as seen here.
I wonder how many of us can comprehend the current building program?
100 million homes in the next 5- 10 years…!
That’s almost one third of the total housing in the USA
Truly a monumental task of ingenuity, engineering and collaboration, Ann and I were just amazed talking to Bill about the growing issues they are trying to solve.
We will have two parts to this fascinating interview you can listen to the first part here….
We would love to hear from you with ideas or suggestions on programs, either fill in the form below or just send us an email to info@grotrends.com
Ann & Chris
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 102
-
Growing Trends : How we look at Food Tourism today
Ann and I interviewed John Stanley of John Stanley Associates recently about his new book, he jointly wrote with his wife Linda,
Food Tourism – A Practical Marketing Guide.
The fastest growth in tourism today is the culinary sector.
Listen to John as he explains the overall direction of food tourism, including how he sees future development.
A few snip bits:
Do you grow soil?
25% of the food we buy comes from 2% of the farmland around our cities, which is being swallowed up by development.
Farmers used to make 38 cents on every dollar now its down to an average of just 6 cents
Eating local seasonal food saves you around 25%, and is actually healthier for you!
You can hear this really informative interview here (click below) or on iTunes at Growing Trends
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 49
-
Heaven is a Garden – Jan Johnsen
A few years ago I read a paper about how grasses ‘moved’ to music, then I read about the effects of harmonious sounds on plant growth.
Why do I mention this?
Well a few weeks ago we were talking about Tesla and his discoveries, which led us to talking about vibrations, sound waves, force fields etc., then a strange thing happened.
Ann and I interviewed a wonderful lady landscape architect Jan Johnsen, about her new book “Heaven is a Garden” we talked a little about how at a very young age she discovered during a science fair competition – which against all the odds she won – the effects early morning birds singing have on plants. The sound waves, which are similar to a violin stimulate a plant to open its stomata taking in carbon-dioxide to help it grow quicker.
Jan has written a book called Heaven is a Garden, it’s a really fascinating and informative read. Jan has ‘connected’ the dots so as to speak, between the natural world and our emotions. How the Four Winds are important when laying out a space,the careful use of curves, and my favorite Golden Rectangles and the Divine Proportion. – Phi is the mathematical proportion ( 1 : 1.618) we see in every natural form. Using this proportion ensures a sense of harmony in any outdoor space that contains it. I’ve always tried to use these proportions in my designs.
Jan then talks about Trees – natures rechargers as she puts it… The Celts shunnache, the Hindu tree devas, and Greek dryads are really references to light energy? The Chinese call this energy chi…the Japanese consider the health giving properties of trees the basis of a medical therapy called ‘ Forest bathing’, it helps reduce stress.
Jan then discusses the magnetic attraction in a Zen garden – rocks in these gardens reflect a deep understanding of the geomagnetic properties of stone and its impact on a place.
Finally the benefits of color in a garden.
You can listen to our truly fascinating interview with Jan Johnsen or if you prefer on iTunes at Growing Trends or just click on the arrow below to start the interviewWe would love to hear from you if you like this interview
Ann and Chris,
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 139
-
The Growing Potential for Algae Part Two
When we started this latest series of interviews with Bill Sosinsky and Joe Ravet we soon realised how important Algae is to life on our planet.
We never realised how interesting or how much interest these interviews would generate.
Here’s the second part, it’s fascinating, informative and what the future holds for us all.
Have a listen then drop us a line with your thoughts we would love to hear from you.
You can hear our latest interview here – just click on the bar below or on iTunes at Growing Trends
We would love to hear from you with ideas and suggestions, just drop us a line at info@growtrends.com
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Views: 115