Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our toll free number eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. Good morning, I am Ron Wilson, your person.
We're talking about you yarding and as I promised, she
is with us. It's time for are you urbally experienced
with our ccp CMH Award winning syndicated journalist, Appalachian herbal scholar,
member of the Urban Society of America. She is a
media personality, cooking teacher, motivation speaker. I'm always motivated when
(00:23):
she's done being on our show. Contributed to Seeking her
Heart Radio and our iHeartRadio, as well her website about
eating dot com ladies and gentlemen. Rita Nader hikenfeve. Oh
you got a crowd here today? Wow? Okay, okay, let
(00:46):
her talk. She's well, good morning, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I don't think i've seen this set people here before.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, it's the holidays. Everybody's celebrating getting together. I think
it's just the perfect time of year for that, don't you, Well.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You know you you always draw a big crowd. I
mean I have to face it. I mean you when
you're on it's it's a pretty large crowd. Target with
Rita Hiking fell and I got a lot to talk
about with with you today. First of all, did you
see where Burpie and the American Horticultural Society came together
and they're doing a happy two hundred and fiftieth birthday America.
(01:23):
Four great garden packets of seeds from two hundred and
fifty years ago, Thomas Jefferson's Garden, Martha Washington's Kitchen Garden,
The Declaration Bouquet, and Rita Hiking Fell's Colonial Door herb Garden.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Well, I fit in that timeline, that's for sure. There
really there really is something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yeah, it's yeah. They put these packets together and there's
an elimited amount you got to get them through Burpie.
Burpie also put together a seed Collection Anniversary book because
it's their one hundred and fiftieth the Anniverse Tree about
the years of first and talk about all of the
great vegetables that they have brought along over the years,
and you'll recognize a lot of the things that are
(02:08):
out there that you'll see on their list, including a
big boy tomato.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Oh my gosh, well you know, black.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Beauty egg plant. You know, all of those things that
they've brought along in all these all these years, pretty
cool looking catalog and it's it's actually a magazine type
of thing. But anyway, these four packs of seeds are
commemorative seeds. Yeah, and so you'll you'll be growing the
same thing that George or Thomas did, or Martha or
Rita or the decoration bouquet of red, whites and blues.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Well, it seems like, you know, everything old again is
new again and we're look at you. Well, I never
did get old, mister Wilson.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I know, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I don't get that ageless ageless. But let's talk about
plants and gardens instead of your.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Second. Secondly, I don't know if you noticed out there,
but a lot of the annuals winter annuals really got
a dice foothold and grew very well this winter this
past fall with the warmer weather. The chick weed, the hendbit.
I mean, I've growing like crazy. I've had more people
asking about that this time of the year than I
think I ever had because they really got a good foothold.
(03:22):
But I found a recipe, and I don't know if
you've ever done this chickweed pesto U.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yes, actually I have now not complete chick weed, but
I've added it to my basil pesto with garlic scapes
and my friend Lisa we did that a couple of
years ago, and because she had a bunch of garlic
escapes in her yard on her street. And then I
had a bunch of chick weed and handbit. Yeah, yes,
(03:47):
I have done that. And the chickweed, wow, talk about nutrition.
The flavor, it's sort of a very mild flavor. Now
the hen bit has if you put that in there,
just a couple of leaves, because that's pretty strong flavor.
But yeah, I mean people are going back to all that.
It's just amazing and I'm very happy to see it.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
All right. Well, here's another one. And Bobby Cheetter, who's
a listened to our show and emails a lot, said
that all of a sudden he's reading more and more
about using or growing comfrey. And he said, why haven't
I heard about comfrey? And why am I all of
a sudden starting to hear about it? And I said,
you know, it's an old thing that's been around forever. Great,
you know, a great soil amendment because of what it
(04:29):
does for the soil, bringing nutrients to it at all,
and of course great for the compost pile, but you know,
you've got to grow it. It's a perennial. It can
be pretty aggressive. And remember the tomato king Pete that
used to be on our show. He was he won
all the tomato tasting awards.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That was one of his key secrets, he said, was
growing comfrey and using that as a compost and soil
amendment for around his tomatoes.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh that's interesting. I know Comfrey has fallen out of
favor the last oh gosh, I don't know decade or
so as far as ingesting it, we still make a
lot of salves and ointments out of the leaves because
it's really really good for your joints. I still drink
comfory tea in the spring, but it's not recommended. You know,
(05:17):
how things go. You know, you just don't know as
far as what's the good thing to put in your
body and what isn't. But it's interesting. I know the
Comfrey leaves if I put them on the compost pile, boy,
it really starts at compost up. And you're right, very aggressive,
but beautiful flowers. They just sort of droopy purple, and
(05:38):
it's just it's a love I love the comfory plant.
It's such an old fashioned one. Glad to know it's
coming back in favor.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, and again you look way back. I mean the
orchards they used to grow comfrey along with the with
the fruiting trees and berries to help again adding nutrients
back to the soil, breaking down the cet et cetera.
So I told him, I said, you know, with permaculture
and things going on trying to be more natur I
think comfrey would possibly make a big comeback. You know,
you got to work well, I mean something else you
(06:06):
got to grow, and it's a perennial blah blah blah.
But it probably couldn't make that comeback, no doubt about it.
Talking with Rita Hikenfeld again. Her website is about eating
dot com. We call a segment Are You Urbly Experienced?
And my choice of planning the week this week was
Christmas rosemary, which I always laugh sometimes because you know,
I'm not a big rosemary fan, although I've been eating
(06:28):
it more and more lately, but trying to grow them
inside over the winter can be a little difficult.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Oh yeah, and you know you and I have had
these contests before about growing rosemary in the winter. They're
beautiful the specimens that you find usually and I usually
find mine in the produce section. You're right, you said earlier.
They're shaped like Christmas trees and people put little ornaments
on them and then use them in cooking. The thing
is they're grown at optimal temperatures and climate just perfect
(06:58):
where they were. But when you get them in your home,
our homes for the most part, are a lot drier
and rosemary sort of a I always say she's like
a very pretty spoiled child. She doesn't like her feet
too wet to dry, so if you're going to grow
her in the house, she needs lots of good air
circulation and sort of moist so I usually just sprits
(07:21):
around the plant and water as needed. But here's the thing.
If the needles do eventually fall off, and they will,
it makes great dried rosemary. Don't just you know, put
those in the trash or composts because you've got what's
very expensive in the store, You've got your own dried rosemary.
So yeah, I'm always interested to see who has success
(07:43):
and who doesn't. But it's a lovely holiday plant with
the piny aroma, for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And now I'm starting to see lavender being done the
same way and uses an indoor plan for the holiday
season as well. Talking with Rita Hikenfelder website about eating
dot Com, Your recipe this week on our website is
an appetizer for Christmas guests. Uh do you pronounce it
boorsen Borsen borson borson.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Urban garlic cheese.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
It's you know, a little I love that stuff.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I know it's so good. Or you can buy it
in a little tub to different varieties, different brands. But
hot honey is like has been in the news. I mean,
it's been very trendy for the last couple of years,
but I think it's now just hitting mainstream and it
has to do with functional foods and the trends toward
(08:32):
eating very healthy and basically, hot honey is just honey.
And I use our raw honey from our hives that
you add like red hot red pepper flakes. Some people
use Frank's Hot sauce to it, and you simmer that
on the stove and then you remove it, let it
and fuse, and then you add some lemon juice or
vinegar about a tablespoon too a cup and it lasts forever.
