Mother Earth

I feel like I've lived in my truck for all of September. Wondering, even, where September went. I remember planning for Dallas and Garden Writers. The 10 hour drive each way, coming back with lots of great new plants to trial, then barely unpacking just in time to pack for the 2 1/2 day drive to southwestern Pennsylvania. But it's all good, except for the garden being somewhat neglected.

Anyone can garden and I offer this photo, below, of Felder Rusing's garden-in-a-truck. He has all kinds of plants in the bed of the truck (he says this is the real truck garden). There are herbs, perennials, flowers and even a bottle tree. He said it proves anyone can garden, anywhere, if they will simply try. This garden, according to Felder, has traveled 70,000 miles this year. If you don't know Felder, he's the crazy author of a bunch of great books on gardening, totally off the wall and loads of fun; check his website.

Josh and I drove to Pennsylvania, leaving home on Sep. 21, arriving in time to set up our booth at the Mother Earth News Fair on Friday. (He flew home on Monday, I drove 738 miles on Monday, 310 on Tuesday). The Fair, Mother's first ever annual (with more to come next year) was held at the very interesting and extremely remote, Seven Springs Mountain Ski Resort. Here was our view of some of the ski slopes out our 7th story window. It's a beautiful, huge place and probably interesting with snow, too.

 

And this one, of the woods in the other direction. It was deeply wooded all around, with hiking and horseback riding trails, 5 restaurants, conference center and more that we never got to see because we were too busy. As you can see, below, fall and leaf-turning had already started in  Pennsylvania. 

 This first ever, annual Mother Earth News Fair was pretty amazing. They hoped for a total attendance of 8,000 people. Some of the staff said they had nearly 7,000 on Saturday, another 3,000 on Sunday, well exceeding the expectations. I gave 3 programs (Making Bentwood Trellises, Therapeutic Uses of Herbs and Growing and Using Herbs, plus being on a panel with K.C. Compton, Managing Editor of The Herb Companion magazine, with 2 others). My programs, like most everyone else's, was standing room only. I love big crowds, the energy is better, the questions more numerous and I draw my energy and enthusiasm from my audiences. Nancy Heraud (known as the Lemonverbena lady: here's a link to her award-winning blog, check it out), and follower of this blog, came, bringing me a special gift of a jar of her homemade Cinnamon basil jelly. I was so flattered and honored at her thoughtfulness. That's her on the left, below, with her friend, Bonnie Shanko on the right. No idea who the guy in the middle is.

 Josh spent almost all of his time at the booth while I was speaking. One of the great things about the Fair was the people who came were people who read. My books sold well, so did my formula Herbal Nail Fungus Soak. There were a wide array of vendors selling green, sustainable technology. Composting toilets, garden tools, solar products; outside, in an area I never saw (I only saw about 40% of the Fair, it was huge) were Amish products, llamas, sheep, bees, all kinds of products, tools, items you need or need to know about if you want to grow your own food, spin your own wool or simply live more lightly on the land. Here's our booth, with Josh glued in place. We were swamped with customers for all of both days, this was just before we opened on the first day.

The Fair is already being scheduled for next year, probably in 3 locations around the country. We were an official Sponsor this year (meaning we got a lot of advertising and especially nice treatment). This proves some points I heard in the Keynote address in Dallas at the Garden Writers Conference, given by Kierstin De West.  Kierstin is the CEO, co-founder and key strategic and research mind at Conscientious Innovation, a Vancouver, B.C. She said, based on some very extensive research, that the "new" shift to green technology, the entire sustainable movement, is not a fad for a fashion that will go away. It is a culture shift that is a profound change in American culture that will have implications on businesses, gardens, publishing and even politics for a long time to come. 

With that thought, I will leave you with this amazing garden spider who built her web across the garden gate where I was working on building a stone and concrete step. This particular spider always has a zig zag pattern on the lower portion of the web and is harmless unless you're an insect. These are good spiders, catching lots of the insect pests that bother the garden. She's still there, as of this morning. It was nice to come home to the garden!

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Dallas Gardens

I missed attending the Garden Writers of America Conference last year but didn't want to miss this one, held in Dallas at the downtown, Hyatt Regency. I always come away encouraged, inspired, flattered by folks who follow this blog, rejuvenated and refreshed after a GWA conference. Why? Imagine 500 people, nearly all of whom are interested in the very things you are. These folks are highly creative, eager to share their experience and information, and are there to learn new things, and have fun. It's an impressive cross section of garden publishers, radio and t.v. personalities, movers and shakers in the plant research world, and writers of all kinds. The conference is also where the wholesale plant industry introduces their newest and best plants for next year, and the tool companies show off, and give away, the niftiest new gardening tools that aren't on the market yet.

Plants like this pretty amazing Pink Lemonade Blueberry, above, developed for patio container growing. The name? It relates to the pink to red to purple blueberries, extremely sweet and blue-berry-ish, at any stage!

Plants Neuveau introduced several stunning, new echinaceas this year, including 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea, below. Angela Treadwell-Palmer, President of Plants Neuveau, was there to introduce the media to her incredible line of long-blooming Echinaceas. (To see more, visit her website).

 The various companies host small parties for their supporters and friends and I'm always tickled to be included. Angela had just mixed (I forget the name, anyone know this one?) me a drink, half chocolate liqueur, half raspberry something or other. Yum! And in the background, you can see Kelly Norris, the wildly enthusiastic iris grower/blogger/aficionado, along with another person taking my (?) photo, who I don't recognize.

It's worth the price of the conference, just for moments like the one, below. The notoriously grumpy Grumpy Gardener, aka Senior Garden Editor of Southern Living, Steve Bender, having had one too many of those chocolate-raspberry beverages, trying to make time with the dummy in the corner. (You'll notice the link to  Grumpy's blog, on the right of the page in the list of blogs I follow. Check him out, he's always full of grumpiness and off the wall plant advice).

To further prove we always have fun, and not take ourselves too seriously, here's the notorious Jim Martin from South Carolina (below), representing the Novalis plant company. Everyone awaits Jim's annual pilgrimage into the floral depths of gaudy-acious outfits to draw attention to Novalis's new plant introductions. (You can find Jim on his Compost.in.my.Shoes blog).

 

The next post will be a view of some of the gardens we toured in Dallas at the Conference. Meanwhile, we're packing the truck with my books and wares and we're driving east for the first annual, Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA. I'm speaking and we'll have a booth and hopefully sell, sell, sell. (If you are anywhere nearby, attend the Fair and stop by and say hi, please). 

Until then, Happy gardening and thanks for visiting here!

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