(08:58):
In the pantry after you strain it. Now, since you
love that heat, you might not want to strain it
all out. But anyway, it's delicious if you just smear
some bors and cheese on a platter with some pistachio
nuts which are very holidayish, and then drizzle what with
that hot honey, and then just serve it. I mean,
is it the prettiest kid on the block. No, because
(09:20):
it's not statuesque. For sure, it's delicious. It's easy, three ingredients,
and for the most part, it's very good for you.
So hot honey. You're going to hear a whole lot
about in foods and in drinks. And you know, it's
funny because when I first saw the notice about it,
I thought, hot honey. I've been making it for years,
(09:41):
you know, in my potions for upper respiratory illnesses, but
we never called it that.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Not only did she make it, but she also as
always referred to mister Hickenfeld as hot honey.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
He'll love that. So what's next?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
A break? And then when we come back, we will
after that, you got to take a break, we will
talk to take a look at some what's up and coming,
what's out there in the future. What are we seeing
out there in twenty twenty six and beyond? With Rita
Hikenfeld about eating dot com as her website Here in
the Garden with Ron Wilson, the Experienced with our CCPCMH
(10:17):
Award winning Syndicator journalists our website about eating dot com
Rita Hikingfeld. So look into the future, Rita hiking Feld,
as we wind down twenty twenty five and looking forward
to twenty six and beyond. What are some of these
trends and things that you're seeing out there?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, it's interesting because you sent me a list which
I agree with and which I've been growing some of,
some of which I've been doing for years. Many of
us have fusion plants.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Well, it's like you said, Rita, what goes around comes around. Well, no, no,
I'm being serious because you think about how long you
and I have been doing this together, and I think
about things that you were teaching me back thirty years ago,
about you know, herbs and things like that, and where
you know, all of a sudden it comes to the
forefront and you're like, Rita's been talking about that for
thirty years.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, and you know, it's really satisfying to know that
what you know, all the talks you and I gave
about health and plants and functional food and fusion food
all now being just embraced maybe by some different names
and adjectives. I would say, like, as I said, the
(11:23):
fusion plants, those you had sent me some Hobby Farms
magazine and Vibrant Harvest book, really really interesting, and as
I said, what some of us have been doing for
decades now, fusion plants are and well what are those?
Those are the herbs sometimes the flowers, edible flowers that
(11:43):
you make that are used to make infusions. And the
first thing I thought of was anasissip in my garden
because it makes a lovely tea and a lovely infusion.
And people are now interspersing those herbs in their garden
landscape and their flower beds and their vegetables gardens like
basil and the annis lemon balm, which be careful where
(12:05):
you plant that because it's a mint, and some of
those lovely plants that are so healthy for you, they're interspersing.
They're not just putting them in a container or in
the herb garden. They're everywhere. So I just love that idea,
don't you.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Oh, absolutely no doubt about it. Why is becoming such a.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Well, you know, that's the end of the year, and
it's it's a rizome like ginger, really orange. It's called
the golden spice because it's got so many medicinal qualities,
I mean, antioxidants and I amflammatory, good for your joints.
Not the best tasting. It's used a lot in Asian cooking.
(12:44):
But I make something called gold and milk with turmeric
and ginger and honey and some black pepper. Really good
for anything that ails you and quite easily digestible. So
turmeric you can find that in capsules or powder. And
it's interesting if you buy the rhizome, you can actually
plant that like ginger. So the over the year is
(13:07):
something very unusual and very functional.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Now you're talking about unusual, and you know we we
we've had all these or a couple of these anyway
for years, but you just don't see him grown that
much or talked about very much.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Bergamont, Oh, my gosh, bergamot or Bergamont. Well, I say that,
but you know, like you say tomato and somebody else
says tomato. So I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Know anybody that says Tomato.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, you and I grew up a little different, so
we grew up just ordinary. Well, you know, you're really
good at explaining it to me. Bergamot, the beautiful flower
makes a lovely medicinal tea. The flavor isn't the greatest
sort of minty and anisey, but red bergamot or bergamont.
(13:54):
If you infuse the leaves and the petals, it makes
a lovely gell with lemon juice. But how would you
describe the flour itself. It's sort of like a bushy
hair due to me, sort of spiky.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I'll take that.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Okay, there you go, And bees love the like.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
On a human day when I you know, when we're
giving a talk and your hair is just going to.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Throws a little bit.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yes, yes, yes, talking with Rita hiking found again her
website is about eating dot com. Uh perilla, you know,
and again she sho sheiso or parrilla. And we're not
talking about the annual parilla, the colorful perilla that we
plant as an annual. Obviously, Uh, it's in the same family,
but this is, uh, this is different. You'll find it
(14:40):
in the herb section and it's it is kind of
a minty flavor.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Right, Oh yeah, minty. It's tasting smells a little bit
like camoon komin to me. Yeah, the siso. The perillas
are really big, the green and the purple. They self
feed everywhere. People are using them as wraps, shredded and
soups and grains and salads and now and of course
if you buy the kimsheet of pickled uh, the Korean vegetables,
(15:09):
the beautiful pink color comes from perilla, and now they're
using them and drink. So yeah, something that's an old
fashioned plant is becoming new again, very very interesting and
good for you too.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So why am I seeing tallow taken over everywhere? Now?
I mean this started. I started seeing us a couple
of years ago, Tano's doing their chips, their tortilla chips
and tallow and the flavors phenomenal obviously, But now all
of a sudden, I'm seeing that stuff everywhere. What goes
around comes.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Around exactly, sort of like lard, pork fat, tallow, beef
beef fat. People again, going back to functional foods, natural
and tallow has a wonderful flavor, mister Wilson, and it
has a high smoke point so chefs love to use it.
As far as the health concerns, we won't get into
(16:01):
that deeply. But versus the seed oils, tallow has more
saturated fat. But again it's a higher smoke point and
the people who are the nose to tail aficionados just
love that. And I'm thinking when I think of tallow,
I always think of soap that was made in the
olden days. So there you go, something another, really something
(16:23):
functional that you can use outside as well as inside
your body. So yeah, Talo is big, and I think
it's going to stay big for twenty six.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah, I think you and Granny have made those together.
For the hill and collared greens coming back and fiber
coming back, well that's already been around anyway, but collared
greens and then we're seeing beansborn more and cabbage crush
and all nine yards as crazy. Rita Hikenfeld, always a pleasure.
I want to wish you and mister Eickenfeld a very
merry Christmas. We'll talk to you in the future.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yep, talk to you in the new year.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I thank you, Rita Hikenfeld. Coming up next, m Shipman
from Kidsgardening dot Org. Here in the garden run will
been with Ron Wilson. Hey, so it's almost the end
of the year, right and you're looking out there saying,
you know what, I get a little extra money, I
think I'd like to figure out where I could donate
to help the most. And you know it, at end
of every show and during our show as well, one
(17:15):
of my focuses on getting kids involved with gardening and
finding ways to get kids involved with gardening. And if
you sitting out there today and you say, I'd love to,
but I have no idea what to do, how I
go about it, I'll tell you what. We've had a
group on our show and you can help me out
him as far as how long, but for a long
long time because they do such a great job and
they just get better and better every year. It's called
(17:38):
Kids Gardening. Their website is Kidsgardening dot org and their
executive directors with us this morning, and that would be
m Shipman.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Good morning, Good morning, Ron. How are you?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I am great? So how long have we been doing this?
I mean a long time?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
A long time? Yeah, at least well, I've been with
Keiths Gardening for ten years, so maybe that long.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I think when you first started, as we started having
you on to talk more about this, and I look
at where im where you guys have come from ten
years ago to today, and obviously it's thanks to folks
like yourself and others that have gotten involved with kids
Gardening dot org and of course the donations as well,
but kind of give folks an update on what kids
Gardening does and where you are today.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, so we've grown a lot in the last ten
years and the demand for gardening with kids is higher
than ever. You know, we saw big search during COVID
that people started gardening at home and we've maintained that
interest in gardening with kids. People are just finding that
it's a great activity to get kids outdoors and physically
(18:44):
active and engaged in learning. And more than anything, it's
a great way for families to connect with each other
of grandparents and grandkids, parents and kids, and definitely through
school gardens and community gardens as well. So we are
really seeing more demand than ever for our resources, and
(19:05):
what we're doing across the country is creating resources, so
activities and lesson plans and curricula for grown ups to
garden with kids, and we're also offering small grants for
community organizations across the country to get those gardens put
in or refurbished. And then we're connecting educators with one another.
(19:30):
So we have professional development for teachers who are doing
the hard work of you know, on top of their
regular job teaching through the classroom, also bringing kids outside
to learn through the garden, and so we have professional
development resources for them as well. So all those things
that we're doing here Kids Gardening take a lot of
(19:50):
money to produce, right, you know, And and so what
we do is ask our communities to support that. We
have tens of thousands of people on our mailing list
who are using our resources and who are accessing our grants,
and we ask those folks, you know, hey, chip in
five dollars if this is valuable to you, if this
(20:12):
is something you want to support in your community, chip
in just a little bit, and then we can make
it work.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You know, reading your statistics and the way for today,
it says for every dollar donated Kids Gardening and this
Kidsguarding dot Org is able to reach eight more kids.
I mean, that's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Yeah, yeah, And I said, you know, I just mentioned
it takes a lot of money to make this make
just work. But it's not a lot of money in
this scheme of things, right, So gardening is actually really
an expensive way to engage kids in learning compared to
some other You know, your local elementary school might pay
thirty thousand dollars for a math curriculu, but building a
(20:49):
garden is five hundred dollars with the rave beds and
the soil, and so really it is a low cost
way in the scheme of things of getting kids engaged
in hands on learning. And we're creating those resources for
people to take and to implement in the garden. So
we are able to reach a lot of kids with
a little bit of money, just because of the really
(21:11):
engaging nature of what we do talking with them.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Sheman. She's the executive director of Kids Guardening their website
kidsgardening dot org. I still love this, the uh handwritten
post that you posted that you got from one of
your kids from the Kids Gardening. It says, I love
the garden because I get fresh food and it's a
fun and it's fun in a way, like a fun
and dirty way. Also I like that I love it.
(21:37):
I like to help the bees, butterflies, worms and ants.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Well, it's no great. Kids are the best. Really, you know,
whatever's going on in the world, I'm able to find
joy every day in my work just by connecting with
the kids that we're supporting. They're just so inspirational and
so connected to everything that really matters, and quotes like
that just really bring me so much joy.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Now you and of course this is this is a
national group, so you you're wherever folks kids come from
and go to your website. I mean it could be
anywhere around the world, I assume, but I know it's
in English and you've now added Spanish as well, right
we have.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, we had some supporters who were able to help
us get a bunch of our materials translated. So we
have at least a few dozen, if not more, up
parts of one hundred different resources that are translated into
Spanish for folks. So you know, we know that you know,
people who come here from other countries are speaking other
(22:41):
languages and also have lots of gardening and agricultural knowledge
to share and experiences and want to be working through
the garden with kids, and so yeah, we're translating those
two Spanish as well.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Unbelievable where you have come since we first started danting
we're talking before we got you on the phone, and
I said, it has to be at least ten years
that we first got involved with you guys, and look
at what you do today. It's just phenomenal talking with
them Shipman Kidsgardening dot Org and a great way to
get kids involved with gardening, great way for you to
learn how to get kids involved with gardening. And of
(23:18):
course it's the end of the year and we're saying, hey,
I'm being right up front. You got some extra change
or something you want to donate, You're looking for a
great donation. Here's a great cause. This is a great
way because we got to get those kids more involved
with gardening, and this is a great way to do it.
Every bucket donate you can reach eight more kids. In
twenty twenty three, you all reached just under eighty thousand
(23:38):
kids through grants, builds and contests, two and a half
million kids through your curriculum, the plans and all, seventy
eight thousand through women webinars, and thirty eight thousand through
the Kids Garden community. That is phenomen It was two
years ago and now those numbers are way up even
higher than that. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah, it is phenomenal. It's really amazing how many people
are out there working with kids through the garden and
we're just honored to be able to support them. Yeah,
we're up around three million kids per year and we're
giving out around four hundred thousand dollars through grants and
so those that money is money that's donated to us
that we are able them to put through to communities
(24:20):
all across the United States to be able to support
these gardens and their grants. You know, like I was saying,
it's five hundred dollars, it's a thousand dollars. It's just
build those race beds, get that soil, those seeds, and
get things growing in the ground. For kids, it really
doesn't take a lot to get them engaged, but it's
transformational and it's really just those those experiences and not
(24:44):
exposure to where does my food come from? And you know,
why do we need pollinators? And how does my body
feel when I'm physically active and outside and getting some
fresh air and some sun and so all of these
benefits for kids learning. It's physical activity, it's healthy eating,
(25:04):
it's connecting to our neighbors and connecting to our community.
It's really just so many benefits for kids it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
List them all.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And you know the adults who do it with them
are also seeing benefits as well.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
You know, I loved your newsletter this week. You're addressing
the growing seasons, what's your zone and how to understand
the plant hardiness zones. You guys have an e course
on landscape design for youth gardens phenomenal of course, the
content club and on and on and on. It's great.
I can't promote you guys more. You have done such
a great job. I donate to you as well. It's
(25:38):
Kidsgardening dot org. I really believe they're just doing an
outstanding job. So how can folks what different ways can
they donate to you?
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Yeah, so come to our website kidsgardening dot org and
you'll see a little purple donate button in the top right.
Or you can go to Kidsgardening dot org flash donate.
But that page has almost a dozen ways folks can donate,
and a that I want to highlight that are really
easy it might not cost you anything, would be to
look to see if your employer has a donation program
(26:09):
or sponsorship. So if you work for a company that
does some filanthropic giving, look and see if they have
either a match, so maybe you donate fifty bucks and
they will match your fifty dollars donation, or maybe they
have a you know, a corporate foundation or some sponsorship
arm that you could reach out to them and say, hey,
(26:30):
I think this organization is really worth worthwhile and we
should explore sponsoring them or getting involved in them. So
that would be a great way. Another way is it
sounds funny, but there's an organization that will take donations
of old cars. Do you have like a car sitting
in your yard. We can receive up to a few
(26:54):
thousand dollars from folks don't getting an old car. You know,
maybe you've had it an your kid drove it when
they were in high school, and now you need to
either trade it in or sell it for metal. But
we can take that car donation through a company called
cart Easy and then the funds come to us. So
(27:16):
that's a really easy way to donate as well. But
we have any you could set up a monthly donation.
That's really a nice way to give. It's five dollars
or ten dollars a month, something that you would maybe
spend on coffee or a snack at the store. It's
a small amount for you, perhaps, but it's a really
big deal for Kids Gardening to have that consistent income
(27:39):
that we can count on. Nonprofits tend to have like
a big uptick at the end of the year, and
then it can be a little bumpy throughout the year
as they're fundraising. So that consistent monthly giving that some
sustaining donors do is really helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Am Shipment, it is always a pleasure having you on
our show. It's unbelievable what you guys can continue to do.
You just get better and better all the time. If
you want to help grow, help happy, healthy kids, consider
making a donation to Kids Gardening. Go to their website
it's Kidsgardening dot org and just a little bit will help.
But if you want to do a lot, that's great
(28:16):
as well. And uh, and just keep watching them over
the years. They just get better and better all the time.
You ready for Christmas?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I'm ready for Christmas, except we don't have a tree.
We have everything else going on. So today's the day
We're getting our tree.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
So today's tree Day. And then get all the presents
wrapped and everything ready to go.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Oh, not that much. We'll be wrapping presents. Yeah, two
little boys, and we're excited at you know, officially the
weekend before Christmas, so we have all our gifts. We'll
set up the tree today, we'll do some baking, and
we're having all the family over later this week.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Outstanding. M. Shipman. It has it's always a pleasure having
you on. Like I said, it's been fun working with
you along. Will continue to follow along as as kids
Gardening dot org just gets better and better all the time. Again,
help grow happy, healthy kids. Donate the kids Gardening dot org.
Have a great holiday.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Season, Happy holidays, Ron, Thank you all.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Right, M. Shipman again, Kids Gardening dot org just check
it out, go to website, see what they're doing. Quick break,
We come back. You and me talking your ardening at
eight hundred eight two three eight two fivey five. Here
in the garden with Ron Wilson. In the garden with
Ron Wilson again that toll free number eight hundred eight
three eight two fivey five. Don't forget our website at
Ron Wilson online dot com and Facebook page. In the
(29:32):
Garden with Ron Wilson to Northern Kentucky. We go Steve
good morning.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Well, good morning ron, how are.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You, sir? Christ Merry Christmas to you.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
I wanted to do a couple comments. Well, and Comfrey
has been used for over two thousand years, and I'm
and it was used by Alexander the Great. I don't
think he would be Alexander the Great if it wasn't
for Comfrey healing his armies. He was his armies pushed
well into Asia and they use the healing power of
(30:06):
Comfrey to heal all sorts of broken bones and what
have you. I mean, it's not going to help with
you know, if you get your head, if you're a
little lymphy or whatever, it shouldn't work right, So I
think he would he would not be Alexander the Great
if it.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Wasn't for combination.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Of that and the fact that they had things like big,
massive cheese rolls that they could take so the army
could uh feed off of that.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Now do you grow you grow comfrey?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I do, and I actually do sparingly use it internally
and I've had great success with it. Now you don't
want I don't believe in using the roots. The roots
have higher concentrations of the perizoliding alkaloids, which can cause
liver damage, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
And that's I think that's been one of the one
of the you know, the gentleman at email me said,
you know, why don't we see this more and more?
And I think that's been one of the things about
you know there, you know, it can be not a
good thing for you if used in the wrong way.
But again, the benefit, just the benefits alone of what
it does to improve the soil for composting, for breaking
(31:28):
down adding organic matter is unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
It's amazing. That's why we But you know, I've used
it for fifteen years. And one thing to keep in
mind is broccoli fluret. Are you are you afraid to
eat broccoli plurets? They have a much higher concentration perizoliting
alkaloids in broccoli.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Really, yes, not going to another excuse. Not got another
excuse not to eat broccoli.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I like broccoli, especially throw out in the garden and
it doesn't make it in the house. I just I
just graze on it straight from the beds whatever.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yep, But Steve doesn't mean it doesn't everything takes better
refresh from the garden.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Like that, Oh, absolutely absolutely read. People don't like doing
that because it might be contaminated with whatever it.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
I love it when there's even a little bit of
dirt left on there. We were the farmer's market last weekend,
and you know they're just they're harvesting carrots, late season carrots,
and you take one of those and you know they've
cleaned them off. Well, just pop that in your mouth.
That flavor is so different than carrots that you buy
in the grocery store, especially in the bag. It is crazy.
And you know you'd never I don't know, you don't
want to buy carrots anymore. Once you taste carrots from
(32:45):
a you know, growing them yourself like that, or from
a fresh produce market. Crazy. The flavors are totally different.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yes, they definitely are. And then maybe next week we'll
talk about rosemary, because I know him probab out of time.
Rosemary and rosemrinic acid was also used by the same Mediterraneans.
The Greek wise guys use rosemary and this rosemarnick ascid.
That's part of the reason why they were smarter than
the average human is today good.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
For your memory, good for the brain, very.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Good, very good for your memory.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
That's greed about that next time, all right, sounds good. Steve,
good talking. We have a very merry Christmas, Matt and Kentucky.
Good morning, Yeah, Ron, I mean I.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Was wondering when there's a good time to bed the roses, like,
you know, put them all to around them.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
You're good now, you know. We try to wait, We
try to hold off as long as we can until
the soil temperatures start to reach less than forty degrees.
And once they get to less than forty degrees, that's
a great time to go in there and put those
to bed. Now, we got a lot of snowbirds that
leave out of here around Thanksgiving, and you don't you know,
you can't wait obviously, so they bet them down a
(33:57):
little bit too early. But if you can wait till that,
we're at that point now where they're getting that. So
now's a good time to go in. Uh We've got
the snow kind of cleared away, so now it'd be
a great time to go in and do any clean
up and then do some winter multi on those roses. Absolutely. Okay,
all right, Matt, good talking with you. As a matter
of fact, talking about roses, two things. One is if
(34:19):
you have a tree rose and I had this, I'm
glad he brought it up. If you have a tree rose,
all right, you bought it in the garden center this
year and you've never had one before, you got to
plant it in the in the patio area or in
the garden or whatever. Although the rows on the top
may be a hearty rose, tree roses are very subject
to winter kill or winter die back, all right. Winter
(34:40):
so winter or tree roses need a special type of
winter protection. You either grow those in a container that
you can pull them up out of the ground or
off off the patio or whatever, and store them away
in an unheated garage or shed cold temperatures. You want
to keep them dormant. You don't want them to come
back to life or anything. You want to stay dormant.
But protect them from the excessive cold temperatures over the winter.
(35:03):
You've got to do that. Or and doctor Pachmint, one
of our big rose experts in our area. That was
all he Olvers talked about was if you're gonna do
tree roses growman containers is you can move them in,
you move them out. The other thing is you can
build a cage around it, steaks around it, chicken wire
and stuff that with straw and leaves and things like
that around the entire trunk and rose, and you can
(35:27):
put some burlap around the outside or a bubble wrap
to help protect it as well. Or you'll actually go
and cut the roots on one side, lay it down
to the ground and then mult it over. But those
are typically not hardy to leave them alone as is.
You must do some winter protection. If you want a
tip sheet, I've got one for you. Email me and
I'll send it back to you next week. Quick break,
(35:48):
we come back. We're going to talk to another one
of my favorites when it comes to kids gardening, Katie Stagley,
Oh No, Kave's crops Here in the Garden with Ron
Wilson
Our toll free number eight hundred eight two three eight
two five five. Good morning, I am Ron Wilson, your person.
We're talking about you yarding and as I promised, she
is with us. It's time for are you urbally experienced
with our ccp CMH Award winning syndicated journalist, Appalachian herbal scholar,
member of the Urban Society of America. She is a
media personality, cooking teacher, motivation speaker. I'm always motivated when
(00:23):
she's done being on our show. Contributed to Seeking her
Heart Radio and our iHeartRadio, as well her website about
eating dot com ladies and gentlemen. Rita Nader hikenfeve. Oh
you got a crowd here today? Wow? Okay, okay, let
(00:46):
her talk. She's well, good morning, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Now.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
I don't think i've seen this set people here before.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Well, it's the holidays. Everybody's celebrating getting together. I think
it's just the perfect time of year for that, don't you, Well.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
You know you you always draw a big crowd. I
mean I have to face it. I mean you when
you're on it's it's a pretty large crowd. Target with
Rita Hiking fell and I got a lot to talk
about with with you today. First of all, did you
see where Burpie and the American Horticultural Society came together
and they're doing a happy two hundred and fiftieth birthday America.
(01:23):
Four great garden packets of seeds from two hundred and
fifty years ago, Thomas Jefferson's Garden, Martha Washington's Kitchen Garden,
The Declaration Bouquet, and Rita Hiking Fell's Colonial Door herb Garden.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Well, I fit in that timeline, that's for sure. There
really there really is something like that.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yeah, it's yeah. They put these packets together and there's
an elimited amount you got to get them through Burpie.
Burpie also put together a seed Collection Anniversary book because
it's their one hundred and fiftieth the Anniverse Tree about
the years of first and talk about all of the
great vegetables that they have brought along over the years,
and you'll recognize a lot of the things that are
(02:08):
out there that you'll see on their list, including a
big boy tomato.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Oh my gosh, well you know, black.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Beauty egg plant. You know, all of those things that
they've brought along in all these all these years, pretty
cool looking catalog and it's it's actually a magazine type
of thing. But anyway, these four packs of seeds are
commemorative seeds. Yeah, and so you'll you'll be growing the
same thing that George or Thomas did, or Martha or
Rita or the decoration bouquet of red, whites and blues.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Well, it seems like, you know, everything old again is
new again and we're look at you. Well, I never
did get old, mister Wilson.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I know, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I don't get that ageless ageless. But let's talk about
plants and gardens instead of your.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Second. Secondly, I don't know if you noticed out there,
but a lot of the annuals winter annuals really got
a dice foothold and grew very well this winter this
past fall with the warmer weather. The chick weed, the hendbit.
I mean, I've growing like crazy. I've had more people
asking about that this time of the year than I
think I ever had because they really got a good foothold.
(03:22):
But I found a recipe, and I don't know if
you've ever done this chickweed pesto U.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Yes, actually I have now not complete chick weed, but
I've added it to my basil pesto with garlic scapes
and my friend Lisa we did that a couple of
years ago, and because she had a bunch of garlic
escapes in her yard on her street. And then I
had a bunch of chick weed and handbit. Yeah, yes,
(03:47):
I have done that. And the chickweed, wow, talk about nutrition.
The flavor, it's sort of a very mild flavor. Now
the hen bit has if you put that in there,
just a couple of leaves, because that's pretty strong flavor.
But yeah, I mean people are going back to all that.
It's just amazing and I'm very happy to see it.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
All right. Well, here's another one. And Bobby Cheetter, who's
a listened to our show and emails a lot, said
that all of a sudden he's reading more and more
about using or growing comfrey. And he said, why haven't
I heard about comfrey? And why am I all of
a sudden starting to hear about it? And I said,
you know, it's an old thing that's been around forever. Great,
you know, a great soil amendment because of what it
(04:29):
does for the soil, bringing nutrients to it at all,
and of course great for the compost pile, but you know,
you've got to grow it. It's a perennial. It can
be pretty aggressive. And remember the tomato king Pete that
used to be on our show. He was he won
all the tomato tasting awards.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
That was one of his key secrets, he said, was
growing comfrey and using that as a compost and soil
amendment for around his tomatoes.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Oh that's interesting. I know Comfrey has fallen out of
favor the last oh gosh, I don't know decade or
so as far as ingesting it, we still make a
lot of salves and ointments out of the leaves because
it's really really good for your joints. I still drink
comfory tea in the spring, but it's not recommended. You know,
(05:17):
how things go. You know, you just don't know as
far as what's the good thing to put in your
body and what isn't. But it's interesting. I know the
Comfrey leaves if I put them on the compost pile, boy,
it really starts at compost up. And you're right, very aggressive,
but beautiful flowers. They just sort of droopy purple, and
(05:38):
it's just it's a love I love the comfory plant.
It's such an old fashioned one. Glad to know it's
coming back in favor.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, and again you look way back. I mean the
orchards they used to grow comfrey along with the with
the fruiting trees and berries to help again adding nutrients
back to the soil, breaking down the cet et cetera.
So I told him, I said, you know, with permaculture
and things going on trying to be more natur I
think comfrey would possibly make a big comeback. You know,
you got to work well, I mean something else you
(06:06):
got to grow, and it's a perennial blah blah blah.
But it probably couldn't make that comeback, no doubt about it.
Talking with Rita Hikenfeld again. Her website is about eating
dot com. We call a segment Are You Urbly Experienced?
And my choice of planning the week this week was
Christmas rosemary, which I always laugh sometimes because you know,
I'm not a big rosemary fan, although I've been eating
(06:28):
it more and more lately, but trying to grow them
inside over the winter can be a little difficult.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Oh yeah, and you know you and I have had
these contests before about growing rosemary in the winter. They're
beautiful the specimens that you find usually and I usually
find mine in the produce section. You're right, you said earlier.
They're shaped like Christmas trees and people put little ornaments
on them and then use them in cooking. The thing
is they're grown at optimal temperatures and climate just perfect
(06:58):
where they were. But when you get them in your home,
our homes for the most part, are a lot drier
and rosemary sort of a I always say she's like
a very pretty spoiled child. She doesn't like her feet
too wet to dry, so if you're going to grow
her in the house, she needs lots of good air
circulation and sort of moist so I usually just sprits
(07:21):
around the plant and water as needed. But here's the thing.
If the needles do eventually fall off, and they will,
it makes great dried rosemary. Don't just you know, put
those in the trash or composts because you've got what's
very expensive in the store, You've got your own dried rosemary.
So yeah, I'm always interested to see who has success
(07:43):
and who doesn't. But it's a lovely holiday plant with
the piny aroma, for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
And now I'm starting to see lavender being done the
same way and uses an indoor plan for the holiday
season as well. Talking with Rita Hikenfelder website about eating
dot Com, Your recipe this week on our website is
an appetizer for Christmas guests. Uh do you pronounce it
boorsen Borsen borson borson.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Urban garlic cheese.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
It's you know, a little I love that stuff.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
I know it's so good. Or you can buy it
in a little tub to different varieties, different brands. But
hot honey is like has been in the news. I mean,
it's been very trendy for the last couple of years,
but I think it's now just hitting mainstream and it
has to do with functional foods and the trends toward
(08:32):
eating very healthy and basically, hot honey is just honey.
And I use our raw honey from our hives that
you add like red hot red pepper flakes. Some people
use Frank's Hot sauce to it, and you simmer that
on the stove and then you remove it, let it
and fuse, and then you add some lemon juice or
vinegar about a tablespoon too a cup and it lasts forever.
(08:58):
In the pantry after you strain it. Now, since you
love that heat, you might not want to strain it
all out. But anyway, it's delicious if you just smear
some bors and cheese on a platter with some pistachio
nuts which are very holidayish, and then drizzle what with
that hot honey, and then just serve it. I mean,
is it the prettiest kid on the block. No, because
(09:20):
it's not statuesque. For sure, it's delicious. It's easy, three ingredients,
and for the most part, it's very good for you.
So hot honey. You're going to hear a whole lot
about in foods and in drinks. And you know, it's
funny because when I first saw the notice about it,
I thought, hot honey. I've been making it for years,
(09:41):
you know, in my potions for upper respiratory illnesses, but
we never called it that.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Not only did she make it, but she also as
always referred to mister Hickenfeld as hot honey.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
He'll love that. So what's next?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
A break? And then when we come back, we will
after that, you got to take a break, we will
talk to take a look at some what's up and coming,
what's out there in the future. What are we seeing
out there in twenty twenty six and beyond? With Rita
Hikenfeld about eating dot com as her website Here in
the Garden with Ron Wilson, the Experienced with our CCPCMH
(10:17):
Award winning Syndicator journalists our website about eating dot com
Rita Hikingfeld. So look into the future, Rita hiking Feld,
as we wind down twenty twenty five and looking forward
to twenty six and beyond. What are some of these
trends and things that you're seeing out there?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, it's interesting because you sent me a list which
I agree with and which I've been growing some of,
some of which I've been doing for years. Many of
us have fusion plants.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Well, it's like you said, Rita, what goes around comes around. Well, no, no,
I'm being serious because you think about how long you
and I have been doing this together, and I think
about things that you were teaching me back thirty years ago,
about you know, herbs and things like that, and where
you know, all of a sudden it comes to the
forefront and you're like, Rita's been talking about that for
thirty years.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Well, and you know, it's really satisfying to know that
what you know, all the talks you and I gave
about health and plants and functional food and fusion food
all now being just embraced maybe by some different names
and adjectives. I would say, like, as I said, the
(11:23):
fusion plants, those you had sent me some Hobby Farms
magazine and Vibrant Harvest book, really really interesting, and as
I said, what some of us have been doing for
decades now, fusion plants are and well what are those?
Those are the herbs sometimes the flowers, edible flowers that
(11:43):
you make that are used to make infusions. And the
first thing I thought of was anasissip in my garden
because it makes a lovely tea and a lovely infusion.
And people are now interspersing those herbs in their garden
landscape and their flower beds and their vegetables gardens like
basil and the annis lemon balm, which be careful where
(12:05):
you plant that because it's a mint, and some of
those lovely plants that are so healthy for you, they're interspersing.
They're not just putting them in a container or in
the herb garden. They're everywhere. So I just love that idea,
don't you.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Oh, absolutely no doubt about it. Why is becoming such a.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Well, you know, that's the end of the year, and
it's it's a rizome like ginger, really orange. It's called
the golden spice because it's got so many medicinal qualities,
I mean, antioxidants and I amflammatory, good for your joints.
Not the best tasting. It's used a lot in Asian cooking.
(12:44):
But I make something called gold and milk with turmeric
and ginger and honey and some black pepper. Really good
for anything that ails you and quite easily digestible. So
turmeric you can find that in capsules or powder. And
it's interesting if you buy the rhizome, you can actually
plant that like ginger. So the over the year is
(13:07):
something very unusual and very functional.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Now you're talking about unusual, and you know we we
we've had all these or a couple of these anyway
for years, but you just don't see him grown that
much or talked about very much.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Bergamont, Oh, my gosh, bergamot or Bergamont. Well, I say that,
but you know, like you say tomato and somebody else
says tomato. So I don't.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Know anybody that says Tomato.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Well, you and I grew up a little different, so
we grew up just ordinary. Well, you know, you're really
good at explaining it to me. Bergamot, the beautiful flower
makes a lovely medicinal tea. The flavor isn't the greatest
sort of minty and anisey, but red bergamot or bergamont.
(13:54):
If you infuse the leaves and the petals, it makes
a lovely gell with lemon juice. But how would you
describe the flour itself. It's sort of like a bushy
hair due to me, sort of spiky.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
I'll take that.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Okay, there you go, And bees love the like.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
On a human day when I you know, when we're
giving a talk and your hair is just going to.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
Throws a little bit.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Yes, yes, yes, talking with Rita hiking found again her
website is about eating dot com. Uh perilla, you know,
and again she sho sheiso or parrilla. And we're not
talking about the annual parilla, the colorful perilla that we
plant as an annual. Obviously, Uh, it's in the same family,
but this is, uh, this is different. You'll find it
(14:40):
in the herb section and it's it is kind of
a minty flavor.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Right, Oh yeah, minty. It's tasting smells a little bit
like camoon komin to me. Yeah, the siso. The perillas
are really big, the green and the purple. They self
feed everywhere. People are using them as wraps, shredded and
soups and grains and salads and now and of course
if you buy the kimsheet of pickled uh, the Korean vegetables,
(15:09):
the beautiful pink color comes from perilla, and now they're
using them and drink. So yeah, something that's an old
fashioned plant is becoming new again, very very interesting and
good for you too.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
So why am I seeing tallow taken over everywhere? Now?
I mean this started. I started seeing us a couple
of years ago, Tano's doing their chips, their tortilla chips
and tallow and the flavors phenomenal obviously, But now all
of a sudden, I'm seeing that stuff everywhere. What goes
around comes.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Around exactly, sort of like lard, pork fat, tallow, beef
beef fat. People again, going back to functional foods, natural
and tallow has a wonderful flavor, mister Wilson, and it
has a high smoke point so chefs love to use it.
As far as the health concerns, we won't get into
(16:01):
that deeply. But versus the seed oils, tallow has more
saturated fat. But again it's a higher smoke point and
the people who are the nose to tail aficionados just
love that. And I'm thinking when I think of tallow,
I always think of soap that was made in the
olden days. So there you go, something another, really something
(16:23):
functional that you can use outside as well as inside
your body. So yeah, Talo is big, and I think
it's going to stay big for twenty six.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
Yeah, I think you and Granny have made those together.
For the hill and collared greens coming back and fiber
coming back, well that's already been around anyway, but collared
greens and then we're seeing beansborn more and cabbage crush
and all nine yards as crazy. Rita Hikenfeld, always a pleasure.
I want to wish you and mister Eickenfeld a very
merry Christmas. We'll talk to you in the future.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Yep, talk to you in the new year.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
I thank you, Rita Hikenfeld. Coming up next, m Shipman
from Kidsgardening dot Org. Here in the garden run will
been with Ron Wilson. Hey, so it's almost the end
of the year, right and you're looking out there saying,
you know what, I get a little extra money, I
think I'd like to figure out where I could donate
to help the most. And you know it, at end
of every show and during our show as well, one
(17:15):
of my focuses on getting kids involved with gardening and
finding ways to get kids involved with gardening. And if
you sitting out there today and you say, I'd love to,
but I have no idea what to do, how I
go about it, I'll tell you what. We've had a
group on our show and you can help me out
him as far as how long, but for a long
long time because they do such a great job and
they just get better and better every year. It's called
(17:38):
Kids Gardening. Their website is Kidsgardening dot org and their
executive directors with us this morning, and that would be
m Shipman.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
Good morning, Good morning, Ron. How are you?
Speaker 1 (17:48):
I am great? So how long have we been doing this?
I mean a long time?
Speaker 4 (17:53):
A long time? Yeah, at least well, I've been with
Keiths Gardening for ten years, so maybe that long.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I think when you first started, as we started having
you on to talk more about this, and I look
at where im where you guys have come from ten
years ago to today, and obviously it's thanks to folks
like yourself and others that have gotten involved with kids
Gardening dot org and of course the donations as well,
but kind of give folks an update on what kids
Gardening does and where you are today.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Yeah, so we've grown a lot in the last ten
years and the demand for gardening with kids is higher
than ever. You know, we saw big search during COVID
that people started gardening at home and we've maintained that
interest in gardening with kids. People are just finding that
it's a great activity to get kids outdoors and physically
(18:44):
active and engaged in learning. And more than anything, it's
a great way for families to connect with each other
of grandparents and grandkids, parents and kids, and definitely through
school gardens and community gardens as well. So we are
really seeing more demand than ever for our resources, and
(19:05):
what we're doing across the country is creating resources, so
activities and lesson plans and curricula for grown ups to
garden with kids, and we're also offering small grants for
community organizations across the country to get those gardens put
in or refurbished. And then we're connecting educators with one another.
(19:30):
So we have professional development for teachers who are doing
the hard work of you know, on top of their
regular job teaching through the classroom, also bringing kids outside
to learn through the garden, and so we have professional
development resources for them as well. So all those things
that we're doing here Kids Gardening take a lot of
(19:50):
money to produce, right, you know, And and so what
we do is ask our communities to support that. We
have tens of thousands of people on our mailing list
who are using our resources and who are accessing our grants,
and we ask those folks, you know, hey, chip in
five dollars if this is valuable to you, if this
(20:12):
is something you want to support in your community, chip
in just a little bit, and then we can make
it work.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
You know, reading your statistics and the way for today,
it says for every dollar donated Kids Gardening and this
Kidsguarding dot Org is able to reach eight more kids.
I mean, that's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Yeah, yeah, And I said, you know, I just mentioned
it takes a lot of money to make this make
just work. But it's not a lot of money in
this scheme of things, right, So gardening is actually really
an expensive way to engage kids in learning compared to
some other You know, your local elementary school might pay
thirty thousand dollars for a math curriculu, but building a
(20:49):
garden is five hundred dollars with the rave beds and
the soil, and so really it is a low cost
way in the scheme of things of getting kids engaged
in hands on learning. And we're creating those resources for
people to take and to implement in the garden. So
we are able to reach a lot of kids with
a little bit of money, just because of the really
(21:11):
engaging nature of what we do talking with them.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Sheman. She's the executive director of Kids Guardening their website
kidsgardening dot org. I still love this, the uh handwritten
post that you posted that you got from one of
your kids from the Kids Gardening. It says, I love
the garden because I get fresh food and it's a
fun and it's fun in a way, like a fun
and dirty way. Also I like that I love it.
(21:37):
I like to help the bees, butterflies, worms and ants.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
Well, it's no great. Kids are the best. Really, you know,
whatever's going on in the world, I'm able to find
joy every day in my work just by connecting with
the kids that we're supporting. They're just so inspirational and
so connected to everything that really matters, and quotes like
that just really bring me so much joy.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Now you and of course this is this is a
national group, so you you're wherever folks kids come from
and go to your website. I mean it could be
anywhere around the world, I assume, but I know it's
in English and you've now added Spanish as well, right
we have.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, we had some supporters who were able to help
us get a bunch of our materials translated. So we
have at least a few dozen, if not more, up
parts of one hundred different resources that are translated into
Spanish for folks. So you know, we know that you know,
people who come here from other countries are speaking other
(22:41):
languages and also have lots of gardening and agricultural knowledge
to share and experiences and want to be working through
the garden with kids, and so yeah, we're translating those
two Spanish as well.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Unbelievable where you have come since we first started danting
we're talking before we got you on the phone, and
I said, it has to be at least ten years
that we first got involved with you guys, and look
at what you do today. It's just phenomenal talking with
them Shipman Kidsgardening dot Org and a great way to
get kids involved with gardening, great way for you to
learn how to get kids involved with gardening. And of
(23:18):
course it's the end of the year and we're saying, hey,
I'm being right up front. You got some extra change
or something you want to donate, You're looking for a
great donation. Here's a great cause. This is a great
way because we got to get those kids more involved
with gardening, and this is a great way to do it.
Every bucket donate you can reach eight more kids. In
twenty twenty three, you all reached just under eighty thousand
(23:38):
kids through grants, builds and contests, two and a half
million kids through your curriculum, the plans and all, seventy
eight thousand through women webinars, and thirty eight thousand through
the Kids Garden community. That is phenomen It was two
years ago and now those numbers are way up even
higher than that. That's phenomenal.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Yeah, it is phenomenal. It's really amazing how many people
are out there working with kids through the garden and
we're just honored to be able to support them. Yeah,
we're up around three million kids per year and we're
giving out around four hundred thousand dollars through grants and
so those that money is money that's donated to us
that we are able them to put through to communities
(24:20):
all across the United States to be able to support
these gardens and their grants. You know, like I was saying,
it's five hundred dollars, it's a thousand dollars. It's just
build those race beds, get that soil, those seeds, and
get things growing in the ground. For kids, it really
doesn't take a lot to get them engaged, but it's
transformational and it's really just those those experiences and not
(24:44):
exposure to where does my food come from? And you know,
why do we need pollinators? And how does my body
feel when I'm physically active and outside and getting some
fresh air and some sun and so all of these
benefits for kids learning. It's physical activity, it's healthy eating,
(25:04):
it's connecting to our neighbors and connecting to our community.
It's really just so many benefits for kids it's hard to.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
List them all.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
And you know the adults who do it with them
are also seeing benefits as well.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
You know, I loved your newsletter this week. You're addressing
the growing seasons, what's your zone and how to understand
the plant hardiness zones. You guys have an e course
on landscape design for youth gardens phenomenal of course, the
content club and on and on and on. It's great.
I can't promote you guys more. You have done such
a great job. I donate to you as well. It's
(25:38):
Kidsgardening dot org. I really believe they're just doing an
outstanding job. So how can folks what different ways can
they donate to you?
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Yeah, so come to our website kidsgardening dot org and
you'll see a little purple donate button in the top right.
Or you can go to Kidsgardening dot org flash donate.
But that page has almost a dozen ways folks can donate,
and a that I want to highlight that are really
easy it might not cost you anything, would be to
look to see if your employer has a donation program
(26:09):
or sponsorship. So if you work for a company that
does some filanthropic giving, look and see if they have
either a match, so maybe you donate fifty bucks and
they will match your fifty dollars donation, or maybe they
have a you know, a corporate foundation or some sponsorship
arm that you could reach out to them and say, hey,
(26:30):
I think this organization is really worth worthwhile and we
should explore sponsoring them or getting involved in them. So
that would be a great way. Another way is it
sounds funny, but there's an organization that will take donations
of old cars. Do you have like a car sitting
in your yard. We can receive up to a few
(26:54):
thousand dollars from folks don't getting an old car. You know,
maybe you've had it an your kid drove it when
they were in high school, and now you need to
either trade it in or sell it for metal. But
we can take that car donation through a company called
cart Easy and then the funds come to us. So
(27:16):
that's a really easy way to donate as well. But
we have any you could set up a monthly donation.
That's really a nice way to give. It's five dollars
or ten dollars a month, something that you would maybe
spend on coffee or a snack at the store. It's
a small amount for you, perhaps, but it's a really
big deal for Kids Gardening to have that consistent income
(27:39):
that we can count on. Nonprofits tend to have like
a big uptick at the end of the year, and
then it can be a little bumpy throughout the year
as they're fundraising. So that consistent monthly giving that some
sustaining donors do is really helpful.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Am Shipment, it is always a pleasure having you on
our show. It's unbelievable what you guys can continue to do.
You just get better and better all the time. If
you want to help grow, help happy, healthy kids, consider
making a donation to Kids Gardening. Go to their website
it's Kidsgardening dot org and just a little bit will help.
But if you want to do a lot, that's great
(28:16):
as well. And uh, and just keep watching them over
the years. They just get better and better all the time.
You ready for Christmas?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
I'm ready for Christmas, except we don't have a tree.
We have everything else going on. So today's the day
We're getting our tree.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
So today's tree Day. And then get all the presents
wrapped and everything ready to go.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Oh, not that much. We'll be wrapping presents. Yeah, two
little boys, and we're excited at you know, officially the
weekend before Christmas, so we have all our gifts. We'll
set up the tree today, we'll do some baking, and
we're having all the family over later this week.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Outstanding. M. Shipman. It has it's always a pleasure having
you on. Like I said, it's been fun working with
you along. Will continue to follow along as as kids
Gardening dot org just gets better and better all the time. Again,
help grow happy, healthy kids. Donate the kids Gardening dot org.
Have a great holiday.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Season, Happy holidays, Ron, Thank you all.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Right, M. Shipman again, Kids Gardening dot org just check
it out, go to website, see what they're doing. Quick break,
We come back. You and me talking your ardening at
eight hundred eight two three eight two fivey five. Here
in the garden with Ron Wilson. In the garden with
Ron Wilson again that toll free number eight hundred eight
three eight two fivey five. Don't forget our website at
Ron Wilson online dot com and Facebook page. In the
(29:32):
Garden with Ron Wilson to Northern Kentucky. We go Steve
good morning.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Well, good morning ron, how are.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
You, sir? Christ Merry Christmas to you.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
I wanted to do a couple comments. Well, and Comfrey
has been used for over two thousand years, and I'm
and it was used by Alexander the Great. I don't
think he would be Alexander the Great if it wasn't
for Comfrey healing his armies. He was his armies pushed
well into Asia and they use the healing power of
(30:06):
Comfrey to heal all sorts of broken bones and what
have you. I mean, it's not going to help with
you know, if you get your head, if you're a
little lymphy or whatever, it shouldn't work right, So I
think he would he would not be Alexander the Great
if it.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Wasn't for combination.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Of that and the fact that they had things like big,
massive cheese rolls that they could take so the army
could uh feed off of that.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Now do you grow you grow comfrey?
Speaker 2 (30:46):
I do, and I actually do sparingly use it internally
and I've had great success with it. Now you don't
want I don't believe in using the roots. The roots
have higher concentrations of the perizoliding alkaloids, which can cause
liver damage, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
And that's I think that's been one of the one
of the you know, the gentleman at email me said,
you know, why don't we see this more and more?
And I think that's been one of the things about
you know there, you know, it can be not a
good thing for you if used in the wrong way.
But again, the benefit, just the benefits alone of what
it does to improve the soil for composting, for breaking
(31:28):
down adding organic matter is unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
It's amazing. That's why we But you know, I've used
it for fifteen years. And one thing to keep in
mind is broccoli fluret. Are you are you afraid to
eat broccoli plurets? They have a much higher concentration perizoliting
alkaloids in broccoli.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Really, yes, not going to another excuse. Not got another
excuse not to eat broccoli.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
I like broccoli, especially throw out in the garden and
it doesn't make it in the house. I just I
just graze on it straight from the beds whatever.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Yep, But Steve doesn't mean it doesn't everything takes better
refresh from the garden.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Like that, Oh, absolutely absolutely read. People don't like doing
that because it might be contaminated with whatever it.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
I love it when there's even a little bit of
dirt left on there. We were the farmer's market last weekend,
and you know they're just they're harvesting carrots, late season carrots,
and you take one of those and you know they've
cleaned them off. Well, just pop that in your mouth.
That flavor is so different than carrots that you buy
in the grocery store, especially in the bag. It is crazy.
And you know you'd never I don't know, you don't
want to buy carrots anymore. Once you taste carrots from
(32:45):
a you know, growing them yourself like that, or from
a fresh produce market. Crazy. The flavors are totally different.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yes, they definitely are. And then maybe next week we'll
talk about rosemary, because I know him probab out of time.
Rosemary and rosemrinic acid was also used by the same Mediterraneans.
The Greek wise guys use rosemary and this rosemarnick ascid.
That's part of the reason why they were smarter than
the average human is today good.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
For your memory, good for the brain, very.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Good, very good for your memory.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
That's greed about that next time, all right, sounds good. Steve,
good talking. We have a very merry Christmas, Matt and Kentucky.
Good morning, Yeah, Ron, I mean I.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Was wondering when there's a good time to bed the roses, like,
you know, put them all to around them.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
You're good now, you know. We try to wait, We
try to hold off as long as we can until
the soil temperatures start to reach less than forty degrees.
And once they get to less than forty degrees, that's
a great time to go in there and put those
to bed. Now, we got a lot of snowbirds that
leave out of here around Thanksgiving, and you don't you know,
you can't wait obviously, so they bet them down a
(33:57):
little bit too early. But if you can wait till that,
we're at that point now where they're getting that. So
now's a good time to go in. Uh We've got
the snow kind of cleared away, so now it'd be
a great time to go in and do any clean
up and then do some winter multi on those roses. Absolutely. Okay,
all right, Matt, good talking with you. As a matter
of fact, talking about roses, two things. One is if
(34:19):
you have a tree rose and I had this, I'm
glad he brought it up. If you have a tree rose,
all right, you bought it in the garden center this
year and you've never had one before, you got to
plant it in the in the patio area or in
the garden or whatever. Although the rows on the top
may be a hearty rose, tree roses are very subject
to winter kill or winter die back, all right. Winter
(34:40):
so winter or tree roses need a special type of
winter protection. You either grow those in a container that
you can pull them up out of the ground or
off off the patio or whatever, and store them away
in an unheated garage or shed cold temperatures. You want
to keep them dormant. You don't want them to come
back to life or anything. You want to stay dormant.
But protect them from the excessive cold temperatures over the winter.
(35:03):
You've got to do that. Or and doctor Pachmint, one
of our big rose experts in our area. That was
all he Olvers talked about was if you're gonna do
tree roses growman containers is you can move them in,
you move them out. The other thing is you can
build a cage around it, steaks around it, chicken wire
and stuff that with straw and leaves and things like
that around the entire trunk and rose, and you can
(35:27):
put some burlap around the outside or a bubble wrap
to help protect it as well. Or you'll actually go
and cut the roots on one side, lay it down
to the ground and then mult it over. But those
are typically not hardy to leave them alone as is.
You must do some winter protection. If you want a
tip sheet, I've got one for you. Email me and
I'll send it back to you next week. Quick break,
(35:48):
we come back. We're going to talk to another one
of my favorites when it comes to kids gardening, Katie Stagley,
Oh No, Kave's crops Here in the Garden with Ron
Wilson
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